What Happens When a Muslim Becomes More Islamic?

In the last two years, Syed Rizwan Farook, one of the people who killed non-Muslims in San Bernardino, had become more devout about his faith, more religious, more dedicated to it. In other words, he became more Islamic. He started taking Islamic doctrine more seriously.

Speaking to the Daily News, Farook’s father said his son, “was very religious. He would go to work, come back, go to pray, come back. He’s Muslim.” Farook’s neighbor told the paper that over the past two years, Farook exchanged his Western dress for Islamic gowns and grew a beard. (Source)

Recently, Farook had worshipped at a San Bernardino mosque, Dar-Al-Uloom Al-Islamiyah of America. Farook was “a very nice person, very soft,” said Ali, a mosque regular. He said Farook had memorized the Koran, a rare accomplishment for even devout Muslims. (Source)

Members of two local mosques where Farook worshipped sounded a similar note Thursday, telling NBC News they knew him as a mild-mannered, peaceful and highly devout man. ‘We never saw him raise his voice. We never saw him curse at anyone, disrespect anyone. He was always a very nice guy, always very simple, very straightforward,’ Nazeem Ali, of Dar-al-Uloom, Al-Islamiyah mosque in San Bernardino told the station. (Source)

All of this indicates that Farook was imitating the example of Muhammad. In the Koran it says 91 times that a Muslim should follow Muhammad's example. Muhammad had a beard, was considered mild-mannered, peaceful and highly devout by his fellow Muslims, prayed five times a day, and he also slaughtered non-Muslims.

Farook's wife, Tashfeen Malik, also became more devout over the last few years. Speaking of a Facebook posting she made, an MSN article says, "Officials cautioned that Malik's Facebook posting did not mean that the militant group directed Malik and her husband to carry out the Wednesday attack, and that investigators think it instead suggests that the couple had become self-radicalized." (Source)

That's the first time I've ever seen the term "self-radicalized." In other words, it's possible that nobody talked them into waging jihad, or recruited them or "radicalized" them. They just read the Quran and did what it says.

"Tashfeen was an individual who kept to herself most of the time," said Mohammad Abuershaid (family member). He added that she was a soft-spoken housewife who stayed at home with the baby...On Friday morning, dozens of reporters were let inside the Redlands town house where Malik and Farook lived. The doors and windows were boarded up, and the home was sparsely decorated. The upstairs had a crib, baby toys and children's books. In the middle of the living room, a copy of the Quran rested on a small black table. (Source)

A change came over Tashfeen Malik two or three years ago. She started dressing more conservatively, wearing a scarf that covered nearly all her face, and became more fervent in her Muslim faith, according to some who knew her in Pakistan. (Source)

A maid who worked in the Multan home where Malik lived said that Malik initially wore a scarf that covered her head but not her face. A year before she got married, she began wearing a scarf that covered all but her nose and eyes, the maid said. The maid spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of jeopardizing her employment with the family. (Source)

A relative of Malik’s in Pakistan, Hifza Batool, reported hearing similar things from other family members about Malik, her step-niece. “I recently heard it from relatives that she has become a religious person and she often tells people to live according to the teachings of Islam,” said Batool, a teacher who lives in Karor Lal Esan, about 280 miles southwest of the Pakistani capital of Islamabad. (Source)