International Journal on Criminology Volume 7, Number 1, Winter 2019/2020 | Page 115

International Journal on Criminology
giance to ISIS and preparation for martyrdom cleanses the individual of their former
dissolute lifestyle. The choice of martyrdom becomes a means of labeling acts
of violence in the name of a supposed Good, and also a means of rehabilitation for
someone who may have made bad choices during their life (such as delinquency,
theft, violence, alcohol, or drugs)—a lifestyle that he will be able to legitimately resume
in the afterlife. ISIS’s version of martyropathy is a continuation of postmodern
aspirations. Honor is not a factor (whereas it was central to post-revolutionary
Shiite martyropathy), although it can still be invoked in ISIS recruitment speeches
aimed at Middle Eastern populations, which seem to only just have entered the
modern era.
Traditional Middle Eastern societies are based on a codified sense of honor
(think of the motivations for honor crimes), itself founded on an overarching culture
of honor that no longer exists in postmodern Western minds that are searching
for meaning. Honor is a Middle Eastern cultural and social glue that is fused
with the sacred and the taboo. It is this factor that has clearly been mobilized to
trigger the ideological and martyropathic aspirations of Middle Eastern populations.
During our interviews with Iraqi former would-be jihadists, we realized that
there is an enormous gulf between their attitude and that of European jihadists.
One of them said, “Martyrdom is a question of honor. The martyr is someone who
cleanses the honor of a whole family, a whole tribe, even the whole of humanity. It
has replaced art, it is the route from error to truth, from injustice to justice and a
martyr saves humanity.” 17
Interviews with Westerners strongly highlighted the desire for personal salvation
and individual satisfaction. In a letter sent to the press before he died as
a martyr, a French jihadist explained that “before, I went to night clubs, I drank
alcohol, I was a dounia guy [interested in material goods]. Jihad has become an obligation.
[ ... ] Death is a reward for me.” 18 This testimony is not unique. Interviews
with European jihadists almost always reveal an individual’s quest for personal
salvation. Almost all bear witness to dreams of bliss defined by an abundance of
pleasure. In other words, happiness through consumption.
To conclude, although the Iranian model of martyropathy of the 1980s has
certainly inspired various Islamist political movements, whether Shiite or Sunni,
it must not be confused with the aspiration to martyrdom promoted by contemporary
jihadist movements such as ISIS. First, although massification seen in the
new takfiri ideologies is indeed similar to Iranian policies from the early years of
the Islamic Republic, it is no longer the case in Iran today. The martyr is clearly
17 Interview with a 26-year-old disenchanted Iraqi jihadist conducted in April 2015. However, he had
not ruled out the idea of universal justice, which he was seeking outside the sphere of jihadism.
18 Statement sent to a journalist “for publication before I die” by Salahudine, a 27-year-old French citizen
who left to become a jihadist in Syria. Source : http://www.france24.com/fr/20140212-pourquoi
-je-veux-mourir-syrie-confession-djihadiste-francais-temoignage-martyr.
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