Download The Education of a Holy Warrior

INSIDE JIHAD U.
The Education of a Holy Warrior
Pakistani religious
religious school
In a Pakistani
schoolcalled
calledthe
the Haqqania
Haqqania madrasa,
madrasa, Osama bin Laden is a hero, the Taliban's
famous alums
alums and
and the
the next
next generation
generation of
of mujahedeen
mujahedeen is
is being
being militantly
militantly groomed.
leaders are famous
By JEFFREY GOLDBERG -- New
June 25,
25, 2000
New York
York Times,
Times, June
North-West Frontier
Frontier Province
Province of Pakistan, alongside the
A bout two hours east of the Khyber Pass, in the North-West
sits a school
school called
madrasa is
is aa Muslim
Muslim religious
religious
Grand Trunk Road, sits
called the
the Haqqania madrasa. A madrasa
Haqqania is
is one
one of
of the
the bigger
bigger madrasas
madrasas in
in Pakistan:
Pakistan: its
its mosques and classrooms
classrooms and
seminary, and Haqqania
dormitories are
school currently
currently enrolls
dormitories
are spread
spread over eight weed-covered
weed-covered acres, and the school
enrolls more
more than
than 2,800
2,800
poor, and
students. Tuition,
students.
Tuition, room
room and
and board
board are free;
free; the students
students are, in the main, drawn from the dire poor,
madrasa raises
raises its
its funds
funds from wealthy Pakistanis,
Pakistanis, as
as well
well as
as from
from devout,
devout, and
and politically
politically minded,
the madrasa
in the countries
countries of the
Muslims in
the Persian Gulf.
of their
from 8 and 9 to 30, sometimes
sometimes to
to 35.
35. The
The youngest
youngest boys
boys spend
spend much
much of
The students range in age from
cross-legged on
on the floors
floors of airless classrooms,
classrooms, memorizing
days seated cross-legged
memorizing the Koran. This is a process
six months
months and three years, and
and itit is
is made
made even
evenmore
moredifficult
difficult than
than itit sounds by the
that takes between six
fact that the Koran they study is in
in the original
original Arabic.
Arabic. These
These boys tend to know only Pashto,
Pashto, the
Pathan ethnic
ethnic group
group that dominates this region
language of the Pathan
region of Pakistan,
Pakistan, as well
well as much of nearby
typical class, the teachers
teachers sit
sit on the floor with
with the boys,
in Arabic,
Afghanistan. In aa typical
boys, reading
reading to them in
Arabic, and
four and eight hours each day.
the boys repeat what the teachers say. This can go on between four
What Westerners
Westerners would
would think
think of as high-school-age and college-age students are enrolled in an eightWhat
interpretation of
course of study that focuses on interpretation
year course
of the
the Koran
Koran and
and of the Hadith, the sayings of the
Muhammad. These
Thesestudents
students also
also study
study Islamic
Islamic jurisprudence and Islamic
Islamic history.
history. The oldest of
Prophet Muhammad.
Haqqania ---- the
the postgraduates,
postgraduates, ififyou
you will
will ---- are
areenrolled
enrolled in
in the
the "mufti
"mufti course."
course." A mufti,
mufti, in
those attending Haqqania
Islam, is
or religious
religious rulings,
rulings, on matters ranging from family law to
is a cleric
cleric who is
is allowed to issue
issue fatwas, or
of jihad, or
or "holy
"holy war." (One
(One room
room in
in the
the school's
school's administration
administration building
building
the rules governing the waging of
about 600
600 students
students
houses upward
upward of
of 100,000 fatwas issued by the
the madrasa over the
the years.) There are about
in the mufti course.
of the students
students at the Haqqania
Haqqania madrasa
madrasa study
study anything
anything but Islamic subjects.
Very few of
subjects. There
There are no
world history
world
history courses,
courses, or
or math
math courses,
courses, or
or computer
computer rooms
rooms or
or science
science labs
labs at
at the
the madrasa.
madrasa.
in fact,
fact, aa jihad
jihad factory.
Haqqania madrasa
madrasa is,
is, in
The Haqqania
There are
are one
one million
million students
students studying
studying in
This does not make itit unique in Pakistan. There
in the
the country's
country's 10,000
10,000
militant Islam is at the core of most of these schools.
or so madrasas, and militant
schools. Many madrasas are village
affairs, with
of the madrasas
madrasas are
are sponsored
sponsored by
by Pakistan's
Pakistan's religious
religious
affairs,
with student
student bodies
bodies of
of 25
25 or
or 50.
50. Some of
in the disputed
are affiliated
affiliated with
with the mujahedeen
mujahedeen groups
groups waging jihad against India
India in
parties, and some are
province of Kashmir.
is notable not only because of its
Haqqania is
its size,
size, but also
also because it has graduated more leaders of the
ruling faction,
faction, than any other
other school
school in
Taliban, Afghanistan's ruling
in the world,
world, including
including any school in
Afghanistan. The
The Taliban
Taliban is
is today
today known
known the
the world
world over
over for
for its
its harsh
harsh interpretation
interpretation of Islamic law, its
its
its kindness
cruelty to
to women
women and its
kindness to
to terrorists
terrorists----the
themost
mostnotable
notableone
onebeing
beingOsama
Osama bin
bin Laden,
Laden, the
the 4242year-old Saudi exile who the American government believes was behind the bombings two
two years
years ago of
in Kenya and Tanzania. The
The Taliban
Taliban also
also seems
seems to
to harbor
harbor a deep
deep belief
belief in
the United States Embassies in
ACLURM002765
the notion
notion of a never-ending jihad,
madrasa aa focus
focus of
of intense
intense interest
interest in
in such
jihad, which
which makes the Haqqania madrasa
Delhi and Jerusalem,
Jerusalem, where
where the
the experts
experts are
are trying
trying to
capitals as Washington
Washington and
and Moscow and
and New Delhi
understand just what it is
is the
the Taliban and its sympathizers want.
several hundred
hundred Afghan students
students at the madrasa, along
along with
with dozens from
At any given time, there are several
such former Soviet republics
republics as
as Kazakhstan,
Kazakhstan, Tajikistan
Tajikistan and
and Uzbekistan,
Uzbekistan, and a handful from
from Chechnya
see wars
wars like
like the
the one
one in
in Chechnya
Chechnyaas
asexpressions
expressionsnot
notonly
only of
ofnationalist
nationalist aspirations
aspirations
too. To those who see
new Islamic
Islamic revolution
revolution on the horizon,
horizon, a Sunni
but of pan-Islamic ones as well -- to those who see aa new
revolution a generation
revolution that
revolution
generation after the Shia revolution
that shook
shook the
the world
world ---- the
the foreign
foreign presence
presence at
at Haqqania
is not comforting.
majority of Haqqania
Haqqania students
students come
come from
from Pakistan
Pakistan itself,
itself, aa fact
fact that
that also
also worries
worries officials
officials in
The majority
Washington and Moscow and New
New Delhi
Delhi and
and Jerusalem.
Jerusalem. Pakistan's
Pakistan's Islamists
Islamists are becoming more and
Washington
in part to
more radicalized -- Talibanized," some call it -- thanks in
to madrasas like
like Haqqania, and Pakistan is
showing early signs
in possession
possession of nuclear
showing
signs of
of coming
coming apart
apart at
at the
the seams. Pakistan also happens to be in
Many Muslim
Muslim radicals
radicals say they believe these weapons should
should become part of the
weapons. Many
the arsenal of
jihad. ItIt turns out that many of the Haqqania students, under careful tutelage, now believe it, too.
in March, I presented myself
myself at the office of the
It is for all
all these
these reasons that on
on a hazy morning in
mullah named Samiul
Samiul Haq,
Haq, in
in order
orderto
to enroll
enroll myself
myself in
in his school.
school. My goal
chancellor of the
the madrasa, a mullah
to see
see from
from the
the inside
inside just
just what
what this
this jihad factory was producing.
producing.
was simple: I wanted to
Maulana Haq
Haq ----maulana
maul anameans
means"our
"ourmaster"
master" ----isisaawell-known
well-known Islamist
Islamist with
with pronounced
pronounced anti-American
Maulana
views. He
He is
is aa Deobandist,
Deobandist, aafollower
follower of
of an
an Islamic
Islamic movement
movement born
born in
in India
India in
in the
the days
days of
of the
the British
British Raj; it
movementdevoted
devoted to
to anticolonialism,
anticolonialism, and
and its
its outlook
outlook is not dissimilar
dissimilar to
was aa movement
to that
that of
of Wahhabism,
Wahhabism, the
austere, antimodernist Saudi
Saudi variant of Islamic
Islamic fundamentalism
fundamentalism embraced
embraced by
by Osama
Osama bin
bin Laden.
Laden. The
the first
first and
chancellor is
is a friend
friend and
and supporter
supporter of
of bin
bin Laden,
Laden, and
and he has granted an honorary degree -- the
in his
is also a politician,
politician, a former
only in
his school's
school's history
history----to
toMullah
MullahOmar,
Omar, the
the Taliban
Taliban leader.
leader. Samiul Haq is
senator who today leads a faction
radical Islamic
Islamic party
party seeking to
faction of the
the Jamiat-Ulema-Islami, the J.U.I., aa radical
maulana, itit is
is said, would like to
impose Shariah, or Islamic law, in Pakistan. The maulana,
to see Pakistan become
more like
like the Afghanistan of
of his Taliban disciples.
disciples.
1998 fatwa
fatwa issued
issued by
by bin Laden that
Because of his views
views -- and because he is said to
to have endorsed
endorsed a 1998
called on Muslims to kill
would get
kill Americans
Americans wherever
wherever they
they may
may be found
found -- I was not sure how well we would
along.
made to
to wait
wait outside
outside his
his office
office for 20 minutes.
minutes. Students
Students would
would pass
pass by,
by, shooting
shooting me looks
looks ranging
I was made
hostile. Eventually,
invited in
from the quizzical to the hostile.
Eventually, I was invited
in by
by two
two of
of the
the maulana's
maulana's sons,
sons, Hamed, who is
in charge of designing
designing the
were joined
joined by
31, and
and Rashid,
Rashid, who
who is
is 27 and
and in
the madrasa's
madrasa's Web
Web page. We were
students, and we made small
small talk while we waited. One student,
student,
several of the madrasa's teachers and students,
surprisingly, mentioned
star of
of World Championship
Championship Wrestling.
surprisingly,
mentioned that
that my
my last
last name
name is
is the
the same as that of a star
maulana came
came into
into the room in
The maulana
in a rush,
rush, and
and sat
sat down
down right
rightbeside
besideme.
me. He
He is
is aa man
man of
of 65.
65. He was
long beard
kind of
barefoot, and his toenails
barefoot,
toenails looked
looked as
as if they
they were
were covered
covered with
with rust.
rust. He
He had
had a long
beard dyed a kind
has two
two wives
wives and
and eight
eight children,
children,
fluorescent brown,
brown, and
and a loosely wrapped
wrapped turban
turban sat on
on his
his head. He has
he seemed,
seemed, right
right from
from the start, a very happy
happy man. He
He dispensed
dispensed with
with small
small talk almost
he told me, and he
should feel
immediately, in order to
to let me know that I should
feel at home.
"The problem,"
problem," he told me, through
through an interpreter,
interpreter, "is
"is not between us
us Muslims
Muslims and
and Christians."
Christians."
where this
this was going,
going, but stayed silent.
I knew where
ACLURM002766
Islam and
and Christianity
Christianity have is
is the
the Jews,"
Jews," he
he said.
said. "It
"It was
was the
the Jews
Jews who
who crucified
crucified Christ,
Christ,
"The only enemy Islam
Jews are
are using
using America
America to
to fight
fight Islam. Clinton
Clinton is a good man, but
but he's
he's surrounded
surrounded by
you know. The Jews
Jews. Madeleine
Madeleine Albright's
Albright's father was the
the founder
founder of
of Zionism."
"I'm Jewish," I told him.
moment's pause.
There was a moment's
"Well, you
you are most welcome here," he said.
And so I was.
maulana made
made me
me an
an offer:
offer: II could
could spend as much time as I wanted at the madrasa, go wherever I
The maulana
point he
wanted, talk to anybody I chose,
chose, even study the
the Koran
Koran with
with him.
him. He
He had
had a point
he wanted
wanted to
to make,
make, of
course: his madrasa might be Taliban U.,
U., but
but itit was
was not
not aa training
training camp
camp for
for terrorists.
terrorists.
course:
Strictly speaking,
madrasa. The
The closest
closest guns
guns could
could
Strictly
speaking, Haq
Haq was right:
right: II never
never saw
saw a weapon at the Haqqania madrasa.
found across
Company, aa gun
gun store
store that sells
be found
across the
the Grand Trunk Road, at the Khyber Pass Armaments Company,
or marksmanship.
marksmanship.
shotguns for
never heard
heard aa lecture
lecture about
about bomb
bomb making
making or
shotguns
for $40
$40 and
and AK-47's for $70. And II never
the Taliban
Taliban was
was faring
faring badly
badly not
not long
long ago in
in battle
battle against the northern alliance
alliance-On the other hand, when the
- the holdout
holdout foe of the Taliban in Afghanistan's seemingly endless civil
civil war
war -- Haq closed down his
school and sent the students
school
students to
to the
the front.
front. (He
(He would
would not
not tell
tell me
me how
how many never came back from the
full when
visited Haqqania this spring.
housing so many
front.) Classrooms were full
when I visited
spring. For a cramped campus housing
students, it was,
students,
was, most of the
the time,
time, unusually
unusually quiet.
quiet. The
The hustle
hustle and
and energy of town
town life
life never seemed to
intrude, and what noise there was mostly came from the Grand Trunk Road, just
just outside the gates of the
intrude,
school, where the horn and not the brake is the driver's
driver's primary
school,
primary defense
defense against accident,
accident, and buses and
trucks compete for space with
occasional camel train.
trucks
with donkey carts and the occasional
no TV's,
TV's, no
no radios
radios that
that II could
could see. The
The students
students woke up
up before
before dawn, to pray
pray in the
There were no
The dormitories
dormitories were threadbare and filthy,
filthy, and there was no cafeteria, per se:
madrasa's mosque. The
kitchen with
students lined
lined up
up at the kitchen
with their
their plates
plates and
and spoons
spoons and
and were
were fed
fed rice
rice and curries
curries and
and nan, the
flat Afghan
Afghan bread. Suffice
Suffice itit to
to say,
say, the
the students
students at
atthe
the madrasa
madrasa almost
almost never
never see
see women.
women. There were no
workers, no female presence whatsoever at the
female teachers, no female cafeteria workers,
the madrasa. There is
no such thing
sisters and brothers come to
thing as parents'
parents' day,
day, or family
family day, when mothers and fathers and sisters
of what we
we in
in the
the West
West call
call student
student life:
life: like all
visit. To be sure, II did
did see, on
on occasion,
occasion, aa facsimile
facsimile of
visit.
in the late afternoon, they would play on a dirt
Pakistanis, the young students are cricket fanatics,
fanatics, and in
field across the road
dusty patch and aa net
net for
for volleyball too. But most of
field
road from
from the school.
school. There was a dusty
the day was devoted to Islam.
particularly. They
The youngest students interested
interested me particularly.
They had
had not yet been armored in the hard-casing of
politics of
jihadist ideology,
ideology, and
and yet they seemed to incorporate the politics
of the
the madrasa
madrasa into
into their
their play.
play. Two
Two 11to the school from
would follow me around
year-old boys, both Afghan
Afghan refugees who came to
from Peshawar, would
hide-and-seek was
was to
to jump
jump out from
They wore
wore pots
pots on
on their
their heads,
heads, and
and their
their version
version of hide-and-seek
wherever II went. They
or some other
other hiding
hiding place,
behind a tree or
place, scream "Osama!" and pretend to shoot me.
were also
also fascinated
fascinated by
by my
my shoes.
shoes. Shoes
Shoes weren't
weren't worn
worn in
in class;
class; they were
were left
left outside the rooms.
They were
most students owned a single
single pair of slippers.
slippers. My
So for reasons of poverty as well as convenience, most
Timberlands, then, were aa source
source of
of conversation,
conversation, and II once
once caught
caught my
my two 11-year-old
11-year-old pursuers
pursuers trying
trying
Timberlands,
boys, but they were reticent.
reticent. And
on my shoes. I tried to learn what I could about these boys,
And my minders -usually someone
someone from
from Samiul
Samiul Haq's
Haq's office
office with
with me,
me, listening
listening in
in on
on my
my conversations -- didn't
there was usually
probing too deeply into
want me probing
into how
how boys
boys came
came to
to be students
students at
at the
the madrasa.
ACLURM002767
youngest boys were kept
kept under
under lock
lock and key,
key, in
in aa three-story
three-story dormitory
dormitory guarded by
by older
older students,
The youngest
and I wasn't allowed to
to see how they lived.
lived. The two
two 11-year-olds were refugees, I eventually learned.
of them lost
lost his father in
in Afghanistan.
One of
Afghanistan. Their mothers spend
spend their days gathering
gathering firewood.
firewood. They
They are
blessed to
as poor as poor can
can be.
be. Compared to
to a refugee camp,
camp, the madrasa is a palace, and they are blessed
be here, where
where they
they eat
eat food
food every
every single
single day. No
No one
one else
else ---- certainly
certainly not
not the government of Pakistan -would provide
provide them with
would
with an
an education,
education, room
room and board.
school day, I would make aa special
special point
point of
of auditing
auditing classes in which
which the Hadith was studied,
During the school
so much
much of
of Islamic
Islamic thought is found
Hadith has
has traditionally
traditionally
because so
found in
in the
the Hadith,
Hadith, and also because the Hadith
been understood
understood to be
be aa text
text open
open to
to interpretation,
interpretation, argument
argumentand
andrigorous
rigorous intellectual
intellectual inquiry.
inquiry. But
But such is
In the
the classes
classes II attended,
attended, even
even the
the high-level
high-level classes
classes of
of the
the mufti
mufti
madrasa. In
not the case at the Haqqania madrasa.
course, the pattern was generally the same: a teacher, generally
generally an ancient,
ancient, white-bearded
white-bearded mullah,
mullah, would
would
course,
read straight from
from a text,
text, and the students would
would listen.
listen. There
There was no back and forth.
forth. It seemed as ifif rote
only style of learning. During
During one particularly
particularly dreary
learning was the madrasa's only
dreary class,
class, I abandoned my
outside, a poster was stapled to the wall.
picture
interpreter and left the room.
room. In the hallway outside,
wall. On it was a picture
split-open watermelon whose flesh
caption read: "A miracle of
of a split-open
flesh was veined in an unusual way. The caption
Allah: this watermelon contains the name
name of
of Almighty
Almighty Allah."
began to
to be
be asked
asked questions
questions during
during classes, questions about America and about my views.
After a time, II began
in aa class
class devoted
devoted to passages in
in the Hadith
Hadith concerning
concerning zakat, or charity,
charity, I was asked my views
day, in
One day,
bin Laden.
Laden. Why
Why did
did America
America have
have itit in
in for
for him?
him? ItIt is
is unsettling,
unsettling, to
about Osama bin
to say
say the
the least,
least, to
to be seated
being held
barefoot and turbaned
in a class being
held in
in a mosque,
mosque, led
led by a mullah,
mullah, and attended by some 200 barefoot
students, and be asked such
such a question.
question.
students,
in a
by saying
saying that bin Laden's program violates a basic tenet of Islam, which holds that even in
I began by
combatants, not women and
jihad the lives of innocent
innocent people
people must
must be
be spared.
spared. A jihad
jihad is
is a war against combatants,
children. I read
appropriate saying
armed with
with the Hadith):
children.
read to them
them an appropriate
saying of
of the
the Prophet
Prophet Muhammad (I came armed
"It is
killed in
is narrated
narrated by
by Ibn
Ibn Umar that a woman was found killed
in one
one of these
these battles,
battles, so
so the
the Messenger of
Allah, may
may peace
peace be
beupon
upon him,
him, forbade
forbade the
thekilling
killing of
of women and
and children."
children."
quoting the
They did not like the
the idea of me quoting
the Prophet
Prophet to
to them,
them, and
and they
they began
began chanting,
chanting, "Osama,
"Osama, Osama,
Osama."
they calmed
calmed down,
down, they
they took
took turns defending bin
bin Laden.
When they
bin Laden is
is a great
great Muslim,"
Muslim," a student
student named Wali
Wali said.
said. "The
"The West
Westis
is afraid
afraid of
of strong
strong Muslims,
Muslims,
"Osama bin
him their enemy."
so they made him
curious to
bin Laden so ardently. After all,
I was curious
to know
know how
how Wali
Wali came to
to admire Osama bin
all, there was no
course at the madrasa -- at
at least
least so
so far as II could
could tell -- titled
titled "The Sayings
Muslim Osama
Sayings of the
the Great Muslim
bin Laden."
wants to keep
keep Islam
Islam pure
pure from
from the
the pollution
pollution of the infidels,"
infidels," he
"Osama wants
he said.
said. "He
"He believes Islam is the way
wants to
to bring
bring Islam
Islam to
to all
all the world."
world."
for all the world. He wants
that the
the Koran
Koran states
states that
that"there
"there is
is no
no compulsion
compulsion in
in religion."
religion." This is the Koranic saying
I answered that
tolerant of others.
frequently quoted
quoted by those
those who
who believe that,
that, at its core,
core, Islam is moderate and tolerant
is no
no compulsion.
compulsion. But the West
West compels
compels Muslims
Muslims to
to live
live under
under the
the control
control of
Wali: "There is
of infidels,
infidels, like in
Chechnya."
students had
had turned
turned this
this day's class into a political
political seminar of sorts,
Since the students
sorts, I decided to ask a question
of my own. I brought up the subject
subject of
of Pakistan's
Pakistan's nuclear
nuclear bomb.
bomb. The
The Islamists
Islamists in
in Pakistan
Pakistan have
have been the
ACLURM002768
religious party,
most vociferous
vociferous proponents
proponents of
of Pakistan's
Pakistan's nuclear
nuclear program.
program. The leading religious
party, the Jamiat Islami,
has in fact led the campaign to persuade the government not to
to sign
sign the
the Comprehensive
Comprehensive Test
Test Ban
Ban Treaty.
students if they thought itit would
I asked the students
would be
be permissible,
permissible, by
by the
the law
law of Islam,
Islam, to
to use a nuclear bomb
prosecution of a jihad.
during the prosecution
"All things
should be
"All
things come
come from
from Allah,"
Allah," one
one student
student said.
said. "The atomic bomb comes from Allah, so it should
used."
Osama bin
bin Laden
Laden armed
armed with
with nuclear
nuclear weapons? Every
Every hand
hand in
in the room
I then asked: Who wants to see Osama
shot up.
up. The students laughed,
laughed, and some applauded.
But, I said, innocent people would
would inevitably
inevitably die
die ifif the
the bomb
bomb was
was used.
used. Even if the
the West, or Russia, is
subjugating Muslims,
and his
his supporters
supporters the
the right
right to kill
kill innocent people?
subjugating
Muslims, does that give bin Laden and
never killed
killed anybody innocent,"
"Osama has never
innocent," one
one student,
student,whose
whose name
name was
was Ghazi,
Ghazi, answered.
shown proof
proof that he
he did?"
did?"
"What if you were shown
say they have
have proof,
proof, but
but they
they don't
don't give itit to the Taliban."
"The Americans say
hypothetical scenario. "What if,"
if," I asked, "you
"you were shown
shown a video in which
I then presented aa hypothetical
which Osama bin
murdering a woman. What
What then?"
then?"
Laden was actually seen murdering
pause. A
A student
student named
named Fazlur
FazlurRazaq
Razaqstood
stood up:
up: "The
"The Americans
Americans have
have all
all the
the tricks
tricks of the
There was aa pause.
They can
can put
put Osama's
Osama's head
head on
on the
the body
body of
of someone
someone else,
else, and
and make
makeitit seem
seem like
like he's
he's killing
killing when
media. They
not doing
doing it."
it."
he's not
issued by
by bin Laden's organization
organization -- the
I then took from
from my notebook
notebook my
my secret
secret weapon:
weapon: the
the 1998 fatwa issued
concerning the presence of American
International Islamic Front for
for Jihad
Jihad Against
Against Jews
Jews and
and Crusaders -- concerning
troops in
passage, the
theEnglish
English translation
translation of
of which
which reads as
as follows:
follows: "The
troops
in Saudi
Saudi Arabia. I read them aa passage,
ruling
to kill
kill the
the Americans
Americans and their allies -- civilians and military -- is an individual duty for every Muslim
ruling to
in which
who can do itit in any country in
which it is
is possible
possible to
to do
do it,
it, in
in order
order to
to liberate
liberate the
the AI
Al Aksa
Aksa Mosque and the
holy mosque from their grip,
grip, and
and in
in order for
for their
their armies
armies to
to move
move out
out of
of all
all the
the lands
lands of
of Islam,
Islam, defeated
defeated
Muslim."
and unable to threaten any Muslim."
Here
in black
black and
and white:
white: bin
bin Laden
Laden calling
calling for
for the death
death of
of all
all Americans,
Americans, civilian
civilian and military.
military.
Here itit is,
is, II said,
said, in
didn't write that,"
"That's a forgery
forgery of the Americans."
"Osama didn't
that," one student yelled,
yelled, and the others cheered. "That's
anything else:
one final
final question,
question, more out
out of self-interest than anything
I asked one
else: What would you do if you
you learned
C.I.A. had
had captured
captured bin
bin Laden
Laden and
and was
was taking
taking him
him to
to America
America to
to stand
stand trial?
that the C.I.A.
Muhammad stood
stood up:
up: "We would
would sacrifice
sacrifice our lives
A student who gave his name as Muhammad
lives for
for Osama.
Osama. We
would kill
kill Americans."
What kind
kind of Americans?
What
"All Americans."
"All
left the mosque, Muhammad
Muhammad and
and aa group
group of
of his
his friends approached me. "We'd like you to embrace
As II left
Islam."
Islam," he said. "We love you.
you. We want you to have Islam."
ACLURM002769
met with
with aa small
small group
group of
of students I had
had grown
grown to like, hoping that,
Later that day, II met
that, away from their
teachers, they would talk a different talk.
talk. Meeting students
students out
out of
of class
class had
had already
already made for a number of
interesting moments:
Der Stockt, the
interesting
moments: II had,
had, for
for example,
example, been
been asked
asked for
for sex,
sex, as had
had Laurent Van Der
Sometimes the
the propositions
propositions were intimated;
intimated; sometimes they were
were unusually
unusually blunt,
blunt,
photographer with
with me. Sometimes
official position
position on
especially given the Taliban's official
on homosexuals,
homosexuals, which
which is
is that they should
should be killed.
killed. Those
English seemed most interested in
few students who knew a bit of English
in talking
talking about
about sex.
sex. Many of them
them were
convinced that
in sex with anything,
anything, anywhere,
convinced
that all
all Americans
Americans are
are bisexual,
bisexual, and
and that Westerners engage in
asked to
to describe
describe the
the dominant
dominant masturbation
masturbation style of Americans,
all the time. I was asked
Americans, and whether
were allowed
allowed by
by law
law to
to keep
keep boyfriends
boyfriends and girlfriends
girlfriends at the
American men were
the same time.
with after the Osama colloquy
colloquy there was no talk of sex.
bright and
Among the young men I spoke with
sex. One, a bright
brother, a Taliban
personable student from
from aa village
village near
near Kabul,
Kabul, had
had told
told me
me his
his name
name was Sayid. His brother,
had asked
asked Sayid
Sayid for
for his
his last
last name, he'd
he'd said
said he would be
judge, had also attended the madrasa. When II had
students take
known as Sayid Haqqani upon
upon graduation.
graduation. Many of the students
known
take Haqqani as their last name when
they leave the madrasa.
him on this afternoon
afternoon how his
I asked him
his parents
parents felt
felt to
to have
have him
him at the
the madrasa, knowing that there is a
-- against
against the
the northern
northern alliance, or perhaps against India, in
chance he would choose to be a mujahed -Kashmir.
"They support the jihad,"
jihad," he said.
were killed?"
killed?"
"How would they feel ifif you were
proud. Any father would want his son to
"They would be very happy," he said. "They would be so proud.
to die as
shaheed," or martyr.
killing Muslims,
If you fought against the northern alliance, you would be killing
Muslims, I said.
"They're Muslims, but they're crazy," Sayid replied.
maulana, and
and IItold
told him
him IIthought
thought some
some of
of his
his students believed that
A couple of days later, I saw the maulana,
terrorism, under certain
Koranically acceptable. "Then you don't understand
terrorism,
certain circumstances,
circumstances, was Koranically
understand what we
frowning just
are teaching," he said, frowning
just for
for aa moment.
moment. "There
"There is
is aa great difference
difference between jihad and
my inability
inability to comprehend the
the distinction,
distinction, but I
terrorism." He invited me to eat
eat with
with him,
him, to
to discuss
discuss my
terrorism."
due in
in Islamabad,
Islamabad, the
the capital,
capital, for
for aa birthday
birthday party, and II had
had promised
promised II would
would go.
begged off. I was due
lots of dignitaries,
dignitaries, including
big cake, lots
lots of speeches, lots
It was quite a party. a big
includingGen.
Gen. Pervez
Pervez Musharraf, the
"chief executive"
executive" of
of Pakistan,
Pakistan, which
which is
is the
the title
title he
he took
took when
when the
the Pakistani
Pakistani Army overthrew the elected
installed him
government in October and installed
him as
as maximum leader.
cake was
was actually
actually quite
quite good.
good. ItIt was
was aa vanilla
vanilla sheet
sheet cake,
cake, and
andwritten
written in
in lemon
lemon frosting
frosting across the
The cake
length of itit were
length
were the
the words,
words, "Second
"Second Anniversary
Anniversary Celebrations
CelebrationsofYoum-e-Takbeer."
of Youm-e-Takbeer." Youm-e-Takbeer
Youm-e-Takbeer can
be translated as "the
"the day of God's
God's greatness,"
greatness," and
and in
in Pakistan
Pakistan ititrefers
refersto
toMay
May28,
28, 1998,
1998, the day Pakistan
first exploded
party, under the auspices of Pakistan's military
first
exploded aa nuclear bomb.
bomb. The birthday party,
military leader,
leader, was a
birthday party for the bomb.
proclaimed
"We bow our heads to Allah almighty for
for restoring
restoringgreatness
greatnessto
to Pakistan
Pakistan on
on May
May 28,
28, 1998," proclaimed
the science minister of Pakistan, Atta-ur-Rahman, at
at the
the outset
outset of
of the
the official
official program.
has fetishized
fetishized the bomb.
bomb. In
In the
the traffic
traffic circles
circles of every sizable city
city in the country,
country, a full-scale
Pakistan has
country's home-grown
capital of
model of the country's
home-grown long-range
long-range missile
missile stands
stands proud.
proud. In
In Muzaffarabad,
Muzaffarabad, the capital
Kashmir, a model of a missile is aimed at India. In
In three
three cities
cities in
in Pakistan II visited there stand
Pakistani Kashmir,
ACLURM002770
Hills, the site where Pakistan
Pakistan exploded
exploded its
its test bombs, and in
30-foot-high models of the Chagai Hills,
the monument
monument lights
lights up from the inside at night -- all fiery
Islamabad, the
fiery orange -- to simulate the effect of a
dress up
up their children and photograph them standing before it.
nuclear explosion. Parents dress
party, I went to Rawalpindi,
Rawalpindi, next door to
A couple of days after the party,
to Islamabad,
Islamabad, because I'd been given the
met one
one morning
moming at Army House, the residence
residence of the
chance to talk with
with General Musharraf. We met
Pakistani Army's
Army's chief of staff.
staff. (General
(General Musharraf has chosen not to take up residence in the prime
minister's house,
house, even
even though
though he
he has
has functioned
functioned as
as prime
prime minister
minister since October.) During
During our
ministers
conversation, I asked General
General Musharraf
Musharrafifif the
the West
Westshould
should worry
worry that
that fundamentalist
fundamentalist Muslims,
Muslims, in
in or out
conversation,
of the army, might get hold
hold of Pakistan's
Pakistan's nuclear
nuclear weapons.
weapons. (In
(In Pentagon exercises,
exercises, American
American war-gamers
mapped out
out aa scenario
scenario in
in which
which Taliban-like
Taliban-like extremists
extremists gain
gain control
control of Pakistan's atomic arsenal
have mapped
during a violent break-up of the country.)
during
"Absolutely implausible,"
"Absolutely
implausible,"General
General Musharaff said.
said. "There is no question
question of that
that happening.
happening. There is no
question of nuclear material falling into the hands of irresponsible people at all."
of the religious
religious overtones of the
celebration, particularly
particularly the science
made mention
mention of
I made
the Youm-e-Takbeer
Youm-e-Takbeer celebration,
minister's remarks,
remarks, saying
saying that Westerners are
are discomforted
discomforted by the belief that God is the founder of
ministers
Pakistan's nuclear weapons program.
do use
use the
the term
term 'Allah's
'Allah's will,' "he
sovereign, and
"Yes, we do
"he said.
said. "We do consider
consider God
God to
to be the supreme sovereign,
his representatives
being his
his representatives on earth,
we do consider ourselves to
to be his
representatives on
on earth.
earth. We being
say The
'the will of God,' that
has to
to be
be done
done is
is according
according to the teaching of Allah. But when we say
whatever has
we aren't
aren't using
using our
our brains,
brains, that we are
are trigger-happy
trigger-happy fundamentalists."
fundamentalists."
doesn't mean we
Musharraf is
is not
not thought of as an Islamic
Islamic fundamentalist.
fundamentalist. He is
is known
known to have progressive
progressive views
General Musharraf
sound very much like an Islamic
Islamic fundamentalist at
rights of women,
on the rights
women, for example. And yet he can sound
he began
began parsing
parsing the
thewords
words"jihad"
"jihad" and
and "terrorism"
"terrorism" for
times, like when he
for me.
is no question that terrorism
"There is
terrorism and
and jihad
jihad are
are absolutely different,"
different," he
he told
told me.
me. "You
"You in
in the
the West
West are
allergic to the term 'jihad,' but jihad is a tolerant concept."
general ifif he
he believed
believed bin
bin Laden
Laden to
to be
be aa terrorist.
terrorist.
I asked the general
"If at all he's involved
involved in
in planning
planning or
or conducting
conducting bombings or hijackings, he's aa terrorist."
terrorist."
him ifif he doubted
doubted American claims
claims that bin Laden
Laden is
is a terrorist.
terrorist.
I then asked him
has aa stand
stand on
on this
this subject. They say they need
need proof,
proof, which has not been given to them.
"The Taliban has
We have
have asked
asked for
for proof
proof from the U.S.
U.S. and
and we
we are
arein
inthe
theprocess
process of
ofgetting
getting this.
this. From the legal
legal point
point of
We
haven't seen
seen the
the proof."
proof."
view, II haven't
Musharraf says
says he
he needs
needs the
the pro-Taliban
pro-Taliban Pathans
Pathans on
on his
his side.
side. The
Thereligious
religious parties,
parties, though
though
General Musharraf
never terribly successful
never
successful at
at the
the polls,
polls, have
have street power,
power, and when it comes to Kashmir, broad sympathy.
of in secular terms, as aa national
national liberation
liberation struggle against a neocolonial
Kashmir used to be spoken of
oppressor. But today,
today, that same fight is
is spoken
spoken of matter-of-factly
matter-of-factly as
as a jihad.
jihad. It is almost
almost as if the
the end
end of
Soviets in
in Afghanistan forced the professional
professional jihadists in
the jihad against the Soviets
in the
the region
region to
to find
find aa new
cause to adopt.
Musharraf himself
himself calls the struggle
struggle against India
General Musharraf
India a jihad,
jihad, and the English-language newspapers
language of
of jihad
jihad when
when talking
talking about
about the fight:
fight: one otherwise dry-as-bones news story
story
in Pakistan use the language
stated that seven
seven "mujahedeen"
"mujahedeen" had
had "embraced
"embraced shahadat"
shahadat" in
in a fight
fight against the Indian Army.
I read stated
Shahadat is
is martyrdom,
martyrdom, and "embraced shahadat" means that they were killed.
killed.
Shahadat
ACLURM002771
in Kashmir
Kashmir is of great political
political help
In aa fractious
fractious country
country like Pakistan,
The jihad in
help to
to General Musharraf. In
military junta has given wide
the jihad in Kashmir unifies people the way no other issue does. And so the military
berth to the jihad groups
groups training
training on
on Pakistani
Pakistani soil.
soil.Two
Twoweeks
weeks after
after we
we met in
in Rawalpindi,
Rawalpindi, General
Musharrafs government
govemmentannounced
announced that
thatitit would
would curb
curb the
the power
power of
of militant
militant groups within
Musharrafs
within Pakistan,
Pakistan, and
bring the madrasa network
network into
into conformity with
bring
with national
national educational
educational standards,
standards, two
two steps the Americans
pleasant, earlybeen asking
asking him
him to take nearly
nearly from the moment the army seized power.
power. But
But in our pleasant,
have been
morning conversation
morning
conversation at
at Army
Army House,
House, the general did not seem overly concerned about the power of the
of these
these schools
schools are engaged
engaged in
in any
any kind
kind of
of militancy,"
militancy," he said. "Most of them
"Very few
few of
madrasas. "Very
them are
They give
give food
food and
and lodging
lodging to these poor
poor boys."
boys."
very humanitarian. They
He also
also defended
defended the
the activities
activities of
of groups the State Department
Department has
has labeled
labeled terrorist,
terrorist, particularly
particularly the
He
Harkat ul-mujahedeen
ul-mujahedeen of
Harkat
of Fazlur
Fazlur Rahman
Rahman Khalil,
Khalil, which
which is
is waging
waging aa violent
violent jihad
jihad against
against India;
India; itit is believed
hijacking last
to be behind the hijacking
last December
December of
of an
an Indian
Indian airliner.
airliner. The
The State
State Department has labeled the
HUM, as
as itit is
is known,
known, aa terrorist
terrorist organization.
organization. The
The group
group keeps
keeps training
training bases
bases in
in Afghanistan,
Afghanistan, but
but Khalil,
Khalil, its
its
HUM,
has an
an office
office in Rawalpindi,
Rawalpindi, not far from
house, and
and he
he moves
moves freely
freely through
through
leader, has
from General
General Musharrafs
Musharrafs house,
people are
are not
not terrorists,"
terrorists," General Musharraf
Musharraf said.
said. "They
"They are
are fighting
fighting a jihad."
Pakistan. "These people
Two days after my interview with
with the
the general,
general, I talked to Khalil
in Rawalpindi.
Rawalpindi. We
We met late at night, in a
Khalil in
bus station, and sat
sat shoeless
shoeless on
on the
the floor
floor under
under aa poster
posterdepicting
depicting the
the word
word "Allah"
"Allah"
dingy office
office near a bus
bullets. Khalil,
Khalil, bearded and preternaturally
preternaturally calm, told
told me
me he
he is
is sorry
sorry his
his group is thought as
spelled out in bullets.
terrorists. "We
denied his
his group
group was behind
behind the hijacking
hijacking of the
of terrorists.
"We feel
feel very bad about this,"
this," he said.
said. He denied
Indian airliner -- a "breakaway faction"
faction" was
was to
to blame,
blame, he said
said -- and he denied that his group
group has ever
killed civilians
in its
its war
war in Kashmir.
civilians in
should worry about us," he said. "Only
"Only the oppressors of Islam."
"No one should
Khalil: Would you use nuclear weapons against
against your
your enemies
enemies ifif you
you could?
could?
I asked Khalil:
"We don't have nuclear weapons,"
weapons," he said, smiling.
smiling. "We
"We wish
wish we
we had
had nuclear weapons.
weapons. If we had them,
necessary. But
But they're very expensive."
we would use them as necessary.
Khalil, I was told, would be going to Afghanistan
Khalil,
Afghanistan the following
following day,
day, to
to Jalalabad, for a meeting with
of the other Islamic
Islamic extremist groups
groups given
leaders of
given shelter by
by the
the Taliban. Pakistani news reports the day
Osama bin
bin Laden
Laden was
wasreplacing
replacing his
his bodyguards
bodyguards with
with men
men from
from Khalil's
Khalil's
before our meeting stated that Osama
group; they were true believers,
believers, the report said,
group;
said, who
who would
would keep
keep bin
bin Laden safe.
day, II drove
drove across
across the
the border
border of
of Pakistan
Pakistan to the Afghan city of Kandahar, in the Taliban heartland,
One day,
students at the Haqqania madrasa will end up.
where many of the students
1994 on
on their
their quick
quick march to Kabul. Along the way, they closed
Taliban burst
burst out of Kandahar in 1994
The Taliban
girls' schools
public amputations
down girls'
schools and
and fired
fired female
female doctors
doctors and
and murdered homosexuals and staged public
bad name
name to
to the
the Prophet
Prophet in
in whose name they
they claimed to act.
and generally gave a bad
long drive, through
through the Baluchistan
Baluchistan desert,
It was a long
desert, over the Khojak Pass and through miles and miles of
Afghanistan wasteland. On the approach to Kandahar, near
near the
the airport,
airport, is
is one of
of bin
bin Laden's houses, but
Afghanistan
wouldn't let
it. We drove
drove a bit
bit farther,
farther, past the market square where
the Taliban wouldn't
let me
me anywhere near it.
wrestling matches
Sunday. IfIf you
you time
time itit right,
right, you might be able to catch
catch a glimpse of
wrestling
matches are staged each Sunday.
supreme leader
leader of
of the
the Taliban,
Taliban, who
who will
will sometimes stop
stop by
Mullah Omar, the supreme
by in
in his
his black
black Pajero
Pajero S.U.V.
S.U.V.
he'll even send his
with the tinted
with
tinted windows
windows to
to catch
catch aa couple
couple of matches.
matches. If he's in
in a good mood, he'll
bodyguards to challenge the local wrestlers.
We continued
continued on, past the Chechen Embassy,
Embassy, and
and soon
soon enough
enough approached
approached the
the compound
compound of the Shrine
We
Cloak of
of Muhammad,
Muhammad, from
from which
which the
the Taliban
Taliban derive
derive so
so much
much of
of their
their legitimacy
legitimacy
of the Respectable Cloak
of Muhammad
Muhammad is
is kept
kept locked
locked in
in aa marble
marble vault
vault that
that is
is housed
housed inside
inside
among Afghan believers. The
The cloak
cloak of
ACLURM002772
an elegant, one-story shrine in
in the
the center of town.
town. The
The people of Kandahar believe that the Prophet
wore the
the cloak,
cloak, and
and so
so they
they believe
believe that
that proximity
proximity to the cloak will
will cure the sick and heal the
Muhammad wore
They also
also believe
believe itit lends
lends its
its current
current custodians
custodians the
lame. They
the mantle of Islamic legitimacy.
legitimacy. At
At the
the Haqqania
lot about the cloak.
madrasa, they talked a lot
250 or
or so
so years
years since
since itit was brought
brought to
removed from
from its
its vault three times in the 250
The cloak has only been removed
followers of the
last time itit came out
out of
of its
its vault was
Kandahar by followers
the Afghan
Afghan king
king Ahmed
Ahmed Shah Durrani. The last
1994, when
when Mullah
Mullah Omar
Omarwore
woreititto
to aarally
rally of
ofhis
his followers.
followers. His
His decision
decision to wear the cloak could
could have
in 1994,
as blasphemous,
blasphemous, but
but things
things broke
broke his way, and
and itit was
was on
on that
that day
day that
that he
he solidified
solidified his
easily been seen as
of the faithful.
faithful.
reputation as the commander of
reputation
It is not easy to get inside the compound
compound that
that houses
houses the
the shrine.
shrine. For one thing,
thing, the
the Taliban minder
assigned to
mullah named Haji Muhammad, resisted
resisted my pleas for help.
assigned
to me,
me, a mullah
help. Mullah
Mullah Muhammad -actually, he admitted,
admitted, he was not yet a mullah,
mullah, having
having not yet passed his final
actually,
final examinations
examinations -- was a
short, taciturn
short,
taciturn fellow
fellow who
who couldn't
couldn'tfor
forthe
thelife
lifeof
ofhim
himunderstand
understandwhy
whyIIwanted
wantedto
tosee
see the
the Respectable
other problem:
problem: the men of
of the Committee
Committee for
for the Propagation of Virtue and the
Cloak Shrine. The other
Suppression of Vice,
Suppression
Vice, who wear black turbans
turbans and
and black
black eyeliner (to
(to make themselves appear fierce),
patrolling the
were patrolling
the entrance to the shrine,
shrine, and they are terrible xenophobes.
photographer, Nina
The first time
time I tried
tried to
to see
see the
the shrine,
shrine, I was accompanied
accompanied by a photographer,
Nina Berman. In
with local
accordance with
local custom,
custom, Nina
Nina was
was dressed
dressed like
like Mrs.
Mrs. Khomeini
Khomeini at
at a wake, but to the men of the
rudely denied entrance. We did,
did, however,
Taliban, she might as well
well have been Jennifer Lopez.
Lopez. We were rudely
touch the toothache tree.
get to touch
people of
of Kandahar
Kandahar feel
feel the
the beginnings
beginnings of a toothache, they come to this dead tree outside the
When the people
nail. Thousands of
of nailheads
nailheads cover every inch
inch of tree trunk. The interpreter
interpreter who
shrine and hammer in a nail.
accompanied us explained
explained that the
the tree actually
actually worked
worked as
as advertised.
advertised. He once had a toothache and so
nail into the tree. One-two-three, his
his teeth
teeth felt
felt fine. II looked
looked inside
inside his mouth.
banged a nail
mouth. He didn't have any
Western sense
senseof
ofthe
theword
word "teeth,"
"teeth," just
just yellow
yellow stumps
stumps of
of bone
bone that
that in
in poor,
poor, superstitious
superstitious
teeth in the Western
is good at waging jihad, but
backwaters like Kandahar pass for teeth. After six years in power, the Taliban is
providing medical
not good at all at providing
medical care to the people of Afghanistan.
in the hope of
of getting a better look at the shrine. But
day, II returned
returned with
with the
the interpreter
interpreter in
Later that same day,
he wouldn't go with
with me. "It's
"It's better
better ifif we
we sit
sit in
in the
the car,"
car," he
he said,
said, and
and then
then I realized how frightened
frightened he was.
He was
and he
he was
was frightened
frightened by
by Mullah
Mullah Muhammad,
Muhammad, who
who only
only grudgingly
grudgingly
was frightened
frightened of the Taliban, and
back to the compound.
compound.
accompanied me back
made itit all
all the
the way
way to
to the
the front
front entrance
entrance of
of the shrine,
shrine, but
but standing there were 15
15 or
or so
so young guards,
We made
thick wooden
wooden sticks
sticks in
in their
their hands.
hands. II turned
turned around
around to
to ask
ask Muhammad
Muhammad to
to intercede
intercede on
on my behalf, but he
made himself
himself disappear. The
The young
young guards
guards were angry,
angry, and
and they
they called
called me
me aa"kaffir,"
"kaffir," an infidel. Then
had made
out of
of the compound.
they ran me out
made itit to the car,
car, and
and we
we sped
sped off.
off. "It's
"It's better
better to
to wait
wait in
in the car,"
car," my interpreter said wearily.
I made
Osama bin
bin Laden's
Laden's house;
house; he said no. What about Mullah
I asked Mullah Muhammad ifif we could see Osama
But I knew he
he would
would turn
turn down
requests. I was surprised,
surprised, however,
Omar's house? No. But
down these requests.
however, when he
wouldn't allow
Jihadi madrasa is Muhammad's alma mater, and
and itit is one
wouldn't
allow me
me near
near the
the Jihadi
Jihadi madrasa.
madrasa. The Jihadi
he said.
said. "It's
"It's against the Koran."
Koran."
of the biggest in
in Kandahar. "Non-Muslims aren't allowed into a madrasa," he
Which is nonsense, of
of course.
course. Nothing
Nothing in
in the
the Koran
Koran or
or in
in the
the Hadith
Hadith bars
barsinfidels
infidels from
from school
school buildings,
buildings,
how II knew
knew this.
this.
and I said so. He asked me how
Koran," I answered.
"Because I read the Koran,"
ACLURM002773
"In Arabic?"
English."
"No, in English."
in English?"
English?" he asked, utterly
utterly sincerely.
"The Koran comes in
next day,
day, frustrated
frustrated to the point
point of paralysis,
paralysis, I complained to the Taliban foreign
foreign minister about
The next
his strange ideas.
Mullah Muhammad and his
"This is the fault of the
the Clinton
Clinton administration,"
administration,"Wakil
Wakil Ahmed
Ahmed Muttawakil,
Muttawakil, the foreign
foreign minister,
minister, said.
said. The
foreign minister
has crawled
crawled up
up to
to within
within
foreign
minister is
is aa man
man completely
completely lacking
lacking in
in charm,
charm, and
and he has a beard that has
is touted
touted as one of the sophisticates
sophisticates of
moderation. He
an inch of his
his eyes.
eyes. He is
of the
the Taliban,
Taliban, aa new face of moderation.
children he has. "I
"I have four
is not an easy small-talker, and so to thaw him out,
out, I asked him how many children
boys and one girl,"
all." Even
girl," he said, and then offered,
offered, with
with no
no prompting:
prompting: "The girl is my most beloved of all."
in spin.
spin.
engages in
the Taliban engages
frustration with
attitude is regrettable," he continued,
continued, "but
"but
Muttawakil understood my frustration
with Muhammad. "The attitude
many of our young
missile attacks
young people
people feel
feel very badly about
about America
America because of the missile
attacks and
and because of
so they aren't
aren't open to
to Americans."
these unfair accusations
accusations about
about Osama bin Laden, and so
In other words,
words, Taliban paranoia is an American creation?
We have
have done
donenothing
nothing to
to you,
you, but
but you
you insist
insist on
"Yes. We
on treating
treating us
us as
as an enemy."
do not
not show love to their children,"
children," he
Muttawakil is no fan of America. "In America, parents do
he informed
informed meme average Afghan
Afghan doesn't
doesn't necessarily share his feelings.
- but he said the average
feelings. They may feel warmly about
of the
the help
help itit gave
gave to
to the mujahedeen
mujahedeen during
during the struggle
struggle against the Soviets.
because of
America, because
feels no
no such
such warmth, however.
however. A
A couple
couple of
of days
days after
after seeing
seeing the
the foreign
foreign minister,
minister, I
Mullah Muhammad feels
what he
he thought
thought of America.
asked Muhammad what
great hero
hero of
of the
the Muslims."
Muslims."
"America is
is the
the place that wants to
to kill
kill Osama,"
Osama," he said. "Osama is a great
Does anything good come out of America?
He thought about that one for a while.
like candy."
candy."
"Candy," he answered finally. "Candy comes from America. II like
Did I mention that Mullah
Mullah Muhammad is 17 years old?
in common
common with
with madrasa
madrasa students
students in Pakistan -- and having
having no
he seemed
seemed to
to have
have aalot
lotin
Because he
spirituality ---- I began to ask
expectation that I would
would be allowed to plumb the mysteries of Taliban spirituality
Muhammad about his life.
life. He was born
born in Kandahar, he said,
said, but
but lived for a while
while near Quetta, one of the
cities that absorbed
Pakistani cities
absorbed millions
millions of
of refugees
refugees during
duringthe
theAfghan
Afghanwars.
wars. He
He has
has attended
attended madrasas all
never studied
studied math
math or
or science or
or English
English or computers
his life.
life. He has never
computers or history.
history. He
He had
had learned the
Koran, by heart, by the time
But he learned
learned itit in Arabic,
Koran,
time he was 9. But
Arabic, and
and he speaks Pashto. All
All he learned
were the sounds.
any books
books beside the Koran.
Koran.
I asked him if he has read any
"A book
book of
of Hadith."
"Yes," he answered. "A
ACLURM002774
other books?
books? "
"Are you interested in reading other
"No. Why?"
I asked him if he knew any women.
sisters, he responded.
His sisters,
Any women not
not his
his relatives?
No.
hasn't hugged his mother since he reached puberty.
puberty. He
He listens
listens to no music;
music; he has
I learned that he hasn't
movie.
never seen a movie.
him what the future held for him.
already fought
fought once with
with the
I asked him
him. He said he has already
the mujahedeen
against the northern alliance,
alliance, and might do so again.
And ifif you're not martyred in
in that fight?
will return to my job."
"I will
do you want
want to
to work
work at
at the Information
Information Ministry?
Ministry?
Why do
baby-sitting for me.
"This is not my regular job,"
job," he
he said,
said, meaning baby-sitting
do you work, then?
Where do
"I'm a teacher."
Koran to 9-year-old boys.
Mullah Muhammad teaches the Koran
Haq imparts
imparts to his 9-year-old boys, and everyone else enrolled
enrolled at his
This is what Maulana Samiul Haq
he told
told me
me in
in one
one of
of our
our many
many conversations,
conversations, was controlled
controlled by the
madrasa: America, he
the Jews, who were in
turn controlled
understanding of the teachings
turn
controlled by
by Satan.
Satan. His is a worldview shaped by his understanding
teachings of the Prophet
but itit is a worldview
worldview moderate Muslims
Muslims might say is shaped by something
something else.
Muhammad, but
Haq, the
the world
world is
is divided
divided into two separate and mutually
mutually hostile domains:
For Samiul Haq,
domains: the
the dar-al-harb and
The dar-al-harb
dar-al-harb is
is the "abode
"abode of war."
the dar-al-Islam. The
war." The dar-al-Islam is the "abode of peace."
peace." The daral-Islam
Muslims. The dar-al-harb is everything
everything else. In the
ai-Islam is the Ummah, the
the worldwide
worldwide community of Muslims.
the Soviet
Soviet Union
Union epitomized,
epitomized, for
for fundamentalist-minded
fundamentalist-minded Muslims,
Muslims, the abode of war. Today, itit is
1980's, the
that symbolizes
symbolizes the dar-al-harb.
the U.S. that
which supported
How this came to pass, how America, which
supported --- created,
created, some would
would say -- the jihad movement
Soviets, came to become the No.
No.1
enemyof
ofhard-core
hard-core Islamists
Islamists is
is one of the more vexing
against the Soviets,
1 enemy
Muslim countries
countries today.
questions facing
facing American
American policy
policy makers
makers and
and the
the leaders of a dozen Muslim
school of thought,
thought, Samiul Haq's school,
school, says it's
it's the Americans' fault:
fault: American imperialism and the
One school
social and sexual mores are to
to blame.
blame. The
Theother
otherschool
school of
of thought
thought holds that Islam,
export of American social
is in permanent
permanent competition
competition with other civilizations.
civilizations. This
by its very nature, is
This is
is the
the theory expounded by the
political scientist
Huntington, who coined
Harvard political
scientist Samuel
Samuel Huntington,
coined the term "Islam's bloody
bloody borders"
borders" ---- aa reference
ACLURM002775
civilizations ---- Jewish,
to the fact that wherever Islam rubs up against other civilizations
Jewish, Christian,
Christian, Hindu
Hindu --- wars
wars seem
to break out.
like Samiul Haq
Haq deride
deride this
this view, and yet,
yet, in
in their
their black-and-white world,
world, Islam stands alone against
Men like
world's infidels:
the world's
infidels: Christians
Christians (or
(or "Crusaders,"
"Crusaders," in
inthe
the fundamentalist
fundamentalist parlance)
parlance) to
to be
be sure,
sure, but Jews and
Pakistanis, even some Pakistanis
Pakistanis of secular bent,
bent, say they believe that
Hindus especially.
especially. Haq, like many Pakistanis,
America's policy toward
conspiracy. (A former chief of Pakistan's
toward Muslims is directed
directed by a Jewish-Hindu conspiracy.
intelligence service
intelligence
service sympathetic
sympathetic to
to the
the Islamists,
Islamists, Gen.
Gen. Hamid Ghul, told
told me that Aipac,
Aipac, the pro-Israel
in common," he
lobby, sets America's policy
lot in
lobby,
policy toward
toward Pakistan.
Pakistan. "The
"The Jews and the Brahmins have a lot
rubbing his hands
said, referring to high-caste Hindus. "Like what?"
what?" I asked. "Usury," he responded, rubbing
together in
Shylockian manner.)
in the Shylockian
West is
is implacably hostile
hostile to
In Samiul Haq's view, the West
to the
the message
message of Islam,
Islam, and so the need to prepare
for jihad is never-ending.
"Jihad" is
mean only
only "holy
"holy war." It essentially
"Jihad"
is aa concept
concept widely
widely misunderstood
misunderstood in
in the
the West.
West. It does not mean
two types of
of jihad:
means "struggle,"
"struggle," and according
according to
to the traditional
traditional understanding
understanding of
of Islam,
Islam, there are two
lesser. "Greater
"Greater Jihad,"
Jihad," is
is the struggle
struggle within
within the soul
righteous
greater and lesser.
soul of a person to be better, more righteous
fight against the
the devil
devil within.
within. "Lesser
"Lesser Jihad"
Jihad" is the fight
fight against the devil
devil without:
without: the military
military struggle
-- the fight
against those who subjugate Muslims.
Whenever II meet
meetaaMuslim
Muslim fundamentalist,
fundamentalist, II ask
askthem
them the
the same
samestupid-sounding
stupid-sounding question:
question: Which is more
Whenever
usually accompanied by
by an
an indulgent
indulgent look,
look,
important to
to Islam,
Islam, greater jihad or lesser jihad? The answer, usually
is usually something
something like,
like, "They don't call
call it 'greater jihad' for
for nothing."
nothing." The
The struggle
struggle against
against the
the external
wanes, but
butthe
the fight
fight to
to suppress
suppress the
the evil
evil inclinations
inclinations within is perpetual.
oppressor waxes and wanes,
But in
in my conversations
with mullahs
conversations with
with Haq,
Haq, and with
mullahs across
across Pakistan
Pakistan and Afghanistan,
Afghanistan, I kept getting a
of equal importance,"
importance," Haq said.
said. "Jihad
"Jihad against the oppressor
oppressor of Muslims is an
different answer. "They are of
religion that defends itself."
itself." Jihad
absolute duty. Islam is a religion
Jihad against
against the
the devil
devil without
without has
has assumed
assumed a place
even overriding
overriding importance in the way these
these mullahs
mullahs look
look at
at the
the world.
world. This
This was
was surprising
surprising
of permanent, even
not even the leaders
leaders of Hamas
Hamas in
in the
the Gaza
GazaStrip,
Strip, or
or sympathizers
sympathizers of
of the Muslim
Muslim
to me, because not
Brotherhood in
Brotherhood
in Egypt,
Egypt, ever answered the question this way.
refused to
thinking of Mullah
(The thinking
Mullah Omar,
Omar, the Taliban leader, is in line with
with Haq's.
Haq's. Mullah
Mullah Omar has refused
to meet
policy ungrounded
ungrounded in
submitted a
face to face with non-Muslims, a policy
in the
the Koran
Koran or in
in the
the Hadith,
Hadith, but when
when I submitted
written question
"Both the
written
question to
to him
him about
about the
the nature of jihad,
jihad, he wrote in response: "Both
the jihads
jihads have their own
one struggles
struggles to amend his
his inner
inner self, and in
in another
another he
he defends
defends his
his religion.")
religion.")
importance. In one, one
asked Samiul
Samiul Haq
Haq to
to explain
explain why
why he
he placed
placed so
so much
much emphasis
emphasis on
on lesser
lesser jihad,
jihad, he
he said:
said: "Islam
"Islam is
When II asked
religion of limits.
a religion
limits. There
There are four pillars
pillars of
of Islam.
Islam. Hall,
Hajj, the
the pilgrimage
pilgrimage to
to Mecca,
Mecca, you
you must make once,
only if you
you have the means. There
you must give.
give. In
In prayer,
prayer, we only pray
There is
is aa limit
limit to how much charity you
fasting, we fast for only one month,
month, Ramadan. But
But for
for jihad, there are
are no
no limits.
limits.
five times a day. And fasting,
limits. There is
is no compromise in
in jihad."
Jihad must be fought without limits.
is the
the jihad being
being fought today? Against India?
So where is
The liberation
liberation of
of Kashmir
Kashmir is
is aa holy
holy struggle."
struggle."
"Yes. The
He then said that jihad today should
should be
be waged
waged against
against Serbia
Serbia and Russia and Israel, and against the
northern alliance, the Taliban's foe in
in Afghanistan.
ACLURM002776
him question after question
question about the
I asked him
the Taliban -- why do they do the things they do? Finally he had
enough: "Listen,
enough:
"Listen, ifif you
you Americans
Americans don't
don't stop
stoppestering
pesteringus
usabout
aboutthe
theTaliban,
Taliban,we'll
well give
give them the nuclear
How would
would you
you like
like that?"
bomb. How
also said
said itit was necessary
necessary to
to wage
wage jihad
jihad against
against America,
America, for
for "occupying"
"occupying" Saudi Arabia.
He also
bin Laden:
Laden: the
the struggle
struggle to evict American
This jihad is the particular
particular obsession
obsession of
of the
the Saudi
Saudi exile
exile Osama bin
troops from
invitation of
troops
from Saudi
Saudi Arabia,
Arabia, who
who are there at the invitation
of the
the Saudi
Saudi king.
king. Samiul
Samiul Haq
Haq says he believes
polluting holy
that these troops are polluting
holy soil.
soil. AA jihad,
jihad, then,
then, is
is compulsory.
compulsory. And
And in
in aa jihad,
jihad, he
he said,
said, these
American troops are targets.
him ifif this is what he is
is teaching his
his thousands of students.
I asked him
taught Islam.
Islam. This
This isn't
isn't aa military
military school."
school."
"My students are taught
not that the Haqqania
Haqqania madrasa
madrasais
is aatraining
training camp
camp for
for terrorists.
terrorists. And the secret of the
Haq's secret was not
Taliban -- the secret of Talibanism -- is not found
found inside
inside the
the Shrine
Shrine of
of the
the Cloak
Cloak of
of Muhammad.
Muhammad. The secret
11-year-olds cocking
cocking their fingers
fingers at me, and in
in the taunts
taunts of
of the students in the
is embodied in the two 11-year-olds
in the person
mosque who raised their hands
hands for
for Osama
Osama bin
bin Laden,
Laden, and in
person of
of Mullah
Mullah Haji
Haji Muhammad, my
17-year-old minder
minder in Kandahar
Kandahar who
who has
has no
no interest
interest in any book but the Koran,
Koran, and in the hundreds of
17-year-old
thousands of young
young men
men like
like him
him at
at madrasas
madrasas across
across Pakistan
Pakistan and
and Afghanistan.
Afghanistan. These
These are poor and
impressionable boys kept entirely ignorant of the world
world and, for that matter, largely ignorant of all but one
interpretation
interpretation of Islam.
They are
are the
the perfect
perfect jihad machines.
ACLURM002777