It is very easy to blame the social media or the families for such Jihadi tendencies - 15/16 years old girls running away from families in England to become Jihadists in far flung countries like Iraq, Syria and so on. These girls will become Jihadi brides - effectively prostitutes for the deranged Jihadi fighters. But they have got the romantic view of life now.
There are diverse reasons for Muslims becoming Jihadists, each one of them is complex and deeply rooted.
But if you want to identify a single most important reason for such behaviour among Muslims, I would say the it is the 'real or perceived insecurity' (or weakness) of the family or the individual members of the family who behaves like this and becomes a Jihadi. To put it quite simply, you will not find a Muslim family or a family member who is successful in his or her position in life and becomes an ardent Islamist. It is only those who are insecure in life (be it a Ph.D. holder or an Engineer or a medical doctor or totally illiterate, drug-edict vagabond) and feel threatened professionally, financially, socially etc. actually fall back to get God's/Allah's mercy/help and support to pull them out of their predicament. Sometimes their attitudes are dictated by their revolt against the host society. They or their family members gradually become Islamists and once they are in this slippery slope, they can become a Taliban or an IS.
I have checked this hypothesis of 'real or perceived insecurity' as the root cause of Islamist tendencies, I have found it right almost 100 per cent of cases, whether it is in England, or America or Bangladesh or anywhere. I have heard people saying to me, "You have money in your pocket, you are well settled in life, why would you need God?" These are the comments from highly educated, reasonably well established (but unhappy in life in comparative terms) people. What they are saying effectively is that God is only used to fulfill your unaccomplished ambitions by praying to Him. But if your ambitions are already accomplished,you can ditch God. This is the crux of the misconception of the Muslim society.
- AR
From: "Jiten Roy jnrsr53@yahoo.com [mukto-mona]" <mukto-mona@yahoogroups.com>
To: "mukto-mona@yahoogroups.com" <mukto-mona@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Saturday, 21 February 2015, 1:16
Subject: Re: [mukto-mona] Three UK schoolgirls 'travelling to Syria'
In addition to blaming social media, I would also blame families of these girls for brainwashing them into religious conservative ideals. After all, brainwashing always starts at home. These families are probably highly religious, and talk about Jihad in the kitchen tables and social gatherings, while children silently listen to them. These girls whole heartedly believe that they are really joining in Jihad.
Many highly educated Muslim families in the USA are afraid that their children will adopt western cultures, and they try their best to bring them up in the rigid Islamic cultures. So, these type of incident may not be so unexpected.
Jiten Roy
From: "Sukhamaya Bain subain1@yahoo.com [mukto-mona]" <mukto-mona@yahoogroups.com>
To: mukto-mona@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Friday, February 20, 2015 5:11 PM
Subject: [mukto-mona] Three UK schoolgirls 'travelling to Syria'
At least two of these girls are of Bangladesh origin. What can you expect a from a 16 years old girl when so many people with academic qualifications as high as PhD are so stupid about pleasing Allah and about their perception of afterlife with rewards/punishments?
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