Altruism: The Fuel of Jihad

The Inverted Morality of Sacrifice: Understanding the Roots of Jihadist Altruism

In “Terrorism, Altruism, and Moral Certainty,” the Afterword to my book Loving Life, which went to press shortly after the terrorist attacks of 9/11, I explain that “Islamic terrorists are religious altruists: They selflessly commit human sacrifices for the sake of a supernatural ‘other’—an alleged God.” A Muslim professor at the Islamic University in G…