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Jihad (English pronunciation: /dʒɪˈhɑːd/; Arabic: جهاد‎ ǧihād [dʒiˈhæːd]), an Islamic term, is a religious duty of Muslims. In Arabic, the word jihād translates as a noun meaning "struggle". Jihad appears 41 times in the Quran and frequently in the idiomatic expression "striving in the way of God (al-jihad fi sabil Allah)".^[1][2][3] A person engaged in jihad is called a mujahid; the plural is mujahideen. Jihad is an important religious duty for Muslims. A minority among the Sunni scholars sometimes refer to this duty as the sixth pillar of Islam, though it occupies no such official status.^[4] In Twelver Shi'a Islam, however, Jihad is one of the 10 Practices of the Religion.

According to the authoritative Dictionary of Islam jihad is defined as: "A religious war with those who are unbelievers in the mission of Muhammad ... enjoined especially for the purpose of advancing Islam and repelling evil from Muslims."^[1] The prominent British-American orientalist Bernard Lewis argues that in the hadiths and the classical manuals of Islamic law jihad has a military meaning in the large majority of cases.^[5] In a commentary of the hadith Sahih Muslim, entitled al-Minhaj, the medieval Islamic scholar Yahya ibn Sharaf al-Nawawi stated that "one of the collective duties of the community as a whole (fard kifaya) is to lodge a valid protest, to solve problems of religion, to have knowledge of Divine Law, to command what is right and forbid wrong conduct".^[6] An accurate interpretation of the concept of Jihad is provided by the BBC about how Muslims describe three different types of struggles:^[7]

• A believer's internal struggle to live out the Muslim faith as well as possible
• The struggle to build a good Muslim society
• Holy war: the struggle to defend Islam, with force if necessary

In western societies the term jihad is often translated by non-Muslims as "holy war".^[8][9] Scholars of Islamic studies often stress that these words are not synonymous.^[10] Muslim authors, in particular, tend to reject such an approach, stressing non-militant connotations of the word.^[11][12]

Origins[link]

The beginnings of Jihad are traced back to the words and actions of Muhammad and the Quran.^[13] This encourages the use of Jihad against non-Muslims.^[14] The Quran, however, never uses the term Jihad for fighting and combat in the name of Allah; qital is used to mean “fighting.” Jihad in the Quran was originally intended for the nearby neighbors of the Muslims, but as time passed and more enemies arose, the Quranic statements supporting Jihad were updated for the new adversaries.^[14] The first documentation of the law of Jihad was written by ‘Abd al-Rahman al-Awza’i and Muhammad ibn al-Hasan al-Shaybani. The document grew out of debates that had surfaced ever since Muhammad's death.^[13]

Usage of the term[link]

In Modern Standard Arabic, jihad is one of the correct terms for a struggle for any cause, violent or not, religious or secular (though كفاح kifāḥ is also used).^{[citation needed]} For instance, Mahatma Gandhi's satyagraha struggle for Indian independence is called a "jihad" in Modern Standard Arabic (as well as many other dialects of Arabic); the terminology is also applied to the fight for women's liberation.^[15]

The term 'jihad' has accrued both violent and non-violent meanings. It can simply mean striving to live a moral and virtuous life, spreading and defending Islam as well as fighting injustice and oppression, among other things.^[16] The relative importance of these two forms of jihad is a matter of controversy. A poll by Gallup showed that a "significant majority" of Muslim Indonesians define the term to mean "sacrificing one's life for the sake of Islam/God/a just cause" or "fighting against the opponents of Islam". In Lebanon, Kuwait, Jordan, and Morocco, the majority used the term to mean "duty toward God", a "divine duty", or a "worship of God", with no militaristic connotations. Other responses referenced, in descending order of prevalence:

• "A commitment to hard work" and "achieving one's goals in life"
• "Struggling to achieve a noble cause"
• "Promoting peace, harmony or cooperation, and assisting others"
• "Living the principles of Islam"^[17]

Distinction of "greater" and "lesser" jihad[link]

In his work, The History of Baghdad, Al-Khatib al-Baghdadi, an 11th-century Islamic scholar, referenced a statement by the companion of Muhammad Jabir ibn Abd-Allah. The reference stated that Jabir said, "The Prophet... returned from one of his battles, and thereupon told us, 'You have arrived with an excellent arrival, you have come from the Lesser Jihad to the Greater Jihad—the striving of a servant (of Allah) against his desires (holy war)."^{[unreliable source?][18][19]} This reference gave rise to the distinguishing of two forms of jihad: "greater" and "lesser". Some Islamic scholars dispute the authenticity of this reference and consider the meaning of jihad as a holy war to be more important.^[18]

The Non Muslim scholar, David Cook's opinion is that the violent Jihad is not superseded by the spiritual Jihad, he writes:

In reading Muslim literature -- both contemporary and classical -- one can see that the evidence for the primacy of spiritual jihad is negligible. Today it is certain that no Muslim, writing in a non-Western language (such as Arabic, Persian, Urdu), would ever make claims that jihad is primarily nonviolent or has been superseded by the spiritual jihad. Such claims are made solely by Western scholars, primarily those who study Sufism and/or work in interfaith dialogue, and by Muslim apologists who are trying to present Islam in the most innocuous manner possible David Cook, Understanding Jihad, University of California Press, 2005, p.165-6^[20]

According to the Muslim Jurist Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani, the quote in which Muhammad is reported to have said that greater Jihad is the inner struggle, is from an unreliable source:

"This saying is widespread and it is a saying by Ibrahim ibn Ablah according to Nisa'i in al-Kuna. Ghazali mentions it in the Ihya' and al-`Iraqi said that Bayhaqi related it on the authority of Jabir and said: There is weakness in its chain of transmission." Hajar al Asqalani, Tasdid al-qaws, see also Kashf al-Khafaa’ (no.1362)^[21]

The best of jihad[link]

During the Arab spring, many peaceful demonstrations in Arab countries faced violence and gunfire by their government's regime. The gunfires encouraged the protests and fed them to revolutions, based on their strong faith of what is called "the best of jihad". The best of jihad was encouraged by their prophet, Muhammad, saying:^[22][23]

"The best Jihad is the word of Justice in front of the oppressive Sultan [ruler]."^[24]

In a battlefield context, when jihad is used to denote warfare, Ibn Nuhaas cited the following hadith to explain the meaning of the "best Jihad":

Ibn Habbaan narrates: The Messenger of Allah was asked about the best jihad. He said: “The best jihad is the one in which your horse is slain and your blood is spilled.” [Al Baqarah 15]^[25]

In a similarly worded Hadith to the one above, Ibn Nuhaas cited a hadith from Musnad Ahmad ibn Hanbal, where it states that the highest kind of Jihad, is "“The person who is killed whilst spilling the last of his blood.”[Ahmed 4/144]^[26]

It has also been reported that Muhammad considered performing hajj to be the best jihad for Muslim women.^[27]

Spiritual struggle[link]

Muslim scholar Mahmoud Ayoub states that "The goal of true jihad is to attain a harmony between islam (submission), iman (faith), and ihsan (righteous living)."^[28]

In modern times, Pakistani scholar and professor Fazlur Rahman Malik has used the term to describe the struggle to establish "just moral-social order",^[29] while President Habib Bourguiba of Tunisia has used it to describe the struggle for economic development in that country.^[30]

Warfare (Jihad bil Saif)[link]

Within classical Islamic jurisprudence—the development of which is to be dated into the first few centuries after the prophets death^[31]—jihad is the only form of warfare permissible under Islamic law, and may consist in wars against unbelievers, apostates, rebels, highway robbers and dissenters renouncing the authority of Islam.^[32] The primary aim of jihad as warfare is not the conversion of non-Muslims to Islam by force, but rather the expansion and defense of the Islamic state.^[33][34] In later centuries, especially in the course of the colonization of large parts of the Muslim world, emphasis has been put on non-militant aspects of the jihad. Today, some Muslim authors only recognize wars with the aim of territorial defense as well as the defense of religious freedom as legitimate.^[35]

Whether the Quran sanctions defensive warfare only or commands an all out war against non-Muslims depends on the interpretation of the relevant passages.^[36] This is because it does not explicitly state the aims of the war Muslims are obliged to wage; the passages concerning jihad rather aim at promoting fighters for the Islamic cause and do not discuss military ethics.^[37]

In the classical manuals of Islamic jurisprudence, the rules associated with armed warfare are covered at great length. Such rules include not killing women, children and non-combatants, as well as not damaging cultivated or residential areas.^[38] More recently, modern Muslims have tried to re-interpret the Islamic sources, stressing that Jihad is essentially defensive warfare aimed at protecting Muslims and Islam.^[34] Although some Islamic scholars have differed on the implementation of Jihad, there is consensus amongst them that the concept of jihad will always include armed struggle against persecution and oppression.^[39]

Debate[link]

Controversy has arisen over whether the usage of the term jihad without further explanation refers to military combat, and whether some have used confusion over the definition of the term to their advantage.^[40]

Middle East historian Bernard Lewis argues that "the overwhelming majority of classical theologians, jurists, and traditionalists (specialists in the hadith) understood the obligation of jihad in a military sense."^[41] Furthermore, Lewis maintains that for most of the recorded history of Islam, from the lifetime of the Prophet Muhammad onward, the word jihad was used in a primarily military sense.^[42]

Bernard Lewis' interpretation on Jihad is partially correct according to Fiqh Made Easy: A Basic Textbook of Islamic Law which describes Jihad as being "divided into four types:

1. Jihad against the soul: Struggling against the soul to yearn for the Religion, act upon those teachings, and call others to them. (Paraphrased)
2. Jihad against Shaytan: Struggling against Satan without doubts or desires.
3. Jihad against the disbelievers and hypocrites: this is done with the tongue, hand, heart and wealth.
4. Jihad against heretics, liars, and evilfolk: This is best done with the hand, if not the hand then the tongue, if that's not possible then the heart."^[43]

Views of different Muslim groups[link]

Ahmadiyya[link]

In Ahmadiyya Islam, pacifism is a strong current, and jihad is one's personal inner struggle and should not be used violently for political motives. Violence is the last option only to be used to protect religion and one's own life in extreme situations of persecution.^[44]

Sunni[link]

Jihad has been classified either as al-jihād al-akbar (the greater jihad), the struggle against one's ego or self (nafs), or al-jihād al-asghar (the lesser jihad), the external, physical effort, often implying fighting (this is similar to the shiite view of jihad as well).

Gibril Haddad has analyzed the basis for the belief that internal jihad is the "greater jihad", Jihad al-akbar. Haddad identifies the primary historical basis for this belief in a pair of similarly worded hadith, in which Mohammed is reported to have told warriors returning home that they had returned from the lesser jihad of struggle against non-Muslims to a greater jihad of struggle against lust. Although Haddad notes that the authenticity of both hadeeth is questionable, he nevertheless concludes that the underlying principle of superiority internal jihad does have a reliable basis in the Quran and other writings.^[45][46]

In contrast, the Hanbali scholar Ibn Qayyim Al-Jawziyya did believe that "internal Jihad" is important^[47] but he suggests those hadith as weak which consider "Jihad of the heart/soul" to be more important than "Jihad by the sword".^[48] Contemporary Islamic scholar Abdullah Yusuf Azzam has argued the hadith is not just weak but "is in fact a false, fabricated hadith which has no basis. It is only a saying of Ibrahim Ibn Abi `Abalah, one of the Successors, and it contradicts textual evidence and reality."^[49]

Muslim jurists explained there are four kinds of jihad fi sabilillah (struggle in the cause of God):^[50]

• Jihad of the heart (jihad bil qalb/nafs) is concerned with combatting the devil and in the attempt to escape his persuasion to evil. This type of Jihad was regarded as the greater jihad (al-jihad al-akbar).
• Jihad by the tongue (jihad bil lisan) is concerned with speaking the truth and spreading the word of Islam with one's tongue.
• Jihad by the hand (jihad bil yad) refers to choosing to do what is right and to combat injustice and what is wrong with action.
• Jihad by the sword (jihad bis saif) refers to qital fi sabilillah (armed fighting in the way of God, or holy war), the most common usage by Salafi Muslims and offshoots of the Muslim Brotherhood.

Some contemporary Islamists have succeeded in replacing the greater jihad, the fight against desires, with the lesser jihad, the holy war to establish, defend and extend the Islamic state.^[51]

Sufic[link]

The Sufic view classifies "Jihad" into two; the "Greater Jihad" and the "Lesser Jihad". Muhammad put the emphasis on the "greater Jihad" by saying that "Holy is the warrior who is at war with himself".^{[citation needed]} In this sense external wars and strife are seen but a satanic counterfeit of the true "jihad" which can only be fought and won within; no other Salvation existing can save man without the efforts of the man himself being added to the work involved of self-refinement. In this sense it is the western view of the Holy Grail which comes closest to the Sufic ideal; for to the Sufis Perfection is the Grail; and the Holy Grail is for those who after they become perfect by giving all they have to the poor then go on to become "Abdal" or "changed ones" like Enoch who was "taken" by God because he "walked with God". (Genesis:5:24) here the "Holy Ones" gain the surname "Hadrat" or "The Presence".

Violent Islamic groups[link]

[edit] The Assassins - 1124

The fedayeen were the ardent followers of Hasan-i Sabbah (d. 1124), a leader of Ismail Shia in Iran, Iraq, and in Syria. Known to the west as the Assassins.^[52] The Assassins are regarded as "the first group to make systematic use of murder as a political weapon." Established in Iran and Syria in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, they used assassination and terrorism with the aim of overthrowing Sunni Islam's order and establishing their own.^[53]

Fedayeen-i Islam[link]

The most open and clear religious fedayeen in the modern period were the Fedayeen-i Islam. Through assassinations of secular officials they aimed at changing the regime in Iran towards Islamization and introduce Sharia law.^[52]

In the 1890s the Shiite leadership in Iran became very involved in violence, terrorism via Fedayeen-i Islam. Meaning the "self-sacrificers of Islam" they followed Shia theology, targeting British and Russian officials for assassination.^[54]

Ayatollah Khomeini, leader of the Shiites in Iran, was from the same area as the earlier "assassins". The Hur Brotherhood was another group of Assassins that emerged from a combination of religion and politics in the 1890s; modern fedayeen, like the Assassins, find strength in the promise of a reward in "paradise."^[55]

The Ayatollah was very involved with the Fedayeen-i Islam who had a "network of holy killers engaged in repeated attempts at political assassinations." In 1944 he published: Kashf al-Asrar ("the Revealing of Secrets"), served as a guidance for the violent Fedayeen.^[56] Indeed, the militant group covered for the Ayatollah Khomeini until he became in power.^[52]

Muslim brotherhood[link]

In 1928, Hassan al-Banna founded the Muslim Brotherhood, a rigidly conservative and highly secretive Egyptian-based organization dedicated to resurrecting a Muslim empire (Caliphate). According to al-Banna, "It is the nature of Islam to dominate, not to be dominated, to impose its law on all nations and to extend its power to the entire planet."^[57] The Muslim Brotherhood, also called Muslim Brethren (jamiat al-Ikhwan al-muslimun, literally Society of Muslim Brothers), it opposes secular tendencies of Islamic nations and wants return to the precepts of the Quran, and rejection of Western influences.^[58] Al Bana was Born out of the extreme Muslim right wing's desire to counter the ideology of modernization, the Brotherhood's platform included a strict interpretation of the Quran that glorified suicidal violence. Along with Al Banna, the grand Mufti of Jerusalem Haj-al Amin Al-Husseini was also an enormously influential Muslim leader of the time. Together, the two created a powerful and popular Islamist party by classically appealing to fundamentalist Islamic principals while blaming the world's problems on the Jews.^[59] Al-Banna also gave the group the motto it still uses today: "Allah is our purpose, the Prophet our leader, the Quran our constitution, jihad our way and dying for God our supreme objective." The 9/11 Commission Report states the Brotherhood's influence on Osama bin Laden and on Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman responsible for the 1993 attack on the WTC.^[57][60] An important aspect of the Muslim Brotherhood ideology is the sanctioning of Jihad such as the 2004 fatwa issued by Sheikh Yousef Al-Qaradhawi making it a religious obligation of Muslims to abduct and kill U.S. citizens in Iraq.^[58]

It advocated a war of Arabism and Islamic Jihad against the British and the Jews.^[61]

The Muslim brotherhood waged a "Holy war" against Syria after the Hama massacre.^[62]

The BBC explains how the roots of Jihad and the origins of Bin Laden's concept of jihad can be traced back to two early 20th century figures, who started powerful Islamic revivalist movements in response to colonialism and its aftermath. al-Banna blamed the western idea of separation between religion and politics for Muslims' decline. In the 1950s Sayed Qutb, Muslim Brotherhood's prominent member, took the arguments of al-Banna even further. For Qutb, "all non-Muslims were infidels - even the so-called people of the book, the Christians and Jews," he also predicted an eventual clash of civilisations between Islam and the west. "Qutb inspired a whole generation of Islamists, including Ayatollah Khomeini." The Muslim world widely accepted his ideology post Arabs' defeat in the 1967 war.^[63]

The Muslim Brotherhood has been involved in violent attacks. From its Islamic theme in its symbolism: on its flag there's a brown square frames a green circle with a white perimeter. Two swords cross inside the circle beneath a red Quran. The cover of the Quran says: "Truly, it is the Generous Quran." The Arabic beneath the sword handles translates as "Be prepared." A reference to a Quranic verse that talks of preparing to fight the enemies of God.^[64] It is among 17 groups categorized as "terrorist organizations" by the Russian government,^[65] as well as in Egypt, where they started to perform terrorist attacks, now banned by that government.^[66]

Scholar states that in "The Muslim Brotherhood's Conquest of Europe," its real goal is to extend Islamic law Sharia throughout Europe and the United States.^[67]

Contemporary Islamism holds that Islam is now under attack, and therefore -experts explain-

Jihad is now a war of defense, and as such has become not only a collective duty but an individual duty without restrictions or limitations. That is, to the Islamists, Jihad is a total, all-encompassing duty to be carried out by all Muslims – men and women, young and old. All infidels, without exception, are to be fought and annihilated, and no weapons or types of warfare are barred. Furthermore, according to them, current Muslim rulers allied with the West are considered apostates and infidels. One major ideological influence in Islamist thought was Sayyid Qutb. Qutb, an Egyptian, was the leader of the Muslim Brotherhood movement. He was convicted of treason for plotting to assassinate Egyptian president Gamal Abd Al-Nasser and was executed in 1966. He wrote extensively on a wide range of Islamic issues. According to Qutb, "There are two parties in all the world: the Party of Allah and the Party of Satan – the Party of Allah which stands under the banner of Allah and bears his insignia, and the Party of Satan, which includes every community, group, race, and individual that does not stand under the banner of Allah."^[68]

In the "Holy land foundation" case of the Palestinian Arab al-Arian's involvement in funding terror organization, the Muslim Brotherhood's papers detailed plan to seize U.S. The Group's takeover plot emerged when revealed a handful of classified evidence detailing Islamist extremists' ambitious plans for a U.S. takeover. Terrorism researchers said "the memos and audiotapes, many translated from Arabic and containing detailed strategies by the international Islamist group the Muslim Brotherhood, are proof that extremists have long sought to replace the Constitution with Shariah, or Islamic law," paving its way via a plot to form "a complex network of seemingly benign Muslim organizations whose real job, according to the (US) government, was to spread militant propaganda and raise money." The Muslim Brotherhood created some American Muslim groups and sought influence in others, many of which are listed as unindicted co-conspirators in the Holy Land case, such as CAIR.^[69]

On a website devoted to Ramadhan, the Muslim Brotherhood posted a series of articles by Dr. Ahmad 'Abd Al-Khaleq about Al-Walaa Wa'l-Baraa, an Islamic doctrine which, in its fundamentalist interpretation, stipulates absolute allegiance to the community of Muslims and total rejection of non-Muslims and of Muslims who have strayed from the path of Islam. In his articles, the writer argues that according to this principle, a Muslim can come closer to Allah by hating all non-Muslims -Christians, Jews, atheists, or polytheists - and by waging jihad against them in every possible manner.^[70]

Indeed, the Muslim Brotherhood has a long-standing war on the West. From 1948 until the 1970s it engaged in assassinations and terrorism in Egypt, and has indoctrinated many who went on to commit acts of terror.^[71] Muslim Brotherhood's supreme guide issued the statement that Al Qaeda's "Bin Laden is a Jihad Fighter."^[72]

The accused mastermind of the 9/11 terror massacre, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was raised in Kuwait and joined the Muslim Brotherhood at age 16.^[73][74]

Warfare in Muslim societies[link]

The major imperial Muslim dynasties of Ottoman Turkey (Sunni) and Persia (Shia) each established systems of authority around traditional Islamic institutions. In the Ottoman empire, the concept of ghaza was promulgated as a sister obligation to jihad. The Ottoman ruler Mehmed II is said to have insisted on the conquest of Constantinople (Christian Byzantium) by justifying ghaza as a basic duty. Later Ottoman rulers would apply ghaza to justify military campaigns against the Persian Safavid dynasty. Thus both rival empires established a tradition that a ruler was only considered truly in charge when his armies had been sent into the field in the name of the true faith, usually against giaurs or heretics — often meaning each other. The 'missionary' vocation of the Muslim dynasties was prestigious enough to be officially reflected in a formal title as part of a full ruler style: the Ottoman (many also had Ghazi as part of their name) Sultan Murad Khan II Khoja-Ghazi, 6th Sovereign of the House of Osman (1421–1451), literally used Sultan ul-Mujahidin.^{[citation needed]}

The so-called Fulbe jihad states and a few other jihad states in western Africa were established by a series of offensive wars.^[75]

The commands inculcated in the Quran (in five suras from the period after Muhammad had established his power) on Muslims to fight those who will neither embrace Islam nor pay a poll-tax (Jizya) were not interpreted as a general injunction on all Muslims constantly to make war on the infidels (originally only polytheists who claimed to be monotheists, not "People of the Book", Jesus is seen as the last of the precursors of the Prophet Muhammed; the word infidel had different historical uses, notably used by the Crusaders to refer to the Muslims they were fighting against). It was generally supposed that the order for a general war can only be given by the Caliph (an office that was claimed by the Ottoman sultans), but Muslims who did not acknowledge the spiritual authority of the Caliphate (which is vacant), such as non-Sunnis and non-Ottoman Muslim states, always looked to their own rulers for the proclamation of a jihad; there has been in fact no universal warfare by Muslims on non-believers since the early caliphate. Some proclaimed Jihad by claiming themselves as mahdi, e.g. the Sudanese Mahommed Ahmad in 1882.^{[citation needed]}

Non-Muslim opinions[link]

The United States Department of Justice has used its own ad hoc definitions of jihad in indictments of individuals involved in terrorist activities:

• "As used in this First Superseding Indictment, 'Jihad' is the Arabic word meaning 'holy war'. In this context, jihad refers to the use of violence, including paramilitary action against persons, governments deemed to be enemies of the fundamentalist version of Islam."^[76]
• "As used in this Superseding Indictment, 'violent jihad' or 'jihad' include planning, preparing for, and engaging in, acts of physical violence, including murder, maiming, kidnapping, and hostage-taking."^[77] in the indictment against several individuals including José Padilla.

In her book Muhammad: a Biography of the Prophet, B.A. Robinson writes:

"Fighting and warfare might sometimes be necessary, but it was only a minor part of the whole jihad or struggle."^[78]

Maxime Rodinson, an orientalist, wrote that "Jihad is a propagandistic device which, as need be, resorts to armed struggle – two ingredients common to many ideological movements."^[79]

In English-speaking countries, especially the United States, the term "jihadist" has been used in Western media as a synonym for mujahid, and frequently used to describe militant Islamic groups, including but not restricted to Islamic terrorism.

David Cook, author of Understanding Jihad, said "In reading Muslim literature — both contemporary and classical — one can see that the evidence for the primacy of spiritual jihad is negligible. Today it is certain that no Muslim, writing in a non- Western language (such as Arabic, Persian, Urdu), would ever make claims that jihad is primarily nonviolent or has been superseded by the spiritual jihad. Such claims are made solely by Western scholars, primarily those who study Sufism and/or work in interfaith dialogue, and by Muslim apologists who are trying to present Islam in the most innocuous manner possible."^[80] Cook argued that "Presentations along these lines are ideological in tone and should be discounted for their bias and deliberate ignorance of the subject" and that "[i]t is no longer acceptable for Western scholars or Muslim apologists writing in non-Muslim languages to make flat, unsupported statements concerning the prevalence — either from a historical point of view or within contemporary Islam—of the spiritual jihad."^[80]

See also[link]

Islam portal

• Islamic military jurisprudence
• Opinion of Islamic scholars on Jihad
• Itmam al-hujjah
• Jihad in Hadith
• Jihad satire
• Mujahideen
• Ijtihad
• Militant Islam
• Islam and war
• Love Jihad

References[link]

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. 

Further reading[link]

• Djihad in: The Encyclopaedia of Islam.
• Alfred Morabia, Le Ğihâd dans l’Islâm médiéval. “Le combat sacré” des origines au XIIe siècle, Albin Michel, Paris 1993
• Rudolph Peters: Jihad in Classical and Modern Islam
• Nicola Melis, “A Hanafi treatise on rebellion and ğihād in the Ottoman age (XVII c.)”, in Eurasian Studies, Istituto per l’Oriente/Newham College, Roma-Napoli-Cambridge, Volume II; Number 2 (December 2003), pp. 215–226.
• Rudolph Peters, Islam and Colonialism: The Doctrine of Jihad in Modern History, “Religion and Society”, Mouton, The Hague 1979.
• Andrew G. Bostom M.D.: "The Legacy of Jihad: Islamic Holy War and the Fate of Non-Muslims"^{[unreliable source?]}
• Muhammad Hamidullah: Muslim Conduct of State
• Muhammad Hamidullah: Battlefields of the Prophet Muhammad
• John Kelsay: Just War and Jihad
• Reuven Firestone: Jihad. The Origin of Holy War in Islam
• Hadia Dajani-Shakeel and Ronald Messier: The Jihad and Its Times
• Majid Khadduri: War And Peace in the Law of Islam
• Hizb ut Tahrir: The Obligation of Jihad in Islam
• Hassan al-Banna: Jihad
• Sayyid Qutb: Milestones
• Bernard Lewis: The Political Language of Islam
• Suhas Majumdar: Jihad: The Islamic Doctrine of Permanent War; New Delhi, July 1994]
• Javed Ahmad Ghamidi: Mizan
• Zaid Shakir: Jihad is not Perpetual Warfare
• Biancamaria Scarcia Amoretti, Tolleranza e guerra santa nell’Islam, “Scuola aperta”, Sansoni, Firenze 1974
• J. Turner Johnson, The Holy War Idea in Western and Islamic Traditions, Pennsylvania State University Press, University Park, Pa. 1997
• Spencer, Robert (2003). Onward Muslim Soldiers. Regnery Publishing, USA. ISBN 0-89526-100-6. 
• Spencer, Robert (2005). The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam (And the Crusades). Regnery Publishing, USA. ISBN 0-89526-013-1. 
• Spencer, Robert (2006). The Truth About Muhammad. Regnery Publishing, USA. ISBN 978-1-59698-028-0. 
• Malik, S. K. (1986). The Quranic Concept of War. Himalayan Books. ISBN 81-7002-020-4. http://wolfpangloss.files.wordpress.com/2008/02/malik-quranic-concept-of-war.pdf. 
• Swarup, Ram (1982). Understanding Islam through Hadis. Voice of Dharma. ISBN 0-682-49948-X. 
• Trifkovic, Serge (2006). Defeating Jihad. Regina Orthodox Press, USA. ISBN 1-928653-26-X. 
• Phillips, Melanie (2006). Londonistan: How Britain is Creating a Terror State Within. Encounter books. ISBN 1-59403-144-4. 
• Raja Masood Ashraf. "Jihad in Islam: Colonial Encounter, the Neoliberal Order, and the Muslim Subject of Resistance.". The American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences 26 (4): 25. 2009. 

External links[link]

Look up jihad in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Jihad

Wikiversity has learning materials about Jihad

• Jihad in Islam
• Jihad and Terrorism
• Jihad and Muslim Support for Suicide Bombings
• The Qur'an and War: Observations on Islamic Just War
• Concept of Peace Jihad And Condemnation of Terrorism in Islam
• Jihad (Archived 2009-10-31), Encarta Encyclopedia
• Jihad, Encyclopædia Britannica
• EtymologyOnLine
• Why the bombers are so angry at us
• Jihãd by Suhas Majumdar
• Asghar Ali Engineer (October 10, 2008). "Making a mockery of jihad". Asia Times. http://atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/JJ10Df01.html. Retrieved 2008-10-10. 
• Does the Quran Really Sanction Violence Against 'Unbelievers'? by Shaikh Kabir Helminski, The Huffington Post

Andrew Jackson Jihad
Andrew Jackson Jihad
Background information
Also known as	AJJ
Origin	Phoenix, Arizona
Genres	folk punk, alternative country, Anti-folk, Acoustic Rock
Instruments	Acoustic and electric guitars, stand up bass, drums, keyboards, mandolin, banjitar, horns and the kazoo (Knife Man, Can't Maintain).
Years active	2004–present
Labels	Asian Man, Plan-It-X
Associated acts	Cobra Skulls, Mischief Brew, Ghost Mice, Partners in 818, Bomb the Music Industry!, ROAR
Members
Sean Bonnette Ben Gallaty

Andrew Jackson Jihad is an American folk punk band from Phoenix, Arizona, formed in 2004. It is believed that the name of the band was inspired by Ryan Kolnicki, a legend in the folk-punk and ska scene in Arizona. The band's song "Scenesters" is also a dedication to Ryan Kolnicki.

History[link]

Andrew Jackson Jihad was formed after its original drummer, Justin James White, approached Sean Bonnette and Ben Gallaty, who had just left Rodan (not the Rodan of Kentucky fame) and The Sub-Standards. Since then, many significant Arizona musicians have sat in with the remaining duo of Sean and Ben, including John de la Cruz of Fatigo and ROAR's Owen Evans. Kepi Ghoulie of the Groovie Ghoulies whistled for them in a playing of the song "Sense, Sensibility". Dylan Cook of Partners In 818 also plays mandolin regularly with the band. The constantly shifting lineup results in wide-ranging sonic textures both live and on record.^[1] Many of their lyrics are overtly political in nature.^[2]

Andrew Jackson Jihad has obtained much coverage for their songs about "serial killers, cigarettes, child abuse, and a vengeful Jesus".^[3] They were also the subject of controversy in an issue of HeartattaCk regarding their song "Darling, I Love You," which is narrated by a character who "smoke[s] crystal meth", refers to a woman as a "stupid cunt" and "laugh[s] at retards."^[4] However, they were not mentioned by name in this article.

On April 15, 2006, the band played as part of the 2006 New Times Music Showcase, nominated for Best Americana Band, and won a Best of Phoenix award later that year.^[5]

Besides their local shows, where they have become arguably the most prominent representative in Arizona of the DIY ethic, they have also toured in clubs and basements across the Western United States,^[6] appearing at such venues as the Knitting Factory in Los Angeles, CA. One show in Kimberly, Idaho saw the band in a cowboy bar.^[7]

They released a split with Ghost Mice on Plan-It-X-Records in 2007. Following this, Asian Man Records issued their second full-length album on September 11, 2007.^[8][9] Their new album entitled "Knife Man" was released on September 6 to everyone who pre-ordered, and September 20 to the general public, by Asian Man Records.^[10]

Discography[link]

Studio albums[link]

• Candy Cigarettes and Cap Guns (2005)
• People That Can Eat People Are the Luckiest People in the World - Asian Man Records (CD, Vinyl) (September 11th, 2007)
• Can't Maintain - Asian Man Records (CD, Vinyl) (October 13th, 2009)
• Knife Man - Asian Man Records (CD, Vinyl) / Lauren Records (Cassette) (September 20th, 2011)

EPs[link]

• Issue Problems EP - self-released (2006)
• Art of the Underground Volume 19 7" single - Art of the Underground (2007)
• Only God Can Judge Me EP - Plan-It-X Records (May 15th, 2008)
• Operation Stackola EP - Self-released (2009)
• Holiday Inn Gainesville live one-sided LP - Asbestos Records (2009)

Splits[link]

• Flaspar/Andrew Jackson Jihad/Golden Boots split CD - Night Pass Handmade Records (2006)
• Andrew Jackson Jihad/French Quarter split CD - self-released (2007)
• Andrew Jackson Jihad/Ghost Mice split - Plan-It-X Records (2007)
• Andrew Jackson Jihad/Partners in 818 split 7" - self-released (2007)
• Andrew Jackson Jihad/ Cobra Skulls split 7" (Under the Influence Vol. 6) - Suburban Home Records (2009)
• Andrew Jackson Jihad/ Apocalypse Meow split 7" (Pug Life) - Traffic Street Records (2009)
• Mischief Brew/ Andrew Jackson Jihad split 8" - Pirates Press Records (2009)
• Andrew Jackson Jihad/The Gunshy split 7" - Silver Sprocket Records (2010)
• Andrew Jackson Jihad / O Pioneers!! split 9" - No Idea Records (2011)

Compilations[link]

• Plea for Peace Vol. 2
• Sun, Smog, and Hate - Folktale Records (2009)
• Dangerous Intersections V 7" - Traffic Street Records (2009)
• Happy Holidays from Asian Man Records! - Asian Man Records (2009)
• Five Dollar Swamp Comp Vol. 1 - Swamp Cabbage (2009)
• The Chronicles of Sheriff Joe Arpaio 7" - Kingdom Mammalia (2010)
• Candy Cigarettes, Capguns, Issue Problems! and Such - Asian Man Records (2011) (first album reissued combined with their first EP and rare bonus tracks)
• Take Action! Vol. 10 - Hopeless Records/Sub City (2011)
• I Think We Should Stay Away From Each Other LP - Lauren Records (2011)
• Tallahassee Turns Ten: a Mountain Goats Cover Album (2012) ^[11]
• Rompilation - Asian Man Records (2012)

Notes[link]

External links[link]

• Andrew Jackson Jihad official site
• Andrew Jackson Jihad on Myspace

Andrew Jackson
7th President of the United States
In office March 4, 1829 – March 4, 1837
Vice President	John C. Calhoun Martin Van Buren
Preceded by	John Quincy Adams
Succeeded by	Martin Van Buren
Military Governor of Florida
In office March 10, 1821 – December 31, 1821
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	William Pope Duval
United States Senator from Tennessee
In office March 4, 1823 – October 14, 1825
Preceded by	John Williams
Succeeded by	Hugh Lawson White
In office September 26, 1797 – April 1, 1798
Preceded by	William Cocke
Succeeded by	Daniel Smith
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Tennessee's At-Large district
In office December 4, 1796 – September 26, 1797
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	William Claiborne
Personal details
Born	(1767-03-15)March 15, 1767 Waxhaws border region between The Carolinas (exact location disputed)
Died	June 8, 1845(1845-06-08) (aged 78) Nashville, Tennessee
Political party	Democratic (1828–1845)
Other political affiliations	Democratic-Republican (Before 1828)
Spouse(s)	Rachel Donelson (1791–1794; 1794–1828)
Children	Andrew Jackson Lyncoya Jackson John Samuel Donelson Daniel Smith Donelson Andrew Jackson Donelson Andrew Jackson Hutchings Carolina Butler Eliza Butler Edward Butler Anthony Butler
Profession	Prosecutor Judge Planter General
Religion	Presbyterianism
Signature
Military service
Service/branch	Tennessee Militia United States Army
Rank	Colonel Major general
Battles/wars	American Revolutionary War  • Battle of Hobkirk's Hill Creek War  • Battle of Talladega  • Battles of Emuckfaw and Enotachopo Creek  • Battle of Horseshoe Bend War of 1812  • Battle of Pensacola  • Battle of New Orleans First Seminole War Conquest of Florida  • Battle of Fort Negro  • Siege of Fort Barrancas
Awards	Thanks of Congress

Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was the seventh President of the United States (1829–1837). Based in frontier Tennessee, Jackson was a politician and army general who defeated the Creek Indians at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend (1814), and the British at the Battle of New Orleans (1815). A polarizing figure who dominated the Second Party System in the 1820s and 1830s, as president he destroyed the national bank and relocated most Indian tribes from the Southeast to west of the Mississippi River. His enthusiastic followers created the modern Democratic Party. The 1830–1850 period later became known as the era of Jacksonian democracy.^[1]

Jackson was nicknamed "Old Hickory" because of his toughness and aggressive personality; he fought in duels, some fatal to his opponents.^[2] He was a rich slaveholder, who appealed to the common men of the United States, and fought politically against what he denounced as a closed, undemocratic aristocracy. He expanded the spoils system during his presidency to strengthen his political base.

Elected president in 1828, Jackson supported a small and limited federal government. He strengthened the power of the presidency, which he saw as spokesman for the entire population, as opposed to Congressmen from a specific small district. He was supportive of states' rights, but during the Nullification Crisis, declared that states do not have the right to nullify federal laws. Strongly against the national bank, he vetoed the renewal of its charter and ensured its collapse. Whigs and moralists denounced his aggressive enforcement of the Indian Removal Act, which resulted in the forced relocation of thousands of Native Americans to Indian Territory (now Oklahoma). Historians acknowledge his protection of popular democracy and individual liberty for United States citizens, and criticize him for his support for slavery and for his role in Indian removal.^[3][4]

Early life and education[link]

Jackson's Scots-Irish heritage celebrated by a mural on Belfast's Shankill Road

Jackson was born on March 15, 1767. His parents were Scots-Irish colonists Andrew and Elizabeth Hutchinson Jackson, Presbyterians who had emigrated from Ireland two years earlier.^[5][6] Jackson's father was born in Carrickfergus, County Antrim, in current-day Northern Ireland, around 1738.^[7] Jackson's parents lived in the village of Boneybefore, also in County Antrim. Their former house is preserved as the Andrew Jackson Centre and is open to the public. A rumor of Jackson having "colored blood", meaning having "Negro" ancestry,^[8] was unproven. He referred to a charge that his "Mother ... [was] held to public scorn as a prostitute who intermarried with a Negro, and [that his] ... eldest brother [was] sold as a slave in Carolina."^[9][10]

When they emigrated to America in 1765, Jackson's parents probably landed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They would have traveled overland down through the Appalachian Mountains to the Scots-Irish community in the Waxhaws region, straddling the border between North and South Carolina.^[11] They brought two children from Ireland, Hugh (born 1763) and Robert (born 1764).

Jackson's father died in an accident in February 1767, at the age of 29, three weeks before his son Andrew was born in the Waxhaws area. His exact birth site is unclear because he was born about the time his mother was making a difficult trip home from burying Jackson's father. The area was so remote that the border between North and South Carolina had not officially been surveyed.^[12]

In 1824, Jackson wrote a letter saying that he was born at an uncle's plantation in Lancaster County, South Carolina. But he may have claimed to be a South Carolinian because the state was considering nullification of the Tariff of 1824, which Jackson opposed. In the mid-1850s, second-hand evidence indicated that he may have been born at a different uncle's home in North Carolina.^[12]

Jackson received a sporadic education in the local "old-field" school. In 1781, he worked for a time in a saddle-maker's shop.^[13] Later, he taught school and studied law in Salisbury, North Carolina. In 1787, he was admitted to the bar, and moved to Jonesborough, in what was then the Western District of North Carolina. This area later became the Southwest Territory (1790), the precursor to the state of Tennessee.

Early military service[link]

Young Jackson Refusing to Clean Major Coffin's Boots (1876 lithograph).

During the American Revolutionary War, Jackson, at age thirteen, joined a local militia as a courier.^[14] His eldest brother, Hugh, died from heat exhaustion during the Battle of Stono Ferry, on June 20, 1779. Jackson and his brother Robert were captured by the British and held as prisoners; they nearly starved to death in captivity. When Jackson refused to clean the boots of a British officer, the officer slashed at the youth with a sword, leaving Jackson with scars on his left hand and head, as well as an intense hatred for the British.^[15] While imprisoned, the brothers contracted smallpox.

Robert Jackson died on April 27, 1781, a few days after their mother Elizabeth secured the brothers' release. After being assured Andrew would recover, Elizabeth Jackson volunteered to nurse prisoners of war on board two ships in Charleston harbor, where there had been an outbreak of cholera. She died from the disease in November 1781, and was buried in an unmarked grave. Jackson became an orphan at age 14.^[15] Following the deaths of his brothers and mother during the war, Jackson blamed the British for his losses.

Legal and political career[link]

Jackson began his legal career in Jonesborough, now northeastern Tennessee. Though his legal education was scanty, he knew enough to be a country lawyer on the frontier. Since he was not from a distinguished family, he had to make his career by his own merits; soon he began to prosper in the rough-and-tumble world of frontier law. Most of the actions grew out of disputed land-claims, or from assault and battery. In 1788, he was appointed Solicitor (prosecutor) of the Western District and held the same position in the government of the Territory South of the River Ohio after 1791.

Jackson was elected as a delegate to the Tennessee constitutional convention in 1796. When Tennessee achieved statehood that year, Jackson was elected its U.S. Representative. The following year, he was elected U.S. Senator as a Democratic-Republican, but he resigned within a year. In 1798, he was appointed a judge of the Tennessee Supreme Court, serving until 1804.^[16]

In addition to his legal and political career, Jackson prospered as planter, slave owner, and merchant. He built a home and the first general store in Gallatin, Tennessee in 1803. The next year he acquired the Hermitage, a 640-acre (259 ha) plantation in Davidson County, near Nashville. Jackson later added 360 acres (146 ha) to the plantation, which eventually grew to 1,050 acres (425 ha). The primary crop was cotton, grown by enslaved workers. Starting with nine slaves, Jackson held as many as 44 by 1820, and later held up to 150 slaves, making him among the planter elite. Throughout his lifetime Jackson may have owned as many as 300 slaves.^[17][18]

Jackson was a major land speculator in West Tennessee after he had negotiated the sale of the land from the Chickasaw Nation in 1818 (termed the Jackson Purchase). He was one of the three original investors who founded Memphis, Tennessee in 1819 (see History of Memphis, Tennessee).^[19]

Military career[link]

War of 1812[link]

Jackson was appointed commander of the Tennessee militia in 1801, with the rank of colonel. He was later elected major general of the Tennessee militia in 1802.^[20]

During the War of 1812, the Shawnee chief Tecumseh encouraged the "Red Stick" Creek Indians of northern Alabama and Georgia to attack white settlements. He had unified tribes in the Northwest to rise up against the Americans, trying to repel European American settlers from those lands north of the Ohio. Four hundred settlers were killed in the Fort Mims massacre. In the resulting Creek War, Jackson commanded the American forces, which included Tennessee militia, U.S. regulars, and Cherokee, Choctaw, and Lower Creek warriors.

Jackson defeated the Red Sticks at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend in 1814. US forces and their allies killed 800 Red Stick warriors in this battle, but Jackson spared the chief Red Eagle, a mixed-race man also known as William Weatherford. Sam Houston and David Crockett served under Jackson in this campaign. After the victory, Jackson imposed the Treaty of Fort Jackson upon both the Upper Creek enemies and the Lower Creek allies, wresting twenty million acres (81,000 km²) in present-day Georgia and Alabama from all the Creek for European-American settlement. Jackson was appointed Major General after this action.

The Battle of New Orleans. General Andrew Jackson stands on the parapet of his makeshift defenses as his troops repulse attacking Highlanders, by painter Edward Percy Moran in 1910.

Jackson's service in the War of 1812 against the United Kingdom was conspicuous for bravery and success. When British forces threatened New Orleans, Jackson took command of the defenses, including militia from several western states and territories. He was a strict officer but was popular with his troops. They said he was "tough as old hickory" wood on the battlefield, and he acquired the nickname of "Old Hickory". In the Battle of New Orleans on January 8, 1815, Jackson's 5,000 soldiers won a decisive victory over 7,500 British. At the end of the battle, the British had 2,037 casualties: 291 dead (including three senior generals), 1,262 wounded, and 484 captured or missing. The Americans had 71 casualties: 13 dead, 39 wounded, and 19 missing.^[21]

Jackson became a national hero for his actions in this battle and the war. He received the Thanks of Congress and a gold medal by resolution of February 27, 1815. Alexis de Tocqueville later commented in Democracy in America that Jackson "...was raised to the Presidency, and has been maintained there, solely by the recollection of a victory which he gained, twenty years ago, under the walls of New Orleans."

First Seminole War[link]

Jackson served in the military again during the First Seminole War. He was ordered by President James Monroe in December 1817 to lead a campaign in Georgia against the Seminole and Creek Indians. Jackson was also charged with preventing Spanish Florida from becoming a refuge for runaway slaves. Critics later alleged that Jackson exceeded orders in his Florida actions. His directions were to "terminate the conflict".^[22] Jackson believed the best way to do this was to seize Florida. Before going, Jackson wrote to Monroe, "Let it be signified to me through any channel ... that the possession of the Floridas would be desirable to the United States, and in sixty days it will be accomplished."^[23] Monroe gave Jackson orders that were purposely ambiguous, sufficient for international denials.

Military governor Jackson was sworn in at Plaza Ferdinand VII in Pensacola, Florida

The Seminole attacked Jackson's Tennessee volunteers. The Seminole attack left their villages vulnerable, and Jackson burned their houses and the crops. He found letters that indicated that the Spanish and British were secretly assisting the Indians. Jackson believed that the United States could not be secure as long as Spain and the United Kingdom encouraged Indians to fight, and argued that his actions were undertaken in self-defense. Jackson captured Pensacola, Florida, with little more than some warning shots, and deposed the Spanish governor. He captured and then tried and executed two British subjects, Robert Ambrister and Alexander Arbuthnot, who had been supplying and advising the Indians. Jackson's actions struck fear into the Seminole tribes as word spread of his ruthlessness in battle (he became known as "Sharp Knife").

The executions, and Jackson's invasion of territory belonging to Spain, a country with which the U.S. was not at war, created an international incident. Many in the Monroe administration called for Jackson to be censured. The Secretary of State, John Quincy Adams, an early believer in Manifest Destiny, defended Jackson. When the Spanish minister demanded a "suitable punishment" for Jackson, Adams wrote back, "Spain must immediately [decide] either to place a force in Florida adequate at once to the protection of her territory ... or cede to the United States a province, of which she retains nothing but the nominal possession, but which is, in fact ... a post of annoyance to them."^[24] Adams used Jackson's conquest, and Spain's own weakness, to get Spain to cede Florida to the United States by the Adams–Onís Treaty. Jackson was subsequently named Florida's military governor and served from March 10, 1821, to December 31, 1821.

Election of 1824[link]

Jackson in 1824, painting by Thomas Sully

The Tennessee legislature nominated Jackson for President in 1822. It also elected him U.S. Senator again. By 1824, the Democratic-Republican Party had become the only functioning national party. Its Presidential candidates had been chosen by an informal Congressional nominating caucus, but this had become unpopular. In 1824, most of the Democratic-Republicans in Congress boycotted the caucus. Those who attended backed Treasury Secretary William H. Crawford for President and Albert Gallatin for Vice President. A Pennsylvanian convention nominated Jackson for President a month later, stating that the irregular caucus ignored the "voice of the people" and was a "vain hope that the American people might be thus deceived into a belief that he [Crawford] was the regular democratic candidate."^[25] Gallatin criticized Jackson as "an honest man and the idol of the worshippers of military glory, but from incapacity, military habits, and habitual disregard of laws and constitutional provisions, altogether unfit for the office."^[26]

Besides Jackson and Crawford, the Secretary of State John Quincy Adams and House Speaker Henry Clay were also candidates. Jackson received the most popular votes (but not a majority, and four states had no popular ballot). The electoral votes were split four ways, with Jackson having a plurality. Since no candidate received a majority, the election was decided by the House of Representatives, which chose Adams. Jackson supporters denounced this result as a "corrupt bargain" because Clay gave his state's support to Adams, who subsequently appointed Clay as Secretary of State. As none of Kentucky's electors had initially voted for Adams, and Jackson had won the popular vote, some Kentucky politicians criticized Clay for violating the will of the people in return for personal political favors. Jackson's defeat burnished his political credentials, however; many voters believed the "man of the people" had been robbed by the "corrupt aristocrats of the East."

Election of 1828[link]

Equestrian statue of Gen. Jackson, Jackson County Courthouse, Kansas City, Missouri

Jackson resigned from the Senate in October 1825, but continued his quest for the Presidency. The Tennessee legislature again nominated Jackson for President. Jackson attracted Vice President John C. Calhoun, Martin Van Buren, and Thomas Ritchie into his camp (Van Buren and Ritchie were previous supporters of Crawford). Van Buren, with help from his friends in Philadelphia and Richmond, revived the old Republican Party, gave it a new name as the Democratic Party, "restored party rivalries," and forged a national organization of durability.^[27] The Jackson coalition handily defeated Adams in 1828.

During the election, Jackson's opponents referred to him as a "jackass". Jackson liked the name and used the jackass as a symbol for a while, but it died out. However, it later became the symbol for the Democratic Party when cartoonist Thomas Nast popularized it.^[28]

The campaign was very much a personal one. As was the custom at the time, neither candidate personally campaigned, but their political followers organized many campaign events. Both candidates were rhetorically attacked in the press, which reached a low point when the press accused Jackson's wife Rachel of bigamy. Though the accusation was true, as were most personal attacks leveled against him during the campaign, it was based on events that occurred many years prior (1791 to 1794). Jackson said he would forgive those who insulted him, but he would never forgive the ones who attacked his wife. Rachel died suddenly on December 22, 1828, before his inauguration, and was buried on Christmas Eve.

Inauguration[link]

Jackson was the first President to invite the public to attend the White House ball honoring his first inauguration. Many poor people came to the inaugural ball in their homemade clothes. The crowd became so large that Jackson's guards could not keep them out of the White House, which became so crowded with people that dishes and decorative pieces inside were eventually broken. Some people stood on good chairs in muddied boots just to get a look at the President. The crowd had become so wild that the attendants poured punch in tubs and put it on the White House lawn to lure people outside. Jackson's raucous populism earned him the nickname "King Mob".

Election of 1832[link]

In the 1832 presidential election, Jackson easily won reelection as the candidate of the Democratic Party against Henry Clay, of the National Republican Party, and William Wirt, of the Anti-Masonic Party. Jackson jettisoned Vice President John C. Calhoun because of his support for nullification and involvement in the Petticoat affair, replacing him with longtime confidant Martin Van Buren of New York.

Presidency 1829–1837[link]

Federal debt[link]

In January 1835, Jackson paid off the entire national debt, the only time in U.S. history that has been accomplished.^[29][30] The accomplishment was short lived. A severe depression from 1837 to 1844 caused a tenfold increase in national debt within its first year.^[31]

Electoral College[link]

Jackson repeatedly called for the abolition of the Electoral College by constitutional amendment in his annual messages to Congress as President.^[32][33] In his third annual message to Congress, he expressed the view "I have heretofore recommended amendments of the Federal Constitution giving the election of President and Vice-President to the people and limiting the service of the former to a single term. So important do I consider these changes in our fundamental law that I can not, in accordance with my sense of duty, omit to press them upon the consideration of a new Congress."^[34]

Spoils system[link]

When Jackson became President, he implemented the theory of rotation in office by political appointments, declaring it "a leading principle in the republican creed."^[32] He believed that rotation in office would prevent the development of a corrupt bureaucracy. To strengthen party loyalty, Jackson's supporters wanted to give the posts to party members, a patronage system. In practice, this meant replacing federal employees with friends or party loyalists.^[35] By the end of his term, Jackson dismissed nearly 20% of the Federal employees at the start of it, replacing them with political appointees from his party.^[36] While Jackson did not start the "spoils system", he did encourage its growth for many years to come. It led to its own kind of corruption, including the appointment of officials with no experience related to their responsibilities.^{[citation needed]}

Opposition to the National Bank[link]

Democratic cartoon shows Jackson fighting the monster Bank. "The Bank", Jackson told Martin Van Buren, "is trying to kill me, but I will kill it!"

1833 Democratic cartoon shows Jackson destroying the devil's Bank

The Second Bank of the United States was authorized for a 20-year period during James Madison's tenure in 1816. As President, Jackson worked to rescind the bank's federal charter. In Jackson's veto message, the bank needed to be abolished because:

• It concentrated the nation's financial strength in a single institution,
• It exposed the government to control by foreign interests,
• It served mainly to make the rich richer,
• It exercised too much control over members of Congress,
• It favored northeastern states over southern and western states,
• Banks are controlled by a few select families.

Following Jefferson, Jackson supported an "agricultural republic" and felt the Bank improved the fortunes of an "elite circle" of commercial and industrial entrepreneurs at the expense of farmers and laborers. After a titanic struggle, Jackson succeeded in destroying the Bank by vetoing its 1832 re-charter by Congress and by withdrawing U.S. funds in 1833. (See Banking in the Jacksonian Era)

The bank's money-lending functions were taken over by the legions of local and state banks that sprang up. This increased credit and speculation. At first, as Jackson withdrew money from the Bank to invest it in other banks, land sales, canal construction, cotton production, and manufacturing boomed.^[37] Then, in 1836, Jackson issued the Specie Circular, which required buyers of government lands to pay in "specie" (gold or silver coins). The result was a great demand for specie, which many banks did not have enough of to exchange for their notes. These banks collapsed.^[37] This was a direct cause of the Panic of 1837, which threw the national economy into a deep depression. It took years for the economy to recover from the damage.^[38]

The U.S. Senate censured Jackson on March 28, 1834, for his action in removing U.S. funds from the Bank of the United States. When the Jacksonians had a majority in the Senate, the censure was expunged.

Nullification crisis[link]

Another notable crisis during Jackson's period of office was the "Nullification Crisis", or "secession crisis", of 1828 – 1832, which merged issues of sectional strife with disagreements over tariffs. Critics alleged that high tariffs (the "Tariff of Abominations") on imports of common manufactured goods made in Europe made those goods more expensive than ones from the northern U.S., raising the prices paid by planters in the South. Southern politicians argued that tariffs benefited northern industrialists at the expense of southern farmers.

The issue came to a head when Vice President Calhoun, in the South Carolina Exposition and Protest of 1828, supported the claim of his home state, South Carolina, that it had the right to "nullify"—declare void—the tariff legislation of 1828, and more generally the right of a state to nullify any Federal laws that went against its interests. Although Jackson sympathized with the South in the tariff debate, he was also a strong supporter of a strong union, with effective powers for the central government. Jackson attempted to face down Calhoun over the issue, which developed into a bitter rivalry between the two men.

Particularly notable was an incident at the April 13, 1830, Jefferson Day dinner, involving after-dinner toasts. Robert Hayne began by toasting to "The Union of the States, and the Sovereignty of the States." Jackson then rose, and in a booming voice added "Our federal Union: It must be preserved!" – a clear challenge to Calhoun. Calhoun clarified his position by responding "The Union: Next to our Liberty, the most dear!"^[39]

Jackson Presidential Dollar

The relationship between Jackson and Calhoun was further strained when the Vice President's wife, Floride Calhoun, led several other Cabinet members and their wives in the social ostracism of Secretary of War John H. Eaton and his wife, Margaret O'Neill Eaton in what became known as the Petticoat affair, causing further resignations from Jackson's cabinet, leading to its reorganization as the "Kitchen Cabinet". Martin Van Buren, despite resigning as Secretary of State, played a leading role in the new unofficial cabinet.^[40] At the first Democratic National Convention, privately engineered by members of the Kitchen Cabinet^[41] following the Petticoat Affair, Calhoun and Jackson broke apart politically from one another, and Van Buren replaced Calhoun as Jackson's running mate in the 1832 presidential election . In December 1832, Calhoun resigned as Vice President to become a U.S. Senator for South Carolina.

In response to South Carolina's nullification claim, Jackson vowed to send troops to South Carolina to enforce the laws. In December, 1832, he issued a resounding proclamation against the "nullifiers", stating that he considered "the power to annul a law of the United States, assumed by one State, incompatible with the existence of the Union, contradicted expressly by the letter of the Constitution, unauthorized by its spirit, inconsistent with every principle on which it was founded, and destructive of the great object for which it was formed." South Carolina, the President declared, stood on "the brink of insurrection and treason," and he appealed to the people of the state to reassert their allegiance to that Union for which their ancestors had fought. Jackson also denied the right of secession: "The Constitution... forms a government not a league... To say that any State may at pleasure secede from the Union is to say that the United States is not a nation."^[42]

Jackson asked Congress to pass a "Force Bill" explicitly authorizing the use of military force to enforce the tariff, but its passage was delayed until protectionists led by Clay agreed to a reduced Compromise Tariff. The Force Bill and Compromise Tariff passed on March 1, 1833, and Jackson signed both. The South Carolina Convention then met and rescinded its nullification ordinance. The Force Bill became moot because it was no longer needed. On May 1, 1833, Jackson wrote, "the tariff was only the pretext, and disunion and southern confederacy the real object. The next pretext will be the negro, or slavery question.".^[43]

Indian removal[link]

Jackson in 1845

Perhaps the most controversial aspect of Jackson's presidency was his policy regarding Native Americans, which hostile historians see as amounting to the ethnic cleansing of several Indian tribes.^[44][45][46] Jackson was a leading advocate of a policy known as Indian removal. Jackson had been negotiating treaties and removal policies with Indian leaders for years before his election as president. Many tribes and portions of tribes had been removed to Arkansas Territory and further west of the Mississippi River without the suffering of what later became known as the Trail of Tears. Further, many white Americans advocated total extermination of the "savages", particularly those who had experienced frontier wars. Jackson's support of removal policies can be best understood by examination of those prior cases he had personally negotiated, rather than those in post-presidential years. Nevertheless, Jackson is often held responsible for all that took place in the 1830s.

In his December 8, 1829, First Annual Message to Congress, Jackson stated:

This emigration should be voluntary, for it would be as cruel as unjust to compel the aborigines to abandon the graves of their fathers and seek a home in a distant land. But they should be distinctly informed that if they remain within the limits of the States they must be subject to their laws. In return for their obedience as individuals they will without doubt be protected in the enjoyment of those possessions which they have improved by their industry.^[47]

Before his election as president, Jackson had been involved with the issue of Indian removal for over ten years. The removal of the Native Americans to the west of the Mississippi River had been a major part of his political agenda in both the 1824 and 1828 presidential elections.^[48] After his election he signed the Indian Removal Act into law in 1830. The Act authorized the President to negotiate treaties to buy tribal lands in the east in exchange for lands further west, outside of existing U.S. state borders.

While frequently frowned upon in the North, and opposed by Jeremiah Evarts and Theodore Frelinghuysen, the Removal Act was popular in the South, where population growth and the discovery of gold on Cherokee land had increased pressure on tribal lands. The state of Georgia became involved in a contentious jurisdictional dispute with the Cherokees, culminating in the 1832 U.S. Supreme Court decision (Worcester v. Georgia), which ruled that Georgia could not impose its laws upon Cherokee tribal lands. Jackson is often quoted (regarding the decision) as having said, "John Marshall has made his decision, now let him enforce it!" According to Remini, Jackson never said this, as the quote first appeared in Horace Greeley's The American Conflict in 1864.^[49][50]

Photograph of Jackson at age 78, 1844/45

In any case, Jackson used the Georgia crisis to pressure Cherokee leaders to sign a removal treaty. A small faction of Cherokees led by John Ridge negotiated the Treaty of New Echota with Jackson's representatives. Ridge was not a recognized leader of the Cherokee Nation, and this document was rejected by most Cherokees as illegitimate.^[51] Over 15,000 Cherokees signed a petition in protest of the proposed removal; the list was ignored by the Supreme Court and the U.S. legislature, in part due to delays and timing.^[52] The treaty was enforced by Jackson's successor, Van Buren, who ordered 7,000 armed troops to remove the Cherokees. Due to the infighting between political factions, many Cherokees thought their appeals were still being considered until troops arrived.^[53] This abrupt and forced removal resulted in the deaths of over 4,000 Cherokees on the "Trail of Tears".

A daguerreotype of Jackson.

By the 1830s, under constant pressure from settlers, each of the five southern tribes had ceded most of its lands, but sizable self-government groups lived in Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and Florida. All of these (except the Seminoles) had moved far in the coexistence with whites, and they resisted suggestions that they should voluntarily remove themselves. Their nonviolent methods earned them the title the Five Civilized Tribes.^[52]

More than 45,000 American Indians were relocated to the West during Jackson's administration. A few Cherokees escaped forced relocation, or walked back afterwards, escaping to the high Smoky Mountains along the North Carolina and Tennessee border.^[54]