"Death to the Non-Believer"

Richard Koenigsberg

The term “Islam” means submission and “Moslem” means one who submits—to the will of Allah. In the Moslem religion, the purpose of human existence is to worship Allah. In one of his interviews, Bin Laden declared, “Allah created us for the purpose of worshipping him.” Like other radical Islamists, Bin Laden was deeply disturbed by the thought that some did not worship Allah. An infidel was a human being who refused to submit to the will of Allah.

The purpose of terroristic acts of violence may be understood as actions compelling people to submit; punishing non-believers who do not to bow down to the will of Allah. Bin Laden claimed Allah “ordered us” to make holy wars to fight to see to it that “His word is the uppermost and the words of unbelievers the lowermost.” Acts of terroristic violence are undertaken in the name of Allah--making manifest God’s will.

     Bin Laden like Hitler was a “true believer.” A fundamental characteristic of true believers is the conviction that everyone must worship the idea or entity that the believer worships. The true believer becomes enraged contemplating the idea that others do not worship the God or ideology or nation that he or she worships.

Everyone should submit to the God or ideology or nation to which he has submitted. It is not enough that the true believer worship and submit. He insists that everyone must worship and submit to the entity to which he worships and submits.

Disturbed by the existence of those who do not worship as he worships, true believers seek to punish those who do not bow down to his idol. Violence is the means of punishing the non-believer, but also compelling non-believers to submit to the God or nation he idealizes and to which he has submitted.

The last words of the terrorists as the airplane plunged into the ground in Pennsylvania were Allahu Akbar, “God is great.” The greatness of God was made manifest by virtue of the terrorists’ capacity to die for Allah and to punish non-believers and persuade them—by virtue of Allah's power to destroy—of the greatness of their God.

The terrorists imagined they were carrying out God’s will by killing infidels who refused to submit to Allah. As they were dying for Allah, non-believers would join them in death.

Suicide bombers killed those in the World Trade Center according to their believe that somehow this act would persuade others of the power of Allah, perhaps even convert them. American would acknowledge that Allah was all-powerful.

Citing the Quran, Bin Laden stated that one must “fight for the cause of Allah” and “kill pagans wherever they are found.” When a believer meets a non-believer, he must “smite the neck and fight those who do not believe in Allah.” Bin Laden claimed that “God ordered us to kill, fight and to carry out jihad.”

The terrorist imagined he was the vehicle of Allah; God will "punish infidels by your hands.” Bin Laden, in short, imagined that the will of God was acting through the behavior of the terrorist. When a terrorist killed a non-believer, the mind. body, and spirit of the terrorist contained the will of God.

Bin Laden stated that jihad revolved around rousing believers and “restraining the fury of non-believers.” Why this term “fury?” Non-believers might conceivable be thougt ot as disinterested bystanders who do not impact on one's own belief.

 I hypothesize, however, that the true believer does not allow for the possibility of disinterested non-belief. One either believes in Allah or one is an infidel. The definition of an infidel might be: one who actively opposes my ideology. Either you our ideology or against it.

Hitler felt Jews were furious in their opposition to Germany and German ideas (even though they were not).  He could not conceive of neutrality. Anyone who did not believe passionately in Nazi ideology (as he did) was imagined to be angrily opposed to this ideology. What is the psychology of the true believer’s conception of neutrality as violent disagreement? I hypothesize the true believer projects his own disbelief or doubt into the non-believer. The infidel symbolizes a question-mark in the mind of the believer.

Perhaps the object the believer worships is not actually omnipotent. Perhaps his devotion and sacrifices have been in vain. The idea of the infidel or non-believer symbolizes the idea that one’s ideology is not true; that one’s devotion is meaningless or futile. The true believer engages in acts of violence to kill off this unpleasant or disturbing thought. He seeks to kill off or destroy doubt by killing or killing off people—conceived as non-believers—who symbolize the unconscious doubt of the believer.

Bin Laden states that punishing infidels serves to “heal the hearts of the believers.” The hearts of believers are healed when infidels are punished because punishment demonstrates that it is not possible to evade the will of Allah. The existence of non-believers suggests that one’s own devotion has been misguided, perhaps even in vain. People who seek to evade the will of Allah must be punished. Punishment of non-believers is the destruction of projected doubt.