Something to do with Islam . . .

Maajid Nawaz
Wikipedia

Maajid Nawaz, founder of the counter-extremism think tank known as the Quilliam Foundation, expresses his impatience with non-Muslim public figures who point to Islamist terrorist attacks like the recent atrocity in Nice and say that this has nothing to do with Islam:

In the wake of the Nice attacks people are already saying: "But the terrorist wasn't pious. See! It has nothing to do with Islam." Please stop. Your good intentions towards us Muslims are only making the problem worse. This is as dangerous as saying it is everything to do with Islam.

The Crusaders weren't pious. But they had something to do with Christianity, right? Right? That something was the desire impious religious peasants had for martyrdom and the religious promise of redemption that Pope Urban II gave them. Now switch out white Christians with brown Muslims and kindly cease with this bigotry of low expectations. This has something to do with Islam.

I agree. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that the Nice attack had rather quite a lot to do with Islam, which is why I call Islamism "radicalism at the core of Islam." And a jihadist need not have been previously pious, for the act of jihad resulting in martyrdom cleanses from a multitude of sins, a cleansing extended even to distant family members, as the jihadi martyr, the shahid, can intercede on behalf of seventy relatives! But back to Nawaz:

So please stop denying the nature of jihadism. Please stop ignoring the narratives which drive these attacks. Instead of aiding extremists who insist Islam today is perfect, perhaps you should aid us beleaguered reformist Muslims who are attempting to address this crisis within Islam against all the odds. (Maajid Nawaz, "Please stop saying the Nice attacks have nothing to do with Islam," The Telegraph, July 15, 2016)

I'd like to know those narratives, for we need to understand why some Muslims radicalize while others do not.