32 International Journal of Cultic Studies ■ Vol. 3, 2012
supposedly by the Indian Army in Kashmir.
Recruits would be given lectures about how this
would happen to their mothers and sisters if they
didn’t stop the perpetrators. He was sensible
enough to run away from there and started
working at a firm in Islamabad. This young man
also had grown up being physically abused by
his father, older brother, and schoolteachers.
Once, I was standing behind him looking at what
he had typed. He asked me to leave because he
was getting tense and could not type anymore.
I respected his wish but later talked to him to
understand what had happened. After some
exploration, it turned out that, when he was a
student in a local government elementary school,
teachers would walk behind students doing their
work if a teacher saw any mistake, without
warning the teacher would hit the child with a
stick. This experience explained the young
man’s getting tense, but he also had rage toward
authority figures and a need to discharge it.
That is why jihad became appealing to him as a
teenager. However, one could also argue that he
had seen good times with friends playing cricket
and doing other fun things, he had a loving
mother, and he grew up in an intact family that
was all-protective and his better sense prevailed
before too long. One could also hypothesize
that, during his adolescent stage of identity crisis
(Erikson, 1968), he had to explore and
experience his role and identity as a jihadi but
soon rejected it and started working in an office
as an assistant. Unfortunately, it seems that, for
some, that identity as a jihadi for just a short
period is not what happens, and few go so far as
to become suicide bombers.
The concept of terrorists receiving a number of
virgins in heaven (Hurs) upon their death is also
relevant. The Quran does not give a number, but
another source (The American Muslim) suggests
the two numbers quoted the most are 70 and 72.
Even though the pleasure of sex with so many
beautiful young women seems to be the only
thing that many see as an attraction, there is
more to it. It is always emphasized that the Hurs
are virgins. Virgin obviously means that these
women have never been with any other man
before. To receive 70 beautiful women who
have never been with another man wanting to
serve one man, including sexually, clearly
makes the individual very special. One can
imagine how powerful this fantasy can be for a
person who was abandoned as a child and never
treated well, let alone never made to feel special
in any way. I would argue that, in the context of
virgins, these men’s desire is not just sexual
they can have a profound longing for being
loved and cared for.
The Dynamics of Interaction Between
Personality and Circumstances
From a psychodynamics perspective, any
situation that develops or events that occur for
an individual are the result of the interaction of
one’s personality with the circumstances.
Keeping in mind the above-described
personality traits and the circumstances in
Pakistan, I hypothesize the following dynamics
that lead to the occurrence of a suicide bombing:
Through brainwashing and rhetoric, the
United States of America and its allies,
which can also include Pakistani security
forces, become symbolic representatives of
the evil authority figure. In addition, Bush
and his team’s strategy for 8 years to fight
terror by invading and occupying two
Muslim countries and incurring the
associated collateral damage of death,
destruction, and displacement of innocent
Muslims only serves to reinforce the image
of the United States as an evil authority or
power.
This process occurs more effectively
through the exploitation of idealizing
transference (Kohut, 1971). Having grown
up without a parent figure worthy of
idealizing, vulnerable Pakistani youth are
very prone to idealize a parent-like figure—
in this case the leader of a terrorist
organization—who portrays himself as
being selflessly committed to this noble
cause. Because these individuals see their
self-worth in the context of an idealized
parent figure whom they have put on a
pedestal, it comes naturally for them to fully
agree with that person’s point of view.
The murderous rage that these young people
experience is displaced onto the symbol of
supposedly by the Indian Army in Kashmir.
Recruits would be given lectures about how this
would happen to their mothers and sisters if they
didn’t stop the perpetrators. He was sensible
enough to run away from there and started
working at a firm in Islamabad. This young man
also had grown up being physically abused by
his father, older brother, and schoolteachers.
Once, I was standing behind him looking at what
he had typed. He asked me to leave because he
was getting tense and could not type anymore.
I respected his wish but later talked to him to
understand what had happened. After some
exploration, it turned out that, when he was a
student in a local government elementary school,
teachers would walk behind students doing their
work if a teacher saw any mistake, without
warning the teacher would hit the child with a
stick. This experience explained the young
man’s getting tense, but he also had rage toward
authority figures and a need to discharge it.
That is why jihad became appealing to him as a
teenager. However, one could also argue that he
had seen good times with friends playing cricket
and doing other fun things, he had a loving
mother, and he grew up in an intact family that
was all-protective and his better sense prevailed
before too long. One could also hypothesize
that, during his adolescent stage of identity crisis
(Erikson, 1968), he had to explore and
experience his role and identity as a jihadi but
soon rejected it and started working in an office
as an assistant. Unfortunately, it seems that, for
some, that identity as a jihadi for just a short
period is not what happens, and few go so far as
to become suicide bombers.
The concept of terrorists receiving a number of
virgins in heaven (Hurs) upon their death is also
relevant. The Quran does not give a number, but
another source (The American Muslim) suggests
the two numbers quoted the most are 70 and 72.
Even though the pleasure of sex with so many
beautiful young women seems to be the only
thing that many see as an attraction, there is
more to it. It is always emphasized that the Hurs
are virgins. Virgin obviously means that these
women have never been with any other man
before. To receive 70 beautiful women who
have never been with another man wanting to
serve one man, including sexually, clearly
makes the individual very special. One can
imagine how powerful this fantasy can be for a
person who was abandoned as a child and never
treated well, let alone never made to feel special
in any way. I would argue that, in the context of
virgins, these men’s desire is not just sexual
they can have a profound longing for being
loved and cared for.
The Dynamics of Interaction Between
Personality and Circumstances
From a psychodynamics perspective, any
situation that develops or events that occur for
an individual are the result of the interaction of
one’s personality with the circumstances.
Keeping in mind the above-described
personality traits and the circumstances in
Pakistan, I hypothesize the following dynamics
that lead to the occurrence of a suicide bombing:
Through brainwashing and rhetoric, the
United States of America and its allies,
which can also include Pakistani security
forces, become symbolic representatives of
the evil authority figure. In addition, Bush
and his team’s strategy for 8 years to fight
terror by invading and occupying two
Muslim countries and incurring the
associated collateral damage of death,
destruction, and displacement of innocent
Muslims only serves to reinforce the image
of the United States as an evil authority or
power.
This process occurs more effectively
through the exploitation of idealizing
transference (Kohut, 1971). Having grown
up without a parent figure worthy of
idealizing, vulnerable Pakistani youth are
very prone to idealize a parent-like figure—
in this case the leader of a terrorist
organization—who portrays himself as
being selflessly committed to this noble
cause. Because these individuals see their
self-worth in the context of an idealized
parent figure whom they have put on a
pedestal, it comes naturally for them to fully
agree with that person’s point of view.
The murderous rage that these young people
experience is displaced onto the symbol of
