Zahran Hashim's ideology was that one of the rewards awaiting those who perform Jihad was 72 virgins in heaven, said Director General of the Institute of National Security Studies Prof. Rohan Gunaratna. He made this revelation during a televised interview recently. "Zahran Hashim believed that those who performed Islamic Jihad were entitled to 72 virgins in heaven. He firmly believed that by his attack, he would be able to meet his God in heaven, and would receive pardon for all his wrong doings. This ideology also claimed that 70 members of his family will be entitled to see heaven when they die," he said. Gunaratna added that this ideology was taught to the other suicide bombers, who also firmly believed and accepted this ideology. "The other suicide bombers believed that they would also be doing the right thing by performing Jihad as per Zahran's teachings," he added. Meanwhile, in the video that was recently released, Hashim claimed that the funds used to carry out the attacks were “halal”, Gunaratna explained, and that funding was not provided by non-Muslims or any Government. “The source of finance for Zahran is from the two sons of the richest spice trader in Sri Lanka. All the ongoing international investigations on the source of funding also show that it came from a company owned by the spice trader’s sons,” Gunaratna mentioned.