By Ariel Monticure
When Westernized Muslim teenage girls cut off family ties to become brides of ISIS jihadists, their actions can’t be summed up to teenagers over-romanticizing danger and seeking adventure.
What is appealing about giving up the freedom to wear cute clothes, Instagram/tweet/Facebook friends, and gossip about boy drama to a 15-year-old girl? What is appealing enough that pulls a high school sophomore away from her loving compassionate parents to go live alone in another country, in poor conditions, under stringent rules?
It’s contradicting to the nature of pubescent youths.
Yet three British, Muslim, teenage girls have successfully landed in Syria to join forces with ISIS. Kadiza Sultana, 16; Shamima Begum, 15; and Amira Abase, 15 weren’t tantalized by ISIS recruiters’ promises of free housing, food and clothing to give up the comfort of the housing, food, and clothing their parents provided them. Instead these girls were on a quest to define themselves.
All teenagers have moments of vulnerability and look to others for affirmation, regardless of their social status. Within periods of uncertainty, teenagers cling to what they know about themselves and work on defining those attributes. For some high schoolers, like these three Britons, that means further exploring their pre-existing faith.
Between school, socializing, and extracurricular activities Sultana, Begum, and Abase most likely didn’t have time to fully study Islam’s intricate writings, but they had a desire to know more. They were misled.
According to “The Atlantic,” the Islamic State adheres to the religious texts of Islam in its entirety, including horrific and sickening acts of violence that were written during a time of war. Most modern Muslims acknowledge the historical context of the violent laws and disregard the writings. ISIS however does not. They consider all religious texts of Islam as Allah’s laws and will quickly persecute anyone who follows man-made laws over Allah’s.
Sultana, Begum and Abase found answers to their questions on the Internet. The New York Times suggests that blogs and Twitter accounts such as Aqsa Mahmood’s, a top recruiter of British young girls, may have served as inspiration for the Briton girls to follow the path to imminent death in the name of Allah.
Mahmood’s most recent blog posts reassure girls to feel guiltless and confident in their decision to leave their families, suggesting there is no importance to blood ties.
“You will not find any people who believe in Allaah and the Last Day, making friendship with and loving those who oppose Allaah and His Messenger, even though they were their fathers or their sons or their brothers or their people,” Mahmood said in a post.
Beautiful, intelligent, well-liked girls don’t give up all that they know for adventure. They’re deceived into thinking they’re following a higher calling, but it is a perverted truth.
