Defining Non-Violent: The Spread Of Extremism

The bulk of this story can be found via The New York Times and at Rusty's site, you'll want to read both. But below the headlines rests the real challenge for a freedom loving democracy fighting terrorism, especially in the Internet age.

The degree to which North Carolina-based Samir Khan is directly involved in supporting terrorism can be debated and the outcome of a formal trial would be far from assured. And then there's the mostly un-addressed issue of how he got his start.

From the assembled excerpts below, you can trace his increasingly extremist ideology from groups purported to be non-violent - groups that enjoy First Amendment protections. The challenge of monitoring so-called political groups based upon extreme religious dogma when they clearly have the potential to ultimately produce dangerous extremists to some degree, is a serious challenge for America today.

He has grown up in middle-class America and wrestles with his worried parents about his religious fervor.

His early postings, beginning in 2003, promoted strengthening Islam in North America through nonviolent confrontations. But with the escalating war in Iraq, bloodshed became a recurrent theme.

Born in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, Mr. Khan was 7 when his family moved to New York City and settled into the Queens neighborhood of Maspeth.

He mirrored his teenage peers, from their slang to their baggy pants, until August 2001 when, at age 15, he said, he attended a weeklong summer camp at a mosque in Queens, which was sponsored by a fundamentalist but nonviolent group now known as the Islamic Organization of North America (IONA).

“They were teaching things about religion and brotherhood that captivated me,” Mr. Khan said. He said he went back to school knowing “what I wanted to do with my life: be a firm Muslim, a strong Muslim, a practicing Muslim.”

He also befriended members of the Islamic Thinkers Society, a tiny group that promotes radical, nonviolent Islam by leafleting in Times Square and Jackson Heights, Queens.

After moving with his family to North Carolina in 2004, Mr. Khan said, he attended a community college for three years and earned money selling various products, including kitchen knives.

But he began spending chunks of his days on the blog he created in late 2005, “Inshallahshaheed,” which translates as “a martyr soon if God wills.” The Internet traffic counter Alexa.com, which rarely is able to measure the popularity of blogs because they do not have enough readers, ranked his among the top one percent of one hundred million Internet sites in the world.

Comments

[Fred Beloit]

"But he began spending chunks of his days on the blog he created in late 2005, “Inshallahshaheed,” which translates as “a martyr soon if God wills.” I like his motto. May it soon be realized, but not in any illegal way.

[seekeronos]

A muslim extremist's sense of martyr can seldom ever be realized in means that are legal, and unfortunately, are usually quite lethal to anyone in viewing distance.

[Techie]

I've noticed that a Christian martyr is someone who was killed because of their beliefs. An Islamic martyr is someone who kills himself and others because of their beliefs. Is this incorrect?

[seekeronos]

You've about hit the nail squarely on the head, Techie.

[jj]

Yes, my wishes exactly, Fred, may he be martyred by the TB bacterium(if Allah wishes).(PBUH)

[Fred Beloit]

Seek, I was referring to the pros and cons of preemptive strikes, only legal ones of course.

[seekeronos]

I did say seldom... meaning that there may be the (of course legal) occasional (and all to rare) preemptive strike version of martyrdom.

I have to wonder though, do they still get the 72 virgins - or does Allah have to dock them a dozen or two for not being good enough muslims to take down a score of bystanders?

[paul a'barge]

"...a martyr soon if God wills..."

No problem, no matter who wills, Lots of us would be happy to oblige.

[Ernst Blofeld]

I don't think the Islamic Thinkers can really be described as non-violent in the sense that they advocate a non-violent approach to life. They advocate violence; it's just that the police haven't caught them at it.

http://counterterrorismblog.org/2006/04/islamists_message_to_israel_at_1.php

"Leader (in Arabic): With our blood and our lives we will liberate al Aqsa!
[The rest also respond in Arabic:] With our blood and our lives we will liberate al Aqsa!
Israeli Zionists What do you say? The real Holocaust is on its way
...
Zionists, Zionists You will pay! The Wrath of Allah is on its way!
Israeli Zionists You shall pay! The Wrath of Allah is on its way!
The mushroom cloud is on its way! The real Holocaust is on its way!"

[Steve Skubinna]

There you go, Ernst, taking a perfectly reasonable and innocent passage out of context. Plus, it's a cultural thing, and as noted luminaries like Edward Said have stated, you're not allowed to form an opinion or even discuss events relating to Muslims or the Mideast unless you're one yourself, or from there. So all of us should shut the hell up and allow these guys to kill us all, for the sake of increased understanding.

Group hug, everyone! Kumbaya!

[David M]

Trackbacked by The Thunder Run - Web Reconnaissance for 10/16/2007
A short recon of what’s out there that might draw your attention, updated throughout the day...so check back often.

http://thunderrun.blogspot.com/2007/10/web-reconnaissance-for-10162007.html