Jihad against the word jihad

Its a standing on a soapbox rambling meandinering rant kind of day, very different than my usual post.

Somebody recently sent me this article about how anti-western muslim terrorists are well-educated people who have had opportunites in life, as opposed to the vision that they are lashing out as a result of their lives under oppressive authoritarian regimes. I agree with most of what this article says, and I'm glad my friend was interested enough in it to share it. But it has reminded me that there is a real problem with how the word 'jihad' has come to have one meaning in English and western media while it has a broader, different meaning in Arabic. It drives me nuts when I hear a news anchor say "... a jihad, or holy war, ...". The word has a common meaning of struggle or effort, but the Arabic word has made its way into English with the meaning of "holy war against the West by radical muslim fundamentalists". This article provides an example of this, as David Brooks uses the words "terrorists" and "jihadists" interchangably.

This point sticks with me because nearly every instructor of Arabic I've had has at some point taken time during a class to go on a tangent about how 'jihad' does not mean 'holy war'. I think it is an important point, too, because language influences thought. If we think that there is a built-in provision in Islam for launching a war against your enemies and that it even has its own unique name, we get a much more frightening, violent image of Islam. Every serious muslim I have met here has rushed to make the point that Islam is a peaceful religion and those who act violently in the name of Islam have a twisted and incorrect interpretation of the religion. I hope to spread this idea because I do know people who equate Islam with violence, and ultimately this way of thinking is itself a barrier to peace.

David Brooks suggests this point in his article. If we want a successful policy for change in the Middle East, for democratization and economic liberalization and against destabilizing terrorist organizations, we must think of terrorists, whether they be radical fundamentalists or otherwise, as anomalies on the fringes of their own societies, with a way of thought that is not in accordance with the vast majority of their fellow countrymen.

Syria seems to be particularly lacking in extremist nut jobs. Of the many people I've met and talked to here, of various religions and ethnicities, I have only met one who didn't like Americans. And that was a taxi driver who was upset that he wasn't able to rip me off for about five times what the fare was worth. Everyone else, including the taxi drivers, has been very nice.

With that I step off the soapbox.