1. Jihad
What’s in a word?

2. Jihad and terror Berman told us
Qutb was the philosopher of Islamic terror
He wanted his vanguard to accept the obligations of jihad
The unstated conclusion would be that jihad must be terror
But are words—especially words like revolution, jihad, equality—really so conclusive?

3. Interpretation not definition

4. Ideas in conflict
In the 1960s and 1970s, European and Latin American leftists argued over the meaning of “revolution” as a way of arguing about political strategy
In mid-19th century America politicians argued about “violence and disorder” as a way of arguing about who could participate in politics and whose interests would be served

5. What about “crusade”

6. My personal favorite: Crusader Rabbit

7. Jihad Its meaning has changed over time and circumstance
Arguments over its meaning and what those arguments are about is more important than a single dictionary definition
The word jihad is found in the Qur’an

8. The Qur’an For Muslims, the transcribed speech of God
Speaks to a ~620 CE audience about which we know relatively little
No specific contemporary context
We don’t know the timing of the verses
Contradictory and ambiguous verses

9. Some words for conflict
Qital
Physical fighting (common in the Qur’an)
Sira’
Two-sided struggle ie, “class struggle”
Harb
War (such as “the October war”)
Jihad
Effort against obstacles but also used in law books to discuss law of war

10. Fatwa A non-binding legal opinion
Different advisers give different opinions
Not a verdict or judgment
Consider the sentences:
The decision by President Obama to open ties with Cuba was preceded by a legal opinion whether it was constitutional
The decision by President Sadat to sign a peace treaty with Israel was supported by a fatwa that it accorded with the principles of Islam

11. In the beginning: two visions
The Qur’an appears to describe two distinct periods of the growth of the initial Muslim community
A period of nonviolent growth in which Muhammad preaches monotheism to an existing polytheist society (“Meccan” revelations)
A period of armed expansion and victory in which Muhammad leads an exile community to victory (“Medinan” revelations)

12. War in the Middle Ages
From the 8th-16th CE “jihad” came to mean war in Islamic legal and political thought
Analytically the world was divided into the world of Islam (Dar al-Islam) and the world of warfare (Dar al-harb)
The concerns of jurists were about the ways in which wars were being fought, presumably by armies between (not within) states

13. Modern war
In early 20th century “jihad” came to be identified with anti-colonial war (such as Algeria)
Was the anti-colonial struggle one for nominal political independence or was it also against the influence of European institutions and values?

14. Qutb and others What Qutb opened up was a new possibility:
Re-imagining the present as Mecca not post-Medinan world
Conflict within Muslim society as well as between Muslims and pagans (non-Muslims)
This is a historical break because historically nominal Muslims were Muslims
It therefore opened the possibility of thinking of jihad as occurring within Muslim society

15. Medieval warriors, modern revolutionaries or video game avatars?

16. Conflict over Islam?
Conflict in Germany, the Soviet Union, the Reconstruction South, and other places was resolved at least in part through violence
Terror is directed internally more than externally
Was Arendt correct to suggest that although these conflicts may deploy ideology or history they are not resolved through arguments about history (or religion or ideology)?