Curbing

May God rest the souls of Jack Armstrong and Jack Hensley, the two Americans recently beheaded by Zarqawi, the slave of Satan.

May give God give succor to the families of the two men.

What constitutes the proper response to such violence? My first response was that Abd us-Shaytan and his men need to be curbed – in both senses of the word. However, the perennial question is does violence stop violence? For a very brief moment, I thought perhaps I was becoming like them, they have taken something from me – my religion – and I am powerless to get it back; my next response is violence. Then I thought that my faith is between me and God, and I know my religion does not demand nor incite violence. My religion is a trust from God, and a trial for myself. These harâmzâde (whores’ sons) are not killing for anything that is theirs – not religion, not land. They use the language of religion in a land that is not theirs to excuse their killing. They kill to kill. In this instance violence does deserve more violence. Curb them.

They want the honor of Muslim women preserved, but these animals have no respect for women. Had they any, they would remember the wives, mothers, sisters, daughters of the men they slaughter.

Also, please note Abd us-Shaytan calls his “army” the “army of tawhid (oneness of God).” Tawhid, as an abstract concept, generally does not get used in Muslim discourse since it refers to a conception of God. There are two notable exceptions, the conservative movement that swept Muslim Spain just prior to the Reconquista – the group is popularly known as the Almohads, from the Arabic al-Muwahid (those who profess Tawhid) and the Wahhabis who like to call themselves Muwahidun. I don’t think it’s an accident Abd us-Shaytan is using this name, and we need to continue to ask, where are they getting their money from?