The US Army War College's journal had an interesting article on The Quranic Concept of War (the title of a book by Brigadier General S. K. Malik of the Pakistani Army). From reading the article, and from my own readings of Qur'an and Hadith, I've come to the conclusion that the vast majority of Westerners do not understand the full concept of JihadJihad is not just armed fighting. It is not just car bombings or crashing planes into buildings. Jihad encompasses any and all acts which serve to advance Islam and the power of Muslims, or weaken the power of non-Muslims.
The end-goal of Jihad is to produce an environment where non-Muslims are afraid to speak out against Islam, and where Muslims do not experience any opposition to their spreading Islam by word and deed
In accordance with this, many activities can be seen as being part of Jihad:
- The fatwa against Salman Rushdie is part of Jihad, because it intimidates other writers from mocking Islam
- Filing "hate speech" charges against anyone who is critical of Islam (as happened in Australia to Rev Daniel Scott) is part of Jihad, since it intimidates others from speaking out
- Murdering artists who make movies critical of Islam (as happened to Theo van Gogh), and politicians critical of Islam (Pim Fortuyn ) is part of Jihad, because it makes others afraid to speak out
- A Muslim co-worker complaining about you to your boss because you made remarks critical of Islam, in an attempt to get you fired, is part of Jihad, because it creates a work environment where others are afraid to negatively discuss the topic
- Gaining a degree of financial control over media outlets (like the Saudi Prince who bought a large percentage of Fox News) is part of Jihad, since it allows Muslims to shape how they are portrayed in the media
Like attending sermons delivered by imams that went on welfare as soon as feasable while being gainfully employed oneself?