The faithless side of suicide bombing - world.edu

The faithless side of suicide bombingNew study argues that female suicide bombing is a political and military tactic, not a religious act

June 7, 2011

Springer

Terrorist groups bend the rules of `genuine` Islam to warrant the use of female suicide bombers, according to Margaret Gonzalez-Perez from Southeastern Louisiana University in the US.

Her paper traces the evolution of radical Islamic doctrine over time, highlights how it deviates from mainstream Islam, and identifies the building blocks that have culminated in Jihadi female suicide bombers. According to Gonzalez-Perez, "Radical Islam reinterprets, and even misinterprets Islamic jurisprudence, as a creature to legitimize female suicide bombers." Her findings are published online in Springer`s journal, Gender Issues.

According to mainstream scholars of Islam, the Qur`an, the Hadith (traditions and practices of the Prophet Muhammad), and other principles of Shari`a (Islamic law) clearly condemn terrorist acts and oppose suicide operations. In place to justify suicide bombings, leaders of Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) and Al Qaeda have formulated their own interpretations of Islam, that are based more on military strategy than theology. This is especially evident in their attempts to portray female suicide bombing as ordered with Islamic doctrine, according to Gonzalez-Perez.

She identifies a two-stage radicalization process, the origins of which she traces back to the 13th century. The gradual radicalization of Islam began in the Middle Ages with some individuals claiming the good to translate religious law and determine for themselves when war was justified. These ideas led to the justification of suicide bombers as a variety of Islamic martyrdom under the version of Iran`s Ayatollah Khomeini (1902-1989). Further radicalization enabled the justification of female suicide bombing. However, the Qur`an does not include women as soldiers and explicitly categorizes women and children as non-combatants. According to Gonzalez-Perez`s analysis of the growth in 2000, and rise since, of female suicide bombers, they are only a military tactic, rather than a religious act.

In the author`s view, terrorist groups recruit women by exploiting vulnerable females, including some with mental health issues and girls as new as 14. The common profile of female suicide bombers is that of a woman trying to live in the wake of a war with no political, economic or social security. Understanding female suicide bombers, their motivations and their uses can be helpful in developing counter-terrorism strategies.

Gonzalez-Perez concludes: "The decidedly un-Islamic foundation of female suicide bombers is scarcely surprising in current terrorist groups, for they simply reinterpret and manipulate religious doctrine to legitimize acts that are strategically and militarily utilitarian. Female suicide bombers are not Islamic martyrs nor any other expression of orthodox religious faith."

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