Abetting Beheadings

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In yesterday’s National Review, Mustafa Akyol condemned the obscene beheading videos that are being circulated around the Islamic world. This is good. We need to see more—much more—of this.

But unfortunately, as Andrew McCarthy convincingly demonstrates today, Aykol’s article rests on a bed of extreme denial: Abetting Beheadings.

The execution of captives, particularly by beheading, is not unusual in the history and scripture of Islam. This is not in any way to say that beheading is unique to the Muslim world — it was, for example, practiced in Europe for centuries. But, it is still practiced commonly in the Muslim world, and not just among jihadists but also in states, such as Saudi Arabia, in which Islamic law is, at least nominally, the regnant legal system.

I applaud Akyol for condemning the depravity of the militants who have savaged Johnson, Berg, il-Sun, Pearl, and others. But I don’t believe he has made a compelling case for the “Islamic condemnation of the al Qaeda killings.” Such a case would require taking these troubling verses and incidents head-on, and providing a cogent explanation of why they should not be interpreted as jihadists have interpreted them.

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Last updated: 2023-04-04 11:11 am PDT
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