Jihad: From Qur'an to bin Laden »

RICHARD BONNEY is Head of Department of History at the University of Leicester.

This book locates the origin of Jihad and traces its evolution as an idea with the intellectual history of the concept of Jihad in Islam as well as how it has been misapplied by modern Islamic terrorists and suicide bombers. The book provides a unique and balanced coverage of the historical evolution of the concept of Jihad, and mainstream moderate Islamic views of the concept from the Qu'ran to the twenty-first century.

Foreword   Sheikh Dr Zaki Badawi     x
Author's Preface     xii
Glossary     xvii
Introduction     1
Prologue: The War of Annihilation (Herem) in the Hebrew Scriptures     15
Text and Meaning
Jihad in the Qur'an and the Sunnah     21
The Qur'an     21
The Gradual Transmission of the Text to the Prophet     22
A Holistic Interpretation of the Text or the Replacement of Some Texts by Others ('Abrogation')     24
Revelation by Substitution? The Four Stages in the Development of the Qur'anic Concept of Jihad     25
Different Senses of Jihad in the Qur'an     27
Differing Views among Modern Commentators on the Qur'an     29
No Perpetual War between the World of Islam and the World of Unbelief (Kufr) in the Qur'an     32
The Sunnah     33
Jihad in the Early Collections of the Hadith     34
The Early Usage of 'Martyrdom' in the Traditions of the Prophet     36
The Issue of Canonicity among the Collections of Hadith Literature     37
'Weak' and 'False' Hadith and the Implications for the Jihad Traditions     38
The Importance of Historical Context in Understanding the Prophetic Traditions     42
The Prophet: a Spiritual but not a Political Leader?     43
'Jihad of the Sword': Carrying the Message Abroad (Futuhat)     53
The First Jihads against Unrighteousness: the Khariji Revolts as Exemplars of the Rejectionist Community     55
The Succession Issue and the Choice of the Right Imam     58
Carrying the Message Abroad (Futuhat) and Proto-Jihad     62
The Muslim Armies and their Conduct     68
Differences on Jihad between the Classical Jurists     71
The Developed Ideology of Jihad     74
The Acceptance of Juristic Disagreement: Ibn Rushd     79
Other Religionists as Second-Class Citizens: Dhimmitude and the Payment of Jizya     83
Selective Memory rather than Historical Reality: Crusades and Saladin's 'Counter-Crusade'     86
Jihad al-Nafs: The Spiritual Struggle     91
The Nature of Early Sufism     92
Al-Qushayri's Treatise and the Genre of the Sufi Textbook     94
The Pre-eminent al-Ghazali     97
The Location of Sufi Spiritual Activity: the 'Dervish Lodge' (Khanqah) and the Fortified Monastery (Ribat)     99
The Transmutation of One Branch of Sufism: Shah Wali Allah and the Caliphate     100
Contextual Theorists and State Systems
Ibn Taymiyah and the Defensive Jihad: a Response to the Crusades and the Mongol Invasions     111
The Credentials of the Shaykh al-Islam     111
Ibn Taymiyah's Concept of the True Believer     113
Reviving the Duty of 'Jihad of the Sword'     116
Forbidding Wrong: the Guiding Book and the Helping Sword     118
The Contemporary Violent Islamists' Distortion of Ibn Taymiyah's 'Thought     121
Jihad as State System: the Ottoman State, Safavid Persia and the Mughal Empire     127
Jihad as a Factor in the Rise of the Ottoman State     128
The Greatest Sunni Ruler? Suleyman the Law-Giver (al-Qanuni)     132
Problems of Factionalism and the Disintegration of Military Power under the Later Ottomans     136
Mughal Exceptionalism     139
Reviving the State and Faith under the Later Ottomans     145
From World War I Jihad to Genocide: the Young Turks and the Armenian Genocide     150
Muhammad Ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab and Wahhabism     154
Ibn ' Abd al-Wahhab's Teaching and the Practice of Jihad in his Lifetime     155
Wahhabi Jihad after Ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab's Death: Three Sa'idi Regimes     163
'Petrodollar Puritanism' and the Issue of Tolerance of Diversity in Islam     168
Jihad in the Period of the Colonial Powers: Islamic Revivalism and Politicization of the Masses?     172
Jihad Movements in Pre-Colonial Africa     173
The Five Fulani Jihads of West Africa     175
The Prototype of the Anti-Colonial Jihad: the Jihad of 'Abd al-Qadir in Algeria     182
The Jihad of the Mahdi in the Sudan     183
The Jihad of Imam Shamil in Russia     186
The Jihad of Amir Ya'qub Beg in Chinese Central Asia     189
Jihad in the Era of the Indian Mutiny     192
The Development of Modernist Arguments in Opposition to Muslim Revivalism     194
Ideological Interpretations
Sunni Political Jihadists of the Twentieth-Century: Mawdudi, Hasan al-Banna', Qutb     199
Mawdudi     200
Islamic Jihad as World Revolution     200
The Seizure of Power by the Party of God (Hizbu'llah)     203
The Lordship of God? The Search for the Islamic State     205
Islam Refuses Minority Status     208
Hasan al-Banna'     211
The Muslim Brotherhood (Ikhwan)     211
Jihad: the Road to Salvation from Western Colonialism     212
Sayyid Qutb     215
Jihad as the Perpetual Revolutionary Struggle against the Forces of Unbelief, Injustice and Falsehood (Jahiliyyah)     216
The Supremacy of the 'Final Texts' over the 'Transitional Texts'     217
The Need for an Islamic Vanguard and its Influence on bin Laden     221
The Shi'a Depiction of Jihad and Martyrdom (Shahadah)     224
Foundational Narratives of Martyrdom     225
The Imamiyyah World View     226
The Isma'ili Caliphate and its Rivals, 297/909-567/1171     228
The First Era of Sustained Group Terrorism? The Nizari Isma'ilis, Assassination and the Doctrine of the Last Day (Qiyamah), 559/1164-654/1256     231
The Shi'a as a Politico-Religious Minority in Ottoman-controlled 'Iraq     232
The 'Great 'Iraqi Revolution' or Jihad of 1338/1920 and its Implications in Iran     234
Architects of the Iranian Revolution: I. Mutahhari and Jihad     238
Architects of the Iranian Revolution: II. Khomeini's 'Greater Jihad' of the 30 Million     243
The Resurgence of the Shi'a of 'Iraq. I: the Intifadah of 141 / March 1991     252
The Resurgence of the Shi'a of 'Iraq. II: the Jihad of 1425/2004     255
Context and Distortion of the Text
The Crucible: the Palestine-Israel Dispute and its Consequences     269
The Palestinian Jihad of 1355/1936-1358/1939 against British Mandate Policy     271
From Disaster (al-Nakbah) and Dispersal to the First Military Operations, 1367/1948-1374/1955     276
Disunity and Defeat of the 'State within the State': the Palestinian Movement from the Suez-Sinai War of 1376/1956 to the October War of 1393/1973     280
The Assassination of Sadat: Faraj and the 'Neglected Duty' of Jihad     288
Operation 'Peace for Galilee': Hizbu'llah's Legitimation of 'Martyrdom Operations' in Lebanon     292
The First Palestinian Intifadah: Palestinian Peace-making Trends and the Emergence of Hamas     304
The Second Palestinian Intifadah: the Affirmation of Jihadi Ideology     312
Osama bin Laden: Global Jihad as 'Fifth-Generation' Warfare     320
Jihad Perceived as 'Fourth-Generation' Warfare, 2002     321
Sowing the Wind: the 'Fabrication' of the Afghan Jihad     324
Reaping the Whirlwind: Post-Soviet Afghanistan, Kashmir, Central Asia, Chechnya, Xinjiang and Algeria     335
Afghanistan     335
Kashmir     343
Central Asia     347
Chechnya     349
Xinjiang     352
Algeria     353
The Struggle against 'Crusaderism' and the Sa'udi Regime: Osama bin Laden and his Ideological Supporters     356
A Clash of 'Rival Exceptionalisms', Not a Clash of Civilizations. I: Aspects of Militant Islamist Exceptionalism     365
A Clash of 'Rival Exceptionalisms', Not a Clash of Civilizations. II: Aspects of American Exceptionalism     369
The Revenge of al-Qaeda: Global Jihad Perceived as 'Fifth-Generation' Warfare     375
Conclusion: 'Enlightened Moderation': Towards a Muslim Consensus on the Future Development of Islam and its Relations with the West     395
To Understand Each Jihad We Must Understand its Historical Context     399
There is No Legitimate Offensive Jihad: Nor Should Islam be Regarded as a 'Religion of the Sword'     400
Jihad as the Right of Defence of the Community: the 'Just War' Argument in New Historical Circumstances     402
The Unity of Islam and Tolerance Within Islam     404
The Need for Mainstream Islam to Embrace Positively the Existence of Pluralist Societies in the Contemporary World     407
Mainstream Muslims Engage with the Key Issues as Perceived by Others: Ijtihad, Shari'ah Modernization, Common Citizenship, Power-Sharing in Civil Society, Apostasy     410
The Jihad for Justice and the Betterment of the Human Condition     418
The Future of the Human Family. I: Six Principles for Consideration     420
The Future of the Human Family. II: Islam's Need to Engage in 'Public Diplomacy'     422
Extract from a Legal Ruling (Fatwa)   Ibn Taymiyah on the Mongols, 702/1303     424
Notes     426
Select Bibliography     553
Index     573