He who claims that he experiences no desire when looking at beautiful boys or youths is a liar and if we could believe him

he would be an animal and not a human being. ~~Ibn al-Jawzi (Islamic Scholar and
distant relative of Abu Bakr)

Until 9-11, most of the American west seemed disinterested in the Middle East, other than for socio-economic interests. But the attacks of 9-11 opened up a new investigation into the topic of Islam. The question asked most often being: how could a religion of peace produce nineteen homicidal young men? The conclusions have yet to come forth, not as a congruent thought. As more and more people show startling exposs of what is now termed radical Islam, the startling truth is that there is an ever-growing population of young men who are willing to support terrorist violence and participate in it with the hopes of obtaining the Islamic paradise. In this paper I propose that part of the reason for this phenomenon may be traced back to certain practices which are common in many Islamic-based cultures and that these practices may well be the soil in which their basic anger grows. In order to understand how pederasty plays a role in the anger of young Muslim males (whether they become terrorists or not), we first have to understand something about the nature of pederasty and its affect on boys. Sexual Abuse and Boys We live in a world where boys are not usually viewed as potential victims of sexual abuse. Indeed, there is a school of thought which advocates the notion that the early sexual stimulation of boys and young male teens is part of their normal growth and development. In some sectors, the notion of man-boy love is seen as normal and natural. This sector is known as pederasty. Unlike Pedophilia, which involves sexual relationships between mixed or samesex genders (adult to youth), pederasty is exclusively male-male in nature. And though the behavior is considered homosexual in its male-male exclusivity, because homosexuality carries with it such stigma in many cultures, many men do not self-identify as homosexual, in spite of the activity being male-male. The discussion in this paper is not whether the disclaimer of homosexuality is accurate or a mental diversion. The discussion is whether or not the behavior of pederasty is damaging to the boys involved. Indeed, there seems to be mounting evidence to show that in the same way in which girls are affected by pedophilic abuse, so boys are by pederasty. There are several considerations which must be included in the exploration of the phenomenon of the sexual abuse of boys. Among these are:

1) The age of the boy at the time of onset; 2) Who committed the abuse; 3) Whether or not the child disclosed; 4) The presence of violence; 5) Duration of the abuse; 6) Intention of abuse (was it designed to humiliate?); 7) Cultural and sociological norms; 8) Presence of any supportive, loving family; 9) Establishment of good relationships apart from the abuser; As noted before, we are only now genuinely exploring the affects of sexual abuse on boys/youths. Studies are showing that the above factors play a role in the adult male survivors life. In his study of adult male survivors, David Lisak noted that there were several traits which these survivors had in common. Among these were such things as anger, feelings of being betrayed, fear, sexuality and identity issues, feelings of helplessness, isolation, and loss; legitimacy and masculinity issues; and relationship problems on a variety of levels. Some 97% of males interviewed in the study cited anger as an emotional reaction to the abuse.