islamic-jihad-legacy-of-forced-conversion-imperialism-slavery

Jihad: The Controversies2-As violent Islamists wreak havoc around the world, more so in Islamic countries, understanding the "truemeaning" of Jihad, their central cause, is of central importance for both Muslims and non-Muslims in order todevise effective counter-measures against them. Without understanding what Jihad truly means, it isimpossible for authorities and the people to devise effective remedies against the growing violent trend in thename of Jihad amongst Muslims.This book is a small effort to give readers an idea of what Jihad truly means. It goes through the lifeof Prophet Muhammad as he progressively received revelation from the Islamic God (Allah) as contained inthe Muslim holy book, the Quran. It will examine when and under what circumstances, Allah introduced theconcept of Jihad into Islamic doctrines. It will demonstrate—based on the Quran, authentic prophetictraditions, and original biographies of Prophet Muhammad—how the Prophet of Islam had applied thedoctrine of Jihad as he founded the Islamic creed during the last twenty-three years of his life (610–632 CE).Having thus made a sense of the religious foundation and prophetic model of Jihad, it will examine how thisprototypical model of Jihad was perpetuated by Muslims through the ages of Islamic domination.It is worth noting beforehand that, in putting Allah’s doctrine of Jihad into practice at the birth ofIslam, Prophet Muhammad had established three major models of Jihadi actions:1. Use of violence for the propagation of Islam,2. Islamic imperialism,3. Islamic slaveryThe historical accounts of these legacies of Jihad will be discussed in separate chapters in this book.4