AboutPierre-Alexandre De Bavay M.A. Expertise I can answer any question that deals with geopolitics, political stability and the role of big powers in the Middle East. My strongest background deals with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict but I have a good knowledge of the region going from the Caucasus to Egypt, the Arabic Peninsula and Central Asia. Even if your question does not directly deal with this, I will try to answer it anyway.
Experience I worked for the Center for American Studies in Brussels and for the European Institute for International Relations as political analyst.
Organizations CAS, EIIR
Education/Credentials BA Political Science
MA International Relations
MA American Studies
Question Hi, what is jihad? Is it a holy war? If so, what are some examples of jihad that still occur today? For instance, is 9/11 considered jihad? thanks so much.
Answer Hi Jordan,
The media and current Western administration have long been talking about Jihad. But I am not sure whether this term is actually used in a proper way. As stated in Coran and Islamic religion at large, Jihad refers to use of force. Now you might understand it as a way to struggle with the 'evil' parts of your minds rather than seeing it as a mean to strike other people. Therefore, Jihad does only refer to holy war in a very limited way. Holy war is therefore part of Jihad, but is not a synonym.
Nowadays, it is quite difficult to assess whether Jihad is actually used in a religious sense. Merely all wars and conflicts have political roots rather than religious. Religion is often used to legitimize an opposition. People tend to speak about Iraq and Afghanistan as examples of Jihad, but this seems a bit far-fetched. For instance, there are at least two (if not three) independent Islamic communities that are fighting each other. Can would therefore talk about Jihad? The same situation is observable in Afghanistan : Talibans were declared enemies of the Alliance led by Massud until his death. Both belligerents were Muslim...
As regards the 9/11 events, things are a bit tricky too. Bin Laden claims to act under the 'holy war' flag, but many Muslims disapproved the terrorist actions. Was Bin Laden acting with a religious or political goal? Difficult to say...But that didn't prevent a lot of people in the Muslim world to see this as Jihad.
