**Varying References to "Jihad" Increase Political Confusion**

By Greg Noakes

Yitzhak Shamir's appeal to the Arabs at the recent Madrid conference to "renounce the jihad against Israel," coupled with the response by Naim Kassem of the Iran-sponsored Hezbollah movement in Lebanon that "jihad is the only way to liberate Palestine" illustrates that this is one of the least understood and most misused Islamic concepts. Usually translated as "holy war," this connotation of divinely sanctioned combat is only one aspect of the much larger principle of jihad.

Even in the sense of "holy warfare," the term jihad refers to a specific type of combat, with a set of requirements and restraints which must be followed before it becomes valid. Once the concept of jihad as combat is outlined, one must then place it within the larger and more important notion of jihad as striving in the way of God.

War a Last Resort

War in Islam is a last resort. Muslims are instructed to find peaceful solutions to disputes and conflicts, whether within the community of believers or with non-Muslims. Forgiveness is encouraged, and Muslims are forbidden to wage war against other Muslims and those outside the faith who have entered into peaceful relations with the Islamic community.

That said, Islam reserves the right to defend and protect itself. Recourse to warfare is permissible in some situations, and is even obligatory in others. Jihad may be waged to extend Islam into the realm of disbelief or to defend the faith and the faithful against outside threats.

The first concept—the extension of Islam into non-Islamic lands—is generally taken to refer to the introduction of Islamic beliefs into un-Islamic societies.

Although a few scholars invoke a maximalist interpretation, there is unanimity that this extension of Islam emphatically does not mean the forced conversion of non-Muslims. Throughout the years many writers in the West have asserted that Islam was "spread by the sword. " This could truthfully be said of Islamic political hegemony. It could not be truthfully said, however, of the religious conversion of the populations under Muslim political control. The Quran and the shariah explicitly forbid forced conversions.

In fact, some Muslim administrators were occasionally reluctant to accept conversions from their new subjects. It is related that during the caliphate of Umar (634-44 CE) some Muslim governors discouraged conversions because of a loss of revenue from taxes (jizya) to be paid by non-Muslims in lieu of military service. When news of this reached Umar he was furious, and ordered his lieutenants to accept the shahada, or declaration of faith, from anyone who chose to give it of his or her own free will.

The sincerity of these conversions, as well as the strength and tenacity of Islamic belief and culture, can be appreciated with a glance at a map. With the exception of Spain (where the Muslim population was forced after the Reconquista either to convert to Christianity or be expelled), all of the lands which fell under Muslim dominion during Islam's first centuries remain overwhelmingly Muslim today, after a millenium of political, sociocultural, and technological change. It is scarcely credible that this was effected through violence or terror.

Calls for jihad have been issued more often as a defensive response to outside threats to Islam, in which case the circumstances legitimizing jihad are much clearer. Still, only non-believers who directly threaten or attack Islam and the community of believers can be targeted.

Even then, a number of restrictions apply to the conduct of war. It is forbidden to make war against other Muslims, to attack noncombatants, or to unnecessarily destroy crops, livestock, and vital infrastructure. In order for jihad to be declared there must be a reasonable chance of success (contrary to popular imagery, Islam does not endorse vain conflict or martyrs for martyrdom's sake), and as soon as the threat is removed and order re-established the jihad must cease.

Jihad has come to mean "holy war" in common parlance for several reasons. It is due in part to a superficial Western view of Islam and of Muslims which is characterized more by sensationalism than by substance. The image of "holy war" confirms a long-lived stereotype of Muslims as wild-eyed, violent fanatics.

Opportunistic leaders in the Muslim world also must shoulder much of the blame for attempting to play upon powerful emotions and symbols through a call for jihad. The blatant cynicism of an overtly secular leader like Saddam Hussain (who ruthlessly crushed Islamist as well as other opposition movements) suddenly turning about-face to declare a jihad against his opponents (many of whom were themselves Muslims) is profoundly distressing, as is the fact that some were taken in by his hypocrisy.

Jihad means striving or exertion in the way of God.

Saddam does not stand alone; throughout the centuries many figures have tried to legitimize political wars or shore up weak strategic positions by invoking the notion of jihad. In reality, though, since the time of the Prophet Muhammad's struggles against the pagan Meccans bent on his destruction, legitimate calls for jihad have been very few and very far between.

Some apologists have tried to minimize the concept of jihad in Islam. It must be recognized that Islam does condone warfare in certain circumstances and within specific guidelines. Just as it would be a mistake to claim that Islam as a faith was "spread by the sword," it would be equally mistaken to ignore the history of conflict and conquest during the lifetimes of the Prophet and his immediate successors.

It should also be recognized that there is often a divergence between what Islam preaches and what some Muslims practice, just as nation-state relations in the West have seldom been governed by Christ's admonition to "turn the other cheek."

Finally, it should be noted that jihad as discussed to this point is only part of a larger concept. In fact, jihad means striving or exertion in the way of God, and includes activities such as scholarship, education, charity, and peaceful efforts to create a just and moral society on earth.

There is a saying, for example, that the ink of the scholar is more precious than the blood of the martyr, and it is related that the Prophet said, "The highest jihad is a word of justice addressed to an unjust ruler."

In Islam "the greater jihad" is the inner struggle with faith and practice that each individual must face constantly in trying to overcome weakness and to realize the potential that God has set forth. It is this challenge, and not mere warfare, that Islam recognizes as the most difficult and the most important struggle for men and women.