The challenge is to give the jihadi wannabes something meaningful with which to fill the voids in their lives so that ‘jihad cool’ stops filling the abyss. Arsalan Iftikhar, the Muslim-American lawyer, appeals to jihadi wannabes thus: “Put down your Xbox 360, turn off the over-militaristic Halo 3 video game, and go feed the homeless in a soup kitchen. That is Islam, my friends.”

Read more from ‘The Rise of Jihad Wannabes’ -- New York Magazine at http://nymag.com/news/intelligencer/64955/#ixzz0ixYw4RlJ