43The 9/11 hijackers’ being seen in strip clubs is,
however, relevant for use in propaganda against
them. Most conservative Western Muslims (who do
not think they’re at war with their own countries)
would fi nd such be hav ior irreligious. But you’re
absolutely right to say that it’s not indicative of the
hijackers’ religious convictions or lack thereof. This
confusion between supposed jihadist religiosity and
sex should be clearer now after the world has wit-
nessed Boko Haram and the Islamic State’s enslave-
ment and mass rape of women.
It is not necessarily accurate to assume that,
say, the leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood are
somehow less pious than the leaders of, say, the
Islamic State. More vio lence does not necessarily
equate with greater religious conviction. Each
group is deeply convinced of its approach to
achieving Islamism in society, and both face much
danger in pursuit of that goal. But they differ in
methodology, and they very much despise each
other, just as Trotsky and Stalin eventually did.
That didn’t mean one was less a communist than
the other; they had a factional dispute within their
ideology. Some people misunderstand such dis-
putes within Islamism. They argue, “What do you
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