There is no 'offensive' Jihad

Submitted by sara (United States), Jun 26, 2012 at 16:54

Schills, please show me where you can find Islamic teachings that mention offensive Jihad? In their minds, Jihad (or lesser Jihad, of the sword not the pen) is always defensive. That was my point. It is a crucial point too since I was explaining to you the manner in which the justification for holy war is made. By assuming that Jihad is only necessary in defense of Muslim land or Muslim lives, they simply manage to turn everything into a defensive act. They are defending against colonialists, aggressors, they portray all other faiths/nations as bloodthirsty inhuman beasts, they show awful things on their TV, agitate people to fever pitch, all to get them in the mindset of 'defensive' Jihad.

Therefore, your quotes about what is a legitimate target for Jihad is what I was indeed referring to. You quoted the rote and oft recited reasons why no 'real' Muslims would engage in Jihad (though many would beg to differ with you), and I illustrated how these 'guidelines' can be bent and shaped to any cause and that is how they get around any 'guidelines' from Allah.

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".