Download or read book Just War and Jihad written by John Kelsay and published by Praeger. This book was released on 1991-05-21 with total page 280 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Instructs readers about the religious contexts that nurtured ideas regarding statecraft, international law, and the aims and limits of peace and warfare--Introduction.

Download or read book Just Wars Holy Wars and Jihads written by Sohail H. Hashmi and published by OUP USA. This book was released on 2012-07-03 with total page 452 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Just Wars, Holy Wars, and Jihads explores the development of Christian, Muslim, and Jewish thinking on just war, holy war, and jihad over the past fourteen centuries.

Download or read book Arguing the Just War in Islam written by John Kelsay and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2007-11-30 with total page 284 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Jihad, with its many terrifying associations, is a term widely used today, though its meaning is poorly grasped. Few people understand the circumstances requiring a jihad, or "holy" war, or how Islamic militants justify their violent actions within the framework of the religious tradition of Islam. How Islam, with more than one billion followers, interprets jihad and establishes its precepts has become a critical issue for both the Muslim and the non-Muslim world. John Kelsay's timely and important work focuses on jihad of the sword in Islamic thought, history, and culture. Making use of original sources, Kelsay delves into the tradition of shari'a--Islamic jurisprudence and reasoning--and shows how it defines jihad as the Islamic analogue of the Western "just" war. He traces the arguments of thinkers over the centuries who have debated the legitimacy of war through appeals to shari'a reasoning. He brings us up to the present and demonstrates how contemporary Muslims across the political spectrum continue this quest for a realistic ethics of war within the Islamic tradition. Arguing the Just War in Islam provides a systematic account of how Islam's central texts interpret jihad, guiding us through the historical precedents and Qur'anic sources upon which today's claims to doctrinal truth and legitimate authority are made. In illuminating the broad spectrum of Islam's moral considerations of the just war, Kelsay helps Muslims and non-Muslims alike make sense of the possibilities for future war and peace.

Download or read book Jihad in Islamic History written by Michael Bonner and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2008-07-28 with total page 218 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What is jihad? Does it mean violence, as many non-Muslims assume? Or does it mean peace, as some Muslims insist? Because jihad is closely associated with the early spread of Islam, today's debate about the origin and meaning of jihad is nothing less than a struggle over Islam itself. In Jihad in Islamic History, Michael Bonner provides the first study in English that focuses on the early history of jihad, shedding much-needed light on the most recent controversies over jihad. To some, jihad is the essence of radical Islamist ideology, a synonym for terrorism, and even proof of Islam's innate violence. To others, jihad means a peaceful, individual, and internal spiritual striving. Bonner, however, shows that those who argue that jihad means only violence or only peace are both wrong. Jihad is a complex set of doctrines and practices that have changed over time and continue to evolve today. The Quran's messages about fighting and jihad are inseparable from its requirements of generosity and care for the poor. Jihad has often been a constructive and creative force, the key to building new Islamic societies and states. Jihad has regulated relations between Muslims and non-Muslims, in peace as well as in war. And while today's "jihadists" are in some ways following the "classical" jihad tradition, they have in other ways completely broken with it. Written for general readers who want to understand jihad and its controversies, Jihad in Islamic History will also interest specialists because of its original arguments.

Download or read book Jih d written by Reuven Firestone and published by . This book was released on 1999 with total page 208 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The cauldron in which this mixture produced its new product was Medina, where various forces came together to produce the religious community of Muslims known as the Umma."--BOOK JACKET.

Download or read book Unholy War written by John L. Esposito and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2003 with total page 214 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Of the intellectual underpinnings of the more radical elements of contemporary Islam.

Download or read book The Jihad of Jesus written by Dave Andrews and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2015-05-29 with total page 176 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: We are caught up in the cycle of so-called "holy wars." In The Jihad of Jesus, Dave Andrews argues that while this inter-communal conflict is endemic, it is not inevitable. Depending on our understanding, our religions can be either a source of escalating conflict or a resource for overcoming inter-communal conflict; and for our religions to be a resource for overcoming conflict, we need to understand the heart of all true religion as open-hearted compassionate spirituality. In the light of an open-hearted compassionate spirituality, we can reclaim the word "jihad" from extremists who have (mis)appropriated it as a call to "holy war," and reframe it, in truly Qur'anic terms, as a "sacred nonviolent struggle for justice"; and we can reconsider Jesus, as he is in the Gospels, not as a poster boy for Christians fighting crusades against Muslims, but as "a strong-but-gentle Messianic figure" who can bring Christians and Muslims together. As this book shows, many Christians and Muslims have found Isa (Jesus) and the Bismillah (celebrating the mercy, grace, and compassion of God) as common ground upon which they can stand and work for the common good. The Jihad of Jesus is a handbook for reconciliation and action: a do-it-yourself guide for all Christians and Muslims who want to move beyond the "clash of civilizations," join the jihad of Jesus, and struggle for justice and peace nonviolently side by side.

Download or read book Holy War Just War written by Lloyd H. Steffen and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2007 with total page 334 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Holy War, Just War explores the "dark side" in Christianity, Islam, and Judaism by examining how the concept of ultimate value contributes to religious violence. The book states that religion has within its own conceptual tools the resources to understand its own dark side and that religious people must subject their religion to a moral vision of goodness and constrain those parts that make for violence and hatred.

Download or read book Understanding Jihad written by David Cook and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 2005-05-23 with total page 270 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Jihad is one of the most loaded and misunderstood terms in the news today. Contrary to popular understanding, the term does not mean "holy war." Nor does it simply refer to the inner spiritual struggle. This book, judiciously balanced, accessibly written, and highly relevant to today's events, unravels the tangled historical, intellectual, and political meanings of jihad. Looking closely at a range of sources from sacred Islamic texts to modern interpretations, Understanding Jihad opens a critically important perspective on the role of Islam in the contemporary world. As David Cook traces the practical and theoretical meanings of jihad, he cites from scriptural, legal, and newly translated texts to give readers a taste of the often ambiguous information that is used to construct Islamic doctrine. He looks closely at the life and teaching of the Prophet Muhammad and at the ramifications of the great Islamic conquests in 634 to 732 A.D. He sheds light on legal developments relevant to fighting and warfare, and places the internal, spiritual jihad within the larger context of Islamic religion. He describes some of the conflicts that occur in radical groups and shows how the more mainstream supporters of these groups have come to understand and justify violence. He has also included a special appendix of relevant documents including materials related to the September 11 attacks and published manifestoes issued by Osama bin Laden and Palestinian suicide-martyrs.

Download or read book Landscapes of the Jihad written by Faisal Devji and published by Cornell University Press. This book was released on 2011-04-27 with total page 200 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What are the motives behind Osama bin Laden's and Al-Qaeda's jihad against America and the West? Innumerable attempts have been made in recent years to explain that mysterious worldview. In Landscapes of the Jihad, Faisal Devji focuses on the ethical content of this jihad as opposed to its purported political intent. Al-Qaeda differs radically from such groups as Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood and Indonesia's Jemaah Islamiyah, which aim to establish fundamentalist Islamic states. In fact, Devji contends, Al-Qaeda, with its decentralized structure and emphasis on moral rather than political action, actually has more in common with multinational corporations, antiglobalization activists, and environmentalist and social justice organizations. Bin Laden and his lieutenants view their cause as a response to the oppressive conditions faced by the Muslim world rather than an Islamist attempt to build states.Al-Qaeda culls diverse symbols and fragments from Islam's past in order to legitimize its global war against the "metaphysical evil" emanating from the West. The most salient example of this assemblage, Devji argues, is the concept of jihad itself, which Al-Qaeda defines as an "individual duty" incumbent on all Muslims, like prayer. Although medieval Islamic thought provides precedent for this interpretation, Al-Qaeda has deftly separated the stipulation from its institutional moorings and turned jihad into a weapon of spiritual conflict. Al-Qaeda and its jihad, Devji suggests, are only the most visible manifestations of wider changes in the Muslim world. Such changes include the fragmentation of traditional as well as fundamentalist forms of authority. In the author's view, Al-Qaeda represents a new way of organizing Muslim belief and practice within a global landscape and does not require ideological or institutional unity.Offering a compelling explanation for the central purpose of Al-Qaeda's jihad against the West, the meaning of its strategies and tactics, and its moral and aesthetic dimensions, Landscapes of the Jihad is at once a sophisticated work of historical and cultural analysis and an invaluable guide to the world's most prominent terrorist movement.

Download or read book Holy War in Judaism written by Reuven Firestone and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2012-07-02 with total page 382 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Holy war, sanctioned or even commanded by God, is a common and recurring theme in the Hebrew Bible. Rabbinic Judaism, however, largely avoided discussion of holy war in the Talmud and related literatures for the simple reason that it became dangerous and self-destructive. Reuven Firestone's Holy War in Judaism is the first book to consider how the concept of ''holy war'' disappeared from Jewish thought for almost 2000 years, only to reemerge with renewed vigor in modern times. The revival of the holy war idea occurred with the rise of Zionism. As the necessity of organized Jewish engagement in military actions developed, Orthodox Jews faced a dilemma. There was great need for all to engage in combat for the survival of the infant state of Israel, but the Talmudic rabbis had virtually eliminated divine authorization for Jews to fight in Jewish armies. Once the notion of divinely sanctioned warring was revived, it became available to Jews who considered that the historical context justified more aggressive forms of warring. Among some Jews, divinely authorized war became associated not only with defense but also with a renewed kibbush or conquest, a term that became central to the discourse regarding war and peace and the lands conquered by the state of Israel in 1967. By the early 1980's, the rhetoric of holy war had entered the general political discourse of modern Israel. In Holy War in Judaism, Firestone identifies, analyzes, and explains the historical, conceptual, and intellectual processes that revived holy war ideas in modern Judaism.

Download or read book From Jeremiad to Jihad written by John D. Carlson and published by University of California Press. This book was released on 2012-06-06 with total page 318 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Violence has been a central feature of America’s history, culture, and place in the world. It has taken many forms: from state-sponsored uses of force such as war or law enforcement, to revolution, secession, terrorism and other actions with important political and cultural implications. Religion also holds a crucial place in the American experience of violence, particularly for those who have found order and meaning in their worlds through religious texts, symbols, rituals, and ideas. Yet too often the religious dimensions of violence, especially in the American context, are ignored or overstated—in either case, poorly understood. From Jeremiad to Jihad: Religion, Violence, and America corrects these misunderstandings. Charting and interpreting the tendrils of religion and violence, this book reveals how formative moments of their intersection in American history have influenced the ideas, institutions, and identities associated with the United States. Religion and violence provide crucial yet underutilized lenses for seeing America anew—including its outlook on, and relation to, the world.

Download or read book Holy War in the Bible written by Heath A. Thomas and published by InterVarsity Press. This book was released on 2013-04-05 with total page 353 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The first of its kind, this collection offers a constructive response to the question of holy war and Christian morality from an interdisciplinary perspective. By combining biblical, ethical, philosophical and theological insights, the contributors offer a composite image of divine redemption that promises to take the discussion to another level.

Download or read book Between Pacifism and Jihad written by J. Daryl Charles and published by InterVarsity Press. This book was released on 2009-09-20 with total page 206 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Pacifism. Jihad. Militarism. Are these our only alternatives for dealing with global injustice today? J. Daryl Charles leads us to reconsider a Christian view of the use of force to maintain or reestablish justice. He shows how love for a neighbor can warrant the just use of force. Reviewing and updating the widely recognized but not necessarily well-understood just-war teaching of the church through the ages, Charles shows how it captures many of the concerns of the pacifist position while deliberately avoiding, on the other side, the excesses of jihad and militarism. Aware of our contemporary global situation, Charles addresses the unique challenges of dealing with international terrorism.

Download or read book The Book of the Jihad of Ali ibn Tahir al Sulami d 1106 written by Niall Christie and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2017-07-05 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 1105, six years after the first crusaders from Europe conquered Jerusalem, a Damascene Muslim jurisprudent named ’Ali ibn Tahir al-Sulami (d. 1106) publicly dictated an extended call to the military jihad (holy war) against the European invaders. Entitled Kitab al-Jihad (The Book of the Jihad), al-Sulami’s work both summoned his Muslim brethren to the jihad and instructed them in the manner in which it ought to be conducted, covering topics as diverse as who should fight and be fought, treatment of prisoners and plunder, and the need for participants to fight their own inner sinfulness before turning their efforts against the enemy. Al-Sulami’s text is vital for a complete understanding of the Muslim reaction to the crusades, providing the reader with the first contemporary record of Muslim preaching against the crusaders. However, until recently only a small part of the text has been studied by modern scholars, as it has remained for the most part an unedited manuscript. In this book Niall Christie provides a complete edition and the first full English translation of the extant sections (parts 2, 8, 9 and 12) of the manuscript of al-Sulami’s work, making it fully available to modern readers for the first time. These are accompanied by an introductory study exploring the techniques that the author uses to motivate his audience, the precedents that influenced his work, and possible directions for future study of the text. In addition, an appendix provides translations of jihad sermons by Ibn Nubata al-Fariqi (d. 985), a preacher from Asia Minor whose rhetorical style was highly influential in the development of al-Sulami’s work.

Download or read book Crusade and Jihad written by William Roe Polk and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 2018-01-01 with total page 651 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Encompasses the entire history of the catastrophic encounter between the Global North--China, Russia, Europe, Britain, and America--and Muslim societies from Central Asia to West Africa, explaining the deep hostilities between them and how they grew over the centuries. --Adapted from publisher description.

Download or read book Answering Jihad written by Nabeel Qureshi and published by Zondervan. This book was released on 2016-03-08 with total page 177 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From New York Times bestselling author of Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus Nabeel Qureshi—a former Muslim—comes his deeply personal, challenging, and respectful answer book to the many questions surrounding jihad, the rise of ISIS, and Islamic terrorism. San Bernardino was the most lethal terror attack on American soil since 9/11, and it came on the heels of a coordinated assault on Paris. There is no question that innocents were slaughtered in the name of Allah and in the way of jihad (meaning warfare against the enemies of Islam, in this case). But do the terrorists' actions actually reflect the broader religion of Islam? The answer to this question is more pressing than ever, as many Muslim refugees are still migrating to the West, seeking shelter from the violent ideologies of ISIS, Al-Qaida, and other radical Islamic groups. Setting aside speculations and competing voices, Qureshi explores the answers to difficult questions like: What is Islam, and is it a religion of peace or violence? Is there a clear definition and doctrine of jihad? How are we to understand jihad and radical expressions of Islam in relation to our Muslim neighbors and friends? Why is there such a surge of Islamist terrorism in the world today, and how should we respond? How does jihad compare with Old Testament calls to warfare? In Answering Jihad, bestselling author Nabeel Qureshi answers these urgent questions from the perspective of a former Muslim who is deeply concerned for both his Muslim family and his American homeland.