The Mujahideen and the Samurai

By: Ohmyrus 

The terrorists who destroyed the World Trade Center were not the first to employ suicide attacks. During World War 2, Japanese Kamikaze pilots rained death and destruction on American ships by making suicide attacks with their airplanes. Those brave pilots were motivated by Bushido or the Way of the Warrior.

Kamikaze means Divine Wind in Japanese. The attacks were named after the winds that destroyed the Mongol invasion fleet 1000 years ago. The Japanese believed that the Gods had protected Japan.

Today, the modern day Samurais in business suits are more interested in sending cars and walkmans to the USA than bombs and death. The Japanese have got it right but the Islamic terrorist has taken over where the Samurai left off. While we may think of them as terrorists, they consider themselves to be Mujahideens or Holy Warriors.

This article compares Bushido to militant Islam. Both were designed to facilitate imperialism. Bushido was derived from Confucianism, Zen Buddhism and Shintoism.

Confucius taught of the five relationships between parent/child, elder/younger, ruler/subordinate, husband/wife and between friends. For the Samurai, the highest loyalty was to his daimyo or feudal lord. The Samurai devoted his life to serving his master by protecting his land, attacking other clans, or whatever his daimyo ordered him to do.

If he failed in his given task, committing hara kiri (also known as seppuku) was considered the honorable thing to do. If his lord is killed, seppuku was again the honorable thing to do for he has failed to protect his lord.

From Zen Buddhism, the Samurai learned not to fear death. Like the Mujahideen, he believes in an after life. After death comes reincarnation. If death is not the end, then fear of death dissipates. By practicing Zen meditation, the Samurai focused his attention on driving out fear and becomes one with nature. He goes into battle with his mind as clear as spring water.

The Mujahideen too does not fear death. But unlike the Samurai, he looks forward to it. The reward is a martyr’s death and his place in paradise is assured. In paradise, he will have virgins to be his loving companions and the sweetest fruits and springs of flowing waters.

Koran 55:53 says:
“They shall recline on couches lined with thick brocade, and within reach will hang the fruits of both gardens. Which of your Lord’s blessings would you deny? Therein are bashful virgins whom neither man nor jinnee will have touched before. Which of your Lord’s blessings would you deny?”


Thus while the Samurai became fearless warriors by meditation, a belief in reincarnation and a strong sense of duty, the desert rats that followed Prophet Mohammed were motivated to forsake their fears by booty in this world and carnal pleasures in the next.

What a contrast between medieval Japan and 7th century Arabia. I believe that had any prophet preached carnal rewards in the hereafter to the sophisticated and cultured Japanese, they would have forced him to commit hara-kiri for his imposture.

The third component of Bushido is Shintoism. Shinto was the original religion of Japan. From this derived the Samurai’s fierce loyalty to Japan and its Emperor whom they revere as a God.

Shinto is pantheistic. This means that everything has a spirit. The land of Japan contains a spirit and is considered sacred. An attack of the land of Japan is an attack on the home of all their ancestors. Such beliefs result in fanatical patriotism. Also according to Shinto, Amaterasu, the Sun Goddess gave birth to the first emperor. This means that his descendents are also gods.

In Islam, the world is divided into two parts – darul Harb (land of war) and darul Islam. All acts of war are permitted in darul Harb. When the darul Harb has been subjugated, the Harbi become prisoners of war. He or she can be sold into slavery, exiled, ransomed or treated as dhimmis. Dhimmis are protected people or second-class subjects who are required to pay an annual tribute. Muslims are expected to take part in jihad (or holy war) to expand darul Islam.

Ayatollah Khomeini gave a good description of jihad. He said:
“Islam makes it incumbent on all adult males, provided they are not disabled and incapacitated, to prepare themselves for the conquest of (other) countries so that the writ of Islam is obeyed in every country in the world.”

By the way, he also was contemptuous of those moderates and apologists who say that Islam means peace. He said:
“The sword is the key to Paradise, which can be opened only by Holy Warriors! There are hundreds of other psalms and Hadiths urging Muslims to value war and to fight. Does all that mean that Islam is a religion that prevents men from waging war? I spit upon those foolish souls that make such a claim.”

Thus both Bushido and Islam have much in common. The kamikaze pilot who sacrificed his life did it for his god-emperor. The terrorist (or Holy Warrior) who crashed the plane onto the World Trade Center was performing jihad to gain entrance into paradise. Both sacrifices were supported by religious beliefs and both are frightening to contemplate.

The Japanese were told that the Gods protected Japan and that they were invincible. Defeat shattered that myth. Their belief that their Emperor was a god was finally destroyed when a photo of the smallish, tired looking Emperor standing next to General Douglas Mac Arthur was published. It was the first time most Japanese have seen their Emperor. Before the Japanese surrendered, no newspaper published his photo and the Japanese lined the streets with their backs turned towards the Emperor when he passed by. To look at him, many believed, would result in blindness.

The lesson we can draw from this is that in time to come, the Mujahideen (or Islamic terrorist) will go the way of the Samurai. That is the good news. But it took rivers of blood before the Japanese abandoned their irrational beliefs. The bad news is that more blood will flow before the Mujahideen joins the Samurai.