Kids are meant to grow up in a sheltered world, one where the learn about life and are subject to all that is good. To have the little ones participate in barbaric acts such as murder is simply insane, but that is what a particularly disturbing Islamic State (ISIS) video from Afghanistan showed: kids executing prisoners. With the ISIS ideology hailing from a strictly puritan Wahhabi or Salafist line of thought, it is no surprise that these are the very same people who are proud to proclaim about how they love death a whole lot more compared to life. In fact, death is what they revel in, and are first in line to obtain their 72 virgins in the afterlife (for men).
The latest propaganda video from ISIS showcases its activities in Afghanistan, which is a country that has been torn apart by war for many years now. Islamic State forces have also ensured that they have a stranglehold in the area since early 2015, with their warring mentality having won over a slew of eastern tribes that hark back to the barbaric times of Muhammad when he pillaged and broke treaties with other tribes in order to enhance his army and gain more booty. Compared to the Taliban and Al-Qaeda, one can say that those two are extremely tame compared to IS. In fact, IS has strengthened their position in the country to such an extent where they are more than capable of handling the Taliban as well as the Afghan army, which is no mean feat.
In the disturbing video footage, it showcases skirmishes between the IS and government forces, a massive sharia crackdown among the general populace, and most disturbingly, summary executions. Most of these executions happen to be performed by kids who have grown up knowing nothing else but IS ideology.
IS has been known to push people to their deaths from high places in the past (the sexually deviant in particular), burnt people to a crisp, beheaded their prisoners (mostly Christians and other Muslims who do not agree with their fundamental ideology) with at times, a blunt sword, and blown up others using explosives. In fact, IS are bedfellows with the mad dictator Kim Jong Un of North Korea who actually used an anti-aircraft battery to execute his own relative when purging the ranks of his government from potential traitors due to his high level of paranoia.
It is extremely sad to see how such a twisted teaching is able to pervert the innocence of young children, and to have them grow up to be cold blooded murderers and killers is plain wrong. Even if IS were to be disbanded and routed from its strangleholds, it is going to take a whole lot of counselling and post-traumatic sessions to de-radicalize these young kids who might be teens or even young adults by then. Should that happen, there is always the risk that these young adults might end up to be sleeper agents of IS, ready to strike at a moment’s notice when given the orders from the higher ups.
To get rid of an idea is a difficult thing to do, and with Islamic teachings at the core of majority of these terror attacks all over the world, there needs to be a reform from within in order to prevent further incidences like these. However, reforming Islam is deemed to be an impossible task simply because the Quran and hadith are stuck in the sands of time from the 7th century; ranging from its customs to examples of Muhammad. One is able to insult Allah and get away with it, but Muhammad is on another level altogether that it makes the world wonder just who is subservient to the other.
