Similarities Between The Crucible And Extremist Muslims

In every religion there are extremists that can create a rigid and hostile community for those of different beliefs. This is displayed by the conflict of Abigail versus the Puritans in the Crucible, Sabatina James versus her family’s culture, and minority religion versus extremist muslims in Pakistan. In each of these situations, the minorities are targeted and attacked by the main religious figures.

Sabatina James is a young Pakistani who craved freedom, but her parents had other plans for her. Sabatina had very strict parents who wanted the ideals of the Muslim faith to stay within their daughter. These extreme values were apart of her daily life as her parents forced their culture upon her with vengeance. Sabatina ultimately wanted to be

her own, individual person. She didn’t want anyone telling her what to do, what to wear, or who to marry. Sabatina’s parents were ready to send their fifteen year-old daughter off on an arranged marriage. When she did not comply with her parent’s wishes, everything took a turn for the worse.
Sabatina was attempting to be different and get away from the strict culture that she grew up with. Her parents, who had a different plan for her, attempted to force her to stay with the culture that they grew up with. While visiting Pakistan, Sabatina wore a t-shirt and her mother called her a “whore”. Her mother thought that she wasn’t wearing appropriate clothing, so she beat Sabatina then beat herself for the shame she felt. After this, Sabatina ran away from home, living at the local shelters and working at a local cafe. Her parents then followed and harassed her at these places until she was fired.
This poor girl went through many atrocious events for wanting to break away from her hostile environment. Sabatina wanted to be free; free from the life her parents wanted her to live; free from the abuse that her mother gave; free from the extremist culture and thinking.
Extreme culture is in more than one place than families forcing their culture upon their children. In Sabatina’s case, her family’s culture is so important to them that they were willing to kill their own daughter. Sabatina’s father told her: “The honour of this family is more important than my life or your life.” This just reinforces the idea that their precious name and honor within the Muslim community was more important than their own daughter.
Religion played a crucial role in Puritan life.

They believed they must live every moment in a god fearing manner. The puritans were expected to attend church with men on one side and women on the other and if they did not read the bible it was thought that they were worshipping the devil. Puritans were intolerant of people with different views.

In The Crucible, the Puritans would sacrifice supposed witches so that they could protect their community. Puritans protected each other from curses, voodoo, and many other things by accusing and executing people who supposedly practiced witchcraft. The Puritan way of life was so strict that even the smallest difference in behavior could make people suspicious of you.

The Islamic community was very similar to this in the sense that anyone who was thought to have insulted Islam, was jailed or killed. They also had islamic suicide bombers sacrifice themselves for their religion and community. Volunteers seeking to correct their sins or receive honor from their families they become suicide bombers. The suicide bombers are participating in these suicide missions not just to die but to gain community approval, to make sure their community survives, and to liberate their

homeland.
Pakistan is the home to multiple religions, mainly Islam as 95% of the country is Islamic. Many of the Muslims in Pakistan are extremists and believe that Christians and other minority religions commit awful sins and should die because they don’t have the same beliefs. These minorities are targeted and persecuted for not following the norms of the community, much like the so-called “witches” in The Crucible.
St. Peter’s Catholic Church in Karachi, Pakistan is under constant threat like any other non-Muslim house of worship in the country. Suicide bombers and other attackers are very real threats as there are guards outside the building in order to protect the Christians inside. Prayers are recited during many services for those Christians who fell victim to the Islamic extremists. People of the Christian faith drink red wine during services. The ones who take part in St. Peter’s Catholic Church, though, drink only non-alcoholic wine in order to keep from upsetting the Muslims in the community who believe drinking alcohol is a sin.
In the Islamic community, volunteering to be a suicide bomber is a symbol of great honor and dedication to their cause.

Often times, suicide bombings happen in order to get something in return from an enemy or to follow the rules of Jihad, which is the Muslim’s form or war with nonbelievers. Members of the Islamic religion can fulfill the obligations of Jihad “by confronting unbelievers or enemies with the sword”. Jihad is interpreted to be physical warfare. This creates an uneasy and hostile environment for non-Muslims to live in. Sabatina James was victim to this sort of rigid community as her parents called her a whore just because she decided to wear makeup and jeans like the

Westerners.
The story of Sabatina James, Abigail Williams of the Crucible, and the events occurring in Pakistan regarding religion are all closely related. Sabatina James is attempting to free herself of her controlling parents and strict religion. Abigail Williams is ridding herself of the puritans ways of life.