AboutDrs. Kersten Expertise Islamic History Islamic Philosophy Contemporary Islamic Thought Jihad Doctrine Islam in Southeast Asia Sufism Mysticism Political Islam Islam in the Netherlands Progressive Muslims Moderate Muslims Contemporary Muslim Thinkers Islamic Studies Islamicists or Islamologists
Experience Tertiary educator and academic researcher. Contributing Author to a textbook on world religions (Linda Chisholm (ed.) VISIONS OF SERVICE. New York: IPS-L Press, 2004).
Degrees in Arabic and Islamic Studies, as well as Southeast Asian Studies; Sworn translator of Arabic.
More than fifteen years experience as an expatriate studying, working and teaching in four countries on three different continents.
Academic and journalistic writings have appeared in learned journals, current affairs periodicals, and the news media in the USA, Europe, Australia, and Asia.
Question What are the different meanings to Jihad?
Answer 'Jihad' is a verbal noun taken from 'jahada', which means to exert oneself, to make the effort. In the Qur'an it is usually found as part of an expression: 'the exert oneself on the way of God'.
In Islamic doctrine a distinction is made between:
Greater Jihad: which refers to the effort to improve oneself, fight off temptation, etc.
Lesser Jihad: this refers to the meaning in which Jihad is conventionally taken, namely waging war in the name of Islam.
There is no unanimous agreement among Muslims whether this refers only to defending Islam when it is under threat, or whether it also includes the expansion of Islam by using violence.
