Jihad: Moving Beyound Cultural Biases and Misconceptions Essay

The concept of jehad was not widely known in the western world discover front the terrorist attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001. Since then, the word has been woven into what our media and administration feed us along with notions of Terrorism, Suicide Bombings, Hamas, Al-Qaeda, Osama Bin Laden, and now, international jihad. Our society hears exhortations redolent from the Middle East calling the people to rise up in jihad and beat rearwards the imperialist Americans. Yet, if we try to peel back all of these complex layers of information we can we attempt to find out what Jihad really means. Websters Dictionary defines Jihad as a saintly war waged on behalf of Islam as a religious employment or a crusade for a principle or tactual sensation (1). Often, media depicts Jihad in the same manneras a virulent clash between two very different peoples, each of whom believes that righteousness, and in many cases God, is on their side. From this interpretation and our daily media intake, one may clean assume that Jihad refers to nothing more than violent acts, or holy wars. While there is no precise definition of the term, the meaning of Jihad is far more complex. In fact, the term Jihad generally refers to the make do one must undertake as one strives in the direction of God (Church 110). That struggle is defined both externally and internally. As so, they are classified in terms of an external struggle with enemies or non believers, or an internal struggle with oneself to reject greed and temptation. While popular perspicacity has been misconstrued to see Jihad as a malevolent, violent action a serious investigation of the terms historical and religious orbit reveals a multi-defined word. An examination of the Jihads etymological context entrust lend a k... ... As Americans, we must approach Jihad with sensitivity, an entranceway of our ignorance on the subject, and an earnest attempt to properly educate ourselves. Works CitedChurch, Kenneth. Jihad. corroboratory Language. Ed. John Collins and Ross Glover. New York NYU Press, 2000. 109-123.Engineer, Asghar Ali. The Real Meanings of Jihad. December 2001. 1 October 2003.Husaq, Nina. e-mail to the author. 19 October 2003.Juergensmeyer, Mark. Terror In The Mind Of God. Berkeley University of California Press, 2000.Merriam-Webster Dictionary. (6th Edition) Springfield Merriam-Webster, 1999.Rogers-Melnick, Ann. Jihad Misused, Misunderstood. Post-Gazette 23 September 2001. 2 October 2003.The Quran. LXI11, p.398 IX41, p.149.Witham, Larry. Muslims See paronomasia as Swordplay in Terrorism War. The Washington Post. 24 July 2002. 3 October 2003.