"A Man of Faith?"


Marwan Abu Ubeida is a twenty year-old jihadi foot soldier in Abu Mousab al-Zarqawi’s terrorist group in Iraq who has decided that he wants to give his life for his cause, by becoming a suicide bomber, and killing as many American and Iraqi soldiers as possible. I believe that Marwan displays a kind of Faith that not many people in America can say they have ever experienced.


Click image for source

Marwan is completely dedicated to his cause. He believes that, in killing himself along with American and Iraqi soldiers, he is “being a good Muslim” because the Koran says that it is the duty of Muslims to bring terror to the enemy. Being a jihadi does not mean that you’re just an insurgent with a gun, rather the jihadis are deeply religious. “Ask them anything—anything—and they can instantly quote a relevant section from the Koran,” says Marwan. In becoming a suicide bomber, Marwan goes through a sort of “self purification” during which you “give up your previous life and start a new one.” Marwan spends most of his time going over his final prayer to Allah in his head, asking Allah to help him succeed in his mission “with a high rate of casualties among the Americans,” to “purify (his) soul so that (he) is fit to see (Allah),” and finally, Marwan requests “to see (his) mujahedin brothers who are already with him.”

Secondly, Marwan believes that, by killing himself and “infidels” he is becoming a martyr for his Faith. He has Faith in the belief that he will be guaranteed a place in paradise by Allah. Marwan “can’t wait” to fulfill his mission. He is “ready to die now.” Marwan does not let the fact that, in killing himself, his earthly life will be ended, but rather he focuses on the belief that, in killing himself, his journey to heaven will be nearly complete. Marwan says, “When you get ready for the final mission you can’t think about the past. You only think about your future in heaven.” Marwan’s Faith in Allah is so strong that he is more than willing to end his own life for Islam, in fact, he is eager to get it over with. His goal isn’t to get people to know what he has done or be praised for his sacrifice. On the contrary, “It doesn’t matter whether people know what (he) did. The only person who matters is Allah—and the only question he will ask me is ‘How many infidels did you kill?’”

This essay was written based on information from the article "Inside the mind of a suicide bomber" by Aparisim Ghosh, from TIME magazine.

BACK