26 International Journal of Cultic Studies ■ Vol. 3, 2012
Many individuals might be supportive of such
violence but, for most of them, all the dynamics
do not come together in a way that they reach
the point of no return.
Psychodynamic Factors That Contribute to the
Personality Traits of a Suicide Bomber
Based on the available evidence, the proposed
theory suggests that certain psychodynamic
factors may contribute to the development of
personality traits that are common among
suicide bombers. These factors include being
abandoned by one’s family having a deranged
experience of puberty and adolescence that leads
to identity foreclosure experiencing cruel, guilt-
inducing, and physically abusive disciplining
and being unable to accept the unsettling reality
of mortality.
Abandonment by the Family
The first factor in the making of a potential
Pakistani Muslim suicide bomber is
abandonment by one’s family. This
abandonment can lead to low-self esteem, low
self-worth, anger, and unhappiness in that
individual.
In 2005, Pakistan had 20,000 madrassas (Islamic
religious schools), with an estimated 1.7 million
students enrolled, compared to 137 madrassas at
the time Pakistan gained its independence in
1947 (Lawson, BBC News, July 14, 2005).
Several other sources (e.g., Human Rights
Commission Pakistan, International Center for
Religion &Diplomacy, Pakistan Ministry for
Religious Affairs, The World Bank) give higher
or lower madrassa counts but, irrespective of
the accuracy of the exact numbers, all the
sources accept that the number is in the
thousands. Typically, most students of these
madrassas are from very poor families with
multiple children. These children often receive
no schooling, and, for many parents, even
feeding them is a struggle (VJ Movement
journalists). For these parents, a madrassa,
which is free Islamic schooling with free board
and lodging, is a good option for one or more of
their children.
Learning and memorizing the Quran is one of
the ultimate goals of madrassa education. The
person who has memorized the Quran is known
as “Hafiz-i-Quran.” Besides free living, the
following teachings become further
rationalizations for the parents to abandon their
children by sending them to a madrassa:
He who learns the Qur’an and practices
upon it, his parents will be made to wear
a crown on the day of Qiyamah
[Judgment Day], the brilliance of which
will excel that of the sun if the same
were within your worldly houses.
Hence, what do you think about the
person who himself acts upon it? (Abu
Dawood)
Whoever reads the Qur’an and
memorizes it, while he regards what it
makes lawful as lawful and its unlawful
as forbidden, Allah will admit him into
Jannah [Heaven] and will accept his
intercession on behalf of ten such
persons of his family who were doomed
to the fire of Jahannam [Hell].
(Tirmidhi)1
Parents justify sending a child to the madrassa as
the right thing to do that will benefit both the
child and the parents in the life hereafter.
However, according to Freud’s ego psychology,
doing so is a good example of using the ego
ideal as rationalization (a psychological defense
mechanism) against the guilt (super ego) of
being an abandoning and selfish parent.
Unfortunately, young children who are
cognitively in the stage of concrete operations
(Piaget) cannot make any sense of this reasoning
by their parents and can only experience being
sent away as abandonment by their family. And
if only one child among many is sent, the
experience can create yet stronger feelings of
being unwanted. Kohut’s theory of self-esteem
development (1971) places emphasis on
validating and loving responses (“the gleam in
the mother’s eyes”) from parents to fulfill the
narcissistic needs of a child. In that context, one
can only imagine what this kind of abandonment
can do to the child’s self-esteem. I suggest that
the action leads to serious narcissistic injury and
1 Abu Dawood and Tirmidhi are two of the six compilations of
sayings of the Holy Prophet Mohammad. Sayings of Prophet
Mohammad are called Hadith and, after the Quran, are considered
the most important guiding principles of Islamic ways of life.
Many individuals might be supportive of such
violence but, for most of them, all the dynamics
do not come together in a way that they reach
the point of no return.
Psychodynamic Factors That Contribute to the
Personality Traits of a Suicide Bomber
Based on the available evidence, the proposed
theory suggests that certain psychodynamic
factors may contribute to the development of
personality traits that are common among
suicide bombers. These factors include being
abandoned by one’s family having a deranged
experience of puberty and adolescence that leads
to identity foreclosure experiencing cruel, guilt-
inducing, and physically abusive disciplining
and being unable to accept the unsettling reality
of mortality.
Abandonment by the Family
The first factor in the making of a potential
Pakistani Muslim suicide bomber is
abandonment by one’s family. This
abandonment can lead to low-self esteem, low
self-worth, anger, and unhappiness in that
individual.
In 2005, Pakistan had 20,000 madrassas (Islamic
religious schools), with an estimated 1.7 million
students enrolled, compared to 137 madrassas at
the time Pakistan gained its independence in
1947 (Lawson, BBC News, July 14, 2005).
Several other sources (e.g., Human Rights
Commission Pakistan, International Center for
Religion &Diplomacy, Pakistan Ministry for
Religious Affairs, The World Bank) give higher
or lower madrassa counts but, irrespective of
the accuracy of the exact numbers, all the
sources accept that the number is in the
thousands. Typically, most students of these
madrassas are from very poor families with
multiple children. These children often receive
no schooling, and, for many parents, even
feeding them is a struggle (VJ Movement
journalists). For these parents, a madrassa,
which is free Islamic schooling with free board
and lodging, is a good option for one or more of
their children.
Learning and memorizing the Quran is one of
the ultimate goals of madrassa education. The
person who has memorized the Quran is known
as “Hafiz-i-Quran.” Besides free living, the
following teachings become further
rationalizations for the parents to abandon their
children by sending them to a madrassa:
He who learns the Qur’an and practices
upon it, his parents will be made to wear
a crown on the day of Qiyamah
[Judgment Day], the brilliance of which
will excel that of the sun if the same
were within your worldly houses.
Hence, what do you think about the
person who himself acts upon it? (Abu
Dawood)
Whoever reads the Qur’an and
memorizes it, while he regards what it
makes lawful as lawful and its unlawful
as forbidden, Allah will admit him into
Jannah [Heaven] and will accept his
intercession on behalf of ten such
persons of his family who were doomed
to the fire of Jahannam [Hell].
(Tirmidhi)1
Parents justify sending a child to the madrassa as
the right thing to do that will benefit both the
child and the parents in the life hereafter.
However, according to Freud’s ego psychology,
doing so is a good example of using the ego
ideal as rationalization (a psychological defense
mechanism) against the guilt (super ego) of
being an abandoning and selfish parent.
Unfortunately, young children who are
cognitively in the stage of concrete operations
(Piaget) cannot make any sense of this reasoning
by their parents and can only experience being
sent away as abandonment by their family. And
if only one child among many is sent, the
experience can create yet stronger feelings of
being unwanted. Kohut’s theory of self-esteem
development (1971) places emphasis on
validating and loving responses (“the gleam in
the mother’s eyes”) from parents to fulfill the
narcissistic needs of a child. In that context, one
can only imagine what this kind of abandonment
can do to the child’s self-esteem. I suggest that
the action leads to serious narcissistic injury and
1 Abu Dawood and Tirmidhi are two of the six compilations of
sayings of the Holy Prophet Mohammad. Sayings of Prophet
Mohammad are called Hadith and, after the Quran, are considered
the most important guiding principles of Islamic ways of life.
