Dr. Mohammed T. Al-Rasheed, comments@d-corner.com
 THERE are many studies being done in the West to profile your average Al-Qaeda member. The reasonably scientific ones come to the same conclusions: Your friendly jihadist is of a middle class provenance, is well off financially, and probably educated in the West.
| So much for the "poverty breeds terrorism" idea... |
In general terms, these conclusions are accurate enough. But I thought I might wade into this exercise with my very unscientific analysis that takes its input from reality seen and experience lived through. If the term "educated" means anyone who went to university, language school, or even managed to get a student visa to study in the West, then we have no argument. Education, however, means the ability to see, understand, and discuss. ... To understand these "educated" lovers of humanity, you have to call things by their real names without reference to clichés. They are, for all intents and purposes, elitists, much as Hitler's youth were.
| And they're indoctrinated in much the same way... |
Like the Nazis, they believe in their own superiority of moral and racial origins.
| We've remarked on that a time or two here... |
Whether Islam or Aryan purity is used to canvass this thought is immaterial since the ensuing behavior is the same. Basically, I am good you are bad and there is no place for us both on earth, is the governing rule. I don't know how much education you need to reach this point nor am I aware of any institution in the West that has this item on its curricula.
| Madrassahs, on the other hand, are a different story. So are mosques. So are certain diwans... |
As for the middle class part, I beg to differ -again, on definition and not substance. These people do not belong to middle anything. They are cultists. Your average middle class youth in Jeddah, for example, is busy polishing his car and finding accessories for his state of the art bike. On the other hand, the "educated" youths belong to a group of people who made their money simply because they belong to this cult and there are jobs open to them alone. In Biblical terms they resemble the Essenes with a twist. The twist is an aggressive attitude that takes the shape of a gun and a bomb.
| There are multiple definitions of "middle class", the main ones being economic and social. The economic middle class is of middle income, usually holding white collar or government jobs. The social middle class is neither of the aristocracy nor of the plebs, and is usually thought of as holding "middle of the road" opinions. I think the implication of the studies is that the jihadi class is economically comfortable on the one hand, not of the princely class nor having to labor overly hard for a living on the other — and that the opinions they hold are broadly reflective of the opinions of their peers. |
For my Muslim readers I will give an example of such a cult that is closer to home. The Carmathians of tenth century Arabia were an exact replica of our "educated" youth of today. They managed to sack Makkah, Karbala, and reached as far north as Damascus, all in the name of purity and "cleansing" the earth of the vile "unbelievers." Sure enough, your average Carmathian was more "educated" than the rest of the population, but more deadly.
| The Carmathians, big in the 9th and 10th centuries, were rather like the Hashishim. I believe the Druze are the latter day remnants, though I understand the sect still lives in Zanzibar. |
There is nothing more dangerous to a nation's health than its semi-educated youth.
| ... as in "a little knowledge is a dangerous thing." |
Worse, it is those who think they know better, or more than the experts, who are the real disease. They take short cuts and cannot be reasoned with. A hallmark of education is patience with those who disagree with you. The semi-educated turn to the sword and chop off heads to cure a headache. Another hallmark of real education is a healthy sense of humor. Try finding that amongst your "educated, middle class" morons. |