39Harris Perhaps I’m giving too much credit to critics
of my views on this topic, but let me bend over
backward once more. I’m imagining (as so many
people insist is the case) that some signifi cant
percentage of highly dedicated Islamists are purely
politi cal, in that they’re motivated by terrestrial con-
cerns and are simply using Islam as the banner
under which to promote their cause. Aren’t there
Islamists who don’t believe in the metaphysics of
martyrdom?
Nawaz We would simply call them insincere. Insin-
cere people exist in any movement and under any
ideology. But if we’re going to look at what Islamists
subscribe to, obviously we have to discount the mi-
nority who are Machiavellian and join only because
they want something else out of it.
But if you consider those who are sincere— and I
was sincere in what I used to believe— you’ll fi nd
that they’re prepared for martyrdom. I had to face
torturers in Egypt and thought I was going to die
for my cause. In that sense all sincere Islamists
believe they’re engaged in a cosmic strug gle for
good against evil, and they defi ne “good” as a holy
strug gle. But again, to emphasize, that is not the
only thing they believe.
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