ISIS released a documentary on Friday which follows a father and his 11-year-old son through the stages of planning and executing a suicide bombing in Syria.
The 20-minute video, which is completely in Arabic, opens with a short montage of photos of Abu Imar al-Omari and his father as well as videos from when Imar al-Omari was a baby. Scenes of ISIS “soldiers” as they gear up and train for their upcoming operations are thrown in interchangeably, implying that Amara was raised to be one of these soldiers.
The viewer is then shown present-day Imar al-Omari learning to drive with his father in the passenger seat. The next scene is of the pair presumably discussing the importance of his mission and how he will be rewarded for his actions. Seated among his children, the proud man beams as he describes the honor in teaching his son how to carry out this attack.
The last moments of Imar al-Omari and his father together are in the car, which is so overfilled with explosives that the boy barely has enough room to sit. After a two minute speech in which Amara gives his final words before carrying out terrorism, he kisses his father’s hand, and the two share a brief hug.
Only moments later, the screen is filled with the image of a massive explosion in the distance; Amara detonated the bombs, killing himself and countless others in the process.
The contradiction in values between the Islamic State and that which the Bible preaches in regards to the sanctity of life is glaring. The Bible reveals countless stories depicting the pain of a parent as he is separated from his child. For instance, that of Jacob and Joseph; when Joseph’s brothers told their father his son was killed, Jacob was inconsolable. Biblical tradition teaches that the deep bond between parents and children is one to be cherished, not voluntarily destroyed though killing and death.By contrast, the willingness with which the fathers in radical Islamic society not only sacrifice, but teach their children methods of killing themselves, no matter the age, is rampant.
When toddlers are taught how to cut a man’s head off, when youth wave knives in the sky, when teenagers are encouraged to skip school to stab soldiers, it raises extremely serious questions about the cultural teachings instilled in children by their parents.
