Jihad
Jihad: An Argumentative Research Paper Perhaps no concept in Islam is more famous and more misunderstood than the notion of jihad, or what people commonly call "holy war.” Jihad means struggle, and in Islam, it refers primarily to the inner struggle of being a person of virtue and submission to Allah in all aspects of life. This struggle is the "jihad of the heart.” Secondarily, jihad refers to struggle against injustice and oppression—the "jihad of the sword. ... Jihad of the sword allows defense of the house of Islam against the house of war. Muhammad is reported to have said, “[jihad] is the eternal fight between wrong and right, error and truth. ... The authors of these sources are educated professionals in the topic area of jihad. ... Adherents to this brand of Islamist activism say they are engaged in a jihad (holy struggle) against Islam’s enemies, including even fellow Muslims who have abandoned what the extremists view as “true” Islam. Osama bin Laden, al-Qaeda’s leader, and other Arab militants have given several reasons for declaring a jihad against the United States. ... Ibn Rushd, in his Muqaddimaat, divides Jihad into four kinds: "Jihad by the heart; Jihad by the tongue; Jihad by the hand and Jihad by the sword.” He defines "Jihad by the tongue" as "to commend good conduct and forbid the wrong, like the type of Jihad Allah ordered the Muslims to fulfill against the hypocrites. The ultimate goal and meaning of jihad is peace through devoted surrender to God. ... The actual rules for jihad are found in the Qur’an. ... It also states that “only the caliph can launch a jihad” (Kelsay and Johnson 37).