The religion started in the atmosphere of war. That vibe leaks out into the minds of Muslims of all kinds from moderate to the extremist even if it's indirect.
I recall being taught about the victories of Islamic conquests through the ages starting with the Muslim-Quraysh wars. In Islam, war is seen as a reality of human existence, and as a valid means to deal with perceived injustice, oppression, etc. Finally, martyrdom in Islam guarantees one into paradise...
The problem with Islam is that it's extremely malleable. You can pick and choose your sources, scholars and books and have an Islam of your own. Each one has their side, and accuses the other of taking things out of context, or having an incorrect understanding. Some Muslims make heavy use of the No true Scotsman fallacy.
The former allows one Muslim to basically slide on the scale, from a nominal Muslim to an member of ISIS. You just need someone convincing enough to show you a few prophetic traditions, sound charismatic enough and revive your faith in the religion.
Life is absurd because of our imminent death. For some reason, we have the greatest troubles in accepting that everything is transient. After pleasure comes eventually pain, after relaxation comes work, after life comes death... We live here as if our lives on Earth are eternal, while all evidence has shown that it is not.
Even more absurd is the unfairness of the whole joke of life. I'm lucky with an education and a good job giving me a chance to focus on experiencing nuanced pleasures instead of fighting to survive. Being mentally ill does give me share of anguish, but mine is nothing compare to the poor, unfed and terminally sick. Their life is even more absurd: a passage through a brief but painful passage through anguish, suffering and hopelessness.
As an ex-Muslim, I have trouble adjusting to this: meaning is just a human construct. Things don't have meaning on their own, we assign them a purpose ourselves. Religion gave me re-assurance of eternal afterlife where I get a second chance to live a life without the evil and suffering of this existence. However, it did have a fatal flaw: it was false hope.
Now, life went from a short journey into another realm to a serious emergency. Now, I have to make of what I was lucky to own; but it can all go away in a single accident. After being a pattern-seeking religionist, everything is just starting to seem so random...
I recall being taught about the victories of Islamic conquests through the ages starting with the Muslim-Quraysh wars. In Islam, war is seen as a reality of human existence, and as a valid means to deal with perceived injustice, oppression, etc. Finally, martyrdom in Islam guarantees one into paradise...
The problem with Islam is that it's extremely malleable. You can pick and choose your sources, scholars and books and have an Islam of your own. Each one has their side, and accuses the other of taking things out of context, or having an incorrect understanding. Some Muslims make heavy use of the No true Scotsman fallacy.
The former allows one Muslim to basically slide on the scale, from a nominal Muslim to an member of ISIS. You just need someone convincing enough to show you a few prophetic traditions, sound charismatic enough and revive your faith in the religion.