From Madrassa to Martyr. Can we stop it?

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How did the Middle Eastern world become a hotbed for terrorists? It is not an easy answer. Just having a group of people upset at the way things are is not enough to push a person into being a terrorist. It is not the rifle that gives a fighter power. It is the mind. The operators of the madrassa know this to be true.

The madrassa is one of the reasons why we have so many willing to die. A madrassa is an Islamic school. A type of seminary for guerillas. Children are recruited at a young age from economically poor areas. They promise the parents that their children will receive food and education in exchange for attending their madrassa. This sounds like a pretty good deal to a parent until the child comes home brainwashed.

They are taught that the Infidels must die and that to die a martyr is a wonderful thing. While our children are learning their ABC's, the children in the madrassa are learning martyrdom songs and singing the praises of other martyrs.

They are taught the word of the prophet Mohammed AND also the joys of killing or being killed for Islam. These madrassas are adding fuel to a steadily burning fire in the middle east.

Those who emerge from the madrassa are lethal and will easily kill or be killed for his creator. He is now killing for God/Allah. Instead of killing an innocent, he is killing a person who is morally corrupt and who God would punish anyway.

This has everything to do with an agenda created by those who fund the madrassa. I have stated before that one should follow the money to find the truth.

The easiest way to stop the flood if suicide bombers and insurgents is to start funding our own madrassas, while closing down the militant ones. Parents will be more than happy to send their children to a place where they do not have to worry about whether their children will live to be grandparents.

It is so hard to find peace when so many minds have been poisoned. In the end, we all want the same thing as rational human beings...life, liberty and pursuit of happiness, but also a better life for our children.

I am interested in hearing other constructive points of view. We should try moving towards a solution instead of rehashing the past. Because once the thought is out there for everyone to see that peace is possible, only then can we move forward and get along.

We have all had our own madrassa, but the fact that we are here in this forum means that we have the ability to see past "what we are told" and get a glimpse of truth. Believe it or not, we are all in this together.

An interesting post

I think the key statements in your discussion include:

"Children are recruited at a young age from economically poor areas. They promise the parents that their children will receive food and education in exchange for attending their madrassa."

The above suggests that if you are poor and desperate, then you (as a parent) will do whatever it takes to ensure your child survives, at least for that day. With poverty and destitution, what have you got to look forwad to? A "brighter" tomorrow - or the same, hard slog?? Further, if you are poor, what have you to lose (Marx would have said "Your chains" I guess). So, as a developed world, surely we need to provide what support we can to try to help those people have a better future, give them hope and a chance, as you suggest, to enable:

"Parents ....... to send their children to a place where they do not have to worry about whether their children will live to be grandparents. "


"In the end, we all want the same thing as rational human beings...life, liberty and pursuit of happiness, but also a better life for our children. "

Maslow's Heirarchical Needs would agree with these - as you say, we all have common desires, irrespective of our race, colour or creed. Put simply, "Folks is folks".

However, Maslow says our first requiremnt is "Physiological Needs" - without those being in place, we are trapped and, I suspect, when we are trapped, we will do whatever it takes to escape - if this involves sending our children to a madrassa, then so be it.

So, I suggest that the first thing we (as a developed world) need to do is to try to help give those people hope and opportunity through concrete and pragmatic help - we feed them, give them shelter, etc - address their physiological needs.

What we tend to do, though, is treat them as the enemy and "blow them up" - and give reasons for moe militants to be trained in those madrassas. A vicious circle if ever there was one IMO.

Originally posted by AlfredENewman

However, Maslow says our first requiremnt is "Physiological Needs" - without those being in place, we are trapped and, I suspect, when we are trapped, we will do whatever it takes to escape - if this involves sending our children to a madrassa, then so be it.

So, I suggest that the first thing we (as a developed world) need to do is to try to help give those people hope and opportunity through concrete and pragmatic help - we feed them, give them shelter, etc - address their physiological needs.

This is exactly a stated that we should open up our own madrassas in these countries after we shut the others down. We could win "hearts and minds" a lot easier when we are feeding their children in much the same way that the militants would. The people in those regions would be far less hostile when their children have full stomachs and roofs over their heads.

You must have more than just food and shelter when stemming violence. We learned that in 92.

People are starving. We sent food. Militants captured food. We sent in troops to protect food. Militants attacked troops which then escalated into fulll blown firefights in which innocents were injured. The militants told the people that the UN was to blame. People now fight the UN. UN goes home. People are still starving. Not so smooth. Aid alone will never solve the problem.

A western funded madrassa would let the people know we are there to stay help.