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Jihad
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Jihad

This article is about the religious concept. Jihad is also a hardcore punk band fronted by Sean Muttaqi, previously of Vegan Reich.

Jihad (جهاد) is an Arabic word which comes from the Arabic root word 'jahada'; which means "exerting utmost effort". The literal meaning of the word is not "holy war", a more accurate translation would be "struggle" or "striving".

Muslims often refer to jihad in two connotations, supported by a hadith recorded by Imam Baihaqi and al-Khatib al-Baghdadi (though its isnad is considered weak):

Other actions that are considered jihad (on the basis of hadiths with better isnad) include: According to the Qur'an,

Permission (to fight) is given to those upon whom war is made because they are oppressed ... those who have been expelled from their homes without a just cause except that they say: Our Lord is Allah. (22:39-40)

The interpretation of Jihad varies widely among Muslims today.

Defensive Jihad, or armed struggle against foreign occupation or oppression is considered Jihad by most Muslims. In colonial times, the Muslim population often rose against the colonial authorities under the banner of Jihad (e.g. Daghestan and Chechens against Tsarist Russia, Indian Mutiny against Britain, Algerians against France, etc.). In this sense, Jihad is no different from the right of armed resistance against occupation that is sanctioned under UN and International Law.

Offensive Jihad, or conquering non-Muslim lands and bringing them under Muslim rule was historically called Jihad too, although the need for it today is disputed among Muslims. Some say that it was practiced only to preserve Islam from destruction, and that the concept is now obsolete because freedom of religious practice is present in most of the world. Note that, according to the histories of the time, this process was never accompanied by forced conversions (which are contrary to Islamic law.)

Jihad is sometimes referred to as "The sixth pillar of Islam" in honour of its religious status and in reference to the Five Pillars of Islam, although there is no Quranic verses stating such, nor any hadiths.

Table of contents
1 Authority
2 Terrorism
3 Jihad and combat against non-Muslims
4 Jihad in interpreting religious law
5 Literary References
6 See also
7 External links

Authority

Muslims hold that an outer jihad can only be declared by a lawful and legal authority who is himself a Muslim.

The majority of Muslims recognize that a de facto ruler has the authority to declare Jihad, in consultation with his advisers. Islamic law also states that such a Jihad may only be carried out against those who are themselves actively oppressing Muslims, or encroaching on lands of Islam.

There is much debate over both requirements. Islamic parties in democracies, for instance, accept the lawful legal authority of the state, and rules of war that define noncombatant status. This in turn will limit what activities can fit under jihad, but only for those who accept those definitions.

Fringe movements within Islam (such as Al Qaeda or Hamas) have declared Jihad themselves, thus attempting to bypass the de facto authorities. They also disagree with mainstream Muslims on the definition of oppression.

Some observers have compared Jihad to Just war in Christian thought.

Terrorism

Many modern Arab acts of terrorism have been considered an expression of jihad. Two Islamist groups call themselves "Islamic Jihad": Egyptian Islamic Jihad and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. These groups are considered mainstream by their supporters, who see a strong religious justification for a military understanding of the term jihad as an appropriate response to the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza.

For militant groups within the Islamic cultural sphere, a person who commits suicide as a part of struggle against oppression is considered a shahid - holy martyr - and is held to have earned a place in heaven. Many Muslims disagree with this view, however, saying that even in such circumstances, suicide and the killing of civilians remains a sin.

Many Muslim clerics encourage suicide bombing and Jihad against the West, mainly against the USA and Israel. These are mainly Arabs (a minority amongst the worldwide Muslim community) who believe that such attacks are legitimized by the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza [1]. Most of these clerics are either sponsored by the Arab governments, or head extremist groups (such as Sheikh Ahmed Yassin of Hamas).

On the other hand, many Islamic legal rulings view any killings of civilians (whether through combat or any other such militant activity) as against the ethics of Islam. It is worth noting that the Quran specifically forbids attacking women, children, elderly people, and buildings during any military campaign.

There is no single position on this issue that all Muslims accept.

Jihad and combat against non-Muslims

Wars against non-Muslim annexation or occupation of areas with a Muslim majority are often regarded as jihad by their proponents, as for instance in Iraq[1], Palestine, and Chechnya. In such cases, jihad is considered to constitute self-defence against an occupier. In such cases, the notion of jihad is deeply conflated with that of a struggle for independence; in Algeria, for instance, those who fought in the Algerian War of Independence are termed mujahideen.

Forced conversion is not permissible according to the laws of Islam. However, a jihad against a non-Muslim state may be seen as justified if that state bans its citizens from converting.

See also the "Reputation and evaluation" section of Crusade for a discussion of how the terms "Crusade" and "Jihad" are perceived differently in the West and the Islamic world.

Jihad in interpreting religious law

The term Jihad, in its understanding as an inner struggle, is sometimes used to describe the process that a Muslim jurist uses in making decisions on Islamic law; it can be used as a metaphor for intellectual striving. This usage occurs when a jurist is attempting to reach a just ruling (or fatwa) in the Islamic law - that is ijtihad.

A driving idea behind this is that inner and outer jihad are related; each individual must apply inner jihad to conclude what is intolerable for him personally before the social process of deciding to resist can even begin. If it does, the process of declaring and ending outer jihad are themselves the subject of fatwas.

Literary References

In the novel Dune, the Butlerian Jihad was fought by Humans against thinking machines which sought to oppress them.

See also

External links