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Fundamentalists promote the virtues and necessity of Jihad in two complimentary ways. Firstly, Muslims hear of the divine benefits bequeathed by Allah upon those who fight. For example, a Muslim who dies while engaged in Jihad will immediately go to Paradise and space will also be reserved for seventy members of his family. Conversely, every Muslim knows the penalties they face on the day of Judgement for not carrying out their obligation to undertake combative Jihad. Issue ten of Al-Jihad

magazine published in 1999 contains a general question and answer section with editor Al-Masri.106 _{One reader inquires as to whether or not Jihad is compulsory. Al-} Masri replies ‘it is, as long as he physically able to do so’.107 Having established that

106 _{Al-Masri ‘Issue 10’} 107_Ibid.

Jihad is an obligation that falls on every Muslim, Al-Masri then adopts a salesman like approach telling readers ‘the need to act has become critical because the world is plagued by polytheism, without a general leader and most people are now worshiping their selfish desires instead of God.’ 108 Jihad is the only legitimate solution offered to Muslims in order to fight the unbelievers until there is no more shirk (polytheism) and the Islamic religion is in totality for Allah.

Versus from the Quran and narrations from the Hadiths are used by Al-Masri to develop a narrative in which jihad is second only to worshiping Allah. Followers are encouraged to believe there exists nothing more rewarding for a Muslim than to die heroically on the battlefield while fighting to establish the dean of Allah. Life on earth is short and insignificant compared with the afterlife. Upon death and before they reach paradise, Muslims will face judgement from Allah. Those who ignore what He has commanded will certainly spend an eternity in hell fire. These rather unsubstantiated claims may seem entirely ludicrous to most people, however to fundamentalists who fear God’s judgement, the need to carry out his commands form the basis of all rational decision making.

Western policy makers should not underestimate the power of faith. British Muslims sacrificed their obligations as fathers, sons and brothers in order to carry out the July 7th London bombings. One line of theory suggests they did so on the belief they had been ordained by God to carry out the operation. At the very least, they believed they were doing God’s work and would be rewarded in the afterlife. Evidence for this comes from the martyrdom video of Mohammed Sidique Khan in which he states clearly, “I myself, I myself, I make dua (pray) to Allah... to raise me amongst those whom I love like the prophets, the messengers, the martyrs”. 109 Devout religiosity may help explain why men widow their wives and risk a lifetime in solitary confinement in order to pursue extremist terrorism. Given such a proposition, writers who suggest that religious belief is not at least partially the root cause of terrorism, entirely ignore the irrational behaviour of so many Muslims. The question is whether absent of faith, terrorists would act as rational actors. There are cases of individuals pursuing suicide bombing for purely secular reasons without any

108_Ibid.

109 _{Staff Reporter, ‘London Bomber: Text in Full’, BBC News Online, 1}st _September 2005, http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4206800.stm, (accessed 18th September 2014)

expectations of an afterlife. Irrational behaviour that strikes against man’s natural instinct does not appear to be limited to Muslim suicide bombers.

In general, believers must strive through Jihad to achieve two things. Firstly, to remove all those who worship more than one god and secondly, to establish Islam over the entire world. One might contrast this objective with the perceived objectives of the war on terrorism, in particular, the pursuit of establishing liberal democracy throughout the world and reducing Islam to nothing more than personal worship. Recognising that not all Muslims are able to wage Jihad, Al-Masri states if a Muslim cannot reach the battlefield, they must speak out against polytheism and if they cannot do this then they must at least hate it in their hearts. Without question, those engaged in the fundamentalist movement completely reject the worshiping of multiple Gods. This may explain why so many have pursued Jihad in Kashmir against India, a country in which Hinduism dominates the population. Speaking of the benefits of Jihad, the author claims that for those who participate, God immediately forgives all their sins and faults. Moreover, participants will not feel the agonies and distress of death; in fact, the pain of dying will be nothing more than a pinch.

The message disseminated to fundamentalists is that by participating in jihad, they can gain absolution for both themselves and their families. This is critically important for anyone who believes in the day of judgement and fears it more than orphaning their children or spending the rest of their lives in prison for acts of terrorism. Pushing this political narrative amongst fundamentalists, issue one of Al- Jihad Magazine published in 1998 contains an article, which relates an anecdote from the Hadith concerning jihad. In summary, a man asks the prophet Mohammed if there is a deed equal to jihad to which he replies, ‘Can you, while the mujahid is in the battlefield, enter the mosque to perform prayers without cease and fast and never break your fast’.110 Clearly, an impossible task thereby implying there is absolutely nothing that any member of the fundamentalist movement can do that is equal or greater in merit than the pursuit of Jihad. In the same article, the author talks about those who fail to recognise this saying, ‘he who died without having ever fought in the way of Allah nor did he express any desire for Jihad, he died with the semblance of hypocrisy’. 111

110 _{Al-Masri ‘Issue 1’}