Those acquainted with Christine Fair’s writings on Pakistan will encounter much that is familiar in her latest work co-authored with Safina Ustaad. Fair’s earlier book, In Their Own Words: Understanding Lashkar-e-Tayyaba (2018) had also traversed this ground but the current work is a deeper dive into that universe.
The book comprises a selection of important LeT writings along with a short but excellent introduction. Two other introductory chapters contextualize and provide background to the sample of writings that comprise the bulk of the book. The titles of the works included in this compilation are in themselves revealing of the LeT, its mindset and equally of its priorities: ‘Why are We Waging Jihad’; ‘In Defence of Jihad’; ‘The Mujahid’s Call’; ‘We the Mothers of the Lashkar’; ‘Highway to Heaven’; ‘Destination Kashmir is Nigh’, etc.
The LeT’s priorities are well summarized in the introduction by the authors as:
The most recurring and pressing theme that emerges from LeT’s literature is the twin obligation of jihad and dawah (proselytizing), with added emphasis on the former as a religious obligation mandated by Allah and his prophet, Muhammad, as the key to political dominance in this world, and salvation in the world hereafter.’