12/13/2023 0 Comments Dive deeper synonymThe technical word for just war in Islam is jihad, which comes from the root meaning “to endeavor, to strive.” 5 It cannot be accurately translated as “holy war,” a term that does not exist in Islamic heritage, since war in itself can never be holy war is only either just or unjust. Rather, a careful analysis will demonstrate that ‘right to war’ had been established by the Prophet ﷺ himself, with the aim of allowing, and sometimes obligating, warfare as required to preserve the freedom and security of the Muslim community and their rights within strict legal limits to preserve human life and property and to restrict violence only to what is absolutely necessary to fulfill Islam’s religious objectives. Indeed, these principles were not invented by the West and adopted by Muslims later. ![]() In reality, the basic source texts of Islam, the Qur’an and Sunnah, express the principles of jus ad bellum in a number of ways. These negative stereotypes have led to real-world acts of violence against Muslims, hate crimes, government-sanctioned discrimination, and jingoistic militarism aimed at Muslim countries. The result is that common Muslims living in Western societies are not only considered foreign, but even dangerous members of a subversive global political movement. This misperception is exacerbated by jihadist extremists who repeat the exact same scriptural and legal arguments as anti-Muslim Orientalists. Building upon centuries of bias, some Orientalist scholars in the West portrayed Islam as an inherently expansionist and aggressive ideological religion that rejects the principles of jus ad bellum and religious freedom. The view of Islam in some parts of West, however, failed to make this important connection between traditional Islam and modern developments. At the time, these Muslim-majority states and their populations largely did not see any major conflict between the principles of the UN Charter and traditional conceptions of jihad, which is the Islamic equivalent of just-war theory. The ratification of the Charter was a milestone in the history of humanity as it established rules of war based upon humanitarian values common to nearly all religions and philosophies and established relatively stable international relations. The OIC Charter calls upon member Muslim states “to adhere our commitment to the principles of the United Nations Charter, the present Charter and International Law,” part of which is adherence to just-war theory. 3 Other Muslim states would follow until a total of 57 Muslim-majority member states would come together to form the UN-affiliated Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) (formerly Organization of the Islamic Conference) in 1969. The Charter was originally ratified in 1945 by a number of leading Muslim-majority states including Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Turkey. The final section offers a detailed analysis and rebuttal of common “proof-texts” used to malign Islam as a politically aggressive, violently expansionist, or war-mongering religion. This article documents the principles of just war as they appear in Islamic source texts, and it places the classical Islamic legal framework on warfare in its proper historical context. ![]() It is not a tool of religious compulsion or forced conversion, nor is it a means of advancing purely political, ideological, or worldly goals. ![]() The primary goal of jihad is to protect the safety of the Muslim community and fulfill our obligation to practice Islam and share it with the world. In terms of warfare, jihad in the Qur’an and Sunnah foreshadows many features of the modern just-war theory concepts of jus ad bellum (“justice to war”) as well as jus in bello (“justice in war”): non-aggression, proper declaration, right intention, war as a last resort, proportional retaliation, strict adherence to covenants, and protection of civilian lives and property. ![]() Jihad itself is a much broader concept in Islam, including difficult acts of charity and spiritual struggle against Satan and the lower self. Jihad in Islam, or warfare in defense of life and Muslim religious rights, is legally analogous to modern just-war theory as enshrined in international law.
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