In fact, the article alleges many young jihadis aren't particularly observant Muslims although obviously raised in the faith. Author Mehdi Hasan notes:
The swivel-eyed young men who take sadistic pleasure in bombings and beheadings may try to justify their violence with recourse to religious rhetoric — think the killers of Lee Rigby screaming “Allahu Akbar” at their trial; think of Islamic State beheading the photojournalist James Foley as part of its “holy war” — but religious fervor isn’t what motivates most of them.Hasan quotes sociologist Scott Atran, testifying to a Senate committee as follows:
What inspires the most lethal terrorists in the world today is not so much the Quran or religious teachings as a thrilling cause and call to action that promises glory and esteem in the eyes of friends, and through friends, eternal respect and remembrance in the wider world.Hasan concludes:
(He described wannabe jihadists as) bored, underemployed, overqualified and underwhelmed (young men for whom) jihad is an egalitarian, equal-opportunity employer ... thrilling, glorious and cool.
Muslims aren’t all Islamists, Islamists aren’t all jihadists and jihadists aren’t all devout.Allowing for the fact that Mehdi Hasan is a bit defensive about Islam, one could make the argument that the same forces that lure idle young men into the Crips, Bloods, MS-13 or the Marines inspire jihadis to go viking. Adventure, being part of a tough crew, blowing up things and killing people, the motives are as old as the stone age.
However, the theory described above doesn't explain the Islamic State imposing strict Sharia law and brutally punishing many of their own citizens with crucifixions and beheadings. That sounds like darn serious religious fundamentalism, not juvenile delinquents on the prowl.
