The intersection betweem Islam and Bushido is Sufism. There are two common principles you have identified upon which both disciplines are based:

1. Self Annihilation – The most difficult kill for a warrior mystic is death of self. All our instincts and ego elements rise up against this battle against our lower nafs. This is the jihad. Battle against the base self. In Sufism, they say Die before you die.

2. Loyalty to the Lord. There is a “Taking hand” or Baya’at in Islam / Sufism which is a pledge to honor the command of ones’ lord above ones own interests. A sufi salek is considered dead in the hands of their master. Raw clay to form. Not an easy task.

Finally, the path of the Warrior and the path of the spiritual jihadi are not all that different. Nor can we say, as is often misunderstood, that all religious devotees are essentially pacifists. Sufis, for one, have fought wars and died gloriously in battle. This is all part of the Islamic narrative which is celebrated in the bravery of those who defended the Islamic movement early on during the Holy Prophet’s life. Battle stories about heros such as Ali, Umar and Uways are legendary.

Always the focus was on justice. Neither a Samurai nor a Sufi would kill needlessly nor glorify bloody deeds. There was always a noble purpose behind conflict.

In this sense, I don’t think the two are that far behind. I wish all warriors conducted themselves with the honor both paths advocate. But we know better.

For the disgraced Samurai, Bushido allowed a single escape: a samurai could commit ritual suicide (“Seppuku”), and in doing so regain his lost honor. Distressing as it may sound for us, it was a fairly common practice in the days of the Samurai for a defeated general, for instance, to kill himself rather than face the dishonor of having failed his lord.

Intrinsic to all of this discussion is the notion of class – the samurai lived as they did because it was their role in the larger society. Similarly, the ruling class used them because that was their role. This sort of rigid class thinking was derived from Confucianism, a Chinese philosophy predating the Samurai by over a thousand years.

Confucian thinking alone, however, would not have been enough to create so unique a breed as the Samurai. While Confucian principles laid out the rules, it took something else to provide impetus to follow them.

Buddhist Influence
Bushido’s harsh requirements were reinforced by Buddhist principles. The world is an illusion – all personal desire leads to suffering – all life ends. The ideal Samurai, then, lives as though already dead; preservation of his own life is simply irrelevant to him to him – unless, of course, his master needs him alive.

Bushido has other tenets beyond mere loyalty – frugality, benevolence, respect and others are listed as various key components of the honorable warrior’s life. But at the end of the day, Bushido was about accepting one’s role in life as a warrior. A warrior is not a human being in the standard sense – a warrior’s life is not hisown, his desires are not his to satisfy. A warrior is a tool, a disposable utensil to be utilized by members of the ruling of the ruling class. “Mykola Bilokansky”

I do sincerely apologize if I hurt anybody’s feelings. I was deeply offended when that man insulted my honourable ancestors and everything they stood for. It felts as if he ripped out my heart and burnt it to ashes right in front of me. I had no choice but to defend my ancestral memory from dishonour.

Madam Willow, thank you so much for your support and deep insight. May God bestow His blessings and mercy upon you. What you said is exactly how I feel, however I don’t feel I was too out of line for the Sufi poet Saadi of Shiraz once said:

“Doing good to the evil may be equivalent to doing evil to the good.”

Now to answer everyone’s comments and questions:

1) I don’t believe in “Islamism” or “Samuraism”. I believe in Islam which is a religion and I uphold Bushido which is an honor code.

2) We Japanese don’t hate America. As a matter of fact, we love the American people very much. We just disagree with American foreign policy. There are American bases here in Japan, especially in the island of Okinawa. Many young Japanese schoolgirls have been raped and murdered by US troops stationed here. Every week there are peaceful protests and they include housewives, politicians, Buddhist monks, and Japanese people from all walks of life who want these violent rapes and crimes stopped.

3) You are all welcome to love Japanese anime, videogames, technology, and popculture if you want. It is a free world. But please don’t think just because you like pop culture that you have the right to insult our traditional culture. Watching anime cartoons or reading manga comic books doesn’t make you an expert on Bushido or the Japanese Spirit. We struggled so much to preserve our traditional culture and it cost the life of millions of innocent Japanese who died in the atomic bombings and firebombs. So please enjoy your anime, but don’t demean the memory of the Samurai, the Emperor, or anything else related to our ancient traditions.

4) Chinese admit that they are generally a very rude people. Of course not all Chinese people are this way, but the majority of them do have bad manners. The Chinese who live in the cities are the rudest while the rural Chinese are more kind and hospitable. The Chinese government even launched a cleanup image campaign for Chinese to learn good manners just in time for the Beijing Olympics.

5) The so-called “Nanking Massacre” was nothing more than Chinese propaganda. This lie led up to the War. The myth of Nanjing and other alleged war crimes committed by the Japanese Imperial Army was made into a movie in America. This movie was entitled “Why We Fight: The Battle of China”. It demonized the entire Japanese nation and turned American public opinion against Japan. Overnight, America became pro-China & anti-Japan because of this movie. When Japan was forced to attack Pearl Harbor, that settled it and America immediately declared war.

In this film, footage was taken of the Chinese Civil War (Chinese nationalists vs Chinese communists). The uniforms were edited out and then it was said it’s Japanese killing Chinese, when it was really just Chinese killing Chinese. Furthermore, every single picture and all 143 photos used as evidence of the so-called “Nanking Massacre” have been proven to be fakes and forgeries.

The real criminal is the godless Communist Chinese government which has forced materialism and atheism upon the masses and tried its utmost to destroy all forms of religion and spirituality. The Chinese Communists government has massacred over 1 million Tibetan Buddhists, 10 million Uyghur Muslims, and 85 million of their own Chinese people. Communist China has killed more innocent people than both World Wars combined.

6) Just because I may disagree with your government’s foreign policies, that doesn’t mean I can’t be friends with your people. I am opposed to Zionism, but I have Israeli Jewish friends. I am opposed to Capitalism, but I have American friends. I am opposed to Communism, but I have Chinese friends. How can I be friends with these people? It is because they are so different from the majority of their people. Unlike the rest of their people, they actually respect me and my beliefs. They are very open-minded, educated and cultured people. Most of my friends are non-Muslims, but they are learning about Islam and several of them have even converted.

Not all, but more often than not, the Chinese are a very rude people.

LR, what is the matter with you?

One would think that a muslim in particular would be averse to making sweeping generalizations about a billion people.

His wording is harsh, but not far from the truth. Not all, but more often than not, the Chinese are a very rude people. That’s not racism, it’s just an honest opinion.

This is a really big generalization LR. There are more than a Billion Chinese people in the world. You are implying that all of them are rude. Perhaps next time try smiling at a Chinese person and you will your smile reciprocated.

Once Ali ibn Abu Talib (AS), the son-in-law of the Holy Prophet (S), was fighting on the battlefield with one of the most powerful champions of the enemy. He finally managed to strike the warrior’s sword from his hand. As he raised his sword to take the enemy’s life, the man spat in his Ali’s face. Ali stopped and sheathed his sword. His enemy said “I don’t understand. You were about to kill me, and after I spit at you, you spare my life?”

Hazrat Ali replied: “I was going to take your life in battling for the sake of Allah, but when you spat at me, it angered me. Had I killed you then, I would have been a murderer, for I would have struck in anger. I will fight for Allah, but I will not murder for my ego.”

The manga becomes much more interesting to me since the antagonists have parallels with contemporary jihadists. The antagonists talk about overthrowing their own dirty government and taking lives to recreate their own perfect sovereign state.

I recommend any muslim interested in jihadist ideology + samurais to read the manga Rurouni Kenshin.

These are some great quotes:

—
A sword is a weapon. Kenjutsu is the art of killing. Whatever pretty words you use to speak of it, this is its true nature. What Miss Kaoru says are the words of one who has never dirtied her hands. An idealistic joke….I like Miss Kaoru’s idealism better than its true nature. If one can ask so much, I want the world to accept this joke as its true nature.

—

Samurai hating samurai isn’t right! Honor, the age… you keep going on about them, but they’re just empty words. If you are a samurai, then with the life that was saved, you should think about what you can do for the new era! Kenshin has always fought to protect people. YOU ONLY RAGED PUTTING BULLETS INTO YOUR RIGHT HAND. WHAT DID THAT LEFT HAND THAT YOU HAVE LEFT OVER DO?!

—

Before we begin there’s one thing I need to say. If you do manage to learn this final technique, you will, in effect, gain a strength that will equal my own. But, don’t let it go to your head! Times have changed and you can no longer afford to put everything on your own shoulders and be the only sacrifice. Even the happiness of one person is complicated these days. If you should fall as a sacrifice, the young lady who came to Kyoto with the one wish of seeing you will, without a doubt, be devastated by that loss. Think about it! No matter how powerful you become, you’re still just a human being. Do not ever try to become something more than that.

—

Mutou: No matter what you say, I won’t change my ideals! For the true freedom and equality, I will-!

Yahiko: Such words, aren’t to be spoken with eyes full of bloodlust like yours.

Mutou: FIGHT!

Yahiko: And so, in your mouth you have pretty words like freedom and equality but in your hand you have a deadly sword. And you involve little kids and entrench yourself with hostages, trying to use to your advantage the social class of a hostage who, although belonging to nobility, does not show off her status.

Yahiko: WHERE THE HECK IS YOUR DEAR FREEDOM AND EQUALITY HERE IN THIS AFFAIR THAT YOU YOURSELF HAVE CREATED?!