Jinn of Current Events

Daniel Pipes: In premodern times, jihad meant mainly one thing among Sunni Muslims, then as now the Islamic majority. It meant the legal, compulsory,communal effort to expand the territories ruled by Muslims (known in Arabic as dar al-Islam) at the expense of territories ruled by non-Muslims (dar al-harb). In this prevailing conception, the purpose of jihad is political, not religious. It aims not so much to spread the Islamic faith as to extend sovereign Muslim power (though the former has often followed the latter). The goal is boldly offensive, and its ultimate intent is nothing less than to achieve Muslim dominion over the entire world. However, many university professors in the West are claiming today that the concept of jihad actually subsumes a lofty, internal struggle, which we ought to emulate. In the same spirit, I suppose the crusades and inquisition were respectable endeavours merely dealing with personal, emotional problems...