Defining Jihad: its early inception and modern use.

Discussion in 'Ethnic & Religious Conflicts' started by MegadethFan, Oct 6, 2011.

  1. MegadethFan

    MegadethFan Well-Known Member

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    This thread explores the birth, early development and current thought on the concept of jihad. I’ve put headings on each section so you can read which ever part interests you the most. If you have any questions or suggestions about certain aspects of what I have written please tell me and I’ll try and expand on it. Being an evidence guy (I don’t trust anyone’s “facts” without sources) I’ve tried to reference my assertions here with an appropriate amount of sources, although in terms of information, it is limited as the subject matter beckons a wider discussion. My aim here was to simply review key aspects and moments within the history of the concept of jihad. See the conclusion for the briefest review of what is written here.


    Definition of Jihad:

    Of all the Islamic precepts discussed, debated and explored, not to mention ‘most often misquoted, misused and misunderstood’ in the West, none seems to more abused than that of jihad. ‘The word itself means “to strive or struggle in the way of Allâh”, not the more popular but incorrect usage, “holy war”.’[1] ‘The Arabic verb jahada, from which the noun “jihad” is derived, means to struggle or exert oneself.’ In the Quran, it is often followed by the phrase “in the path of God.”(4:96, 9:20) The image of jihad in the West as a medieval concept violently seeking to dominat and coerce non-Muslims into a state of ‘submission’ or to convert them is steeped in social propaganda dating to the Crusades – not fact. The reality is this religious struggle, known as jihad, ‘need not always refer to fighting.’[2] It can refer to action of a nonviolent, violent, external and internal nature. What is overlooked is the fact ‘Arabic words deriving from the root jhd… occur forty-one times in the Quran [and] of these, only ten refer clearly and unambiguously to the conduct of war.’[3] Jihad means struggle, not war let alone holy war. In regards to warfare and violence, there is no such thing ‘as 'holy war' but there is 'just war' to establish justice.’[4] Thus ‘it is important to remember… that the concept of jihad was not, in the Quran, primarily or mainly about fighting and warfare. The “internal,” “spiritual” jihad can thus claim to be every bit as old as its “external,” “fighting” counterpart.’[5]
    As you can see, jihad is the Islamic concept of moral striving and the struggle against impurity of the self AND tyranny of society. Whilst it is also a concept of moral striving for personal purification, it has historically been mostly attributed to military ventures. It’s a theory of just war, if we look at it through the eyes of Western concepts of the same caliber, which has experienced various stages of development and use. ‘Beyond the Qur’an, jihad is the subject of extensive reflection by later Muslim scholars.’[6] Throughout its history, the idea of jihad has been shaped and reformed, utilized and coopted by political and social forces to suit certain ends and has been viewed by Muslims with varying interpretations and directives of application over time and space. The assertion that it has been a continuous, monolithic concept is unfounded. Militarily, it has become more political than religious; the history of its use by those that followed Muhammad indicates this. In the west today, it has more to do with internal striving than external effort, although the latter is certainly still relevance.


    Origins of jihad and Islam.

    As Muhammad preached his revelations to the people of Mecca, and gradually garnered a following of believers with a creed of monotheistic, social-justice orientated thought (concepts that clashed entirely with the socio-political structure of the day), the ruling Meccan elite, the Quraysh, became increasingly hostile to the early Muslims. Eventually they were attacked, to the extent that there was an attempt on Muhammad’s life. It was in this climate of tyranny that Muhammad fled (this is known as the Hijra) to Medina, where he established his community.

    Pre-Islamic Arabia was governed primarily by tribal customs such as where and how to fight, but these were designed as means of limiting warfare and preserving cultural and social stability rather than establishing a principled system of justice. The only prevailing tendency was one of vengeance - an eye for an eye. Once in Medina, Mohammad’s revelations began to describe the code of conduct that Muslims had to abide within their conflict with the Quraysh.[7] It was religiously ordained within the conceptual framework of the term jihad. In the ensuing war between Muhammad’s ummah (Muslim community) and the hostile Meccan elite, the doctrine further progressed. It was essentially a just war theory, defined by Muhammad’s revelations from God;
    “And fight in the way of Allah with those who fight against you and do not transgress bounds [in this fighting]. God does not like the transgressors. Kill them wherever you find them and drive them out [of the place] from which they drove you out and [remember] persecution is worse than carnage. But do not initiate war with them near the Holy Ka‘bah unless they attack you there. But if they attack you, put them to the sword [without any hesitation]. Thus shall such disbelievers be rewarded. However, if they desist [from this disbelief], Allah is Forgiving and Merciful. Keep fighting against them, until persecution does not remain and [in the land of Arabia] Allah’s religion reigns supreme. But if they mend their ways, then [you should know that] an offensive is only allowed against the evil-doers. A sacred month for a sacred month; [similarly] other sacred things too are subject to retaliation. So if any one transgresses against you, you should also pay him back in the same coin. Have fear of Allah and [keep in mind that] Allah is with those who remain within the bounds [stipulated by religion].” (2:190-4)

    Mohammad also further defined the concept through his teachings and practical example. For instance, he famously remarked to a warrior boasting of a successful military venture that the ‘greater’ jihad was in fact the struggle against impurity of the self, whilst the ‘lesser’ was the struggle against worldly tyranny.[8]
    Muhammad’s use of jihad however did not leave a definitive principle of action – it would take the work of his predecessors for it to be properly defined, and even after it would be open to debate and interpretive application in regard to its precise nature and use.[9]

    What seems to be clear from the beginning however, is that the concept of jihad is one that seeks social and personal struggle against tyranny, particularly of that oppression that halts the preaching of Islam. Within the external application of the concept, it seems clear the imperative of jihad is to primarily allow Muslims to practice and spread their religion freely. There is no indication it was designed to be a war code seeking to forcibly spread Arab rule with mass conversions. This fact appears validated by early Muslim history.
     
  2. MegadethFan

    MegadethFan Well-Known Member

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    Early Islamic Empires and beyond.


    With the death of Mohammad, the early Muslim community was met with several challenges to its stability, both internal and external, and the concept of jihad entered a new phase of development. Within the early political landscape of the Muslim community, in securing their borders, crushing rebellions and maintaining alliances the early Caliphs become embroiled in regional wars. It is disputed whether the Caliphs actually pursued these conflicts, although they certainly began to do so once elitist monarchies had become instituted with the reign of Muawiyah I and later.

    Arab expansion began late in the reign of the first Caliph Abu Bakr, but became fully pursued under Umar. It would seem the purpose of this conflict was a combination of maintaining internal order and power of the Caliphal regime, as well as a mutual engagement with neighboring Christian and Zoroastrian empires who were constantly at war. The violence that ensued was a combination of defense of the lands of Islamic society, a means of maintaining political order and of expanding the Caliphate’s power.
    According to Berkey, these early expansions were the result of political requirements found in sustaining order and maintaining tribal solidarity. The Quran, Muhammad’s deeds and his specific and contextual teachings were utilized wherever they were deemed appropriate or politically viable – but the expansion was entirely political in nature.[10] ‘There was nothing religious about these campaigns, and Umar did not believe that he had a divine mandate to conquer the world. The objective of Umar and his warriors was entirely pragmatic: they wanted plunder and a common activity that would preserve the unity of the ummah.’[11] The early Muslims also engaged in this expansion at an opportune historical moment as the northern empires of Byzantium and Sassanian regimes had been left ravaged from continuous fighting, hence the Arabs’ rapid advancement.[12] It was the permeability of the frontier itself that saw the Caliphs extend their boundaries to begin with. This can be studied through the earliest recordings of the period and the planning by the Arab forces.[13]

    The practical implications of expansion are readily apparent. Their objective was to secure more productive and farmable lands that could improve the general condition of the ummah and prop up the power of the emerging Arab elite.[14] ‘As is well known, the Arabs made no attempt to impose their faith on their new subjects, and at first in fact discouraged conversions on the part of non-Arabs.’[15] The nature of their conceptualization of jihad within the political sphere was certainly modeled alongside the nature of parallel policies amongst the Byzantines and Persians and their imperial warfare.
    As noted above, the nature of jihad within this turn of events can be studied through the details of Arab rule. Overall, ‘the Arabs were not interested in converting non-Muslims to Islam.’[16] There was no mass conversion of local populaces as the identity of ‘Muslim’ became increasingly an Arabic one.

    General extensions of Islamic rule were rather beneficial for its new subjects; in many areas the concept of the jizya (poll tax) was not implemented, and become more of a political tool to ensure local authorities and religious groups would maintain their loyalty to Islamic imperial rule. Taxes generally were lower under Arab rule as the new Muslim authorities only came to oust old rulers and established themselves as lords. Outside of this political expansion, people were generally left to live as they did previously, which saw minority religious persecution, such as of Jews, ease or cease.[17]

    It was at this time jihad became relatively solidified as a concept of collective social striving against perceived injustice or the protection of the Muslim faith. What this era does reveal is a tendency that would play out in the development of Islamic history; the concept of jihad as molded and utilized to pursue the ends of particular social and/or political body. In this sense jihad remained a concept open to continuing debate and development, although it was solidified politically in the 8th century.


    Between then and now.
    Through the Middle Ages to the early modern period, the concept of jihad generally followed the same pattern of being malleably interpreted and applied by particular authorities and social groups. During the Crusades for example, Berkey notes how ‘jihad became an instrument, not only of resistance to infidels, but of the enforcement of standards of proper belief and behavior, particularly in the ulama’s (clerical elite) struggle against various elements of “popular religion”.’[18] In this way, future conquests of Islamic empires really had nothing to do with religion and far more with socio-political goals, whilst jihad retained a primarily military veneer.[19] Karl Ernst notes, in the example of India, how expansionist policies were identified and conducted along political lines;
    ‘while modern writers usually write of Muslim invasions of India, medieval Indian sources only refer to ethnic groups such as Arabs, Baluchs, or Turks, frequently summing up all foreigners as barbarians; it is apparent that Indians had no sense of Islam as an organized principle behind military incursions.’[20]

    Within the formation of the modern Middle East through European Imperialism in the 19th and 20th centuries, the term still had pockets of diverse understanding whilst holding common tendencies of being a military collective concept as well as, for example the fact that ‘for the most part the concepts, practice and experience of jihad in the modern Islamic world have been overwhelmingly defensive.’[21]
     
  3. MegadethFan

    MegadethFan Well-Known Member

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    The rise of Islamism.

    At the turn of the century, various political movements arose within the Muslim world (particularly its colonial sites) intending to reform their respective local political institutions to better society. Some found inspiration and purpose in a revival of Islam. Such early scholars, Mohammad Abduh, Al Afghani and Muhammad Iqbal are examples, called for a modernization of the Middle East; the introduction of democracy, liberal reform and so forth.

    ‘Muhammad Abduh (1849-1905) had been devastated by the British occupation of Egypt, but he loved Europe, felt quite at ease with Europeans and was widely read in Western science and philosophy. He greatly respected the political, legal and educational institutions of the modern West, but did not believe that they could be transplanted wholesale in a deeply religious country, such as Egypt, where modernization had been too rapid and had perforce excluded the vast mass of the people. It was essential to graft modern legal and constitutional innovations on to traditional Islamic ideas that the people could understand; a society in which people cannot understand the law becomes in effect a country without law. The Islamic principle of shurah (consultation), for example, could help Muslims to understand the meaning of democracy.’[22]

    In Abduh’s eyes, shariah (traditional Islamic law) was only valuable in so far as it solved the social issues of the day and helped bring people to God’s message. Upon returning from France in 1888, he remarked ‘I went to the West and saw Islam, but no Muslims; I got back to the East and saw Muslims, but not Islam.’[23] Not all of this revivalism was evolutionary – some elements were radical, even violent, however out of this revivalist movement sprang the ideology of Islamism.

    Hasan al-Banna, a teacher in Egypt, had turned to religious inspiration to deal with the cultural development (or degeneration as he saw it) and foreign imperialism that deeply shaped and daily life with forces of political and economic inequality. Seeking reform through Islam, he espoused an apolitical ideological program in which he and his followers would assist the poor and needy, raising the conditions of society whilst bringing about independent regional renewal. To him and his Muslim Brotherhood, this was their struggle and thus their jihad. His goal was gradual Islamization through social integration and improvement – he believed Islam could solve the region’s political and social problems.[24] In this way the concept of jihad retained its core of collective struggle for Islam, but was relatively non-violent and apolitical within the Islamist movement.

    The Muslim Brotherhood was, due to historical events, repressed by the government in its effort to dominate Egyptian politics. Within the country’s harsh prison system, the Brothers splintered into competing factions. One person to emerge from this with a radical solution to their suffocating situation was Sayyid Qutb who argued Muslims needed to embrace the concept of jihad with more aggressive and radical tendencies. With his death in 1966 (in jail), others further developed his take on jihad into a more violent doctrine of revolution, although the mainstream of the Brotherhood retained their previously moderate apolitical position. Divergent groups developed a revolutionary ideology more in common with Leninism and the French Revolution than with traditional Islamic thought on the subject. The roots of the conflict that arose around this movement were always political however.

    Islamism now is, like most things Islamic, diverse and varied. According to James Piscatori, a definition of the adherent to Islamism would best be something like; ‘Islamists are Muslims who are committed to public action to implement what they regard as an Islamic agenda. Islamism is a commitment to, and the content of, that agenda.’[25] As you can see, the “Islamic agenda” is an open concept. The fact remains though that Islamists generally have the shared traits of being nationalist, welfare orientated and seek Islamization of society through social integration and development. To them, Islam is a solution to society’s ills. In this sense, Islamism can just as accurately be described as “revivalism” or more simply “resurgence.”[26] The term itself, and its original aims, have very little to do with modern terrorism it is often associated with.

    In this respect, most Islamists are essentially no different to their evangelical, welfare orientated Christian counterparts. There isn’t much difference between the evangelists of Saudi Wahhabis and born again Christians from the US. Within both aspects there is considerable diversity of opinion and ideology.


    Jihadists and Extremists


    It must be understood that a jihadi is really just any individual who believes jihad is of unusually vital importance to a Muslim and as a solution for political issues of the day. The work of jihadis since the middle of the last century however has always been remote and nationally orientated; targeting local governments to end repression and bring about social revolution through Islamic revival (as they dictate).
    Osama bin Laden broke with this tendency of action when he attacked the “far enemy” of the US, rather than the “near” of his local political regime, the House of Saud. His logic was that the US, and its allies, had funded and supported their immediate enemies and thus they also had to be dealt with. This clashed considerably with mainstream jihadis who had always considered attacking the US pointless and extreme.[27]

    Jihadis generally, pursued the thinking of Qutb in that they transformed the idea of militant jihad from a collective, communal directive to an individual religious duty. Today’s extremists took jihadism to the next step by seeking to galvanize the entire Muslim world in a cosmic war that transended all political boundaries – and practical, sane limitations. They sought, as most jihadis do, to independently define jihad as essentially anything and everything they wanted it to be. They violated all norms of the concept – killing innocents, acting without collective community action and without the approval of Islamic judicial authority.[28]

    It is worth noting, ‘the warriors of the new jihad are often young people who, like many of their Christian fundamentalist counterparts, begin with little knowledge of their religion’s holy texts. On the level of individual psychology, some of them appear trapped, not only by their poor prospects in life, and by the enemy whom they fight, but also by existence itself.’[29]
    Many people also seem to be ignorant of the fact the likes of Al Quada are a tiny minority of jihadis (jihadists also being a small minority), who consequently make up an insignificant portion of the Muslim world. Their doctrine isn’t some escapist return to the 7th century – it’s an entirely modern manipulation of religion to pursue political ends. Jihadists are an entirely modern phenomenon with a modern ideology holding far more similarities with other non-Muslim radical groups than it does with the historical tendencies of Islam as a socio-political force.[30]

    In relation to Islamism, jihadi philosophy is almost entirely supported by contrary ideas. Islamists as described above have national, mostly non-violent agendas; they rely more on evolution than revolution. Going back to the Muslim Brotherhood, Ayman Al Zawahiri, a former member, created the group Egyptian Islamic Jihad, which he eventually merged with Al Quada. As a jihadi, who followed a tendency of becoming increasingly more violent and radical, he denounced the Muslim Brotherhood for its lack of violence and moderate position of slow political action.
    This ideological distinction is further emphasized by the fact terrorist organizations like Al Quada are entirely pan-nationalist, totally violent and completely intolerant of local adversaries. This is why the concept of ‘Islamofacism’ is so preposterously ignorant – it negates the core of both ideas; fascism is pro-nationalist whereas the likes of bin Laden are anti-nationalist.
     
  4. MegadethFan

    MegadethFan Well-Known Member

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    The West and Muslims today

    Ultimately, it doesn’t really matter how you think jihad was formed or what it originally meant, all that truly matters is what Muslims think of the term today. History is only relevant to us in so far as it helps us determine how current issues were arrived at, how they operate, and how we should approach them. As before, jihad still has varied interpretations and applications today, stretching from pacifism to terrorism.

    After the events of 9/11, a huge body of work was produced by Islamic authorities and communities voicing their unanimous condemnation of the terrorism that unfolded.[31] Every major government, scholarly body and judicial institution condemned the attacks as entirely un-Islamic, and rightly so. There was even an official fatwa made against such activities.[32]

    Polemics often argue there exists a perpetual state of jihad between Muslims and non-Muslims based on the framework of traditional world divisions – between the ‘House of Islam’ (Dar al-Islam) and the ‘House of War’ (Dar al-Harb) the latter apparently being every society that doesn’t have Islamic governance. This is a great piece of anti-Islamic propaganda. Traditionally, these terms have been developed and separated further – the Ottoman Empire created its own ‘House of Truce’ (Dar al-Sulh) to describe its tribute paying neighboring Christian kingdoms, whilst the core of these concepts were only first conceived of after the Prophet’s death. Generally, and particularly today, the term Dar al-Harb means society or area where Muslims are belligerently endangered, whilst al-Islam can mean either Muslim nation or quite simply a country in which Muslims are free to exercise their faith. The reality of these terms further undermines the notion of jihad as a code of perpetual forced conversion, and supports the idea jihad is simply a concept of defending people’s right to be Muslims.[33] Tariq Ramadan (the grandson of al-Banna and a Swiss Islamist) has even said the West should be entirely seen as Dar al-Islam as Muslims often enjoy more freedom there than in some Islamic countries.[34] In this way Islamic authorities have also condoned the invasion of Afghanistan and other aspects of the war on terror.[35] It seems rather ignorant to argue there is some monolithic movement bent on dominating the world. All religions seek to ‘enlighten’ mankind through dissimilation of their creed – Islam is no different in this sense.

    As noted above, the original imperative of jihad has been for the free and open dispersion of Islam throughout the world and to defend against injustice. Today, this tendency seems to be the center piece of thought on the subject. Those that would argue jihad is a completely offensive doctrine of conversion would be hard pressed to explain why many Islamic authorities, especially the most prominent such as the thinkers of Al-Ahzar University have not declared such conflict and instead made it an imperative to respect local law.
    ‘Today, an Islamic state can launch jihad only against injustice and oppression – where they may be. Except on these accounts, Islam has not given an Islamic state the permission to take up arms against any country.’[36] ‘Today Muslims cannot wage jihād for the purpose of punishing disbelievers for denying the truth. Today the only basis for jihād is to root out oppression and injustice.’[37]
    In the West, the concept of jihad is used by Muslims simply to describe moral struggle against injustice and for truth.[38] There are even some Muslims who assert jihad has no violent aspect or militant connotation, not to mention pacifist Muslims.[39] Surveys on the subject provide the most insight. World Public Opinion has shown that whilst Muslims generally support measures to reduce the power of US hegemony in the Middle East, they overwhelmingly condemn the methods used by terrorists.[40]

    In the west, views of jihad and terrorism are some of the most blunted. In England for example, a survey from the Daily Telegraph in 2006 showed 80% of British Muslims thought ‘Western society may not be perfect but Muslims should live within it and not seek to bring it to an end,’ 91% described themselves as loyal citizens.[41] According to a Gallup poll in 2002, the majority of populaces in Muslim states primarily defined the concept as either “duty toward God,” a “divine duty,” or a “worship of God”, or within the brackets of definitions like “sacrificing one's life for the sake of Islam/God/a just cause,” or “fighting against the opponents of Islam.” Other common responses were ‘ “a commitment to hard work” and “achieving one's goals in life”, “struggling to achieve a noble cause” and “promoting peace, harmony or cooperation, and assisting others”.’ There was no notion of armed conflict to convert the world.[42]
     
  5. MegadethFan

    MegadethFan Well-Known Member

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    Conclusion


    Muhammad’s revelations were handed down in violent social conditions. It was imperative for the survival of himself and Islam that a code of fighting be devised. The idea of jihad he espoused had as much to do with social justice as with personal purity however. As time and circumstance changed, the concept of jihad also developed. Today there is really no reason not to consider it a basic just war theory with a different perspective. Terrorists in no way represent the nature and core value of the term, and the threat suggested by anti-Islamic polemics that Islamists and Muslims generally are at war with non-Muslims is also hollow in its validity. In the West, Muslims overwhelming support democracy, plural politics and are loyal citizens, like any other religious group. There has also arisen a plethora of literature on reform within the traditional Muslim world. Given the information provided above, and the history, origins and applications of jihad, it would appear there is no considerable different to Western concepts of just war theory. There is simply no basis to worry of some monolithic, hidden jihad is being waged within the west by Islamic minorities. The concept of jihad to them has as much to do with the struggle to stop smoking as it does with seeking social justice.
    If we acknowledge with any seriousness, the idea that Muslims generally are in some kind of religious power struggle to control the world we actually do the tiny group of extremists a favor by transforming their political campaign into a cosmic war of global proportions, moving the engagement from one of simple crime negation to apocalyptic drama.


    --MegadethFan


    References:

    [1] Ibrahim Hewitt, What does islam say?, The Muslim Educational Trust, London, 2004, pp. 27-29.
    [2] Kecia Ali and Oliver Leaman, Islam: key concepts, Routledge, New York, 2008, p. 65.
    [3] Michael Bonner, Jihad in Islamic history, Princeton University Press, Oxford, 2006, p. 22.
    [4] Ibrahim Hewitt, What does islam say?, 2004, p. 29.
    [5] Michael Bonner, Jihad in Islamic history, 2006, p. 22.
    [6] Kecia Ali and Oliver Leaman, Islam: key concepts, 2008, p. 66.
    [7] Martin Lings, Muhammad: his life based on the earliest sources, Inner Traditions, n.p., 1987, p. 135.
    [8] Carl W Ernst, Following Muhammad, The University of North Carolina Press, London, 2003, p. 117.
    [9] Reza Aslan, No God but God, Arrow Books, London, 200, p. 81.
    [10] Jonathan Berkey, The Formation of Islam: Religion and Society in the Near East 600–1800, Cambridge University Press, New York, 2003, pp. 72-73.
    [11] Karen Armstrong, Islam: a short history, Random House, New York, 2002, pp. 30-31.
    [12] Jonathan Berkey, The Formation of Islam: Religion and Society in the Near East 600–1800, 2003, p. 58.
    [13] Arab conquest of Iran, Encyclopedia Iranica, <http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/arab-ii>, 10 August, 2011.
    [14] Hourani, Albert, A History of the Arab Peoples, Faber & Faber, n.p., 2002, pp. 22-25.
    [15] Jonathan Berkey, The Formation of Islam: Religion and Society in the Near East 600&#8211;1800, 2003, p. 74.
    [16] Carl W Ernst, Following Muhammad, 2003, pp. 119-120.
    [17] Bernard Lewis, The Middle East, Scribner, New York, 1995, pp. 56-58.
    [18] Jonathan Berkey, The Formation of Islam: Religion and Society in the Near East 600&#8211;1800, 2003, p. 202.
    [19] Bernard Lewis, The Crisis of Islam, Random House, New York, 2004, p. 31.
    [20] Carl W Ernst, Following Muhammad, 2003, p. 120.
    [21] Bernard Lewis, The Crisis of Islam, 2004, p. 36.
    [22] Karen Armstrong, Islam: a short history, 2002, pp. 30-31.
    [23] Ahmed Hasan, Democracy, Religion and Moral Values: A Road Map Toward Political Transformation in Egypt, <http://www.foreignpolicyjournal.com/2011/07/02/democracy-religion-and-moral-values-a-road-map-toward-political-transformation-in-egypt/>, 2 July, 2011, p. 1.
    [24] Karen Armstrong, Islam: a short history, 2002, pp. 155-156.
    [25] Richard C. Martin and Abbas Barzegar (eds), Islamism, Stanford University Press, Stanford, 2010, p. 17.
    [26] ibid., 140.
    [27] Gerges Fawaz, The Far Enemy, Cambridge University Press, New York, 2005, pp.185-192.
    [28] Bernard Lewis, The Crisis of Islam, 2004, p. 39.
    [29] Michael Bonner, Jihad in Islamic history, Princeton University Press, Oxford, 2006, p. 164.
    [30] Oliver Roy, Globalized Islam, Columbia University Press, New York, 2004, pp. 42-43, 178-179.
    [31] Charles Kurzman, Islamic Statements Against Terrorism, <http://kurzman.unc.edu/islamic-statements-against-terrorism/>
    [32] Fatwa on terrorism, <http://www.fatwaonterrorism.com/>
    [33] Ahmed Khalil, Dar Al-Islam And Dar Al-Harb: Its Definition and Significance, Bismika allahuma <http://www.bismikaallahuma.org/archives/2005/dar-al-islam-and-dar-al-harb-its-definition-and-significance/> 3 Oct, 2005.
    [34] Oliver Roy, Globalized Islam, 2004, p. 112.
    [35] Gerges Fawaz, The Far Enemy, 2005, p.189.
    [36] Shehzad Saleem, Jihad against the Disbelievers, Renaissance <http://www.monthly-renaissance.com/issue/query.aspx?id=807>
    [37] Shehzad Saleem, Jihad in the Qur&#8217;an, Renaissance, <http://www.monthly-renaissance.com/issue/query.aspx?id=853>
    [38] Carl W Ernst, Following Muhammad, 2003, p. 222.
    [39] Oliver Roy, Globalized Islam, 2004, p. 10.
    [40] Muslim Publics Oppose Al Qaeda's Terrorism, But Agree With Its Goal of Driving US Forces Out, <http://www.worldpublicopinion.org/pipa/articles/brmiddleeastnafricara/591.php>, 24 February, 2009
    [41] Muslim Poll, Daily Telegraph, <http://www.icmresearch.com/pdfs/2006_february_sunday_telegraph_muslims_poll.pdf>, February 2006.
    [42] Richard Burkholder, Jihad -- 'Holy War', or Internal Spiritual Struggle?, Gallup <http://www.gallup.com/poll/7333/jihad-holy-war-internal-spiritual-struggle.aspx>
     
  6. OJLeb

    OJLeb New Member

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    Excellent essay!

    A clear, easy to understand description of the "evolution" of the term Jihad, and what Jihad truly is in the Islamic sense. And even better, you have facts to back up the entire thing. Islamophobes have to resort to lies and twisted truths to prove a point. You successfuly did it with real facts on the life of Mohammed PBUH, the Muslim Brotherhood, the Arab conquests under Caliphs, the true Jihad - struggle of Muslims - and how Osama Bin Laden and al-Qaida have a distorted view of Jihad.

    I've been saying for quite some time now, there is no global Jihad to take over the world and impose Sharia on the people of America and beyond. This may be the fantasy of a few hundred people who've got distorted corrupt views of Islam, but it in no way represents the billions of Muslims who live all over the world just like everybody else. It's a wet dream if you will for "Jihadists", and when the West gives them the Islamophobic attention they want, it's like an orgasm to them and makes them want more, so they continue doing what they're doing. You made an excellent point in the conclusion about this.
     
  7. protectionist

    protectionist Banned

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    You silly kids can post all the denial spin you like. Nothing's going to change reality and the way Americans know it to be. When you get a bit older you'll realize that. Mostly people just brush off you and your Islamapologist ideas like Islamaphobia, peaceful jihad, and other such nonsense. LOL.

    I shouldn't even be dignifying this thread with a response.
     
  8. OJLeb

    OJLeb New Member

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    Just because you say so? Yeah... Okay ;-)

    It speaks for itself how true it is, when you respond to my response and not the actually essay.

    Salam
     
  9. MegadethFan

    MegadethFan Well-Known Member

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    As I have shown, the history, theology and FACT is on our side. Most Americans think Muslims are ok actually, so you are not only wrong - you are a minority of fools.

    [/QUOTE] I shouldn't even be dignifying this thread with a response.[/QUOTE]
    You know you've lost. Nice to see you have not only the intellectual inability, but also too much fear to actually challenge what I have written even though you say you know more than I could possibly imagine. haha :winner:
     
  10. protectionist

    protectionist Banned

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    I shouldn't even be dignifying this thread with a response.[/QUOTE]
    You know you've lost. Nice to see you have not only the intellectual inability, but also too much fear to actually challenge what I have written even though you say you know more than I could possibly imagine. haha :winner:[/QUOTE]

    "Most Americans think Muslims are ok actually," Yeah ? Got a link to support that ? I don't think you do - not a credible one.
     
  11. MegadethFan

    MegadethFan Well-Known Member

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  12. OJLeb

    OJLeb New Member

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    Those two sources are controlled by the Muslim Brotherhood of Islam as part of the top secret "Stealth Jihad" mission against America.

    He's still avoided even mentioning part of your essay. Even went as far to avoid the entire subject completely in the latest post.

    Way to go! :)
     
  13. protectionist

    protectionist Banned

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    Always avoid ? LOL. Remember this ?

    Stealth Jihad is THE method of operation of the Muslim Brotherhood as was revealed in the 1991 Explanatory Memorandum...for North America, discovered by the FBI in 2005, and declassified in the Holy Land Foundation, Hamas terrorist funding trial in 2007 & 2008.

    The key words from it are :

    "The process of settlement [of Islam in the United States] is a "Civilization-Jihadist" process with all that the word means. The Ikhwan [Muslim Brotherhood in North America] must understand that all their work in America is a kind of grand jihad in eliminating and destroying the Western civilization from within and "sabotaging" their miserable house by their hands, and the hands of the believers so that it is eliminated, and Allah's religion is made victorious over all religions."

    Mohamed Akram, "An Explanatory Memorandum on the General Strategic Goal for the Group in North America" May 22, 1991, Government Exhibit 003-0085, United States vs. Holy Land Foundation, et al. 7 (21).

    And this ? (MR QUIZ ZERO)

    Names associated with Stealth Jihad (AKA Islamization)

    Ibin Taamiyah, the Madhi, Sheik Ahmed Yassin, Sami al-Arian, Ramadan Abdallah Shallah, Mazen al-Najjar, Richard A. Clarke, Imam Muzzamil Siddiqui, Susan Douglas, Peter DiGangi, William Bennetta, Gilbert Sewall , Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, al-Hajj Talib'Abur, Rashid Sahmsi Ali, Khalid Latif, Omar Mohammedi, Joe Kaufman, Chantal Carnes, Hasan al-Banna (creator of the Muslim Brotherhood-I'll give you that one), Tariq Ramadan, Siraj Wahhaj, Mozen Mokhtar, Nouman Ali Khan, Abdul Malik , Imam Jamal Badawi, Br. Jawad Ahmad, Hassan Abbas, Mullah Abdul Rashid Ghazi, Sheik Mjed 'Abd al-Rahman al-Firian, Prince Sultan Ibn Abd al-'Aziz, Ali al-Ahmed, Itamar Marcus, Barbara Cook, Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab, Ahmed Omar Abu Ali, Mohammed Osman Idris, Mohammed el-Yacoubi, Abu Abdullah, Baitullah Mehsud, Yunis al-Astal, Zeyno Baran, Aaron Klein, Muhammad Abdel-El, Sheik Yasser Hamad, Nur Mohammad, Ahmed Yassin (deceased), Sheik Abdel Rahman, Sheik Mohammed bin Rashid AL Maktoum, Abdullah Azzam, Fazlur Rehman Khalil , Mohammad Elachmi Hamdi, Bat Ye'or, Max Steenberghe, Anders Fogh Ramussen, Paul Jeeves, Yusuf al-Qarodawi, Bashar al-Assad, Robert S. Leiken, Theo Van Gogh, Michel Gurfinkel, Imam Ahmed Salam, Piet Hein Donner, Miguel Angel Toma , Salah Yassin, Hassan Nasrallah, Ahmed Assad Barakat, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Bashar al-Assad, Adolpho Aguilar Zinser, Joseph Farah, Nabil al-Marabh, Raed Hijazi, David Harris, Syed Mumtaz Ali, Omar Ahmad, Ibrahim Hooper, Sheikh Mubarak Ali Gilani, Dr. Paul Williams , Hassan al Turabi, Clement Rodney Hampton-El, Kevin James, Warner MacKenzie, Sayeed Abdul A'la Maududi, Abdullah Yusef Ali, Mohammed Marmaduke Pickthall, Nessim Joseph Dawood, Mohammed Habib Shakir, Arthur John Arberry, Aqsa Parvez, Atefeh Rajabi, Francis Bok, Michael Coren, Homaidan Ali Al-Turki, Sheik Saleh Al-Fawzan, Paul Marshall, Koenraad Elst, Tom Clancy, Phil Alden Robinson, Michael Graham, Thomas Klocek, Stephen Coughlin, Hasham Islam, Steven Emerson, Mordechai Nisan, Abduraman Alamoudi, Ramadan Abdallah Shallah, Musa Abu Marzook, Keith Ellison, Abdullah al-Arian, ,Jamal-al-Din al-Afghani, James Woolsey, Walid Phares, Guy Rodgers, Brigitte Gabriel, Robert Spencer, Paul Sperry, P.David Gaubatz, Chris Gaubatz, Stefanie Creswell, Charety Zhe, Adnan el-Shukrijumah, Jaffar the Pilot, Mohammad Weiss Rasool, Brian P. Fairchild, Peter M. Leitner, Sergeant Naveed I. Butt, Bill Bratton, Jamal Barzinji, Ingrid Mattson, Safaa Zarzour, Khalid Iqbal, James "Yousef" Yee, Ahmed Alwani, Taja Alwani, Warith Deen Umar, Tom Harrington, John Guandolo, Patrick Sookhdeo, Gaddoor Saidi, Muhammad Usmani, Mahdi Bray, Ali al-Timimi, Maulana Abdul Ala Maududi, Sayyid Quth, Zaid Shakir, Hamdan al-Shalawi, Muhammed al-Qudhaieen, Omar Shain, Hani Hanjour, Kenneth Williams, Edward Sloan, Ismail Elbarasse, Sheik Omar Abdul-Rahman, George Sadler, Mohammed Akram Adlouni, Zeid al-Noman, Shukri Aby Baker, Mohammad El-Mezain, Ghassan Elashi, Sayyid Syeed, Bassem Osman, Ahmed Elkadi, Mahboob Khan, Suhail Khan, Mufid Abdulgader, Abdelhaleem Ashqar, Frank Gaffney, Sue Myrick, Abuhena Saifulislam, Ali "the American" Mohamed, Juan Zarate, Hisham Altalib, Mohammed Shamma, Ahmad Sakr, Abdullah bin Laden, Mohamed Jamal Khalifah, Ahmad Mohamed Ali, Joey Musmar, Lina Morales

    Things associated with Stealth Jihad (AKA Islamization)

    Hijra, jizyah, Istanbul, Al-Quds, Al-Aqsa mosque, , treaty of Al-Hudaybiyah, Oslo Accords, the Mahdi, Al-Ansar, 2006 Pentagon report : "Motivations of Muslim Suicide Bombers" ), "The Project", the Muslim Brotherhood, the Ikhwan, Taqiyya, Da'wa, Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR), Holy Land Foundation trials - 2007 & 2008, Khalil Gibran Academy, US Treasury Dept. (Office of Foreign Asset Control), Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), Muslim American Society (MSA), United States Counterinsurgency Manual FM 3-24, US Justice Dept. report - 2004, US Justice Dept. report - 2007, abeds, North American Islamic Trust, Islamic Council for North America, United Association for Studies and Research, Muslim American Youth Association, the Hamas Charter, Islamic Academy of Florida, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, American Youth Academy, New Horizons Schools, Islamic American University, DawaNet-to link &#8226; to serve: Home with sections entitled "How to Make America an Islamic Nation" and Da'wa in Public Schools, Excelsior Elementary School, Thomas Moore Law Center, Islamic Saudi Academy, "The Islam Project" by the Council on Islamic Education, the Arab World History Notebook, "Across the Centuries", California Academy of Sciences, "World Cultures : A Global Mosaic", American Textbook Council, "Islam and the Textbooks", Arab American Family Support Center (AAFSC), Mosque of Islamic Brotherhood's Boy Scout program (MIB), Americans Against Hate, CAIR Watch, the Young Muslims, Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA), Jamaat-e-Islami, Young Muslim Sisters (YMS), Middle East Media Research Institute, US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), Freedom House, Institute for Gulf Affairs, Palestinian Media Watch, "Contemporary Problems", "History of the Arabs and the World in the 20th Century", Reading and Text Part II, Association of Independent Schools, ISA accreditation, Center for Religious Freedom, Hizb ut-Tahrir al-Islami, Islamic Party of Liberation, Al-Aksa TV of Hamas, Hudson institute, Popular Resistance Committee, "Schmoozing With Terrorists", US House of Representitives, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, "Eurabia, the Euro-Arab Axis", European Union, the Arab League,"Foreign Affairs" - "Europe's Angry Muslims", Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), Sharee Council of Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, Immigration and National Security Program at the Nixon Center, Sukuk, Sharia compliant banks, Saxony-Anhalt, piggy banks in England, foot washing basins (Kansas City Airport & University of Michigan), "Britain's Daily Mail" - "Multiculturalsim Drives Young Muslims to Shun British Values", Nationa Intelligence Council, www.islamonline.net, "Valeurs Actuelles", the triple border region, UN Security Council, House Homeland Security Committee subcommittee on investigations report : "A Line In the Sand: Confronting the Threat At the Southwest Border", OTMs, Jamaat ul-Fuqra, Muslims of the Americas, the FBI, Canadian Security Intelligence Service, "TD Monthly", halal chicken, ACLU, the Date Frappuccino, Open Society Foundation, Whiting Foundation, hijab, Transportation & Safety Admin. (TSA), "New Media Journal" report - "In the Belly of the Beast: Jamaat ul-Fuqra, Jamaat ul-Fuqra mosque (Brooklyn, NY), Koran: 4:34, honor killings, the Alec file, Jamiyyat Ul-Islam, It's the Ideology Stupid,Tad-ru-bu-hu-nna, Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, UN Children's Fund, the Population Council - 2003 survey, m'uta, Haratines, Janjaweed, Dinka tribe, "Escape From Slavery", Toronto Sun online - "Slavery Lives in the Sudan", Middle East Forum - "The Problem with Slavery", Saudi Arabia Senior Council of Clerics, Human Rights Watch, Middle East Forum, Copts, Baha'i sect of Islam, "Islam : From Toleration to Terror", Hizb ut-Tahrir, Jyllands-Posten, "The Sum of All Fears", University of South Florida, Palistinian Islamic Jihad, "Future Jihad", Mosque Census Project, Eid al-Adha, Shahada, Mahram, FBI's Arab/Muslim Sikh American Advisory Committee, Higgins Center for Counterterrorism Research, Jamaat e-Islami, Samah, Tarbiya, Dar al-Arqam, SWICK, Policy-net

    We're still waiting for you to Identify them. Waiting.....Waiting......Waiting.........Waiting..............ZERO !
     
  14. protectionist

    protectionist Banned

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    Yeah I see how you try to pass it off that you fulfilled the burden of proof, when you fulfilled nothing whatsoever, except a mention that most Americans think American Muslims don't support Al Qaeda (in the CSMonitor). That's not equivalent to saying ""Most Americans think Muslims are ok"

    You FAILED the burden of proof. What else is new ? LOL.
     
  15. protectionist

    protectionist Banned

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    Not paying any attention isn't the same as avoiding. LOL.
     
  16. gypzy

    gypzy New Member

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    Well now, take a little weekend and the thread gets shut down...I assume you will not mind me responding to your last post from the other thread here in this thread since you linked the two.
    While anything is always possible, don't you think it a bit over-optimistic to assume that Wahhabism, the wellspring of fundamentalism, will soon be reforming itself?

    The entire basis of Wahhabism is to follow the Salafs, not exactly a springboard for modernization.
    I'd be interested in seeing your Scriptural support for that.
    Again, you've offered no support for this assertion.

    politics: the art or science of government​

    As anyone who has tried to study Koran/Islam can tell you, it is not a straightforward proposition. It has traditionally meant a lot of study on semantics, word origins, etc in order to interpret the text. But there have been several studies over the years to look at Islam from different angles. One of these was applying statistical analysis of the text. The first study I saw was back in the mid-80s by U of Mich (or perhaps that was MSU). At any rate, there have been others since. I've found two online, I love the internet. One is quite reputable; the second produced basically the same results but I didn't care much for the commentary of the sponsor. Any way you cut it, over 60% of the texts are devoted to politics.

    Here is the link to Center for Study of Political Islam: http://cspipublishing.com/statistical/index.html
    I hope you can get it to work. I just had the pdf open and accidentally closed out that window...now I cannot get the site or pdf to open. Site issues, I'd guess.

    As to Biblical equivalency. Considering that the Israelites were on a journey to establish to a nation, it certainly would be in line for their text to have much in the way of politics, no?
    The same cannot be said of Christianity, but I'll wait for your evidences.
    Here is a statistical analysis of violence in the three Abrahamic religions:
    [​IMG]
    I never said otherwise; I said they will have to work themselves into that, it cannot be done through outside influences....the exception to this is, of course, when migrating to western countries (specifically the US). It is incumbent on the immigrant to assimilate; it is incumbent on us to maintain our Constitutional rights and freedoms.

    EDIT: btw - I haven't read through your essay yet, but I will.
     
  17. gypzy

    gypzy New Member

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    LOL, short frame of reference. I was speaking of Iran.
    Yes, we get the news on occasion.

    Like I said, I think I'll wait until the tea leaves settle before making pronouncements.
     
  18. Talon

    Talon Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    You lost me right there, MF.

    The image of jihad in the West that was formulated during the Medieval era was not a mere "concept" of Islam and/or Muslims "violently seeking to dominate and coerce non-Muslims into a state of submission (dhimmitude) or to convert them" (not to mention kill, enslave or expel them) - it was a fact/reality that the West had confronted since the invasions of the Rashidun caliphates in the 7th Century. Obviously, this isn't some "social propaganda dating to the Crusades" - it was a legitimate description of the Islamic aggression that preceded the Crusades by approximately four centuries.

    It is this history - this fact - of Muslim aggression and conquest that has formed the Western image of jihad.

    As you correctly pointed out, "jihad" as a term and a concept 'need not (and does not) always refer to fighting', but as your statement reveals, it need not (and does not) always exclude reference to fighting.
     
  19. Talon

    Talon Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    Setting aside the veracity of what you claim to have "shown", who, precisely, is YOUR side?
     
  20. gypzy

    gypzy New Member

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    I concur. Duality is rampant in Islam, SOP as it were.

    I haven't read through his essay yet but I give anyone credit for an annotated effort.
    I am, however, very curious as to why someone would go through so much effort only to abandon the thread.
     
  21. protectionist

    protectionist Banned

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    Didn't you know ? He's an Islamist.
     
  22. MegadethFan

    MegadethFan Well-Known Member

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    :bored: I replied to your question and proved my point and now you are crying about it. haha typical. One document in NO WAY details the motives of the ENTIRETY of a social group especially when the audience of the document is directed to change the minds of the rest of the group, as I outlined - ie, why would you have to change a social group's general thought if it is exactly the same as your own? Answer is - you dont. So the fact this single MB document seeks these ends reveals the fact that it is the ends of a small group who have a long way to go as they themselves outline. I already went through this.

    As I said before there is no such thing, in Islamic theology, history or REALITY that can be seen as "stealth jihad". This is the fringe concept of some ignorant Islamophobes. I dont know what you want me to do with this lengthy list above, but please state it so that I can cease with this rebuttal I am forced to render continually to you.
     
  23. MegadethFan

    MegadethFan Well-Known Member

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    LOL Both sources documented general opinions about Muslims - not just in relation to Al Quada. haha read the whole thing mate.

    If you want more, I can give more.
     
  24. MegadethFan

    MegadethFan Well-Known Member

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    I do mind. I linked this with a specific context - not to derail it by introducing an entirely different discussion. I'd be glad to reply to the post, but not here. I dont want to risk derailing my thread here, so I'll only respond to what is relevant. Unfortunately you'll have to tell me which part I linked to this thread because your quote didnt give me a link back to the original thread you took this from. Perhaps you should make a second, or similar thread so we can continue this above discussion.
     
  25. MegadethFan

    MegadethFan Well-Known Member

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    haha! yes because anyone that disagrees with you is an Islamist of course :rolleyes:
     

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