FAHD AL-FARRAJ

This is the pitch that has brought volunteers to the Al-Qaeda terrorist banner throughout the Muslim world. “Polytheists” refer to Christians who because of the concept of the Trinity are believed by Muslims to be breaking the Commandment to worship only one God. “Crusaders” refers to Christians. Christians and Jews are not the only religions who many Muslims regard as the enemy of Islam. In the final pitch the listener is given the choice between victory or martyrdom. The latter does not have quite the same meaning for the Muslim as for most of the rest of the world. A Muslim who dies fighting for Islam, the religion teaches, goes directly to Heaven bypassing all judgment. He gets the best treatment in heaven including the services of 72 virgins. The notion seems ludicrous to most of us today, but in the Crusader era, several Popes essentially claimed the same thing for Christians who died fighting for the faith in the Crusades—the virgins were only a modern Muslim thing.

This is the pitch that has brought volunteers to the Al-Qaeda terrorist banner throughout the Muslim world. “Polytheists” refer to Christians who because of the concept of the Trinity are believed by Muslims to be breaking the Commandment to worship only one God. “Crusaders” refers to Christians. Christians and Jews are not the only religions who many Muslims regard as the enemy of Islam. In the final pitch the listener is given the choice between victory or martyrdom. The latter does not have quite the same meaning for the Muslim as for most of the rest of the world. A Muslim who dies fighting for Islam, the religion teaches, goes directly to Heaven bypassing all judgment. He gets the best treatment in heaven including the services of 72 virgins. The notion seems ludicrous to most of us today, but in the Crusader era, several Popes essentially claimed the same thing for Christians who died fighting for the faith in the Crusades—the virgins were only a modern Muslim thing.