1. Chris Constantinou
Terrorism and the Middle East
Dr. Gonzalez
17 August 2015
The Rise of Suicide Bombings
In the past few years, Boko Haram, a radical Islamic terrorist group has inflicted great
harm on the population of Nigeria. Boko Haram has used many suicide bombers many of whom
are females. Many of these young girls are often kidnapped. These female suicide bombers have
killed thousands as they (the female suicide bombers) range in age of 7 to late 20s.
A part from being kidnapped and having a bomb forcefully placed upon oneself, what
drives a person to blow themselves up? That question has no specific answer. People are drawn
to commit a suicide bombing for a deep religious fulfillment to please Allah. Other men believe
that they will receive 72 virgins in heaven. Some believe that this is the only way to attack
government forces. Primarily, parts of the Quran and misguided believers are to blame. These
terrorists believe that they are the true Muslims and every other Muslim is not as religious as
they are. In the minds of ISIS, when a top Imam, religious leader, condemns the killing of
people, ISIS believes that they are the ones misguided.
Islam is one of the fastest growing religions around the world. In 2010, 1.6 billion are
Muslim. Demographers claim that by 2050, that number is expected to increase by 73% to 2.8
billion. This is due to Muslims being generally young and having high fertility rates. The use of
Islamic terrorism could be a greater threat in the future. Radical groups like Islamic State or
Boko Haram use religion in an effort to convince non-Muslims to join their cause or convince
Muslims that killing will please Allah. These terrorist groups hide behind the shield of religion.

2. Islamic State believes that killing is justified in the Quran; one such passage is from 2.191 “And
kill them wherever you overtake them and expel them from wherever they have expelled you,
and fitnah is worse than killing. And do not fight them at al-Masjid al- Haram until they fight
you there. But if they fight you, then kill them. Such is the recompense of the disbelievers.”
Verse 8.12 “make firm those who believe. I will cast terror into the hearts of those who
disbelieve. Therefore strike off their heads and strike off every fingertip of them.” Islamic State
believes that it must “fight in the way of Allah” (2.244). Muslims are inherently religious people
as many of them pray five times a day. A majority of Muslims are nonviolent and live a
companionate hard working life. Just because a few people exploit their religion in a perverted
way does not mean that every Muslim is a terrorist.
The Guardian published an article titled, “Virgins? What Virgins?” in 2002 claiming that
idea of ‘virgins’ in heaven was entirely wrong. Abu Wardeh, a Hamas archivist is quoted as
saying “I described to him how God would compensate the martyr for sacrificing his life for his
land. If you become a martyr, God will give you 70 virgins, 70 wives and everlasting happiness.”
The writer of the article, Ibn Warraq claims that the word ‘virgin’ was mistranslated and states
that true Muslims believe the word means angels. The word ‘hur’ was misinterpreted. The Quran
never specifies how many ‘virgins’ a martyr gets. The Quran states that all Muslims will receive
angels regardless of being a martyr. Some extremist Muslims believe that their suicide will bring
about their wedding in heaven. Many parents of a suicide bomber believe that their son will be
married to a dark eyed virgin in paradise. A majority of suicide bombers do this in an act to
please God. Very few take it to the point of meeting 72 virgins in paradise. The overall goal is to
please Allah by becoming a martyr by use of murder and suicide. Christians believe that a martyr

3. is someone who dies for their faith in a non-violent way. Christians become martyrs but not
rejecting Christ in the midst of death.
Some extremists Muslims believe that a suicide bombing is the only way to attack the
West or a government. America, the most powerful nation on earth has every kind of weapon at
its disposal. From aircraft carriers to predator missiles, the military has it all. ISIS does not have
advanced technological capabilities like the United States does. They might have some tanks but
they don’t have an air force. Terrorist groups believe that a suicide bombing is the only way to
counter the playing field. The United States as well as other countries fight an asymmetric
warfare. It is the use of overwhelming tactical and technological capabilities (a nation: Syria)
verses a non-state actor (ISIS). Suicide bombings can happen anytime and anywhere making
them extremely effective. It is hard to stop a suicide bomber because it could be anybody.
Gender and age do not matter. People expect a house of worship to be a place for prayer not of
destruction but terrorists strike at churches and mosques. Recently, two young girls blew
themselves up at a mosque in a city in Nigeria killing over 120 people. Some suicide bombers
are unaffiliated with Boko Haram but hear their battle cries to kill they strap a bomb to their
chest and walk into a crowd to cause great harm. There is a way to stop ISIS but stopping a
suicide bomber is difficult.
As stated above, I think that the Quran is partially to blame because there are many
statements about violence against others. There are statements about protecting the innocent yet
radical terrorists ignore these passages. Muslims claim that Islam is a religion of peace then why
is all of this happening in the Middle East? A region of peace should not have anything about
violence in its sacred texts. The Bible has its share of violence yet it was written in different
times by many different people. The New Testament overrides the Old Testament. With Islam,

4. God “spoke” through Muhammad in order to get God’s word out. Mohammad was not God-like.
He married young women and fought for his religion in the beginning. Christ on the other hand
did nothing wrong. He lived a perfect life and treated everyone fairly. He did not go out killing
people to solidify his religion. He achieved much more success after death. Muhammad achieved
success after death but what moral codes did he bring to the table? Jesus taught people how to
get to the kingdom of heaven. You had to sacrifice material wealth not blow up yourself and
those around you. Recently, an article was published in Jihad Watch, stating that some radical
extremists are now raping women in the name of Allah. By raping women, these men believe
that they are getting closer to God. It is a “prayer to God.”
There are different reasons for a people to commit a suicide bombing but it is always
traced back to the idea of pleasing Allah. The problem is that no enough Muslim leaders speak
out against ISIS or suicide bombings. I rarely hear about an Imam condemning such horrific acts
against humanity. If the Muslim community by large spoke out against it more, then I think ISIS
would been treated very differently. Support for joining ISIS would fall if a popular Muslim
cleric condemned them. In Dabiq, an online magazine created by ISIS mocked the belief by
American politician stating that “Islam is a religion of peace.” ISIS claims that “Islam is a
religion of the Sword, not pacifisim.”