Jihad

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that a core belief of Islam is that world peace is reached only with the adaptation or submission of all humankind to Islam: Thus nonbelievers are held responsible for the state of war. The paper also explains that translating the word "jihad" as holy war is wrong. The word "jihad" originates from the verb "jahada", which means to struggle, to make an effort and to fight in protection of the faith. The paper then relates the four ways to preform jihad. In addition, the paper notes that the western distinction between just and unjust war is unknown in Islam because, to a Muslim, any war against the unenlightened is morally justified in order to free the souls of the people trapped by a government not guided by God.

Table of Contents:
Thesis Statement
Introduction
Discussion
Conclusion

From the Paper:

"Popular perceptions are powerful and can often be manipulated to achieve short-term political goals; this is true for Islamist cultures as well as for the West. Historically, the establishment of the umma at Medina and the spread of this new religion by Muhammad were accompanied by violent, bloody warfare. Thus, the sword became the symbolic image of Islam in the West. But for Islamists, the rise of the West as a superior military power led to the globalization of the European model of the modern political state. This posed a major challenge for the dichotomy between non-Muslims and non-Muslims in a world of competing, secular states."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Ahmed, Abdullahi, 'Shari'a and positive legislation: is an Islamic state possible or viable?', in Eugene Cotran & Chibli Mallat (eds), Yearbook of Islamic and Middle Eastern Law, 5, 1998 - 99, pp 29 - 42.
• Ahmed, Abdullahi, Toward an Islamic Reformation: Civil Liberties, Human Rights and International Law, Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 1990, pg 19-29.
• Appadurai, Arjun 'Disjuncture and difference in the global cultural economy', in Dimon During (ed), The Cultural Studies Reader, London: Routledge, 1993, pp 220 - 230.
• Ausaf, Ali, Modern Muslim Thought, Karachi: Royal Book Company, Vol 1, pp 226 - 227, 256 - 263.
• Baderin, Mashood A International Human Rights and Islamic Law, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003. pg 126.

More papers on Jihad:

• Analytical Essay # 6807 : "'Jihad vs. McWorld'"
• Analytical Essay # 146049 : "Jihad by Definition and Implication"
• Essay # 3548 : "Jihad- A Misunderstood Phenomenon"

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