Saturday, October 14, 2017

The Religion of Peace and the Dunning-Kruger Effect Banu Qurayza incident

Introduction:

I have taken a quick skim through TROP response to DTT regarding The Banu Qurayza incident, and I started to think that TROP responses to DTT are starting to get worse and worse with fewer sources and footnotes, first they Cite weak sources in their responses to Banu Qaynuqa incident, then cite two sources one is weak another is misquoted in Banu nadir incident, and now in a response to an incident that they consider to be “ the most embarrassing” incident in Islam history, they (spoiler alert) do the worse, make commentary in response without citing a single source, not even a weak one, if you only care for criticism to an accurate and worthy response don’t bother reading the rest of this article, because we are responding to an author in TROP website who waste our time with commentary with no actual sources to back up his claims, if you wish to see just who bad TROP at responding to Muslims please feel free to continue reading
the Author of TROP as I came to learn from DTT is named Glen Roberts
now let us processed with this “response” to DTT

TROP's arguments:

“The story of Muhammad beheading all of the men (and boys as young as 12) of a tribe known as the Banu Qurayza is one of the most embarrassing for contemporary apologists.  It occurred after the Battle of the Trench.  Those who were not beheaded were mostly enslaved, mainly the children and women.”
“as young as 12”? Citation needed
“one of the most embarrassing for contemporary apologists”? the only most embarrassing attempt by apologists like this Christian apologist is this sorry excuse of a response to DTT, so far the author is preconceiving his conclusions, calling the story embarrassing long before he demonstrates why it’s embarrassing, we didn’t see this argument yet, we didn’t even start with the article and already TROP makes this silly incident as embarrassing to Muslim apologist.

“The challenge for Discover the Truth is to shift blame from Muhammad to the victims.  DTT poses that the Qurayza broke a treaty and "fought" Muhammad, even "openly taking sides" during the Battle of the Trench.  In other words, they were treacherous and posed a threat that had to be eliminated.”
Shift the blame? the blame is directly on those who threaten your life and instigate your enemies on you, it’s beyond me how can TROP defend such treacherous tribe like Banu qurayza, apparently they have no problem when a tribe fight the prophet, but they have a problem when Muslims defend themselves

“Since the punishment (of mass execution) was excessive, DTT argues that it was determined by someone other than Muhammad, who was simply performing his humble duties in carrying it out.  Enslaving the women and children was an act of humanitarianism since their men had been executed and could no longer take care of them.”
it's actually kinda dishonest making statements regarding DTT without quoting them directly or giving a link to their website, but yes, Muhammad was not the one who made the order to execute the tribe men (we will get to the details on wither combatants were executed or not)


“What They Offer as Proof
Discover the Truth posts several articles to mitigate the slaughter, rape, and enslavement of the Banu Qurayza.  The most detailed frames the argument with snippets of Ibn Ishaq, al-Tabari, Sahih Bukhari, Sahih Muslim, Abu Dawud and Sahih verses from Sunan an-Nasai'i and Jami at-Tirmidhi - which are accepted as generally reliable sources.

History is written by the winners, however, and each of these sources is a devout Muslim who wants to portray Muhammad in a flattering light.  Understanding what really happened sometimes means reading between the lines and considering events from the perspective of the other side.”

“History is written by the winners, however, and each of these sources is a devout Muslim who wants to portray Muhammad in a flattering light. “
so the sources are wrong because they are devout Muslims who might portray Muhammad in “flattering light”? this is a confirmation bias fallacy or vested interest fallacy
if you don’t accept sources because they might be biased or rather they belong to one side that you don’t trust them based on this fallacy not a single source is trusted, I’m biased as a source of Islam meaning I’m a Muslim who have tendencies to be biased toward the religion, based on this fallacy my sources regarding Islam no matter how authentic it’s can’t be trusted, the same thing applies to the author of TROP as he is a Christian and by definition he does not trustworthy regarding Christianity because of his affiliation
TROP author need to try better than commit such insane fallacies in their articles

“When Muhammad breaks a treaty, for example, we are told that he has "permission from Allah" - which constitutes thin reasoning in the real world.  When there is even a hint that someone else hasn't lived up to the letter of an agreement, however, it's called "treachery" and the entire tribe is subject to eviction or extermination”
this is a non-sequitur fallacy
just because he receives visions or words from God doesn’t mean they he is immune to treachery, this doesn’t logically follow

“The conclusions reached by DTT with which we disagree are as follows:

1) The Banu Qurayza broke an agreement unjustifiably

2) The Banu Qurayza fought Muslims at the Battle of the Trench

3) The Banu Qurayza helped other tribes kill Muslims

4) The Banu Qurayza were deserving of their fate

5) Muhammad was powerless to stop the beheadings and thus bore no blame

Obviously, if one or more of these is false, then the apologist case collapses.”
let us focus on the last statement
“Obviously, if one or more of these is false, then the apologist case collapses”
this is again a non sequitur fallacy, if one premise of a series of statement is false that doesn’t lead to the collapse of the main argument, let’s take for example 2 “The Banu Qurayza fought Muslims at the Battle of the Trench” if this was false and they didn’t fight Muslims at the battle of the trench then that doesn’t mean that the entire 5 arguments series collapse at all, they could be still treacherous and fought against Muslims on other occasions other than the battle of trench
let’s take a look at 3 “The Banu Qurayza helped other tribes kill Muslims” if this was false and they didn’t help other tribes in killing Muslims that still won’t rebuke DTT arguments, they could be responsible for killing Muslims themselves directly, and they will still be considered guilty

this TROP author appears to have a poor grasp of critical thinking and logical analysis

“The pretext for the Banu Qaynuqa was that a Muslim woman had been harassed by a member of the tribe.  The Banu Nadir were accused (in some accounts) of plotting to kill Muhammad.  This is quite tenuous given that information in both cases came from an angel seen only by Muhammad.  Each eviction also followed the assassination of prominent members of the Jewish community at Medina by the Muslims.”
it didn’t come from an angle, DTT made several sources regarding these accounts, I shall leave links to their articles

as you can see there are more than 1 article to each incident each cites different sources almost all of them reference narrators rather than saying this came from wahy (angel Gabriel)
there is not a single mention of angle Gabrial among the narrators of any source in this incident, TROP is trying so desperately here

“The Battle of the Trench occurred when the Quraish sent an army against the Muslims at Medina.  Although DTT does not mention it, the conflict owed its origins to caravan raids against the Quraish.  Prior to Muhammad's arrival, trade to and from Mecca passed unmolested by the tribes in Medina: everyone played by the rules.  Muhammad quickly changed that - and there is no indication that he warned the Jewish tribes prior to signing the pact that he would be provoking a war.”
“although DTT does Not mention it” this is false, in fact DTT dedicated a complete article to the battle of Trench

“While DTT paints the picture of a man struggling to get along in a treacherous world, the reality is that Muhammad was at the center of every conflict with everyone who would not agree to be his subordinate.  A victim of circumstance... trouble just has a way of finding him, right?”
Not right, you will have to cite evidence and sources for this nonsense

“This is the context in which the Banu Qurayza's alleged "betrayal" of Muhammad occurs. “
citation needed

“Amidst this, a leader from the Banu Nadir arrives (one of the tribes that had been evicted) and tricks the Qurayza leader, Ka'b, into letting him in.  Far from scheming with the 'enemies of Muhammad', it is obvious, even from the account quoted liberally by DTT, that Ka'b does not want to have a conversation and wants no involvement in the conflict.”
there is literally not a single reference to any of DTT articles let alone quotes, so how can we confirm this nonsensical claim
the following account of Ka’b comes Directly from DTT’s re-examining Banu qurayza incident
““The enemy of God Huyayy b. Akhtab al-Nadri went out to Ka’b b. Asad al-Qurazi who had made a treaty with the apostle. When Ka’b heard of Huyayy’s coming he shut the door of his fort in his face, and when he asked permission to enter he refused to see him, saying that he was a man of ill omen and that he himself was in treaty with Muhammad and did not intend to go back on his word because he had always found him loyal and faithful. Then Huyayy accused him of shutting him out because he was unwilling to let him eat his corn. This so enraged him that he opened his door. He said ‘Good heavens, Ka’b, I have brought you immortal fame and a great army. I have come with Quraysh with their leaders and chiefs which I have halted where the torrent-beds of Ruma meet; and Ghatafan with their leaders and chiefs which I have halted in Dhanab Naqma towards Uhud. They have made a firm agreement and promised me that they will not depart until we have made an end of Muhammad and his men.’ Ka’b said: ‘By God, you have brought me immortal shame and an empty cloud which has shed its water while it thunders and lightens with nothing in it. Woe to you Huyayy, leave me as I am, for I have always found him loyal and faithful.’ Huyayy kept on wheedling Ka’b until at last, he gave way in giving him a solemn promise that if Quraysh and Ghatafan returned without having killed Muhammad he would enter his fort with him and await his fate. Thus Ka’b broke his promise and cut loose from the bond that was between him and the apostle.””
while TROP was right on this occasion they need to cite the source and the quote, and nevertheless, ka’b was guilty as charged

“Talked into believing that the city will be overrun, Ka'b still refuses to join the fight against the Muslims but does agree to stay out of it.  This is ironic because had his tribe led a true revolt from within the city, Muhammad would have suffered defeat, the Qurayza men would have lived, their women would not have been raped nor their children enslaved.”
women raped? children enslaved? citation needed

“To justify what happened afterward, apologists desperately need a Hadith verse or Sira account stating that the Qurayza attacked the Muslims in battle or participated substantially in the fight against them.  Unfortunately, none exists.”
this is false, DTT Provided with sources, in fact, he dedicated 4 articles to banu qurayza
I cited a hadith earlier regarding Banu nadir incident where Banu Qurayza was cited
““Ibn ‘Umar said ‘The Jews Al Nadir and Quraizah fought with the Apostle of Allah, so the Apostle of Allah expelled Banu Al-Nadir and allowed the Quraizah to stay and favored them. The Quraizah thereafter fought (with the Prophet)‘. So he killed their men and divided their women, property, and children among Muslims except some of them who associated with the Apostle of Allah. He gave them protection and later on they embraced Islam. The Apostle of Allah expelled all the Jews of Madeenah in toto, Banu Qainuqa, they were the people of ‘Abd Allah bin Salam, the Jews of Banu Harith and any of Jews who resided in Madeenah”[1]
DTT cites Musannaf Abd al-Razzaq:
“Abd al-Razzaq on the authority of Musa b. Uqba: The Nadir and Qurayza fought the Prophet; the Prophet expelled the Nadir and agreed that Qurayza should stay. Later QURAYZA FOUGHT THE PROPHET. They were defeated, the men were executed, the women, children, and property were divided among the Muslims. SOME OF THE JEWS RECEIVED THE AMAN (SAFETY) OF THE PROPHET and converted to Islam.”[2]
“In a section pretentiously titled "Banu Qurayza Siding, Waging War and Supplying Enemies with Weapons", DTT provides only three Sahih hadith verses.  Two generically state that the Qurayza "fought against the prophet" at an unspecified time in an unspecified manner - probably in the same way that unbelievers "fight against Allah" via their unbelief.  Another says simply that Muhammad feared an attack by the Qurayza.  There is no record of any physical battle. “
I’m going to leave links to DTT examining of Banu Qurayza where you can see he provided more than just two hadiths
clearly, from the above 3 articles DTT provided more than just two sources, either TROP was unaware of the other articles or that they are willingly deceiving their audience.

while later they make a fair criticism of Al-Waqidi they completely neglected Sahih Muslim and Bukhari who clearly references Banu qurayza attacking the prophet
“In addition to the fact that no Muslims were killed or injured by the Qurayza”
citation needed

“The carnage that followed was brutal.  Even the Sahih Hadith relates that boys who had reached puberty were beheaded along with the men.  At least one woman was among those murdered. Another was taken by Muhammad as a personal sex slave.  Yet, the apologists insist that every victim was deserving of the same barbaric practice that we see today in ISIS videos.”
were these boys combatants or not? muhammad as I reference in the past and as DTT referenced had ordered that only fighters are to be killed, Note the word fighters, he didn’t specify age or gender but rather the action of the occupation of the individuals, this clearly means that fighters were killed only
“Al-Shaybani’s opinion is different: he points out that there are differences in the age of puberty between various peoples (for instance between Turks and Indians). But in the case of Banu Qurayza, the Prophet disclosed to Sa’d b. Mu’adh (on the basis of a revelation) that their age of puberty WAS THE LIMIT OF THEIR PENAL RESPONSIBILITY AS FIGHTING PERSON” (Al-Shaybani, op. cit., volume 2, page 591)”
“The people of (Banu) Quraiza agreed to accept the verdict of Sa`d bin Mu`adh. So the Prophet sent for Sa`d, and the latter came (riding) a donkey and when he approached the Mosque, the Prophet said to the Ansar, “Get up for your chief or for the best among you.” Then the Prophet said (to Sa`d).” These (i.e. Banu Quraiza) have agreed to accept your verdict.” Sa`d said, “KILL THEIR WARRIORS and take their offspring as captives, “On that, the Prophet said, “You have judged according to Allah’s Judgment,” or said, “according to the King’s judgment.”(Sahih al-Bukhari Volume 5, Book 59, Hadith 447)
how enough is that?




[1] .Sunan Abi Dawud Book 19, Hadith 2999 Sahih
[2] Musannaf Abd al-Razzaq, volume 6, pages 54 – 55

Sunday, October 1, 2017

The Religion of Peace and the Dunning-Kruger Effect the Banu Nadir Incident

Introduction:
my apologies for not posting any articles, i decided to divide my work here and post several articles instead of jamming them into one, to keep my posting consistent, however the major article that will gather all my work on section one to TROP will be posted in DTT nevertheless I have decided to gather a number of articles into one large response, this will be repeated 3 more times since TROP dedicated 3 sections with subarticles in them to address DTT, in the near future I shall address TROP more times but with random articles picked by me, I will also accept recommendations to what articles on TROP I have to respond to by audience so long as I didn’t already address it before like pedophilia for example

The Banu Nadir Incident

“The Sira tells us that the Banu Nadir was one of three Jewish tribes at Medina which were expelled or massacred at Muhammad's direction.  In the case of the Nadir, they were robbed of their wealth and evicted.  Some leaders were even murdered.”
the right off the bat we have a statement with no clear evidence or direct sources, although we will come to them later on, still it’s important even as opening statement for your hypothesis you still need to provide evidence when you make arguments like these

“In order to justify this, DTT contends that the Banu Nadir had given information to the Quraish enemy and also attempted to assassinate Muhammad by dropping a rock on him.”
let us proceed through their “refutation” to DTT
“Discover the Truth goes into great detail about the Banu Nadir telling the Quraish "the weak spots of the Muslims in battle... where the Muslims were, where to attack, and where to hide, lay in wait to kill the Muslims" (although this seems to have completely eluded the early Sira and Hadith compilers).

Only two references are provided by DTT from established sources: Abu Dawud and Ibn Ishaq.  Neither one mentions information being sent to the Quraish.  Ishaq makes a reference to an assassination plot (more on that later), but the Sahih hadith verse makes no mention of either a plot or information passed from the Nadir to the Quraish.
“
this is unbelievably deceptive at best, a quick search in Sunnah.com will easily put this claim to rest, here in this entire response by TROP there is literally no citation of DTT sources to confirm this claim, and no direct citation to DTT article regarding Banu nadir at all, in fact, this entire section in response to Banu nadir incident by TROP has literally no source no link no footnote no citation at all, this entire section or “response” can be easily ignored and in fact one of the weakest “responses”  I have ever seen by anyone
let us examine DTT article, he in fact dedicated 3 articles here in response to Banu Nadir
“As already mentioned, the Quraish had sent to the Jews of the Banu Nadir to kill Muhammad (p) or they would themselves be exterminated. The Banu Nadir being already hostile, this message from the Quraish served as an impetus. They invited the Prophet to come with thirty men to meet their religious scholars, promising that if on hearing him, the divines would declare him to be true, they would not hesitate to accept him as a Prophet.”
DTT provide a hyper link here :

I shall leave a link were DTT provide detailed analyses with sources regarding Banu Nadir treachery

what makes it so ironic here is that they accuse DTT of not providing evidence when they were guilty of the same issue in their own opening statement
but since I’m addressing TROP here I will comment and respond to each “response” they had
“A laughable account from al-Waqidi's Kitab al-Maghazi contradicts the rest and has thirty Jews trying to assassinate Muhammad with concealed daggers.  It's one more reason why al-Waqidi is dismissed as a fabricator.  “
citation needed
where is Al-Waqidi account? where are your sources? didn’t you accuse DTT of not providing sources for their arguments, but here this is the second time you make arguments with no proof
“The Banu Nadir were evicted following the Muslim defeat at Uhud, when Muhammad would have been angry and looking for a way to save face with his cult-like band of believers.”
citation needed, this is the third time they make arguments with no proof

“There are two stories of the Banu Nadir incident.  One mentions the alleged assassination attempt and the other does not.  Neither account says that the Banu Nadir attacked Muhammad or assisted the enemy against him.  A Sahih verse from Abu Dawud simply says that the Quraish sent a letter to the Nadir tribe, attempting to recruit them.  “
citation needed, this is the forth time they make arguments with no proof
but nevertheless this laughable at best, We do have an account directly saying Banu nadir attacked the prophet
“Ibn ‘Umar said “The Jews Al Nadir and Quraizah fought with the Apostle of Allaah(ﷺ), so the Apostle of Allaah(ﷺ) expelled Banu Al-Nadir and allowed the Quraizah to stay and favored them. The Quraizah thereafter fought (with the Prophet).” So he killed their men and divided their women, property, and children among Muslims except some of them who associated with the Apostle of Allaah(ﷺ). He gave them protection and later on they embraced Islam. The Apostle of Allaah(ﷺ) expelled all the Jews of Madeenah in Toto, Banu Qainuqa, they were the people of ‘Abd Allaah bin Salam, the Jews of Banu Harith and any of Jews who resided in Madeenah.”[1]
it's important to understand that “fought with” here doesn’t mean that they fought alongside him as allies, no, they fought against him as Arabic text clearly state
"حاربو رسول الله"
meaning they directly fought Allah apostle
if this is not good enough being from Sunan Abu Dawood, we have an account from the second most authentic source after Bukhari, Sahih Muslim
“It has been narrated on the authority of Ibn Umar that the Jews of Banu Nadir and Banu Quraiza fought against the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) who expelled Banu Nadir, and allowed Quraiza to stay on, and granted favour to them until they too fought against him Then he killed their men, and distributed their women, children, and properties among the Muslims, except that some of them had joined the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) who granted them security. They embraced Islam. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) turned out all the Jews of Medina. Banu Qainuqa' (the tribe of 'Abdullah b. Salim) and the Jews of Banu Haritha and every other Jew who was in Medina.”[2]
This is like hitting two birds with one stone, not only we have an authentic account here saying Banu nadir attacked the prophet, but also a mention of Banu qurayza (we will address them later) directly mentioned ass aggressors who attacked the prophet as well

“The hadith clearly shows that the Banu Nadir were caught between the Quraish and Muhammad.  They had lived peacefully in Medina well before he arrived and brought his feud with him.  The Nadir were repeatedly threatened by the Quraish for having given shelter to someone who had declared war on the Quraish.  In one case Muhammad talked them out of defending themselves by assuring them that they were safe:
The infidels of the Quraysh wrote (a letter) to Ibn Ubayy and to those who worshipped idols from al-Aws and al-Khazraj, while the Messenger of Allah...
(They wrote): You gave protection to our companion. We swear by Allah, you should fight him or expel him, or we shall come to you in full force until we kill your fighters and appropriate your women.

When this (news) reached Abdullah ibn Ubayy and those who were worshippers of idols, with him they gathered together to fight the Messenger of Allah.

When this news reached the Messenger of Allah, he visited them and said: "The threat of the Quraysh to you has reached its end. They cannot contrive a plot against you, greater than what you yourselves intended to harm you...
When they heard this from the Prophet, they scattered. This reached the infidels of the Quraysh. The infidels of the Quraysh again wrote (a letter) to the Jews after the battle of Badr: You are men of weapons and fortresses. You should fight our companion or we shall deal with you in a certain way. And nothing will come between us and the anklets of your women. (Abu Dawud 2998)”

finally we actually have a source here
they cited Abu Dawood, but there is only one problem here, this hadith is Not authentic as we have seen when we addressed the masked Arab before, this hadith is regarded as “Sahih in Chain”
I shall give a link to my article addressing what Sahih in Chain really is and how authentic it's going to Issue #7

“These are not the actions of a man of peace, but one who craves power and material possessions.  Once the situation with the Quraish was dealt with, Muhammad turned right around and attacked the Banu Nadir again until they were defeated and expelled.  Nothing is said about treachery - on the part of the Nadir, at least.  Clearly, the Jewish tribe was the one being forced to act in self-defense.  “
what a laughable statement, after what we saw, your only one sources turned out to be nothing but a weak fabrication, a simple look at their source will put any claim they make here to rest, TROP please make a better response next time

“This episode even follows the assassination of several key members of the Jewish tribe by Muhammad, including Ka'b al-Ashraf.  These would surely be called violations of the treaty had they been Muslims, but such is the double standards of Islam.  Needless to say, the Banu Nadir had every reason to doubt the wisdom of allowing Muhammad into the fold.

The supposed plot to assassinate Muhammad appears in the Sira, but not in the Hadith.  In this version of the 'incident', Muhammad goes to ask the Banu Nadir for help with paying blood money to another tribe for a member who was killed by Muslims.  This would have been a strange thing to do if the Nadir had just helped out the Quraish, as occurred in DTT's fictionalized account.”
again citation needed

what follows is the most insane sequence of event fabricated by the authors

“The sequence of events from the Sira is as follows:

    1) Muhammad goes to visit a Jewish tribe to beg for money

    2) Muhammad learns of an assassination plot... from an angel

    3) Muhammad convinces his tribe to attack and evict the Banu Nadir

    4) Muhammad confiscates the wealth of the Banu Nadir tribe 
entirely for himself”

1-citation needed
2-citation needed
3-citation needed
4-a completely fabricated strawman fallacy

regarding sequence 4 did Muhammad really kept the wealth for himself? let’s check their own source

“The properties of Banu al-Nadir were part of what Allah bestowed on His Apostle from what the Muslims has not ridden on horses or camels to get; so they belonged especially to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) who gave his family their annual contribution.
Ibn 'Abdah said: His family (ahlihi) and not the members of his houses (ahl baitihi) ; then applied what remained for horses and weapons in Allah's path.”
Muhammad Even using their own source clearly didn’t keep it for “himself” entirely, lets’ check the other sources
“Allah bestowed (the property of) Banu al-Nadir on His Apostle. I swear by Allah, he did not reserve it for himself, nor did he take it over and above you. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) used to his share for his maintenance annually, or used to take his contribution and give his family their annual contribution (from this property), then take what remained and deal with it as he did with Allah's property.”[3] (Sahih)
how could TROP go beyond and even misrepresent their own source and ignore others

Conclusion:
This is what we expected from TROP? This is their response to DTT? lack of credibility, fabricated sources, misrepresented sources, lack of sources, lack of citations, lack of evidence
emotional and argumentum bias
if this is the start of the first section I wonder what they will fabricate next




[1] https://sunnah.com/abudawud/20/78
[2] https://sunnah.com/muslim/32/73
[3] https://sunnah.com/abudawud/20/36

Sunday, September 17, 2017

Returning to TROP

my apologies for lack of posts, i'm currently working on a new reply to TROP and it will be posted on DTT (discover the truth) not here, so next post make sure you look into DTT for a new reply, it will take long because i'm packing multiple articles into one major reply

in the mean time i noticed a problem with my blog, some articles are not viewing comments and it keeps on loading them, i will try and fix this as soon as possible

this post will be deleted when the reply is posted on DTT

Sunday, September 3, 2017

Fact Checking Ben Shapiro’s “myth of the tiny minority” part-3 (final)

Note:
I decided to make this quick and not dedicate much research and time into this because I really wanted to go back to TROP and finish my refutations on them, the next part on Ben Shapiro will deal with how non Muslims are more likely to support terror than Muslims, however after this article I shall return to TROP
so i apologize for any short argument or refutations or rushed conclusions, but i really wanted to go back to TROP (the religion of peace website)

we stated and discussed how one might be radical and what lead them to radicalization, and we proved it academically that it was not religion that is the driving factor but continuing to our discussion regarding Bangladesh
in an article in 2007 by pew center
“The percentage of Muslims saying that suicide bombing is justified in the defense of Islam has declined dramatically over the past five years in five of eight countries where trends are available. In Lebanon, for example, just 34% of Muslims say suicide bombings in the defense of Islam are often or sometimes justified; in 2002, 74% expressed this view. However, Palestinians stand out for their broad acceptance of suicide bombing. Seven-in-ten-Palestinians say this tactic is at least sometimes justified.”[1]

we are here looking at an article in 2007, so how could ben miss this?
“Among the most striking trends in predominantly Muslim nations is the continuing decline in the number saying that suicide bombing and other forms of violence against civilians are justifiable in the defense of Islam. In Lebanon, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Indonesia, the proportion of Muslims who view suicide bombing and other attacks against civilians as being often or sometimes justified have declined by half or more over the past five years.”[2]

by half or more? that’s quite of a punch in the face of Ben Shapiro argument
now what about FGM? ben, as we know, relied mostly on Pew center for research, but I couldn’t find a single article produced by Pew center regarding FGM in Bangladesh, so this baseless claim is dismissed
I’m going to make short refutations to each country he cites from now on, I won’t go into detail about sharia law and radicalization since I already rested my case for them, and as I said before, any time he mentions sharia law and radicalization (including honor killing) please refer to part 2 and 1

@02:56
“Nigeria, 75.7 million Muslims live there 71% failure sharia law that’s 53.7 million people”
again as discussed before, support of sharia law doesn’t equate being radical, I will not repeat myself, read part-2 and part-3 for more details

@03:05
“Iran, 74.8 million Muslims 83% favored implementation of sharia law as of last year so that’s 62.1 million more radicals”
 again as discussed before, support of sharia law doesn’t equate being radical, I will not repeat myself, read part-2 and part-3 for more details
@03:13
“Turkey has 74.7 million Muslims and 32% this is a moderate Muslim country, probably the most moderate Muslim country 32% said honor killings of Muslim women can actually be justified sometimes so that’2 23.9 million radical Muslims in our moderate ally Turkey”
ok, let’s fact check this, 32%? hold on, I was trying to look up this claim, the closest I got was on Wikipedia.
“Honor killings continue to receive some support in the conservative regions of Turkey. In 2005, A small survey in Diyarbakir in southeastern Turkey found that, when asked the appropriate punishment for a woman who has committed adultery, 37% of respondents said she should be killed”
now hold on, just in Diyarbakir? really ben? that is your method? you took one city in turkey and made it representing all of the countries? let’s see Diyarbakir population in comparison to turkey
Diyarbakir population is roughly 1.3 million minus turkey 74.7 that’s 73.4 that’s about 48100 radicals, Ben, really? that is your methodology? how did you pull this on your fans?
you made about 48100 represent 74 million people?
@02:29 “morocco 32.4 million Muslims life there, just over quarter support sharia law that’s 24.6 million radical Muslim”
again as discussed before, support of sharia law doesn’t equate being radical, I will not repeat myself, read part-2 and part-3 for more details
@03:37
“Iraq 31.1 million Muslims live there 78% say honor killing can sometimes be justified that amount to 24.3 million Muslims radicals”
now that is my home country and is what he says true?
the closest I got was Wikiislam stated that there have been 11 incidents of honor killings in Iraq, they didn’t verify their sources but let’s take them for sake of argument, 11 incidents of honor killing, ONLY 11, and we have ben Shapiro claiming that 78% of Iraqis support honor killing?
I looked into his primary source (pew center) and I couldn’t verify his percentage
but the percentage they offered are not 78%
“Beliefs About Family Honor
The survey asked Muslims whether honor killings are ever justified as punishment for pre- or extra-marital sex.29 In 14 of the 23 countries where the question was asked, at least half say honor killings are never justified when a woman stands accused. Similarly, at least half in 15 of 23 countries say honor killings of accused men are never justified. In only two countries – Afghanistan (60%) and Iraq (60%) – do majorities say honor killings of women are often or sometimes justified,”[3]
in similar statistics done by Pew center
“Pew Research (2013): Large majorities of Muslims favor Sharia.  Among those who do, stoning women for adultery is favored by 89% in Pakistanis, 85% in Afghanistan, 81% in Egypt, 67% in Jordan, ~50% in ‘moderate’ Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand, 58% in Iraq, 44% in Tunisia, 29% in Turkey, and 26% in Russia.”[4]
44% now?
first, it was by Ben 78% then later by pew it was 60% then now its 44%?

now since Ben is bringing Honor killing as a theme for his cited countries let’s now dedicate a small section regarding why Muslims justify honor killings and is it truly based on religion?
I will cite few footnotes from “Is Honor Killing a “Muslim Phenomenon”? Textual Interpretations and Cultural Representations by Recep Doğan”
I’m not going to define Honor Killing assuming we already know what we are talking about, I’m going to assign several sources and arguments that Honor Killing is a cultural rather than Islamic phenomena
I know Ben isn’t claiming that Honor killing is an Islamic thing, but if we understood how it works and where did it came from, his claim that Muslim societies are radical in nature for being Muslim is wrong
honor killing, isn’t an Islamic exclusive practice that being it’s performed over women, it’s also suffered by men, honor killing isn’t exclusive to adultery or fornication at all, honor killing is diverted and wide, basically in a nutshell it’s anything that is done by a member of a family that is considered “dishonored” or “shameful” by member of that family or that community[5], it’s particular a cultural phenomenon[6]

“If a woman refused to comply with the rules set down by her cultural community, her ‘immoral behavior’ contaminated the whole family. If other strategies to make the women comply failed, the only remedy was for her male relatives to kill her in order to protect the family honor. Thus, the murders were culturally sanctioned and designed to uphold a specific moral order”[7]

Honor is often reflected on the purity of man or daughter on their parents, and therefore violence at that case was created to protect the honor of father and mother[8]
According to Peristiany and Safilios-Rothschild, who examine the Greek concept of honor and shame, the Greek concept of philόtimo determines whether any action must be taken against dishonorable conduct or whether such conduct must be responded to with violence in order to restore honor[9]
“Etymologically philόtimo means ‘love of honor’ and is used to identify the character of a Greek who is concerned with his honor and his good name above all and who is willing to safeguard it at any price. Philόtimo acts as the sensitizing catalyst which makes the individual feel shame when one of his own or of his family’s dishonorable actions are exposed and which drives him (her) to the culturally appropriate action.”[10]
therefore honor killing which can be traced back to ancient Greek relies heavily on the cultural aspect of men having the duty of taking the dishonor of the family
this proves that contrary to popular claims, honor killing isn’t exclusive to Islam
In the case of Surjit Athwal, 27, a Sikh British woman who went missing in 1998 on a visit to her in-laws in India, was found to have been murdered in the name of honor. On 19 September 2007, Bachan Athwal, 70, Surjit Athwal’s mother-in-law and Sukhdave Athwal, 43, Surjit’s husband, were jailed for life for ordering the murder of Surjit Athwal, whom they claimed had disgraced their traditional Sikh family by having an affair (Timesonline, 20 September 2007).
The 2002 and 2003 Reports of the United Nations Special Rapporteur on violence against women, and other available data also shows that honor killing is not
restricted to the Muslim communities[11]
For instance, in Upper Egypt, it was found
that Coptic families (Egyptian Christian) were statistically as likely as Muslim families
to commit such crimes[12]
further more read Muslim Phenomenon”? Textual Interpretations and Cultural Representations by Recep Doğan
but for the sake of brevity, we will continue with Ben Shapiro, when ever he mentions honor killings go read that article I cited
@3:48 Ben start with “Afghanistan 24 million people a huge majority 76% support at least occasionally just ones in a while honor killings of women 99% want sharia as law of the land it’s like a Cuban election over there”
again back to sharia law and honor killing, please refer to the article I gave and the previous parts of sharia law

@4:04 “Jordan, smaller Muslim country 6.4 million Muslims right now Hamas is like enjoying 60% approval rating so 3.8 million radical Muslims”
this is actually quite unique, Ben didn’t use Honor killings no sharia law here, but rather just a name of a radical group the original article in pew center state the following
“Among the eight countries with sizeable Muslim populations surveyed by the Pew Global Attitudes Project in 2008, Hamas received a positive rating in only one, Jordan, where 55% voiced a favorable view of the organization while 37% expressed an unfavorable opinion. Still, Jordanian attitudes toward Hamas were less positive than in 2007, when 62% gave the group a favorable rating, and 36% a negative one.”[13]
ironically this date 2009 tells us something about Lebanon, for those who don’t know Lebanon had a war with Israel back in 2006 where Israel launch a number of airstrikes as “response” to Hezbollah killing three Israeli soldiers and capturing two in Zar’it border thousands of civilians and combatants were killing, millions displaced
so we already now see where the support came from
this article was published back in 2009 so it’s already outdated but there is another article from the same year stating the opposite
“Before Israel’s Invasion, Hamas Popularity Was Waning Among Its Neighbors — Even in Gaza Itself”[14]
“Still, Jordanian attitudes toward Hamas were less positive than in 2007, when 62% gave the group a favorable rating, and 36% a negative one.

Hamas’ image also declined in neighboring Egypt. In 2007, Egyptians were split (49% favorable, 49% unfavorable). By 2008, however, only 42% had a favorable opinion, while 50% held a negative view.”[15]
“and between 2005 and 2008, it dropped from 57% to 25% among Muslims in Jordan.”[16]
@04:15 “Palestinian areas we are sending literally hundreds of millions of dollars to the Palestinian areas we are the American tax payers, 4.3 million Muslims live in the Palestinian areas 78% of those had positive or mixed feelings about bin laden 89% support terror attacks on our ally Israel 89% support sharia law, we should give them a state folks”
really ben? really?  “89% support terror attacks on our ally Israel” you do realize these are the Palestinians we are talking about here, the direct victims of Israel terror and aggression
what about ben laden, this is the part that shocked me the most, this 70% support for bin laden is only one part of the article, the article state that the support declined from 2003 to 2011 to 34% why the hell did Ben Shapiro took out that part that state the support for bin laden in Palestine was declined?
also again we are talking about Palestine here, bin laden had sympathizing views of them
“Over time, support for bin Laden has dropped sharply among Muslim publics. Since 2003, the percentage of Muslims voicing confidence in him has declined by 38 points in the Palestinian territories”[17]


In the West

Now Ben Shapiro takes us to the West and how Muslims are viewed there
@04:40 “France 4.7 million Muslims live there, a 2007 poll shows 35% of France Muslims said suicide bombing could be justified its 1.6 million radical Muslims living in France”
Now this has been circulating even in idiotic right wing Donald trump reddit forms, I couldn’t find the source for this claim, I searched all over pew center and couldn't find a single source that verifies the claim
@4:55 “great Britten, 2.8 million Muslims living there 78% want cartoonists of Muhammad legally prosecuted so we are talking about 2.2 million radical Muslims in Great Britain”
again apparently his sources this time are turning out to be Reddit forms and not pew center, but BBC did provide a link to an associated survey from ComRes[18]
the survey asked, “Do you agree or disagree with these statements about cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad ...?”
the answer was “Organisations which publish images of the prophet Muhammad deserve to be attacked” the answer to the survey was 11% agree 85% disagree
so we are actually facing 11%, not 35% that support killing cartoonist

Not so bad Ben and Reddit right wingers, you just took a survey and pumped the numbers high enough for your silly propaganda

@05:50 “how about here in the united states well we have a very moderate Muslim population we do 2.6 million Muslims live here according to Pew research 13 percent says violence against civilians can be justified 19 percent say they were either favorable toward al Qaeda or just didn’t know you know because who knows really? that’s almost 500.000 radical Muslims”
now did he pull that from Reddit again? or did he actually used pew center as claimed?
keep in mind this is Muslims in the US we will come back to them shortly
Now we do actually have a pew and to be fair to him he is correct here, the actual number is 12%, however, 84% say it’s never justified[19]
however Pew center did provide detail context behind this 12 percentage
“The new question finds that among the general public, Americans with a high school degree or less education are somewhat more likely than those with more education to say there are circumstances in which violence against civilians can be justified.”
so this is a matter of ignorance and not religious devotion
let’s read more
“Although the survey question was intended to probe the morality of targeting innocent people to advance a cause – as suicide bombers and other terrorists often do – some respondents may have interpreted it more broadly. For instance, one man in his 80s said that violence against civilians is acceptable “just in self-defense.” And another man in his 50s said: “If I’m walking along and I’m peaceful, and somebody wants to hurt me or my family because of their political, religious, social views, by all means, I think … our law enforcement has every right to put them down.””[20]
Ok, so the justifications behind killing civilians can widely vary from self-defense, and not strictly religious reasons like how Ben would assume
Supporting killing of civilians isn’t always a matter of religion, I could support killing civilians in case of self-defense for example
Conclusion

Ben in this entire weak sorry excuse of a video made the following arguments
1-      if you support sharia law you are radical
2-      you are religiously devoted if you hold radical beliefs
3-      honor killing is a Muslim thing
now he might not have objectively made these statements explicit, but nevertheless, his video screams of these 3 bad arguments that lack any credible scientific research



[1] http://www.pewglobal.org/2007/07/24/a-rising-tide-lifts-mood-in-the-developing-world/
[2] ibid
[3] http://www.pewforum.org/2013/04/30/the-worlds-muslims-religion-politics-society-morality/#_ftn9
[4] http://www.pewforum.org/uploadedFiles/Topics/Religious_Affiliation/Muslim/worlds-muslims-religion-politics-society-full-report.pdf
[5] John George Peristiany, ed., Honour and Shame: The Values of Mediterranean Society, London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1966, p. 11.
[6] Mikael Kurkiala, “Interpreting Honour Killings: The Story of Fadime Sahindal (1975–2002) in the
Swedish Press”, Anthropology Today, Vol. 19, No. 1, February 2003, pp. 6–7, 6.
[7] ibid page.7
[8] Julian A. Pitt-Rivers, “Honour and Social Status”, in Honour and Shame, ed. John George Peristiany,
op. cit., pp. 19–77, 53
[9] John George Peristiany, “Honour and Shame in a Cypriot Highland Village”, in Honour and Shame,
ed. John George Peristiany, op. cit., pp. 171–190, 179; Constantina Safilios-Rothschild, “‘Honour’
Crimes in Contemporary Greece”, The British Journal of Sociology, Vol. 20, 1969, pp. 205–218, 205
[10] Constantina Safilios-Rothschild, Ibid., p. 205.
[11] Honor killings take place in countries including Brazil, Denmark, Egypt, Iraq, Israel and the occupied territories, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco, the Netherlands, Pakistan, Qatar, Sweden,
Syria, Turkey, and Yemen (Report of the United Nations Special Rapporteur on violence against
women (2002), Report of the United Nations Special Rapporteur on violence against women
(2003)). See also Rana Husseini, Murder in the Name of Honor, Oxford, UK: One World Publications,
2009. According to Bettiga-Boukerbout honor killing also took place in Italy. Maria Gabriella
Bettiga-Boukerbout, “‘Crimes of Honour’ in the Italian Penal Code: An Analysis of History and
Reform”, in “Honour” Crimes, eds Lynn Welchman and Sara Hossain, op. cit., pp. 230–244, 235.
[12] CEWLA (Centre for Egyptian Women’s Legal Assistance), “‘Crimes of Honour’ as Violence against
Women in Egypt”, in “Honour” Crimes, eds Lynn Welchman and Sara Hossain, op. cit., pp. 137–159,
155, 159.
[13] http://www.pewglobal.org/2009/01/08/views-toward-hamas/
[14] ibid
[15] ibid
[16] ibid
[17] http://www.pewglobal.org/2011/05/02/osama-bin-laden-largely-discredited-among-muslim-publics-in-recent-years/
[18] http://www.comresglobal.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/BBC-Today-Programme_British-Muslims-Poll_FINAL-Tables_Feb2015.pdf
[19] http://www.pewforum.org/2017/07/26/terrorism-and-concerns-about-extremism/
[20] ibid

Friday, August 11, 2017

Fact Checking Ben Shapiro’s “myth of the tiny minority” part-2

here we shall continue exploring how Muslims are radicalized when we are finished we shall continue refuting ben Shapiro video, please again whenever ben mention sharia law and jihad make sure you read part one and what we will discuss below first to have a preconceived idea of how Muslims have viewed sharia law in history
“The Arab Development Report of 2005 and many other studies of Muslim countries well document the existence of significant poverty and illiteracy. These problems are found in Palestinian refugee camps and in the slums of Algiers, Cairo, Baghdad, and Jakarta as well as in many other non-Muslim developing nations. Poverty and lack of information and skills necessary for social mobility result from deep-seated economic and social problems that can generate broad-based discontent. But are a lack of education and poverty key factors that distinguish those with extremist views from moderates? The data say no.

The politically radicalized, on average, are more educated than moderates: 67% of the politically radicalized have secondary or higher educations (versus 52% of moderates).

Radicals are not more economically disadvantaged: 65% of the politically radicalized say they have average or above-average income, versus 55% of moderates.

Based on the largest and most in-depth study of its kind, Who Speaks for Islam? What a Billion Muslims Really Think presents the remarkable findings of the Gallup Poll of the Muslim World, the first ever data-based analysis of the points of view of more than 90% of the global Muslim community, spanning more than 35 nations.”[1]
“After analyzing survey data representing more than 90% of the global Muslim population, Gallup found that despite widespread anti-American sentiment, only a small minority saw the 9/11 attacks as morally justified. Even more significant, there was no correlation between the level of religiosity and extremism among respondents. Among the 7% of the population that fits in the politically radicalized category -- those who saw the 9/11 attacks as completely justifiable and have an unfavorable view of the United States -- 94% said religion is an important part of their daily lives, compared with 90% among those in the moderate majority. And no significant difference exists between radicals and moderates in mosque attendance.”[2]
“al-Qaeda’s narrative that the actions of the West are monolithic and that they are aimed entirely at expanding Western policies and advancing the West’s economic stance in the world”[3]
radical groups even went far and create video games that depict US soldiers as criminals and add Bush face to them , this is a clear indication of how their mentality work, why did they chose this political message in their video game instead of religious one painting westerners as non Muslim who deserve to die based on their religious affiliation alone, why did they choose American soldiers and inserted political leaders in their face as target for the player to kill?

 “terrorist groups worldwide have made no secret of their attempts to appeal to a younger generation. Various articles are written as early as 2006 discuss how websites created by terrorist groups were meant to draw in “a computer savvy, media-saturated, video game-addicted generation.””[4]
“One early jihadist website featured a video game titled “Quest for Bush,” in which players “fight Americans and proceed to different levels including ‘Jihad Growing Up’ and ‘Americans’ Hell.’”26 The game was released in 2006 by the Global Islamic Media Front, a radical organization with ties to al-Qaeda. According to one article, its “players are prompted to advance through six missions against soldiers who look like Bush, followed by a seventh mission against a character that looks like the president that takes place in a desert-like region. During the game, jihadist songs are played in the background.””[5]

ISIS had its own taste add to this mix they modified a specific version of grand theft auto video game and placed the player as jihadist who fight convoys law officers and American soldiers[6]
The common denominator seems to be that everyone who is radicalized and recruited online feels sympathetic toward that group’s cause, and people who feel there is “something missing” from their lives appear to be more susceptible than others. Radicalization is more widespread where conditions of inequality and political frustration prevail. It often takes root in people who sympathize with the plight of the oppressed and wish to show their solidarity. Radicalized men and women alike often feel despair, humiliation, and outrage over injustice and perceive few options for influencing change.5 One brief moment of intense emotion evoked in them while they watch a YouTube video of innocent victims in Africa or the Middle East can be all it takes to spark their interest.[7]

Mubin Shaikh was ones a radical Muslim had an interview with Vice magazine probably pulls the rug from underneath delusional ben fans who claim ideology is what radicalize these people
“VICE: What makes vulnerable young Muslims prone to being recruited by groups like the Islamic State?
Mubin Shaikh: You're dealing with a social movement. It's beyond a terrorist group. And social movements have grievance narratives. The reason why those grievance narratives resonate is that they are based in fact. It might not be complete fact and it might be their way of interpreting world events, but the reality is that when they say that their grievance is about Western foreign policy, particularly the bombing of Muslim countries—they're not wrong when they say that.

When I was around in 1995, we would watch videotapes [of jihadist propaganda], and then [DVDs] came out and we watched DVDs. But what modern day social networking has done is it's accelerated that exponentially. You're sitting there at a television screen or computer screen, you're watching these images over and over and over—it's traumatizing you. Your eyes will be overwhelmed with visual images of death, destruction, killing, torture, oppression [of Muslims].

The psychological term is "vicarious deprivation." So now, I've not deprived myself individually, but I'm watching these videos about my people being oppressed and suddenly their deprivation and their oppression becomes my deprivation and my oppression, and enter that extremist message, "OK, you see that now? You feel that now? What are you going to do about it?"”
how much clear can it be? foreign policy and on going western bombing and oppression of Muslims in Muslim lands and the on going dehumanization and discrimination that immigrants face are the main cause of radicalism, this is a slap to ben and Ayaan Hirsi ali fans, who claim western intervention don’t cause radicalism, how long can they remain in denial or reality and facts? if they don’t trust any source watch radicals interview, I’ve seen countless of them, you can see the anger over oppression and revenge for injustice glowing in their eyes, and that is what drives them, not this idea of “Oh I picked up the Quran, hmm this verse tell me to go out and kill infidels, will (closes the Quran and pick up AK-47) I’m about to kill some infidels” this is not how it works in real world people

more on so
“But you have the Islamic State themselves and also [critics of Islam] like the New Atheists, quoting passages like Chapter 9, Verse 5 saying, "Kill all the non-believers."
Yeah, I do find it ironic that ISIS and New Atheist types, or anti-Muslim types, quote the same verses in the exact same way. They say, "Islam is about terrorism, and here are the verses to prove it." So I remind them that I also used to believe this stuff. I also used to cherry pick and misquote the verses the same way both of them do it. So in Chapter 9, Verse 5, I used to say the same thing. I said, "Look, the verse says, 'Kill the kuffar, wherever they are.'" Now, in fact, that's not what it says. I mean, it's a portion of a longer verse. And that portion actually says, "Al-Mushrikin," it talks about polytheists. So when the scholar in Syria was trying to de-radicalize me, he said to me, "Tell me, do you normally begin reading chapters from verse 5? Maybe you should start with verse 1. I don't know, it's just a thought.
So Verse 1 talks about "The polytheists... This is in regards to the polytheists with whom you made a treaty and have violated the treaty." If you look at Verse 4, which directly precedes Verse 5, it says, "Not included in these instructions are those polytheists who kept the covenant, the treaty and did not assault you and participate in violence against you. Then keep the term of your contract with them." So it makes it very clear. The content is very specific, it's those people who are actually fighting you unlawfully because you're a Muslim. Because, in that context, the polytheists were fighting the Muslims just because they were Muslim because they believed in one God and they made the call to one God. So looking at that context and, as opposed to what they're doing today, you can see that [the Islamic State] has completely [distorted it]. Now they've applied this verse to include even Jews and Christians. "”[8]


Now I also forgot to add one point, we will use ISIS as a comparison point for radicalism, so whenever Ben cites a country we will first look at their support for ISIS, since ISIS representing the most height point of radicalism.
I think I made my case as to how Muslims and immigrants are being radicalized, again watch Asadullah reply to Sargon of Akkad for more sources
let us now continue with Ben Shapiro video, and if it happens that we come across a single issue other than sharia or radicalization that we didn’t discuss I’ll dedicate a section for it
@02:32 “Bangladesh not a country you tend to think of as Muslim but there are 149 million Muslims living there, as of 2013 just over quarter said or targeting of civilians is some times justified another 82% want sharia to be the official law and two-thirds say honor killings of women can sometimes be justified, Honor killing! Two-thirds that are 129.9 million radicals”
Constitution[9]
now let us focus on two parts, I will ignore the part related to sharia law because as I explained before in part 1 of my response, you can’t call someone radical for supporting sharia(not to mention Bangladesh (38%) say sharia should be open to multiple interpretations.[10]), so let’s see regarding support for targeting civilians, now I was searching for the claim that over quarter support targeting civilians, I could not find a single pew study that makes that specific statement, the closest we have is a Gallup poll that stated 41 percent of Bangladesh people support intentionally targeting civilians, that is about 60 million people, but we shall look at the reason behind such figure, and is it because Islam?
““Unofficially, the number of Bangladeshis going to fight in Syria and Iraq is up to 30. Bangladesh is becoming a transit route to Isis from India. We also have growing numbers of Bangladeshi diaspora guys coming here from Britain to recruit,” the intelligence specialist said.

Fertile ground awaits the foreign visitors. “There are very strong pockets of fundamentalism throughout Bangladesh,” said the director of an NGO specializing in security issues. “Jamaat-e-Islami [JEI] has a lot of grassroots support.””[11]
so this who are poor and ill educated to be radicalized as we explained before
““There are very large numbers of young men who don’t have a job or any prospects. Their only experience is the madrassa [religious school] and the mosque. In rural areas, they don’t even have access to social media.

“These people want to be used, so they are very easily manipulated. When Bengalis from the UK come in, they are very easy to lead. The jihadi recruiters are coming from London, from Germany, from the US. They are educated, they have been to university, so they are more sophisticated,” the director said.

“The lack of government services and political exclusion [JEI has been barred from standing in national elections] has created space for the fundamentalists. They tell people: come to the mosque, follow religious rules, bring your friends. It is all softly, softly … These kids will do whatever they’re told. Nobody asks any questions of religious leaders. If the leaders say ‘do it’, they do it.””[12]
JSD (Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal) can also be linked to radicalism, as it proved a new era of radicalism Sreerada Datta claims “disillusioned with ‘abandoning’of its leftist ideologies soon after the liberation of Bangladesh a large group of young cadres broke from Awami league to take up more radical stance[13]
“Islamist terrorism is on the rise in Bangladesh, fueled by militant groups taking advantage of the country’s version of the “culture wars.” With tens of thousands of Islamists angered by what they see as a secular war on Islam and with al-Qa`ida and the Islamic State maneuvering to exploit the ferment, the threat picture is darkening, especially because Bangladesh’s government has not acknowledged the presence of transnational groups.”[14]
“Islam-based political and social demands are not a new phenomenon in Bangladesh. One of the earliest demands of the “Muslim Bengal” was a desire for a separate treatment from the Hindus”[15]
we will learn later on that depression and anxiety caused by unfair systems leads to radicalism
“The sense of well-being can be based on questions of materialistic, cultural or social status. Such differences are accepted as normal and can hardly be cause for such reaction. It is when these differences are seen as unjust and unfair, that they begin to have a psychological impact on a person. This relative depression is created when a person sees that the rights he has enjoyed in the past are shrinking or that others are enjoying more advantages than him. Such feelings are observed in the Muslim communities in Europe, even among the second or third generation Muslim residents there. The main reason behind this is the lack of integration. They feel that they and their community are excluded from the social structure and deprived by the system. The existing conditions prompt such feelings within them.”[16]
“I believe that this relative depression is one of the causes behind a large section of the youth from the new middle class in Bangladesh, who are now involved in militancy. This depression cannot be understood simply from the standpoint of those afflicted by depression. One must take into consideration whether an individual considers the prevailing system around him as unjust. His identity is an important factor here. How does he identify himself as an individual? Does he consider himself excluded from society? The acute sense of exclusion, the extent of this feeling of discrimination and the anger generated from these feelings, create the possibility of radicalization. ‘Possibility’ is a key word here because it is not proven beyond question that this feeling is enough to lead to radicalisation.”[17]
Foreign policies also play critical rule in radicalization
“Those who point to political reasons behind the radicalization of youth in Europe, maintain that anger and discontent are important issues. We can also term this as a socio-psychological explanation, where frustration creates an aggressive mindset or where humiliation sparks feelings of vengeance, opening the way to radicalisation. In this regard, the foreign policies of European countries play a considerable role. The general feeling of Muslims in Europe is that if Muslims in the Middle East or elsewhere are oppressed, this is tantamount to oppression on them too. Surveys run in Europe, particularly in Britain, support this contention. This cannot be restricted to Europe alone. Muslim communities all over the world strongly share similar sentiments.

The foreign policies of the US and other countries of the West, the ‘war on terror’ launched by George W Bush and Tony Blair, and the various wars over the past decade and a half, are blatant proof of double standards of the western countries and the wrongful laws they have propagated.
The anger is not only directed towards the western powers. A section of society is drawn towards extremism when they feel the government of a particular country supports such policies, or when the scope to oppose such policies is restricted, or if it is felt that those in power are backed by such powers, or that not enough protest is being generated within the society. They then feel justified in waging war against the West. They consider these positive points for radicalisation.

Even regional events can have an influence on individuals and the Kashmir crisis is an example in this regard. Politics in one’s own country can also lead to political anger and frustration. It is nothing new for extremism to erupt in an outburst of anger when civil rights are cramped.”[18]
continuing
“Generally speaking, there are two important factors that drive a person to violence. Firstly, a crisis or incident in one’s personal life can act as a catalyst. The incident does not even have to take place in the person’s own life. It can take in the family, in someone else’s life, or in society as a whole, and also work as a catalyst. Secondly, there is the matter of social network.

Marc Sageman's book ‘Understanding Terror Networks’ published in 2004, Quintan Wiktorowicz’s 2005 research book ‘Radical Islam Rising: Extremism in the West’, Paul Gill’s research work ‘Suicide Bomber Pathways Among Islamic Militants’ published in 2008, and plenty of other such research, indicate that groups or communities, social relations, linkages and bonds, play an extremely important role in an individual’s participation in violence. It is clear from such research that just as radicalisation takes place through recruitment drives of terrorist organizations, it is also often self-inspired, among friends and family members.
There are all indications of a network among the militants in Bangladesh, killed or missing over the past few weeks. It is important to interrogate those in custody to find out whether they were inspired by each other to join such radical activities, or whether they formed social bonds only after joining militant organizations like IS. We have seen examples elsewhere of radicalisation among groups of friends.

The six Bangladeshi-origin young men in Britain who joined ISIS in Syria would live together in Portsmouth. The ‘Al-Britain Brigade Bangladeshi Bad Boys’, were not known for participation in politics or for religious practice. Masud Chowdhury (31), Mohammed Mehdi Hasan (19), Mamunur Mohammed Rashid (24), Mohammed Hamidur Rahman (25), and Asaduzzaman (25), inspired by another friend of theirs, Ifterkhar Zaman, left Britain to join the war in Syria in October 2013. When Masud Chowdhury, the father of two, returned home, he was arrested and given a four-year prison sentence in December 2014. The rest lost their lives in Syria. They were all friends. Ifterkhar Zaman and Asaduzzaman were related. Peer pressure in a group instigates similar behavior. If not, a member could break away”[19]
according to a conducted article done by Ambassador Tariq Karim & Dr. Madhumita Srivastava Balaji titled “Rising Trend of Religious Radicalization in Bangladesh,” they state the following
“Bengalis in the eastern province of undivided Pakistan constituted well over half of Pakistan’s total population as aggregated in all its five provinces, they were subjected to extreme racial and cultural subjugation and economic exploitation and deprivation. The long simmering resentment of the Bengali community finally acquired political traction when they were politically disenfranchised following the only free national elections held in December 1970 that resulted in Bengalis winning the majority in the National Assembly but being prevented from forming the national government. The chain of events following this eventually vented explicitly in the Declaration of Independence in 1971. During the Liberation War, the Bengalis were subject to grisly and inhuman torture. Bangladesh’s war of Independence has been the genesis of this Secular-Islamic divide that still impacts the country’s politics. The secular and democratic politics of the Awami League were fiercely opposed by the Jamaat-e-Islami, the foremost religious political movement that favored a unified, and undivided Islamic Pakistan.”[20]
so apparently the independence war happened prior to 1970 have affected the population moral views, driving them into more religious violence and radicalism, as we can see, these are political reasons rather than Islamic motivations, it was not Islam that caused these bangles to have an extreme view and more radical tendencies
“Sustained economic discrimination further contributed significantly to an early consciousness of a separate and secular identity in the then East Pakistan. Further on, Jinnah’s Declaration in Dhaka of Urdu being the only state language of Pakistan made matters worse for the regionally active Bengalis of this region”[21]
if we read further Ambassador Tariq Karim & Dr. Madhumita Srivastava Balaji will provide a section dedicated to explaining by their own admission why radicalization happened in Bangladesh
“Major causes for the growth of radicalization in the Bangladeshi society were the absence of good governance, lack of social justice, the absence of rule of law, antagonistic relations between leading political parties bordering on extreme hostility, politically engineered violence and politics of vendetta. The current wave of global pan-Islamic resurgence has also influenced a significant section of Bangladeshi Muslims as manifested in the widening network of deeply radicalized religious entities well beyond the existing Jama’at-e-Islami network that it inherited at the time of independence.”[22]

End of Part 2



[1] http://www.gallup.com/poll/104941/what-makes-radical.aspx
[2] http://www.gallup.com/poll/28678/Framing-War-Terror.aspx?g_source=position8&g_medium=related&g_campaign=tiles
[3] Long and Wilner, “Delegitimizing al-Qaida.”
[4] Bruce Hoffman, “The Use of the Internet by Islamic Extremists,” Testimony before the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, May 4, 2006, RAND, www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/testimonies/2006/RAND_CT262-1.pdf.
[5] CNN, “Web Video Game Aim: ‘Kill’ Bush Characters,” CNN World News, Sept. 18, 2006, www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/09/18/bush.game/index.html.
[6] INQUISITR, “ISIS Uses ‘Grand Theft Auto’ Mock Up to Recruit and Boost Morale,” Sept. 19, 2014, www.inquisitr.com/1486558/isis-uses-grand-theft-auto-mock-up-to-recruit-and-boost-morale/.
[7] Gabriel Weimann, “Social Media’s Appeal to Terrorists,” Insite Blog on Terrorism and Extremism, Oct, 3, 2014, http://news.siteintelgroup.com/blog/index.php/entry/295-social-media’s-appeal-to-terrorists.
[8] ibid
[9] http://bdlaws.minlaw.gov.bd/pdf_part.php?id=367
[10] http://www.pewforum.org/2013/04/30/the-worlds-muslims-religion-politics-society-beliefs-about-sharia/
[11] https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/sep/16/british-jihadis-bangladesh-extremism-uk-isis-sheikh-hasina
[12] ibid
[13] Sreerada Datta political violence in bengladash page.433
[14] https://ctc.usma.edu/posts/how-bangladesh-became-fertile-ground-for-al-qaida-and-the-islamic-state
[15] I. P. Khosla, “Bangladesh-India Relationship”, South Asia Journal, July–
September 2006 (13), 36.
[16] http://en.prothom-alo.com/opinion/news/115833/Reasons-behind-radicalisation
[17] ibid
[18] ibid
[19] ibid
[20] Ambassador Tariq Karim & Dr. Madhumita Srivastava Balaji “Rising Trend of Religious Radicalization in Bangladesh” page.5
[21] ibid
[22] ibid