Reflections on the Death of a Killer
President Biden announced yesterday that the U.S. had killed Ayman al-Zawahiri in a house in Afghanistan. Apparently, no one else was with al-Zawahiri when he was killed, presumably by a drone weapon. He was 71 years old, four years older than me.
Zawahiri has been famous for a long time. He was Osama bin Laden’s top lieutenant. Reportedly, he helped plan Al Queda attacks on US embassies in Africa, the attack on the USS Cole in 1998, and the September 11 attacks in the United States. Zawahiri was born in Egypt, but his deepest allegiance was to Islam—or at least, to a particular brand of Islam.
News reports and commentary focus on al-Zawahiri’s role as leader of Al Queda after bin Laden’s death. President Biden’s announcement pointed out that al-Zawahiri had been active in coordinating and planning more terrorist activity even in recent weeks. To what degree did the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan aid and abet Al Queda’s deadly work? To what degree will al-Zawahiri’s death hinder Al Queda? How should the US treat the Taliban?
And so on. These are all interesting and important questions for the president, the state department, and the US military. I want to think about another question. What was the moral quality of his life?
We need to understand that Ayman al-Zawahiri almost certainly thought he was doing the right thing. It is safe to say many Muslims regard him as a heroic leader. (I say “many” without implying “most.” Most Muslims worldwide and in the United States would condemn terrorism.) His admirers would note, first, that he was faithful to the true religion, and second, he found a way to fight back against the Great Satan, the US with all its secular degeneracy and military power.
President Biden and virtually everyone in the West condemn al-Zawahiri. He organized mass-murder with the goal of creating terror. If he had been tried in a Western court, he would surely have been convicted, and if anyone deserved the death penalty, he was the one. According to the news, he died alone, so we might liken his death to an execution. In this rare case, it seems there were no collateral victims.
There is real evil in the world. On that, al-Zawahiri, President Biden, and I would agree. The people of God ought to fight against evil. How? Al-Zawahiri fought against evil by striking at the Great Satan. Biden fights evil with precision bombs. I suppose most Christians—the vast majority of Christians—would approve of Biden’s answer. Most secularists in the US will also support Biden’s answer; the only quibbles would be about effectiveness, or a backward-looking criticism of the US pullout from Afghanistan.
But what would Jesus do? In evangelicalism, WWJD has become a sappy slogan. But it points to the real issue. Jesus commanded us to love our enemies. Would Jesus bomb his enemies?
Ayman al-Zawahiri recruited zealots, organized murderers, plotted spectacular bombings and ordered the death of innocent victims—all in the name of his God. We can learn much about the kind of God he worshiped from these actions.
Biden and his supporters, Christian and secular, would argue that justice required al-Zawahiri’s death. Under the rubric of “justice” Christians have perpetrated great evils in the past, and I suspect Biden would admit this. (Notice that al-Zawahiri would almost certainly have claimed his campaigns against the West were “just.”) Is Biden’s God any different from al-Zawahiri’s God?
What would Jesus do? Remember, Jesus had enemies, enemies who connived to kill him. How did he respond to Caiaphas, Pilate, and the soldiers?
Christians must seek justice. Of that, I am sure. But we are commanded to love.
