Jihad, considered by some as the sixth pillar of Islam, has several meanings, depending on context as well as who is doing the interpreting. In Arabic, the word "jihad" translates as "a struggle", "a fight", or "conflict". In the West, the term is often associated exclusively with the phrase "holy war" (See "Jihad"). The concept of jihad has been hijacked in large by violent Islamic fundamentalism. But, jihad in of itself is not a concept espousing of violence or hatred. Although the word "jihad" implies struggle and conflict, jihad can be better characterized as “striving in the way of God”(See “Jihad”), referring to the obligations of Muslims to be actively engaged in "struggling/striving to improve one's self or society" (See Esposito, John). "To implement their belief…to lead a good life…to develop Islamic society" (See Esposito, John). This struggle may even be a struggle within one's self against temptation and sin, or a struggle against the nature of other men and woman. For the majority of Muslims in day-to-day life, jihad has no connection with physical violence.
The grey area within the discussion of jihad, and the consequent embarking point for those who would alter its meaning is in the interpretation of jihad. The Qur'an does make allowance for jihad to be used as an active form of military struggle (The Jihad of the Sword) where arms are taken up against non-Muslims for the purpose of defense. These types of rulings historically have been very tightly controlled by ulemas (groups of religious scholars trained in Islamic law and jurisprudence) following a strict code and the precedence of historical fatwas. Examples of "approved" military struggle are the European incursions into the Middle East via the Crusades in the 1100s, and the struggle between Portugal and the then Islamic State of Spain in late 1180, as well as the Soviet Union's invasion of Afghanistan in 1979. Modern jihadists use the basis of the above described thought, selectively focusing on the beliefs of certain key figures in history to manipulate the Jihad of the Sword, converting a military struggle for the protection of Muslims and defense of Islam into a political agenda.
Benjamin and Simon discuss the historical narrative of jihad, focusing on one of the most important figures to shape radical Islamic fundamentalism, Ibn Tamiyyah. He was a professor of Hanabali law in Damascus in the late 1200s, a rebel figure who sought to return Islam to its original sources, the Qur'an and the Sunnah. He believed in classic fundamentalism: a mythic return to an earlier ideal state, namely that the only perfect community had been Mohammed's Medina, and since that time the morality of Muslims had been slowly slipping because proper respect was not given to the Islamic faith or its teachings. He can be considered to have originated much of the ideology relating to modern Islamic fundamentalism today, including terroristic jihadism, and his writings serve as one of the primary documents to inspire radical fundamentalism. Three major contributions attributed to Tamiyyah that allowed for shaping of contemporary fundamentalism and giving reason to terroristic jihad is (See Benjamin, Daniel and Esposito, John):
1) Final interpretation of Islamic scriptures had been achieved, and that further work would only produce heretical innovation (an interesting parallel to the Christian doctrine of inerrancy) (See Benjamin, Daniel, p50). By disallowing further interpretation, one negates all ability to reinterpret what Muhammed may have meant allowing jihadists to couch their beliefs in an unassailable theological position.
2) Placing Jihad on the same level as the "five pillars" of Islam and creating an offensive jihad (See Benjamin, Daniel, p50). This cloaks terroristic jihad in the trappings of core faith and seeks to legitimize violence of action.
3) Creating a method by which to justify the issuance of jihads against members of the Islamic faith (See Benjamin, Daniel, p51). This is necessary to overcome the prohibition in the Qur'an of committing violence against other Muslims.
These three tenets comprise the rationale used by contemporary jihadists to relate their struggle to original Islamic thought and justify a global jihad that would be capable of targeting anyone irrespective of faith.
Another key figure in the evolution of Islamic fundamentalism and the concept of jihad is Seyyid Qutb and his text Milestones (See Qutb, Seyyid) that would serve to inspire jihadists. This text sought to outline a plan of action that if followed would bring a lapsed Islamic people back within the fold of Allah and create first an Islamic State and ultimately an Islamic World. Drawing from the religious writings of Ibn Tamiyyah and others as inspiration, Qutb characterized many Muslims as lapsed Muslims, suffering from jahiliyyah. Jahiliyyah is the state of man living godless existence or ignorance of God's teachings. The only way of saving these lapsed Muslims is to show them the error of their ways. This is accomplished by the creation of a group of proselytizers who while starting as only a few, grow in number as more and more formerly lapsed Muslims join this grouping to spread the word of Allah. This grouping of individuals is termed the Islamic Vanguard (in Qutb's time--the 1950's and 1960's, this was the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood). Many experts contend that this Islamic Vanguard, along with an immediate return and strict adherence to Sharia law will allow a community of believers to be formed. The community is loosely defined as groupings of pious Muslims who act as a whole to recruit more lapsed Muslims to build the strength of the community. Once a large enough body of Muslims is present (no number is ever quoted) in a number of separate communities, these separate communities may join to form a confederation. This confederations sole purpose is in the appointment of a Caliph to oversee and guide this organization to act as one to provoke a "global jihad". This global jihad, is the belief by Qutb that war and violence is not only necessary but inevitable and obligatory if an Islamic State is to be created. The struggle and strife faced by this Islamic confederation during the global jihad will serve as a testament to each individuals faith in Allah and the cause. At the conclusion of this global war of ideologies and ways of life, according to Qutb, all that will be left are the faithful Muslims and the soon to be converted apostates. The Islamic State and in short an Islamic World Order will be formed. This belief parallels fundamentalist Christian end-times theology that the world will some day be cleansed of non-believers.
Since the 70’s the presence of radical jihad has almost always been related to the specific contexts of war, conflict, vestigial colonialism, or matters regarding Israel. With the advent of the Arab Spring, many countries in the Middle East now have democratically elected Islamist governments or governments friendly to Islamists: Iran, Turkey, and more recently Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, and Lebanon. These countries disavow and condemn violent extremist terrorism, although making an exception for self-defense and the rights of Palestinians to resist occupation by Israel. Elected Islamic leaders have the authority and legitimacy, a bully pulpit, to define modern Islam. These leaders explicitly disavow extreme and violent interpretations of Islamic fundamentalists. The original forces which were the cauldron of violent fundamentalism (sublimated rage against colonialism, the challenge of modern science to traditional religious cosmology, etc.) have been greatly diminished. While it is to early to suggest that the days of radical jihadists are over, they have certainly been weakened by the events of the Arab Spring.
Sources:
Benjamin,
Daniel and Steven Simon. (2002). “The Age of Sacred Terror.” New York: Random
House
Bergesen, Albert. (2008). “The Seyyid Qutb Reader: Selected Writings on Politics, Religion and Society.” New York: Routledge
Chaliand,
Gerard and Arnaud Blin. (2007). “The History of Terrorism: From Antiquity to Al
Qaeda.” California: University of California Press
Esposito, John.
(2002). “Unholy War: Terror in the Name of Islam.” New York: Oxford University
Press.
"Jihad."
Wikipedia. (nd). Retrieved October 18, 2012, from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jihad
Qutb, Seyyid.
(2006). “Milestones.” Syria: Dar Al-Ilm.
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