Jihad What’s in a word?

Jihad and terror Berman told us Qutb was the philosopher of Islamic terror He wanted his vanguard to accept the obligations of jihad The unstated conclusion would be that jihad must be terror But are words—especially words like revolution, jihad, equality—really so conclusive?

Interpretation not definition

Ideas in conflict In the 1960s and 1970s, European and Latin American leftists argued over the meaning of “revolution” as a way of arguing about political strategy In mid-19th century America politicians argued about “violence and disorder” as a way of arguing about who could participate in politics and whose interests would be served

What about “crusade”

My personal favorite: Crusader Rabbit

Jihad Its meaning has changed over time and circumstance Arguments over its meaning and what those arguments are about is more important than a single dictionary definition The word jihad is found in the Qur’an

The Qur’an For Muslims, the transcribed speech of God Speaks to a ~620 CE audience about which we know relatively little No specific contemporary context We don’t know the timing of the verses Contradictory and ambiguous verses

Some words for conflict Qital Physical fighting (common in the Qur’an) Sira’ Two-sided struggle ie, “class struggle” Harb War (such as “the October war”) Jihad Effort against obstacles but also used in law books to discuss law of war

Fatwa A non-binding legal opinion Different advisers give different opinions Not a verdict or judgment Consider the sentences: The decision by President Obama to open ties with Cuba was preceded by a legal opinion whether it was constitutional The decision by President Sadat to sign a peace treaty with Israel was supported by a fatwa that it accorded with the principles of Islam

In the beginning: two visions The Qur’an appears to describe two distinct periods of the growth of the initial Muslim community A period of nonviolent growth in which Muhammad preaches monotheism to an existing polytheist society (“Meccan” revelations) A period of armed expansion and victory in which Muhammad leads an exile community to victory (“Medinan” revelations)

War in the Middle Ages From the 8th-16th CE “jihad” came to mean war in Islamic legal and political thought Analytically the world was divided into the world of Islam (Dar al-Islam) and the world of warfare (Dar al-harb) The concerns of jurists were about the ways in which wars were being fought, presumably by armies between (not within) states

Modern war In early 20th century “jihad” came to be identified with anti-colonial war (such as Algeria) Was the anti-colonial struggle one for nominal political independence or was it also against the influence of European institutions and values?

Qutb and others What Qutb opened up was a new possibility: Re-imagining the present as Mecca not post-Medinan world Conflict within Muslim society as well as between Muslims and pagans (non-Muslims) This is a historical break because historically nominal Muslims were Muslims It therefore opened the possibility of thinking of jihad as occurring within Muslim society

Medieval warriors, modern revolutionaries or video game avatars?

Conflict over Islam? Conflict in Germany, the Soviet Union, the Reconstruction South, and other places was resolved at least in part through violence Terror is directed internally more than externally Was Arendt correct to suggest that although these conflicts may deploy ideology or history they are not resolved through arguments about history (or religion or ideology)?