For the jihadist, poetry is a mode of manifesto, or of bearing witness. There are no prizes for subtlety. The poet’s task is to make an open and lucid defense of his faith against all doubters, at home and abroad. He must dare to name the truths that his parents and his elders try to hide. Another poem in “The Anthology of Glory” begins with a classical-sounding admonition: “Silence! Words are for heroes / and the words of heroes are deeds.” Surrounded by skeptics, the jihadi poet fashions himself as a knight of the word, which is to say, a martyr in the making.
http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/06/08/battle-lines-jihad-creswell-and-haykel
http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/06/08/battle-lines-jihad-creswell-and-haykel