As I learned more about my faith, I began to look deeply at the profiles of violent extremists. The oft-repeated question of ‘why Muslims kill’ forced me to look beyond the push and pull drivers of violent extremism.
I had to humanize the boys and girls—who would become adult terrorists—to respond to the ‘why.’
At work, I continued to remind other analysts and operators that most Muslims are not delusional, disturbed, depressed or distracted—and even Muslims who choose violence believe they are rational. I had learned from world-recognized terrorism scholar and mentor Dr. Jerrold Postthat the “other” can have attributes like empathy, compassion, concern, and grace for the people they are fighting for, not the people they are fighting against.
I learned from anthropologist Scott Atran that talking to terrorists proved a useful strategy to understanding how seemingly normal, healthy, and rational people can become irrational in their support for violence.
I knew Islam to be a simple, rational and practical faith, and not a complex set of beliefs and principles that reserved Paradise for the chosen few. And extremists dismissed a history of compassion and mercy preached by the prophets and messengers sent by God.
In my search for the truth, I would listen to saints and study the teachings of Islam because I was looking for an explanation for extremists’ and right-wing paramilitary groups’ use of violence. In time, I would learn to distinguish between legitimate and illegitimate reasons for taking up arms, learning from guerrilla warfare reporters like Jon Lee Anderson. Until I was ready to stand before a small or large audience and give lectures on Muslim responses to violence: telling stories with statistical proof that the majority of Muslims believe in and live by the Prophet’s earlier hadith, or oral tradition.
Those who are merciful will be shown mercy by the Most Merciful. Be merciful to those on the earth and the One above the heavens will have mercy upon you.”
To crush fanaticism, I preached what I believed to be true: that a lived Islam is the answer to violent extremism and today’s increasing far right-wing movement. Earlier messengers taught me that a practice of self-awareness, self-devotion and a selflessness that honors God and the country I call home is founded on the principle of mercy—the attribute that enables people to replace bigotry with benevolence, prejudice with patience, and chauvinism with consent.
If there’s anything I’ve learned from my counter-terrorism work, it is that extremism of any kind expunges clarity, charity, and a compassionate citizenry.