{"id":52,"date":"2005-12-21T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2005-12-21T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/idolchatter\/2005\/12\/enough-with-the-72-virgins.html"},"modified":"2005-12-21T12:00:00","modified_gmt":"2005-12-21T12:00:00","slug":"enough-with-the-72-virgins","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/2005\/12\/enough-with-the-72-virgins.html","title":{"rendered":"Enough with the 72 Virgins!"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

Barbara Walters really covered her ground in last night\u2019s ABC special, \u201cHeaven: Where is it? How Do We Get There?\u201d<\/a> She, in trademark Barbara fashion, grilled priests, imams, rabbis, Hollywood movie stars, the Dalai Lama, and regular folk who claimed to have had near-death experiences and saw heaven. I was eager to catch this remarkable special, and more specifically to see what my brothers in Islam had to say about heaven. I was especially interested in what Barbara would ask of the failed \u201cMuslim\u201d suicide bomber jailed in an Israeli prison.<\/p>\n

Sadly, it was all about those darn 72 virgins.<\/p>\n

A little background, if there\u2019s even a remote chance you don\u2019t know of this already: Ever since 9\/11, when \u201cIslamic\u201d terrorists gained worldwide notoriety, all we hear about is this notion that suicide terrorists are pursuing some warped version of martyrdom for the promise of 72 virgins in paradise. (By the way–72 virgins? Not stated in the Qu\u2019ran)<\/p>\n

It seems–judging from Barbara\u2019s line of questioning–that the promise of 72 virgins is the<\/em> reason why suicide bombers and terrorists do what they do. But to me, it seems rather far-fetched that this, and not years of radical teachings coupled with a life devoid of a viable future, is what fuels so-called \u201cMuslim\u201d suicide terrorists. Multiple articles written about suicide bombers elicit the same type of information: That many misguided youth who become suicide bombers are indoctrinated by years of radical teachings coupled with a life of chaos, poverty, hate, and constant warfare such that the thought of achieving paradise for being a \u201cmartyr\u201d is reason enough strap on the bombs. Are male youth promised 72 virgins? Probably. But is this the promise that gets them to choose a violent death? I doubt it.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not surprised Barbara zeroed in on this tantalizing line of questioning when she sat down with the failed suicide bomber. For all I know she asked a lot of other thoughtful and provocative questions regarding his reasons for doing what he did and what he believes heaven will be like. But journalistic television specials such as this one aim at exploring topics that interest the public in a stimulating, interesting way. People want to know about those darn 72 virgins. And so that\u2019s the part of the interview that made it on the air.<\/p>\n

I am so thankful that Barbara turned to Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf<\/a> of New York City for the counterpoint to this issue of the 72 virgins. He pointed out that 72 is the Arabic equivalent for a nonspecific number, like saying \u201chundreds and hundreds.\u201d More importantly, he steered the discussion away from those virgins to the important topic of how these bombers who try to be martyrs are not<\/span> doing what the Qu\u2019ran says of martyrs.<\/p>\n

I especially applaud the Imam\u2019s gentle withdrawal from answering the question of whether the suicide bombers will go to heaven. How can I say who goes and who doesn\u2019t? he asked. It\u2019s a mixed up world where \u201cone man\u2019s terrorists is another man\u2019s hero.\u201d Why don\u2019t we try to figure that one out instead of wasting any more time on 72 virgins.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Barbara Walters really covered her ground in last night\u2019s ABC special, \u201cHeaven: Where is it? How Do We Get There?\u201d She, in trademark Barbara fashion, grilled priests, imams, rabbis, Hollywood movie stars, the Dalai Lama, and regular folk who claimed to have had near-death experiences and saw heaven. I was eager to catch this remarkable…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":283,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-52","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\nEnough with the 72 Virgins!<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, nofollow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Enough with the 72 Virgins!\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Barbara Walters really covered her ground in last night\u2019s ABC special, \u201cHeaven: Where is it? How Do We Get There?\u201d She, in trademark Barbara fashion, grilled priests, imams, rabbis, Hollywood movie stars, the Dalai Lama, and regular folk who claimed to have had near-death experiences and saw heaven. 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