Lisa Smith (Left) and Allison Ekren (Right)
This week two trials took place, on different continents, that highlighted a simple truth: Conversion to Islam can sometimes have serious side effects.
In Dundalk, Ireland, Lisa Smith ( a former member of Irish Defence Forces) is being tried for providing material support to a terrorist group. This follows her journey to Syria to assist in the establishment of an Islamic State under the auspices of ISIS.
In Alexandria, Virginia Allison Ekren is facing similar charges. She was, if anything, even more deeply involved in Islamic terrorism than Smith. Her activities included, leading an all-female assault group in Syria (according to charge sheet) and planning an attack on a college in the US.
The trajectory of the two women have been all too predictable and has been observed with stunning regularity: Conversion to Islam (or a deepening commitment to it) ending in the desire to wage war on ‘unbelievers’.
In each case we hear almost the same lines. Think back for a moment to every single ‘Good Boy/Girl Turned Jihadi’ story you’ve ever read or seen on television. What was the one constant in all of them?
Something like this perhaps?
‘He was just a regular guy but then he converted to Islam’
‘He used to hang out with the guys but then he started going to the mosque regularly’
‘She was not very devout but one day she started wearing a headscarf and broke off all relations with her friends’
Statements like these are significantly at odds with the prevailing discourse surrounding Islam in our society. We are constantly told from a variety of directions that Islam is a ‘religion of peace’ and that those who invoke it to justify violence misapply its essentially tolerant teachings. In response we have to ask: Why is it that converting to Islam, or becoming a more devout Muslim, so often lead to a burning hatred for unbelievers? Shouldn’t becoming more attached to a peaceful religion cause us to become more peaceful as a result?
No doubt those who are anxious to hold the ‘Islam means peace’ line will be quick to assure us that these stories are aberrations and that the very predictable trajectory to jihad followed by so many can be explained away by stating that those who follow this path do so based on misunderstanding the true nature of Islam. In response we have to ask: How is it that so many people over the centuries have ‘misunderstood’ Islam in exactly the same way? Could it not be that there is something in the essential teaching of Islam that is motivating the actions of the jihadis?
In a sane society, questions like these would be right at the top of the list when it comes to making sense of our world. Sadly, they are not being asked. It is so much easier, in the short term at least, to stick our heads in the sand and repeat the well-worn ‘Islam is a religion of peace’ mantra.
For much more about the links between Islamic teaching and violence, see my book ‘Nothing to do with Islam - Investigating the West’s Most Dangerous Blind Spot’
Kind regards,
Peter
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