{"id":6634,"date":"2013-10-16T10:30:34","date_gmt":"2013-10-16T17:30:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/?p=6634"},"modified":"2013-10-16T10:30:34","modified_gmt":"2013-10-16T17:30:34","slug":"jihad-vs-terrorism-listen-to-what-islams-authorities-say","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/jihad-vs-terrorism-listen-to-what-islams-authorities-say\/","title":{"rendered":"Jihad vs Terrorism: Listen to What Islam’s Authorities Say"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Raymond Ibrahim \/\/\u00a0RaymondIbrahim.com<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

A recent Arabic article appearing in Egypt\u2019s\u00a0Al Ahram<\/em><\/a>\u00a0newspaper titled \u201cIs Terrorism Jihad?\u201d written by Islamic law expert Dr. Abdul Fatah Idris offers important lessons\u2014from the fact that jihad\u00a0does<\/em>\u00a0involve subjugating non-Muslims to why the Western mentality is still incapable of acknowledging it.<\/p>\n

Idris, professor and chairman of Al Azhar University\u2019s Department of Comparative Jurisprudence at the Faculty of Sharia Law, is a well-reputed legal scholar.\u00a0 He begins his article by defining terrorism and quoting several international bodies that, in his words<\/p>\n

define terrorism as an act of violence or threat of violence coming from an individual either on his own volition or in participation with other individuals.\u00a0 It targets people or organizations or places or means of transportation or the general public in order to threaten or cause injuries or deaths of the people or simply to cripple the effectiveness of international organizations or to cause the loss or damage of those places or properties or to tamper with transportation to interfere in the friendly relations between countries or between the inhabitants of several countries or to extort concessions from some countries.\u00a0 The conspiracy to commit or to intend to commit or to participate in the committing or to incite the general public to commit the aforementioned crimes constitutes the crime of international terrorism.\u00a0\u00a0The first clause of the Geneva Convention which was adopted by Suppression of Terrorism Conference held in Geneva in 1937 defines terrorism as a criminal act directed against a specific nation with the aims of creating a state of terror in the minds of specific people or a group of people or the general public.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Idris also mentions how \u201cthe Islamic Research Academy, in its report issued on November 4th, 2001, defines terrorism as terrorizing\u00a0innocent<\/em>\u00a0people and the destruction of their properties and their essential elements of living and attacking their finances and their persons and their liberties and their human dignity\u00a0without right<\/em>\u00a0and spreading corruption throughout the land.\u201d<\/p>\n

Note that, although he quotes from several international bodies, it is only the \u201cIslamic Research Academy\u201d that includes words like \u201cinnocent\u201d and \u201cwithout right,\u201d both of which clearly leave much wiggle room to exonerate terrorist acts committed against those perceived as\u00a0not being \u201cinnocent\u201d<\/a>\u00a0or who it\u00a0is<\/em>\u00a0a right to terrorize, which according to many Muslims, includes the West.<\/p>\n

At any rate, in the context of the Muslim Brotherhood\u2019s recent terrorist attacks throughout Egypt\u2014including the destruction of over 80 Christian churches\u2014Idris goes on to agree that,<\/p>\n

It is therefore correct to define what happened recently [in Egypt] as terrorism and it cannot be called, as some have done [e.g., Muslim Brotherhood, Sheikh Yusuf Qaradawi, et al.], a jihad or\u00a0ribat<\/em>\u00a0in the path of Allah, for the difference between them is vast.\u00a0 Terrorism is a crime, both according to Sharia and the law; and all international conventions consider it a crime and call on all people to fight against it through all means.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Up until this point, Idris defines and agrees with the international definition of terrorism, and portrays the actions of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt (whom he never names) as terrorism.<\/p>\n

So far so good.<\/p>\n

However, Idris immediately makes a complete reversal in his follow-up sentences:<\/p>\n

But jihad in the path of Allah,\u00a0to make his word supreme, spread his religion<\/em>, defend the honor of the Islamic nation [umma], and respond to the aggression against Muslims all around the earth\u2014this is jihad:\u00a0when a Muslim fights an infidel without treaty to make the word of Allah Most High supreme, forcing\u00a0him to fight or invading his land, this is a permissible matter according to the consensus of the jurists.\u00a0 Indeed, it is an obligation for all Muslims<\/em>.\u00a0 Now if the deeds of the jihad\u2014including fighting the infidels and breaking their spine through all possible means<\/em>\u2014are permissible according to Sharia, then it is impossible to define those acts as terrorism, which Sharia-based evidence has made illegitimate. A large gap exists between them [jihad and terrorism].\u00a0 And there is no connection between what is obligatory [jihad] and what is forbidden [terrorism].<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

At this point, the befuddled Western reader may be at a loss to understand how, exactly, jihad\u2014\u201caccording to the consensus of the jurists,\u201d no less\u2014is different from the aforementioned definitions of terrorism.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s needed here is for the non-Muslim to try to transcend his epistemology and think, for a moment, like an observant Muslim, especially in the context of two points:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. According to Islamic doctrine, jihad, as Idris asserts,\u00a0is<\/em>\u00a0an obligation for Muslims (offensive being communal, defensive being individual).\u00a0 As this expert of Islamic jurisprudence states:\u00a0 \u201cBut jihad in the path of Allah,\u00a0to make his word supreme, spread his religion<\/em>\u2026\u00a0 this is jihad:\u00a0when a Muslim fights an infidel without treaty [e.g. dhimma pact] to make the word of Allah Most High supreme, forcing\u00a0him to fight or invading his land\u2026<\/em>\u201d<\/li>\n
  2. In Islamic thinking, even offensive jihad\u2014including \u201cbreaking [the infidels\u2019] spine through all possible means\u201d\u2014is seen as something of an altruistic affair, for the good of the world.\u00a0 More to the point, the ends justify the means.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Taking these two points together\u2014(1) Allah commands Muslims to wage jihad and (2) it is good for all concerned, a means to a glorious end, i.e., \u201cmaking Allah\u2019s word supreme\u201d\u2014how can Muslims classify jihad as \u201cterrorism,\u201d even when, from a non-Muslim perspective, it seems identical to the international definitions of terrorism that Idris himself delineated and agreed with?<\/p>\n

    In short, jihad is not terrorism simply because Allah\u00a0says so<\/em>\u2014even if the two, back in the real world, are identical.\u00a0 In the words of Idris: \u201cNow if the deeds of the jihad\u2014including fighting the infidels and breaking their spine through all possible means\u2014are permissible according to Sharia,\u00a0then it is impossible to define those acts as terrorism<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

    Three final thoughts:<\/p>\n

      \n
    1. Next time you wonder why \u201cmoderate\u201d Muslims rarely if ever condemn the terrorism habitually committed in the name of their religion, you\u2019d do well to remember Idris\u2019 article and rationale.<\/li>\n
    2. Regarding the supposedly \u201ccontroversial\u201d question of what jihad\u00a0really<\/em>\u00a0is, who do you think is more authoritative\u2014a Sharia law instructor at the Islamic world\u2019s most prestigious university, writing in Arabic to fellow Muslims, or, say, a Karen Armstrong writing best-selling fluff pieces about a benign and \u201cmisunderstood\u201d Islam to a na\u00efve Western public?<\/li>\n
    3. Why was Idris\u2019 article left unreported?\u00a0 Imagine the international outrage that would spark if a Christian theologian wrote in the\u00a0New York Times<\/em>\u2014which is what\u00a0Al Ahram<\/em>\u00a0is equivalent to in Egypt\u2014that \u201cit is an obligation\u201d for Christians to wage \u201choly war\u201d on non-Christian infidels and \u201cfight or invade his [non-Christian] land\u201d to \u201cmake Jesus\u2019 word supreme\u201d?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      And so we come back full circle to the lamentable fact that, while Islam\u2019s commands are black and white, so easily ascertained and visible to all, the West still cannot accept reality\u2014thanks in great part to its own endless array of liars, fools, and traitors.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      by Raymond Ibrahim \/\/\u00a0RaymondIbrahim.com A recent Arabic article appearing in Egypt\u2019s\u00a0Al Ahram\u00a0newspaper titled \u201cIs Terrorism Jihad?\u201d written by Islamic law expert Dr. Abdul Fatah Idris offers important lessons\u2014from the fact that jihad\u00a0does\u00a0involve subjugating non-Muslims to why the Western mentality is still incapable of acknowledging it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[227,230],"tags":[1017,1061,1060,545,162],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p466Sb-1J0","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2439,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/how-jihad-influenced-the-norway-massacre\/","url_meta":{"origin":6634,"position":0},"title":"How Jihad Influenced the Norway Massacre","author":"victorhanson","date":"August 17, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"by Raymond Ibrahim Hudson New York In his manifesto, Anders Breivik, the perpetrator of the Norway massacre, wherein some 80 people were killed, mentioned the Crusades and aspects of it as an inspirational factor. 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A\u00a0new article\u00a0by Thomas Hegghammer in the\u00a0Times Literary Supplement, entitled \u201cJihadi studies: the obstacles to understanding radical Islam and the opportunities to know it better,\u201d lives up to its title \u2014 not so much by\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Raymond Ibrahim"","block_context":{"text":"Raymond Ibrahim","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/our-contributors\/raymond-ibrahim\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":788,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/mexican-jihad-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":6634,"position":3},"title":"Mexican Jihad","author":"victorhanson","date":"May 16, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"by Raymond Ibrahim Gatestone Institute As the United States considers the Islamic jihadi threats confronting it from all sides, it would do well to focus on its southern neighbor, Mexico, which has been targeted by Islamists and jihadists, who, through a number of tactics \u2014 from engaging in\u00a0da'wa, converting Mexicans\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Mexico"","block_context":{"text":"Mexico","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/the-world\/mexico\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4090,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/radical-muslims-in-america-all-the-benefits-and-still-turning-to-jihad\/","url_meta":{"origin":6634,"position":4},"title":"Radical Muslims in America: All the Benefits and Still Turning to Jihad","author":"victorhanson","date":"January 16, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"by Raymond Ibrahim Hudson New York Recent remarks by Attorney General\u00a0Eric Holder\u00a0on the threat posed by \"radicalized\" American Muslims are revealing \u2014 not just because of what they say regarding the domestic situation, but for their international implications as well. According to Holder: \u201c[T]he threat is real, the threat is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Terrorism"","block_context":{"text":"Terrorism","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/war-on-terror\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2956,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/consider-the-source\/","url_meta":{"origin":6634,"position":5},"title":"Consider the Source","author":"victorhanson","date":"February 16, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Jihad has Islamic, and non-Islamic, roots. by Raymond Ibrahim Weekly Standard Review of\u00a0The Mind of Jihad\u00a0by Laurent Murawiec (Cambridge, 350 pp.) For some time now there has been a raging debate regarding what fuels Islamic terrorism \u2014 whether grievances against the West have caused frustrated Muslims to articulate their rage\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Reviews"","block_context":{"text":"Reviews","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/opinion\/reviews\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6634"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6634"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6634\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6635,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6634\/revisions\/6635"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6634"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6634"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6634"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}