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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

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Incumbent
Assumed office 11 May 2010
Monarch	Elizabeth II
Deputy	Nick Clegg
Preceded by	Gordon Brown
Leader of the Opposition
In office 6 December 2005 – 11 May 2010
Monarch	Elizabeth II
Prime Minister	Tony Blair Gordon Brown
Preceded by	Michael Howard
Succeeded by	Harriet Harman
Leader of the Conservative Party
Incumbent
Assumed office 6 December 2005
Preceded by	Michael Howard
Shadow Secretary of State for Education and Skills
In office 6 May 2005 – 6 December 2005
Leader	Michael Howard
Preceded by	Tim Yeo
Succeeded by	David Willetts
Member of Parliament for Witney
Incumbent
Assumed office 7 June 2001
Preceded by	Shaun Woodward
Majority	22,740 (39.4%)
Personal details
Born	David William Donald Cameron (1966-10-09) 9 October 1966 (age 45) London, England
Political party	Conservative
Spouse(s)	Samantha Sheffield (1996–present)
Children	Ivan Reginald Ian (Deceased) Nancy Gwen Arthur Elwen Florence Rose Endellion
Residence	10 Downing Street
Alma mater	Brasenose College, Oxford
Religion	Church of England (Anglican)
Website	Party website

David William Donald Cameron (pronunciation: /ˈkæmərən/; born 9 October 1966) is the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service and Leader of the Conservative Party. He represents Witney as its Member of Parliament (MP).^[1]

Cameron studied Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE) at Oxford, gaining a first class honours degree. He then joined the Conservative Research Department and became Special Adviser to Norman Lamont, and then to Michael Howard. He was Director of Corporate Affairs at Carlton Communications for seven years.

He was defeated in his first candidacy for Parliament at Stafford in 1997, but was elected in 2001 as the Member of Parliament for the Oxfordshire constituency of Witney. He was promoted to the Opposition front bench two years later, and rose rapidly to become head of policy co-ordination during the 2005 general election campaign. With a public image of a youthful, moderate candidate who would appeal to young voters, he won the Conservative leadership election in 2005.^[2]

In the 2010 general election held on 6 May, the Conservatives won 307 seats in a hung parliament. After five days of intense negotiations, Cameron formed a coalition with the Liberal Democrats. The 43-year-old Cameron became the youngest British Prime Minister since the Earl of Liverpool 198 years earlier.^[3] Cameron leads the first coalition government of the United Kingdom since the Second World War.

Family[link]

David Cameron is the younger son of stockbroker Ian Donald Cameron (12 October 1932 – 8 September 2010)^[4] and his wife Mary Fleur (née Mount, born 1934,^[5] a retired Justice of the Peace, daughter of Sir William Mount, 2nd Baronet).^[6] His father, Ian, was born with both legs deformed and underwent repeated operations to correct them. Cameron's parents were married on 20 October 1962.^[5] He was born in London, and brought up in Peasemore, Berkshire.^[7] Cameron has a brother, Allan Alexander (born 1963, a barrister and QC)^[8] and two sisters, Tania Rachel (born 1965) and Clare Louise (born 1971).^[5][9] His father was born at Blairmore House, a country house near Huntly, Aberdeenshire, and died near Toulon in France on 8 September 2010.^[10] Blairmore was built by his great-great-grandfather, Alexander Geddes,^[11] who had made a fortune in the grain trade in Chicago, and returned to Scotland in the 1880s.^[12]

King William IV, one of Cameron's ancestors

Through his paternal grandmother, Enid Agnes Maud Levita, Cameron is a direct descendant of King William IV by his mistress Dorothea Jordan. This illegitimate line consists of five generations of women starting with Elizabeth Hay, Countess of Erroll, née FitzClarence, William and Jordan's sixth child,^[13] through to Cameron's grandmother (thereby making Cameron a 5th cousin of Queen Elizabeth II).^[14] Cameron's paternal forebears also have a long history in finance. His father Ian was senior partner of the stockbrokers Panmure Gordon, in which firm partnerships had long been held by Cameron's ancestors, including David's grandfather and great-grandfather,^[9] and was a Director of estate agent John D. Wood. David Cameron's great-great grandfather Emile Levita, a German-Jewish financier (and descendant of Renaissance scholar Elia Levita) who obtained British citizenship in 1871, was the director of the Chartered Bank of India, Australia and China which became Standard Chartered Bank in 1969.^[14] His wife, Cameron's great-great grandmother, was a descendant of the wealthy Danish Jewish Rée family on her father's side.^[15][16] One of Emile's sons, Arthur Francis Levita (died 1910, brother of Sir Cecil Levita),^[17] of Panmure Gordon stockbrokers, together with great-great-grandfather Sir Ewen Cameron,^[18] London head of the Hongkong and Shanghai Bank, played key roles in arranging loans supplied by the Rothschilds to the Japanese Central Banker (later Prime Minister) Takahashi Korekiyo for the financing of the Japanese Government in the Russo-Japanese war.^[19]

Cameron's maternal grandfather was Sir William Mount, 2nd Baronet, an Army officer and the High Sheriff of Berkshire, and Cameron's maternal great-grandfather was Sir William Mount, 1st Baronet, CBE, Conservative MP for Newbury 1918–1922. Cameron's great-great grandmother was Lady Ida Matilda Alice Feilding. His great-great-great grandfather was William Feilding, 7th Earl of Denbigh, GCH, PC, a courtier and Gentleman of the Bedchamber.^[20] His mother's cousin, Sir Ferdinand Mount, was head of 10 Downing Street's Policy Unit in the early 1980s. Cameron is the nephew of Sir William Dugdale, brother-in-law of Katherine, Lady Dugdale (died 2004) Lady-in-Waiting to HM The Queen since 1955,^[21][22] and former Chairman of Aston Villa Football Club. Birmingham born documentary film-maker Joshua Dugdale is his cousin.^[23]

Education[link]

Eton College chapel.

From the age of seven, Cameron was educated at two independent schools: at Heatherdown Preparatory School at Winkfield, in Berkshire, which counts Prince Andrew and Prince Edward among its alumni. Due to good academic grades, Cameron entered its top academic class almost two years early.^[24] At the age of thirteen, he went to Eton College in Berkshire, following his father and elder brother.^[25] Eton is often described as the most famous independent school in the world,^[26] and "the chief nurse of England's statesmen".^[27] His early interest was in art. Cameron was in trouble as a teenager, six weeks before taking his O-Levels, when he was named as having smoked cannabis.^[2] He admitted the offence and had not been involved in selling drugs, so he was not expelled, but was fined, prevented from leaving school grounds, and given a "Georgic" (a punishment which involved copying 500 lines of Latin text).^[28]

Cameron passed 12 O-levels, and then studied three A-Levels in History of Art, History and Economics with Politics. He obtained three 'A' grades and a '1' grade in the Scholarship Level exam in Economics and Politics.^[29] The following autumn he passed the entrance exam for Oxford University, where he was offered an exhibition.^[30]

After leaving Eton in 1984,^[31] Cameron started a nine month gap year. He worked as a researcher for Tim Rathbone, Conservative MP for Lewes and his godfather. In his three months he attended debates in the House of Commons.^[32] Through his father, he was then employed for a further three months in Hong Kong by Jardine Matheson as a 'ship jumper', an administrative post.^[33]

Returning from Hong Kong he visited the then Soviet Union, where he was approached by two Russian men speaking fluent English. Cameron was later told by one of his professors that it was 'definitely an attempt' by the KGB to recruit him.^[34]

Cameron then began his Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics (PPE) at Brasenose College, Oxford.^[35] His tutor, Professor Vernon Bogdanor, described him as "one of the ablest"^[36] students he has taught, with "moderate and sensible Conservative" political views.^[9] Guy Spier, who shared tutorials with him, remembers him as an outstanding student; "We were doing our best to grasp basic economic concepts. David - there was nobody else who came even close. He would be integrating them with the way the British political system is put together. He could have lectured me on it, and I would have sat there and taken notes.."^[37] When commenting in 2006 on his former pupil's ideas about a "Bill of Rights" to replace the Human Rights Act, however, Professor Bogdanor, himself a Liberal Democrat, said, "I think he is very confused. I've read his speech and it's filled with contradictions. There are one or two good things in it but one glimpses them, as it were, through a mist of misunderstanding".^[38]

While at Oxford, Cameron was a member of the elite student dining society the Bullingdon Club, which has a reputation for an outlandish drinking culture associated with boisterous behaviour and damaging property.^[39] A photograph showing Cameron in a tailcoat with other members of the club, including Boris Johnson, surfaced in 2007, but was later withdrawn by the copyright holder.^[40] Cameron's period in the Bullingdon Club is examined in the Channel 4 docu-drama When Boris Met Dave broadcast on 7 October 2009.^[41] Cameron graduated in 1988 with a first class honours degree.^[42]

Early political career[link]

Conservative Research Department[link]

After graduation, Cameron worked for the Conservative Research Department between September 1988^[43] and 1993. A feature on Cameron in The Mail on Sunday on 18 March 2007 reported that on the day he was due to attend a job interview at Conservative Central Office, a phone call was received from Buckingham Palace. The male caller stated, "I understand you are to see David Cameron. I've tried everything I can to dissuade him from wasting his time on politics but I have failed. I am ringing to tell you that you are about to meet a truly remarkable young man."^[44]

In 1991, Cameron was seconded to Downing Street to work on briefing John Major for his then bi-weekly session of Prime Minister's Questions. One newspaper gave Cameron the credit for "sharper [...] despatch box performances" by Major,^[45] which included highlighting for Major "a dreadful piece of doublespeak" by Tony Blair (then the Labour Employment spokesman) over the effect of a national minimum wage.^[46] He became head of the political section of the Conservative Research Department, and in August 1991 was tipped to follow Judith Chaplin as Political Secretary to the Prime Minister.^[47]

However, Cameron lost to Jonathan Hill, who was appointed in March 1992. He was given the responsibility for briefing Major for his press conferences during the 1992 general election.^[48] During the campaign, Cameron was one of the young "brat pack" of party strategists who worked between 12 and 20 hours a day, sleeping in the house of Alan Duncan in Gayfere Street, Westminster, which had been Major's campaign headquarters during his bid for the Conservative leadership.^[49] Cameron headed the economic section; it was while working on this campaign that Cameron first worked closely with Steve Hilton, who was later to become Director of Strategy during his party leadership.^[50] The strain of getting up at 4:45 am every day was reported to have led Cameron to decide to leave politics in favour of journalism.^[51]

Special Adviser[link]

The Conservatives' unexpected success in the 1992 election led Cameron to hit back at older party members who had criticised him and his colleagues, saying "whatever people say about us, we got the campaign right," and that they had listened to their campaign workers on the ground rather than the newspapers. He revealed he had led other members of the team across Smith Square to jeer at Transport House, the former Labour headquarters.^[52] Cameron was rewarded with a promotion to Special Adviser to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Norman Lamont.^[53]

Cameron was working for Lamont at the time of Black Wednesday, when pressure from currency speculators forced the Pound sterling out of the European Exchange Rate Mechanism. At the 1992 Conservative Party conference, Cameron had difficulty trying to arrange to brief the speakers in the economic debate, having to resort to putting messages on the internal television system imploring the mover of the motion, Patricia Morris, to contact him.^[54] Later that month Cameron joined a delegation of Special Advisers who visited Germany to build better relations with the Christian Democratic Union; he was reported to be "still smarting" over the Bundesbank's contribution to the economic crisis.^[55]

Lamont fell out with John Major after Black Wednesday and became highly unpopular with the public. Taxes needed to be raised in the 1993 Budget, and Cameron fed the options Lamont was considering through to Conservative Central Office for their political acceptability to be assessed.^[56] However, Lamont's unpopularity did not necessarily affect Cameron: he was considered as a potential "kamikaze" candidate for the Newbury By-election, which includes the area where he grew up.^[57] However, Cameron decided not to stand.

During the by-election, Lamont gave the response "Je ne regrette rien" to a question about whether he most regretted claiming to see "the green shoots of recovery" or admitted "singing in his bath" with happiness at leaving the ERM. Cameron was identified by one journalist as having inspired this gaffe; it was speculated that the heavy Conservative defeat in Newbury may have cost Cameron his chance of becoming Chancellor himself, even though as he was not a Member of Parliament he could not have been.^[58] Lamont was sacked at the end of May 1993, and decided not to write the usual letter of resignation; Cameron was given the responsibility to issue to the press a statement of self-justification.^[59]

Home Office[link]

The Home Office building Cameron worked at during the 1990s

After Lamont was sacked, Cameron remained at the Treasury for less than a month before being specifically recruited by Home Secretary Michael Howard; it was commented that he was still "very much in favour".^[60] It was later reported that many at the Treasury would have preferred Cameron to carry on.^[61] At the beginning of September 1993, Cameron applied to go on Conservative Central Office's list of Prospective Parliamentary Candidates.^[62]

According to Derek Lewis, then Director-General of Her Majesty's Prison Service, Cameron showed him a "his and hers list" of proposals made by Howard and his wife, Sandra. Lewis said that Sandra Howard's list included reducing the quality of prison food, although Sandra Howard denied this claim. Lewis reported that Cameron was "uncomfortable" about the list.^[63] In defending Sandra Howard and insisting that she made no such proposal, the journalist Bruce Anderson wrote that Cameron had proposed a much shorter definition on prison catering which revolved around the phrase "balanced diet", and that Lewis had written thanking Cameron for a valuable contribution.^[64]

During his work for Howard, Cameron often briefed the media. In March 1994, someone leaked to the Press that the Labour Party had called for a meeting with John Major to discuss a consensus on the Prevention of Terrorism Act. After an enquiry failed to find the source of the leak, Labour MP Peter Mandelson demanded assurance from Howard that Cameron had not been responsible, which Howard gave.^[65][66] A senior Home Office Civil Servant noted the influence of Howard's Special Advisers saying previous incumbents "would listen to the evidence before making a decision. Howard just talks to young public school gentlemen from the party headquarters."^[67]

Carlton[link]

In July 1994, Cameron left his role as Special Adviser to work as the Director of Corporate Affairs at Carlton Communications.^[68] Carlton, which had won the ITV franchise for London weekdays in 1991, was a growing media company which also had film distribution and video producing arms. In 1997 Cameron played up the Company's prospects for digital terrestrial television, for which it joined with Granada television and BSkyB to form British Digital Broadcasting.^[69] In a roundtable discussion on the future of broadcasting in 1998 he criticised the effect of overlapping different regulators on the industry.^[70]