He's refusing to provide last rites to the older brother bomber, and has stated that he is going to hell. For those that are genuinely radicalized and believe they are doing Allah's work, refusing them last rites would go a huge way to suppressing future attacks, especially suicide bombings. If the Muslim communities in the western cultures uniformly refused the conceit that the attackers were going to go to Heaven and be rewarded, we'd see a lot less activity would be my take. http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2013/04/21/imam-i-wouldnt-give-boston-suspect-last-rites/?hpt=hp_t2 Obviously you'd be able to find radical Imams in the middle east, but this could be an effective tactic here and also help insulate these peaceful Muslims in the West from bias.
No we wouldn't. Cause of two things. 1. Someone can always be found to give last rites. 2. Terrorists will make or find a "exception" in the religion to still get to heaven.
The article made it sound like a majority of the Muslim leaders in Boston refused to do the last rites. It's not everyone, but it's a start.
This is true. Even looking at Tamerlan's experience, we can see the rationalization. He was thrown out of the mosque in Cambridge and told not to come back. That didn't stop him from his radical Islamic path.
The question is are they using it as an excuse or are they true believers? If there was uniformity in this regard in the western mosques, it would definitely impact the true believers. Indeed, there's considerable evidence that Al Qaeda membership ebbed significantly when they lost the legitimacy brought to them by respected Muslim clerics who turned on them for the cost that their jihad was bringing on the Muslim community. One prominent scholar went by the pseudonym Dr. Fadl, true name was ayyid Imam al-Sharif, and he turned on Al Qaeda after being imprisoned in Egypt for years. AQ recruitment dropped precipitously around that time. http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/06/02/080602fa_fact_wright For a faith based on submission to the will of God, those that truly believe are significantly impacted by their religious leaders.
I've always assumed the theology was "Martyrdom", got you an automatic free pass to Heaven no matter what. I mean, the guys on 9/11 couldn't receive last rites, they were fucking vaporized. How else were they going to Heaven, except with a free pass?
Was OBL given his last rites or did someone just say "fuck off" and throw him in the ocean? I hope it was the latter.
Indeed, baby steps. This is how change comes about. Now we just have to hope that the idea catches on.
Having watched a bit of the coverage; it appears the older brother had more of a political issue then a religious one. He complained of all the "innocents" US troops were killing in Afghanistan. Claiming it was happening intentionally. The younger one is a simple minded sycophant of his older brother; who he ran over in his flight for self-preservation. I really don't see religious ideology as a factor
