Ishmael Ax:
Could be a literary reference, but unsurprisingly there are alternate interpretations. Ismail (Abraham) in Islamic tradition was going to use an ax to sacrifice his son to Allah. The inscription could be a reference to him being an instrument of God’s will. His suicide note did rail against “debauchery” which would seem an odd thing for a young man to be complaining about unless his objections were religious in nature.
Jawa Report discuss the possibility that the killer is referencing Islamic mythology.
Steve Decatur is sure the killer was a Muslim convert. There is talk that the reference is to a lesser work of James Fenimore Cooper.
Debbie Schlussel isn’t buying the literary connection. I’m not sure I do either, given his bizarre behavior. Was he crazy enough to up and decide he was “doing God’s work?” And if he was, in today’s climate is Islamic iconography more appealing than Christian iconography to the disgruntled would be killer?
In any case he was a terrorist. We shall see. Sooner or later the truth happens to seep through…
Hey genius, get back to us when they find the Qu’ran in his dorm room.
“His suicide note did rail against “debauchery†which would seem an odd thing for a young man to be complaining about unless his objections were religious in nature.”
You are too stupid for words.
Abraham is Ibrahim; Ismail or Ishmael was his illegitimate son
Go as step further – Ishmael was indeed the illegitemate son of Abraham and Hagar, and according to Muslim tradition is the one who was due to be sacrificed.
But the O.T. has it that it was Isaac (born later to Sarah) who was going to get the chop.
Argument seems to rage around who was considered the first-born son – Ishamel wins that, but he was supposedly out of the country with his mother (in the vicinity of Mecca) at the time, IIRC.
No one knows what it means yet.
There is a biblical reference and fictitious character with a similar name.
I doubt we will ever know. And does it matter?
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,21578314-5005961,00.html
“….Within hours of the phrase being reported by the Chicago Tribune, it was the 10th most searched on blog-tracking site Technorati….”
… “ismail ax = ismailax = is mai lax = is my luck” … written in red for a korean? that’s bad luck? …
boeddi Says: “ismail ax = ismailax = is mai lax = is my luck†… written in red for a korean? that’s bad luck? …
Well,, thanks for that! Most enlightening. Who would have thought….
It’ll interesting to see if the media created a new narritive for the mentally ill by promoting Jihadist tapes. I never meant to imply in this article (and I wouldn’t mind a attribution Sheik) that he was or was not a Jihadist, but that he staged an attack in a Jihadist fashion, emulating what he saw as the most attractive, media friendly crime.
It used to be a nut would yell about Jesus, but in our new climate, maybe they’ll start yelling about Jihad.
THIS IS PURE STUPIDITY! THIS KID WAS A SICK YOUNG MAN RELIGION HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH ANYTHING HERE. STOP TRYING TO SWITCH THE DEBATE OVER WHAT SHOULD BE CRITICIZED HERE WHICH IS GUN CONTROL AND THE USE OF HOLLOW POINT BULLETS. THIS GUY CLEARLY DIDN’T PRAY 5 TIMES A DAY AND YELL JIHAD WHEN HE WENT ON HIS RAMPAGE!! IF ANYTHING HE WAS AGAINST THE WESTERN LIFESTYLE AND PEOPLE WHO ARE RICH AND FLAUNT THEIR WEALTH. TRY READING SOME OF THE CRAP HE WROTE. IF HE WAS MUSLIM AND DID THIS BECAUSE OF HIS FAITH IT SHOULD SAY SOMETHING ABOUT THAT IN THERE WOULDN’T YOU THINK??