'Convertitis' linked to radical ideology.

The archetypal perpetrator of terrorist attacks in the West is a victim of 'convertitis', according to Melbourne lawyer and member of the Islamic Council of Victoria executive Waleed Aly. In a piece published in the Weekend Australian following the news of foiled terrorist attempts to blow up transatlantic passenger aircraft, Aly examined the profiles of the young men suspected of involvement in this latest plot, as well as others involved or suspected of involvement in terrorist activities in Britain, Canada, the USA and Australia. Aly observed that many of these men shared a number of characteristics: 'a relatively short history of religiosity, preceded by a deeply unholy past. The archetype has undergone some kind of conversion: whether from another faith ... or from non-observance to devotion ... Their religious knowledge and experience is typically dwarfed by their zeal. Add a possible guilty past for which they are seeking to compensate and they are dangerously susceptible to the insemination of radical thought'. Aly expressed concerns about the 'worrying dearth of quality Muslim scholars who can communicate effectively with increasingly perplexed and alienated Muslim youth,' acknowledging that radicals are able to thrive 'only where the complacent mainstream has failed to provide a spiritual alternative' to disaffected Muslim youth and vulnerable new converts (Weekend Australian, 26-27/8/06, p.27).