Expert: Pierre-Alexandre De Bavay M.A. - 3/2/2009

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.


Hope this helps.