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 The other was deeply religious and became increasingly intolerant,
ultimately nursing a growing hatred that led him, along with his
wife, to open fire on a San Bernardino holiday party last week, in
what law enforcement officials have termed a terrorist attack.
Syed Raheel Farook and his younger brother Syed Rizwan Farook grew
up in the same house, attended the same high school two years apart
and, as teenagers, often socialized in the same groups. But as they
grew older their paths diverged.
Rizwan is now dead, gunned down by police in Southern California
after joining with his wife in killing 14 people and injuring 21.
Raheel is alive and left to wonder what went wrong.
The contrasting lives of the Farook brothers, described by friends,
neighbors and former classmates who knew them both, is a disturbing
tale, in part because there are so few clues to why they turned out
so differently.
The family, including Raheel, declined repeated requests through
their lawyers for comment for this story. But those who knew the
brothers say that by high school, their differences were apparent
and growing.
"Most people here go to mosque to please their parents," said Shakib
Ahmed, who attended mosque with the Farooks.
Raheel, the older brother, was that kind of kid, he said. He went to
Friday prayers, but he also liked to drink and had a girlfriend in
high school who wasn't Muslim.
 Rizwan was quieter and more serious - and far more religious. Only
with his older brother, friends said, did they see Rizwan lose his
temper.
"He was nice to everyone else, but he was kind of the dominating
type. He would yell at his brother," Ahmed said.
PHYSICAL DISTANCE
Soon after graduating from high school in 2003, with the U.S.
invasion of Iraq just months old, Raheel joined up and went off to
boot camp in Illinois, according to naval records. In 2004, he was
assigned to serve on the USS Enterprise as an information system
technician.
Back home, Rizwan, a bright boy, finished high school a year early
according to school records. In the years that followed, friends and
neighbors say, he quit wearing jeans and polo shirts and donned
robes.
"I noticed a change with the clothes and the beard," said Ahmed.
At home, there was increasing turmoil. In 2006, the boys mother,
Rafia Farook, filed for divorce from her husband Syed after more
than 24 years of marriage, according to court documents. In court
filings, Rafia cited multiple instances of domestic abuse, asserting
that her husband was "mentally ill" and threatened "to kill himself
on a daily basis." During one violent incident, she said, her son
came between them "to save me."
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Gasser Shehata, a friend of Rizwan's from a San Bernardino mosque,
said that Rizwan talked to him in recent years about his religious
issues with his dad while growing up, and how he came to side with
his mother in their disputes. Shehata said that Rizwan told him that
his father refused to pray regularly, which was a source of tension.
When Rizwan joined the dating site bestmuslim.com in 2013, his
profile described how he spent much of his free time "memorizing the
Qur'an and learning more about the religion."
He was looking, he wrote, for a woman "who takes her religion very
seriously and is always trying to improve her religion and
encouraging others to do the same."
Even as the distance between the brothers grew, they remained
bonded.
Attendees at Rizwan's wedding reception last year at the Islamic
Center of Riverside said Rizwan seemed to enjoy his brother's easy
and relaxed manner with the guests, even though he said little and
seemed withdrawn. At one point, Raheel even teased his younger
brother, calling him "Rizi," which Rizwan took in good humor.
Some of those who knew the Farooks have thought deeply about the
brothers and their differences in recent days. But many of the
things they come up with could apply to any siblings.
"Raheel was just a normal ... guy," said Usmaan Arshad, who attended
La Sierra High School with the brothers. "No one talked to Rizwan,"
he said.
Rose Aguirre, a neighbor of the family for years, said the
difference between the Farook sons had seemed to her to boil down to
the fact that Raheel was "more personable, more Americanized" than
his brother.
But those characterizations worked only before last week, when it
became apparent that the differences went far deeper.
Attorney David Chesley told CNN on Monday that Raheel "is very upset
with his brother."
"He's totally depressed and broken with grief."
(Additional reporting by Rory Carroll, Tim Reid, Emily Flitter, Dan
Whitcomb and Alexandria Sage; Editing by Sue Horton)
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