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Iranian Shi’ite revolutionaries had a similar pers- education and development. When the World Islamic
pective. Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini (1903–1989), Front for Jihad Against Jews and Crusaders, backed by
leader of the Iranian revolution, argued that Muslim Osama bin Laden, called for a jihad in 1998, its aim
jurists “by means of jihad and enjoining the good and was clearly violent.
forbidding the evil, must expose and overthrow tyran-
See also AL QAEDA; OSAMA BIN LADEN; MILITANT ISLAM
nical rulers and rouse the people so the universal
movement of all alert Muslims can establish Islamic Further Reading
government in the place of tyrannical regimes.”
Other modern Islamic thinkers apply the term Dajami-Shakeel, Hadia, and Ronald A. Messier, eds. The
jihad to political and social action to establish justice, Jihad and Its Times. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan
Center for Near Eastern and North African Studies,
not only to warfare. For example, President Habib
1991.
Bourguiba of Tunisia once described the struggle for
Kelsay, John, and James Turner Johnson, eds. Cross,
economic development in Tunisia as a jihad against
Crescent and Sword: The Justification and Limitation
poverty.
of War in Western and Islamic Tradition. New York:
Greenwood, 1990.
MEANING OF JIHAD TODAY Kelsay, John, and James Turner Johnson, eds. Just War and
Jihad: Historical and Theoretical Perspectives on War
A war jihad can be called for by any Islamic leader, and Peace in Western and Islamic Tradition. New York:
but individual Muslims must decide whether to Greenwood, 1991.
answer the call to arms. Most calls for jihad tend to Lewis, Bernard. The Political Language of Islam. Chicago:
appeal mostly to Islamist extremists and do not result University of Chicago Press, 1988.
in total war within or between countries. Peters, Rudolph. Jihad in Classical and Modern Islam.
However, America’s war in Afghanistan, and the New York: Markus Weiner, 1996.
Renard, John. “Al-Jihad al-Akbar: Notes on a Theme in
threat of another war in Iraq, have led many Muslims
Islamic Spirituality.” Muslim World, Vol. 78, 1988,
to rethink jihad. While the majority does not see jihad
225-242.
as a violent struggle, more and more Muslims would
argue that all Muslims have a duty to defend Islam.
The increase in terrorist acts against American and
Israeli civilians reflects this widened, violent inter- JIHAD GROUP. See AL JIHAD.
pretation of jihad. More Muslims now consider some
form of jihad—violent or nonviolent—to be an oblig-
ation of the faith. Today, Muslims can mean many JIHAD, ISLAMIC. See AL JIHAD;
things by jihad—the extremists’ idea of warfare, Ibn
Taymiya’s revolt against an impious ruler, the Sufi’s HEZBOLLAH; ISLAMIC JIHAD; PALESTINIAN
moral self-improvement, or the modern concept of ISLAMIC JIHAD.
political and social reform.
Terrorist organizations often take advantage of the
disagreements over the types of jihad to insist to less
sophisticated Muslims that war is the only acceptable JRA. See JAPANESE RED ARMY.
form of jihad. The different interpretations of jihad
have also caused confusion in the West. For example,
in 1997, when Yasir Arafat called for a “jihad for Jeru- JUSTICE DEPARTMENT
salem,” he intended his Muslim audience to hear a call
to arms while simultaneously assuring his Western
supporters he intended only a peaceful struggle. The emergence of the Justice Department, a small,
Usually, however, the meaning of the word jihad is extremely violent animal rights group active in
clear from its usage. When Sufis discuss spiritual England and North America, demonstrated a signifi-
jihad, they use the term “greater jihad.” Advocates of a cant philosophical change within the extreme wing
jihad on social issues, like Bourguiba’s war on poverty, of the animal rights movement. The group went beyond
clearly do not intend to use violence to improve the financial sabotage carried out by groups such