A Mother's Loving Concern

Two brothers, very much unalike, and nothing unusual about that, since siblings, grown within the same familial environment and presumably experiencing the same assurances of emotional support from their parents, respond idiosyncratically to stimuli because of their personality inheritance. One, the older of the two, is naturally of a dour engagement.

"He was always getting into trouble. He was never happy, never cheering, never smiling. He used to strike his girlfriend", the Boston Globe was informed long-distance from the Dagestani capital, by 26-year-old Zaur Tsarnaev, cousin of the now-infamous Tamerlan Tsarnaev. Pity, in a broad sense, that he is dead and cannot now be questioned. Assuming that questioning him might elicit understanding of what occurred.

Chechen rebels deny that they have any interest whatever in spurring problems in America. They are completely disinterested in the United States. If there are Chechens living in the United States and they happen to be thugs, well that is because that kind of social ferment is common enough in Chechnya, apart and aside from the conflict with Russia over nationhood. The Chechen hatred is directed at Russia itself.

And that hatred is utterly devoid of the niceties of human interaction and compassion. Any Russian represents a desirable target, because being Russian they represent the cruel occupation of Chechnya, and the unforgivable oppression of Muslims by the Russian State. An uncompromisingly hate-fuelled attack on civilians, at, for example, a Moscow theatre, a hospital, a Beslan school, holding countless hostages, ending in the deaths of hundreds represents Chechen vengeance.

Directed, however, solely at Russia and Russian interests and Russian civilians. Brothers Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev became infatuated with the idea of strictly orthodox Islam and violent jihad. Their years of living in the U.S. as Americans of Chechen origin did not inspire them in the final analysis to embrace the west and spurn the east; it gave them resentment of American involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Tamerlan's descent into a life of casual dissolute behaviour, drinking, partying, smoking and drugs alarmed his mother, Zubeidat Tsarnaev. She was herself not an especially observant Muslim, dressing in short skirts and high heels, a cosmetician by trade. Her concern for her son's welfare led her to implore him to join her in looking deeply into their Islamic heritage, and this became a jointly-shared project.

Her son abandoned drugs and alcohol, and gradually became a devout Muslim. And, in the process, encouraged his mother in turn to become more observant. "That's how he began to study the Koran and go deeper into Islam. And from that moment he gave up bad habits and we started to go deeper together, and pray together", his mother said in an interview with The Daily Telegraph.

"Tamerlan said to me, 'You know mama, you are pushing me toward the truth, but I would like you to wear a hijab. A woman in Islam should be concealed", she recounted. And she did his bidding. And when he met the young woman who had been raised in the Catholic tradition, of Portuguese/Italian origin, he converted her to Islam, and she changed her dress to that of the traditional submissive Muslim wife.

Zubeidat Tsarnaev is "proud" of her sons Tamerlan and Dzhokhar. She will not accept that her sons were involved in the Boston Marathon attacks. She, like their father, believes they were "set up". "It's a big show, a spectacle. Americans love a show", she said. And she is en route to the United States to ensure that her eldest son is laid to death in  love and dignity.