How a Young British Muslim Was Tempted into Jihad

by Daniel Pipes
Thu, 14 Jul 2005

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In a striking confession in London's Mirror by a young British Muslim about attempts to recruit him for jihad at a troubled moment in his life, he explains how his would-be recruiters made precisely this point to him:

They asked me if I'd ever contemplated suicide and if I wanted to end the pain and turmoil in my life. I was a teenager, with all the fears and insecurities of my age, with the added anguish of having just lost my dad. I was vulnerable and easily manipulated. They said: "If you commit suicide for your own reasons you'll bring shame on your family and go straight to hell, Jahanam. But if you end your life fighting for the cause of Islam, you'll be rewarded for all eternity. And you'll see your [recently deceased] dad again really soon."

In other words, as long as you're going to throw away your life, do it in for Islam and get the benefits. And what benefits!

They promised that if I died that way I would get 70 virgins in heaven and even talked about how I would be given a place to have sex, covered in diamonds and pearls. … "You'll go instantly to heaven," they repeated. "All the problems and pain in your life will go away. You'll be rewarded for all eternity."

Comment: The audacity of this pitch is excelled only by its immorality. (July 14, 2005)

Related Topics: Muslims in the United Kingdom, Radical Islam

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Reader comments on this weblog entry

Title	By	Date
many are killed by radical islam [142 words]	Phil Greend	Jun 9, 2007 23:29
we don't commit suicide for Paradise [227 words]	Muhammad Abdulhay	Feb 27, 2006 02:51

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