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Jihad linguistically means "effort" or "striving" in Arabic. It is considered a fundamental principle of Islamic faith, and is sometimes called "The sixth pillar of Islam". In both the Qur'an, the Hadith and in later Islamic writings, this term has always carried two uses. Both uses are still used by Muslims today.

1. A personal, internal struggle
2. An external battle or war against aggressors.

The first is a non-controversial issue. The second one is.

In one quote about Jihad, the Koran says:

"To those against whom war is made, permission is given (to defend themselves), because they are wronged - and verily, Allah is Most Powerful to give them victory - (they are) those who have been expelled from their homes in defiance of right - (for no cause) except that they say, 'Our Lord is Allah'..." (22:39-40) Jihad Explained

Much of modern Arab acts of terrorism have unfortunately been considered an expression of jihad, and one Egyptian fundamentalist organization even calls itself "Islamic Jihad", suggesting the basis of the religious justification for it. For certain militant groups within the Islamic cultural sphere, a person who commits suicide as a part of struggle against oppression isn considered a shahid - holy martyr - and is declared to have earnt a place in heaven. Many Muslims disagree with this view, however, saying that even in such circumstances, suicide is still a sin.

Jihad as a war against non-Muslims

"Jihad has been decreed to repel aggression and to remove obstructions impeding the propagation of Islam in non-Islamic countries." As Lt. Col. M. M. Qureshi points out in his "Landmarks of Jihad", "only a war which has an ultimate religious purpose can be termed as jihad." (Shayk Muhammad Abu Zahra, Egyptian member of the Academy of Islamic Research).

There is nothing historically unique about this representative statement, although it is considered alarming in the rest of the world (as a whole, and respectively as a group of religions and cultures), which has questioned itself and curtailed its greedy approach toward very common practice of proslytization

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.

In summary, this idea of islamic jihad, in its varying levels of negativity, don't seem to be anything new in human history. Most likely, the severe economic and governmental differences between the islamic world and the rest are the reasons fueling this notion of jihad.

External Links

• Jihad Explained
• Fact sheet: What is Jihad really? (this article by an appologetical Muslim religious cleric site talks only about Jihad's first, peaceful meaning)
• The Peace Encyclopaedia: Jihad (this article, basing on popular and adhered-to Muslim texts, talks about Jihad in both its meanings, emphasizing the role of the second)