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Jihad is not what you think it is

Spirit of Light

Be who ever you want
I hope this topic is not going to offend anyone, but it is an important part of the understanding of Islam.

As soon as a person bring up the Arabic word Jihad it is seen as something very evil, But do you really know the true meaning behind the word?

It is not as bad as you think, because it does not mean Holy war only, And the war part is the very last thing in this, and it is only as defence.

In Arabic the Word Jihad means struggle or spiritual struggle, it actually is meant as a word for the internal struggle each muslim go thru in their practice. Not a call for war on everyone who is not a muslim.

So what we call terrorists today, has nothing to do with islam, because they dont understand even the most simple verse they clame to be in war for.
 

sooda

Veteran Member
I hope this topic is not going to offend anyone, but it is an important part of the understanding of Islam.

As soon as a person bring up the Arabic word Jihad it is seen as something very evil, But do you really know the true meaning behind the word?

It is not as bad as you think, because it does not mean Holy war only, And the war part is the very last thing in this, and it is only as defence.

In Arabic the Word Jihad means struggle or spiritual struggle, it actually is meant as a word for the internal struggle each muslim go thru in their practice. Not a call for war on everyone who is not a muslim.

So what we call terrorists today, has nothing to do with islam, because they dont understand even the most simple verse they clame to be in war for.

Unless someone just learned about Islam last week, they know.... or should know.. that jihad is the spiritual struggle to submit to the will of God. To be obedient to God's will. That's not so different than Christianity or Judaism.
 
Jihad also means holy war, and this was its predominant usage in classical Islam.

From the earliest days of the Islamic polity, one of the most important duties of its leader, be he the Prophet or a caliph, was to lead and direct the 'jibadfi sabil allah"-military striving in the path of God against the unbelievers. The Qur'an is quite unambiguous about this obligation; some of its numerous statements on the subject include "Let those fight in the path of God who sell the life of this world for the hereafter; and whoever fights in the path of God, whether he is killed or triumphs, we shall give him a great reward;"3or: "God has bought from the believers their lives and their wealth in return for Paradise; they fight in the way of God, kill and get killed. That is a true promise from Him...and who fulfills His promise better than God?..."4 This Qur'anic injunction was put into effect from the time of the Prophet onwards, and resulted in the creation of a vast Islamic Empire during the century after the religion's founding.5

It was also not limited to defence:

The twelfth-century biographer and religious scholar al-Sam'ani defines the mutatawwi'aas

a group who have devoted themselves entirely to the ghazw and the jihad, stationed themselves on the frontiers and devoted themselves to [tatawwa'u bi] the ghazw and sought the ghazw in the lands of the infidels when it was not incumbent upon them and present in their land....

On declining Caliphal legitimacy due to a decline in aggressive jihad:

The effective halting of the Jihad-and, even worse, the reversal of the offensive into Muslim territory-must have posed an unprecedented crisis for the Faithful. The Jihad, a central tenet of the faith, one which had constituted the main focus of the Caliphate's endeavours from the very beginning of the Islamic polity, had fallen into abeyance. Obviously, the resulting moral and mili-tary vacuum at the frontier could not last-and, indeed, it did not. What has been termed "the Jihad State" may have ended, but the Jihad itself did not; it simply became what we today would call "privatized;" that is, it went from cen-trally directed state campaigns to independent, non-governmentally controlled, smaller scale raids led and manned by mutatawwia, volunteer warriors for the faith. This transferral of religious leadership in the Jihad, from the caliph to the mutatawwia, in turn led to truly fundamental changes in all areas of Islamic civilization.

Religiously, the mutatawwi'a movement brought about a revolution regarding the proper role of the political authorities in the Jihad... There was a deep ideological conflict expressed in these two opposing views: namely, do political leaders have religious control over the Jihad, or is it, rather, a religious obligation in which any believer may engage at any time-as he is entitled to do with, say, the giving of alms-irrespective of the political authority. It was the latter view, the view of the mutatawwi'a, which won (at least in 'Iraq), and was eventually adopted by both the Shafi'ite and Hanbalite schools.

The ramifications of this mutatawwi' victory were immense. Again in the religious sphere, the early mutatawwi'a played a decisive role in the consolidation of Sunnism-and particularly Hanbalism-in the decades around the turn of the third Hijri century. The mutatawwi' emphasis on the individual responsibilities of the believer before God-particularly concerning the Jihad-and on guidance by the Prophetic Sunna weakened the religious role of the Caliph, and marked, if not the beginning, certainly one of the most significant steps in the process Crone and Hinds have described as the transition from Caliphal to Prophetic sunna, and also accords well with the timeline they present.24 Thus, the mutatawwi'a, the militant arm of the proto-Sunni Traditionists, played a significant role in Sunnism's victory through the religious prestige they acquired in their role in leading the Jihad...

The rise of the mutatawwi'a, and the significance of their victory in reshaping the Jihad, was not limited to the religious sphere, though; it was fraught with pol-itical consequences as well. Jihad had traditionally lain at the heart of the Muslim polity from the time of the Prophet; the very first governmental organization, the diwan, had been an outcome of this focus on bringing God's rule to the Dar al-Harb. The fact that the Jihad now passed largely out of governmental hands meant that a major factor in the religious identification of Islam with the government was removed. More importantly, since the nongovernmental mutatawwi view of the Jihad was part of a complete religious outlook regarding the relative worth of the contemporaneous imamate compared to that of the Prophet and the early Muslims as preserved by the Traditionists, the undermining effect that the mutatawwi'i victory in the Jihad had upon the caliph's religious standing and authority was not and could not be limited to that one religious area. Rather, once the question of who would wield religious authority in Islam had been settled in favor of the Traditionists-in no small part, thanks to the prestige of the mutatawwi'a caliphal religious stature and authority crumbled, with political authority and power soon following in their wake.

D Tor - Privatised Jihad and Public Order in the Pre-Seljuq Period: The Role of the Mutatawwi'a, Iranian Studies, 2005, 38(4)


I'm not someone who buys into alarmism and anti-Islamic hyperbole, but there is no need to sugar coat the past or misrepresent the idea.
 

Spirit of Light

Be who ever you want
Jihad also means holy war, and this was its predominant usage in classical Islam.

From the earliest days of the Islamic polity, one of the most important duties of its leader, be he the Prophet or a caliph, was to lead and direct the 'jibadfi sabil allah"-military striving in the path of God against the unbelievers. The Qur'an is quite unambiguous about this obligation; some of its numerous statements on the subject include "Let those fight in the path of God who sell the life of this world for the hereafter; and whoever fights in the path of God, whether he is killed or triumphs, we shall give him a great reward;"3or: "God has bought from the believers their lives and their wealth in return for Paradise; they fight in the way of God, kill and get killed. That is a true promise from Him...and who fulfills His promise better than God?..."4 This Qur'anic injunction was put into effect from the time of the Prophet onwards, and resulted in the creation of a vast Islamic Empire during the century after the religion's founding.5

It was also not limited to defence:

The twelfth-century biographer and religious scholar al-Sam'ani defines the mutatawwi'aas

a group who have devoted themselves entirely to the ghazw and the jihad, stationed themselves on the frontiers and devoted themselves to [tatawwa'u bi] the ghazw and sought the ghazw in the lands of the infidels when it was not incumbent upon them and present in their land....

On declining Caliphal legitimacy due to a decline in aggressive jihad:

The effective halting of the Jihad-and, even worse, the reversal of the offensive into Muslim territory-must have posed an unprecedented crisis for the Faithful. The Jihad, a central tenet of the faith, one which had constituted the main focus of the Caliphate's endeavours from the very beginning of the Islamic polity, had fallen into abeyance. Obviously, the resulting moral and mili-tary vacuum at the frontier could not last-and, indeed, it did not. What has been termed "the Jihad State" may have ended, but the Jihad itself did not; it simply became what we today would call "privatized;" that is, it went from cen-trally directed state campaigns to independent, non-governmentally controlled, smaller scale raids led and manned by mutatawwia, volunteer warriors for the faith. This transferral of religious leadership in the Jihad, from the caliph to the mutatawwia, in turn led to truly fundamental changes in all areas of Islamic civilization.

Religiously, the mutatawwi'a movement brought about a revolution regarding the proper role of the political authorities in the Jihad... There was a deep ideological conflict expressed in these two opposing views: namely, do political leaders have religious control over the Jihad, or is it, rather, a religious obligation in which any believer may engage at any time-as he is entitled to do with, say, the giving of alms-irrespective of the political authority. It was the latter view, the view of the mutatawwi'a, which won (at least in 'Iraq), and was eventually adopted by both the Shafi'ite and Hanbalite schools.

The ramifications of this mutatawwi' victory were immense. Again in the religious sphere, the early mutatawwi'a played a decisive role in the consolidation of Sunnism-and particularly Hanbalism-in the decades around the turn of the third Hijri century. The mutatawwi' emphasis on the individual responsibilities of the believer before God-particularly concerning the Jihad-and on guidance by the Prophetic Sunna weakened the religious role of the Caliph, and marked, if not the beginning, certainly one of the most significant steps in the process Crone and Hinds have described as the transition from Caliphal to Prophetic sunna, and also accords well with the timeline they present.24 Thus, the mutatawwi'a, the militant arm of the proto-Sunni Traditionists, played a significant role in Sunnism's victory through the religious prestige they acquired in their role in leading the Jihad...

The rise of the mutatawwi'a, and the significance of their victory in reshaping the Jihad, was not limited to the religious sphere, though; it was fraught with pol-itical consequences as well. Jihad had traditionally lain at the heart of the Muslim polity from the time of the Prophet; the very first governmental organization, the diwan, had been an outcome of this focus on bringing God's rule to the Dar al-Harb. The fact that the Jihad now passed largely out of governmental hands meant that a major factor in the religious identification of Islam with the government was removed. More importantly, since the nongovernmental mutatawwi view of the Jihad was part of a complete religious outlook regarding the relative worth of the contemporaneous imamate compared to that of the Prophet and the early Muslims as preserved by the Traditionists, the undermining effect that the mutatawwi'i victory in the Jihad had upon the caliph's religious standing and authority was not and could not be limited to that one religious area. Rather, once the question of who would wield religious authority in Islam had been settled in favor of the Traditionists-in no small part, thanks to the prestige of the mutatawwi'a caliphal religious stature and authority crumbled, with political authority and power soon following in their wake.

D Tor - Privatised Jihad and Public Order in the Pre-Seljuq Period: The Role of the Mutatawwi'a, Iranian Studies, 2005, 38(4)


I'm not someone who buys into alarmism and anti-Islamic hyperbole, but there is no need to sugar coat the past or misrepresent the idea.

That someone use the one part of the word that can be translated to holy war outside of self does not mean it is what the phrophet wanted it to be. It is not islam in it self that have done a lot of wrong, it is the followers who do not understand the teaching. Everything about any religion is a prosess within one self. No need to fight other people
 

sooda

Veteran Member
Jihad also means holy war, and this was its predominant usage in classical Islam.

From the earliest days of the Islamic polity, one of the most important duties of its leader, be he the Prophet or a caliph, was to lead and direct the 'jibadfi sabil allah"-military striving in the path of God against the unbelievers. The Qur'an is quite unambiguous about this obligation; some of its numerous statements on the subject include "Let those fight in the path of God who sell the life of this world for the hereafter; and whoever fights in the path of God, whether he is killed or triumphs, we shall give him a great reward;"3or: "God has bought from the believers their lives and their wealth in return for Paradise; they fight in the way of God, kill and get killed. That is a true promise from Him...and who fulfills His promise better than God?..."4 This Qur'anic injunction was put into effect from the time of the Prophet onwards, and resulted in the creation of a vast Islamic Empire during the century after the religion's founding.5

It was also not limited to defence:

The twelfth-century biographer and religious scholar al-Sam'ani defines the mutatawwi'aas

a group who have devoted themselves entirely to the ghazw and the jihad, stationed themselves on the frontiers and devoted themselves to [tatawwa'u bi] the ghazw and sought the ghazw in the lands of the infidels when it was not incumbent upon them and present in their land....

On declining Caliphal legitimacy due to a decline in aggressive jihad:

The effective halting of the Jihad-and, even worse, the reversal of the offensive into Muslim territory-must have posed an unprecedented crisis for the Faithful. The Jihad, a central tenet of the faith, one which had constituted the main focus of the Caliphate's endeavours from the very beginning of the Islamic polity, had fallen into abeyance. Obviously, the resulting moral and mili-tary vacuum at the frontier could not last-and, indeed, it did not. What has been termed "the Jihad State" may have ended, but the Jihad itself did not; it simply became what we today would call "privatized;" that is, it went from cen-trally directed state campaigns to independent, non-governmentally controlled, smaller scale raids led and manned by mutatawwia, volunteer warriors for the faith. This transferral of religious leadership in the Jihad, from the caliph to the mutatawwia, in turn led to truly fundamental changes in all areas of Islamic civilization.

Religiously, the mutatawwi'a movement brought about a revolution regarding the proper role of the political authorities in the Jihad... There was a deep ideological conflict expressed in these two opposing views: namely, do political leaders have religious control over the Jihad, or is it, rather, a religious obligation in which any believer may engage at any time-as he is entitled to do with, say, the giving of alms-irrespective of the political authority. It was the latter view, the view of the mutatawwi'a, which won (at least in 'Iraq), and was eventually adopted by both the Shafi'ite and Hanbalite schools.

The ramifications of this mutatawwi' victory were immense. Again in the religious sphere, the early mutatawwi'a played a decisive role in the consolidation of Sunnism-and particularly Hanbalism-in the decades around the turn of the third Hijri century. The mutatawwi' emphasis on the individual responsibilities of the believer before God-particularly concerning the Jihad-and on guidance by the Prophetic Sunna weakened the religious role of the Caliph, and marked, if not the beginning, certainly one of the most significant steps in the process Crone and Hinds have described as the transition from Caliphal to Prophetic sunna, and also accords well with the timeline they present.24 Thus, the mutatawwi'a, the militant arm of the proto-Sunni Traditionists, played a significant role in Sunnism's victory through the religious prestige they acquired in their role in leading the Jihad...

The rise of the mutatawwi'a, and the significance of their victory in reshaping the Jihad, was not limited to the religious sphere, though; it was fraught with pol-itical consequences as well. Jihad had traditionally lain at the heart of the Muslim polity from the time of the Prophet; the very first governmental organization, the diwan, had been an outcome of this focus on bringing God's rule to the Dar al-Harb. The fact that the Jihad now passed largely out of governmental hands meant that a major factor in the religious identification of Islam with the government was removed. More importantly, since the nongovernmental mutatawwi view of the Jihad was part of a complete religious outlook regarding the relative worth of the contemporaneous imamate compared to that of the Prophet and the early Muslims as preserved by the Traditionists, the undermining effect that the mutatawwi'i victory in the Jihad had upon the caliph's religious standing and authority was not and could not be limited to that one religious area. Rather, once the question of who would wield religious authority in Islam had been settled in favor of the Traditionists-in no small part, thanks to the prestige of the mutatawwi'a caliphal religious stature and authority crumbled, with political authority and power soon following in their wake.

D Tor - Privatised Jihad and Public Order in the Pre-Seljuq Period: The Role of the Mutatawwi'a, Iranian Studies, 2005, 38(4)


I'm not someone who buys into alarmism and anti-Islamic hyperbole, but there is no need to sugar coat the past or misrepresent the idea.

There was no Caliphate in the time of Muhammed.

The notions of "houses" or "divisions" of the world in Islam such as Dar al-Islam and Dar al-Harb does not appear in the Quran or the Hadith.

Dar al-sulh territory of treaty

Dar al-'Ahd also house of non aggression treaty

Dar al-Tawhid, house/abode of monotheism

Dar as-Salam, house/abode of Peace

Dar al-Islam‎ literally house/abode of Islam

Dar al-Harb house of war

Dar al-Garb house of the West
 
That someone use the one part of the word that can be translated to holy war outside of self does not mean it is what the phrophet wanted it to be. It is not islam in it self that have done a lot of wrong, it is the followers who do not understand the teaching. Everything about any religion is a prosess within one self. No need to fight other people

It's not up to me to decide how other people should interpret their scriptures. What I can say though is how Muslims in the past interpreted it.

What happened in the past does not necessitate the same happening in the future as the world is a very different place, but that doesn't mean it didn't happen.

To say 'internal struggle' has always been the predominant interpretation of the word jihad is simply untrue. IIRC, it developed later in Sufi traditions (although I'm not 100% on this).
 

A Vestigial Mote

Well-Known Member
I hope this topic is not going to offend anyone, but it is an important part of the understanding of Islam.

As soon as a person bring up the Arabic word Jihad it is seen as something very evil, But do you really know the true meaning behind the word?

It is not as bad as you think, because it does not mean Holy war only, And the war part is the very last thing in this, and it is only as defence.

In Arabic the Word Jihad means struggle or spiritual struggle, it actually is meant as a word for the internal struggle each muslim go thru in their practice. Not a call for war on everyone who is not a muslim.

So what we call terrorists today, has nothing to do with islam, because they dont understand even the most simple verse they clame to be in war for.
This is all well and good... but what, then, is the word for someone who attacks others outside of their religion, in the name of their religion? Maybe we don't even need a word for it. However - what doesn't do any good at all, is to pretend that such things aren't happening, and try to call it something like "spiritual struggle" instead. And if that isn't what you are doing here, then let's instead just leave use of the word "Jihad" to those who care that it is even a word (hint: it isn't me), and when we come in contact with those who use their fervency in belief in some make-believe story that they cannot demonstrate any truth for to destroy the lives of others... well then let's agree to call an evil "evil", shall we?
 

Spirit of Light

Be who ever you want
This is all well and good... but what, then, is the word for someone who attacks others outside of their religion, in the name of their religion? Maybe we don't even need a word for it. However - what doesn't do any good at all, is to pretend that such things aren't happening, and try to call it something like "spiritual struggle" instead. And if that isn't what you are doing here, then let's instead just leave use of the word "Jihad" to those who care that it is even a word (hint: it isn't me), and when we come in contact with those who use their fervency in belief in some make-believe story that they cannot demonstrate any truth for to destroy the lives of others... well then let's agree to call an evil "evil", shall we?
The Jihad we know today is what we see in terrorists who use the word Islam wrong too, Terrorists are not muslims they can only be terrorists because they do not follow the rightroues path in Islam, and yes those who do harm to others can not be called religious.
 

A Vestigial Mote

Well-Known Member
The Jihad we know today is what we see in terrorists who use the word Islam wrong too, Terrorists are not muslims they can only be terrorists because they do not follow the rightroues path in Islam, and yes those who do harm to others can not be called religious.
This is a very optimistic, but naive way to view the situation.

Think of the Roman Catholic church and its origins, and the break that happened to form what is now recognized as the "Protestant" sect of Christianity. This is the same sort of break you are talking about within Islam, and the Catholics were saying the same things about Protestants that you are saying about fundamentalist/terrorist sects of Islam - that they aren't following the "true path" of the religion. That they aren't really "Christians." They can very easily form their own branch of Islam, effectively making a new "religion", and no one can denounce them and say that they are not a religion, lest they have to also point the finger back at their own brand of make-believe that also branched off due to conflicting ideals at some point!

Those who do harm to others can certainly be called religious. You can't rightly assert that religion and harm are mutually exclusive. One need only mention The Crusades as an obvious example. Those riding around killing were considered extremely religiously affiliated. Do you honestly think that the religious leaders told the fighters in those wars that "You're going to have to renounce your religion to begin this quest, but you are doing so for the good of the rest of us."? No... they were told something more like "You will be rewarded for your valor and sacrifice in heaven. To die on the battlefield in service of God is one of the greatest glories."

Don't be naive.
 

Spirit of Light

Be who ever you want
This is a very optimistic, but naive way to view the situation.

Think of the Roman Catholic church and its origins, and the break that happened to form what is now recognized as the "Protestant" sect of Christianity. This is the same sort of break you are talking about within Islam, and the Catholics were saying the same things about Protestants that you are saying about fundamentalist/terrorist sects of Islam - that they aren't following the "true path" of the religion. That they aren't really "Christians." They can very easily form their own branch of Islam, effectively making a new "religion", and no one can denounce them and say that they are not a religion, lest they have to also point the finger back at their own brand of make-believe that also branched off due to conflicting ideals at some point!

Those who do harm to others can certainly be called religious. You can't rightly assert that religion and harm are mutually exclusive. One need only mention The Crusades as an obvious example. Those riding around killing were considered extremely religiously affiliated. Do you honestly think that the religious leaders told the fighters in those wars that "You're going to have to renounce your religion to begin this quest, but you are doing so for the good of the rest of us."? No... they were told something more like "You will be rewarded for your valor and sacrifice in heaven. To die on the battlefield in service of God is one of the greatest glories."

Don't be naive.
Anyone who have studied the scriptures and have cultivated their mind toward no harm, no ill will toward others will know that to harm others in any religious name is indeed a very evil deed. It is not Islam or Christianity or Catholic teaching that is wrong or evil, it is the man/woman who execute the wrong deed that is evil, so if you take all religion and say they are evil because some people misunderstood the teaching as going to war against other beliefs/religion then it is evidence of lack of understanding of the teaching.
 

sooda

Veteran Member
It's not up to me to decide how other people should interpret their scriptures. What I can say though is how Muslims in the past interpreted it.

What happened in the past does not necessitate the same happening in the future as the world is a very different place, but that doesn't mean it didn't happen.

To say 'internal struggle' has always been the predominant interpretation of the word jihad is simply untrue. IIRC, it developed later in Sufi traditions (although I'm not 100% on this).

"sufism" with a small, lowercase s is the spiritual aspect of all Islam.

History of Sufism

The earliest form of Sufism arose under the Umayyad Dynasty (661-749) less than a century after the founding of Islam. Mystics of this period meditated on the Doomsday passages in the Quran, thereby earning such nicknames as "those who always weep."

These early Sufis led a life of strict obedience to Islamic scripture and tradition and were known for their night prayers. Many of them concentrated their efforts upon tawakkul, absolute trust in God, which became a central concept of Sufism.

Another century or so later, a new emphasis on love changed asceticism into mysticism. This development is attributed to Rabi'ah al-'Adawiyah (d. 801), a woman from Basra who formulated the Sufi ideal of a pure love of God that was disinterested, without hope for Paradise or fear of Hell.

Other important developments soon followed, including strict self-control, psychological insight, "interior knowledge," annihilation of the self, mystical insights about the nature of man and the Prophet, hymns and poetry. This period, from about 800-1100 AD, is referred to as classical Sufism or classical mysticism.
 

sooda

Veteran Member
This is all well and good... but what, then, is the word for someone who attacks others outside of their religion, in the name of their religion? Maybe we don't even need a word for it. However - what doesn't do any good at all, is to pretend that such things aren't happening, and try to call it something like "spiritual struggle" instead. And if that isn't what you are doing here, then let's instead just leave use of the word "Jihad" to those who care that it is even a word (hint: it isn't me), and when we come in contact with those who use their fervency in belief in some make-believe story that they cannot demonstrate any truth for to destroy the lives of others... well then let's agree to call an evil "evil", shall we?

You mean like the invasion of Iraq?
 

Thief

Rogue Theologian
I hope this topic is not going to offend anyone, but it is an important part of the understanding of Islam.

As soon as a person bring up the Arabic word Jihad it is seen as something very evil, But do you really know the true meaning behind the word?

It is not as bad as you think, because it does not mean Holy war only, And the war part is the very last thing in this, and it is only as defence.

In Arabic the Word Jihad means struggle or spiritual struggle, it actually is meant as a word for the internal struggle each muslim go thru in their practice. Not a call for war on everyone who is not a muslim.

So what we call terrorists today, has nothing to do with islam, because they dont understand even the most simple verse they clame to be in war for.
I saw a program wherein three men of faith stood to a podium and mic

the first dressed in white.....and spoke of Islam as a discipline
as if we have nothing else on the calendar

the second spoke with the opening line.....
Islam is not a religion of peace
he wore black
his words were not well received
the crowd booed his introduction

the third wore street apparel and spoke as if
Islam is just a way of going about day to day
no mention of conflict

but hey......there are many who believe you are not worthy the breath you breathe
and killing you is a favor in the eyes of God

you are an infidel
 

A Vestigial Mote

Well-Known Member
You mean like the invasion of Iraq?
Yes - though that was not religiously motivated - I would call going after resource interests at high cost to, and without care for the local populace an "evil", certainly. What did you expect me to say?
 

sooda

Veteran Member
Yes - though that was not religiously motivated - I would call going after resource interests at high cost to, and without care for the local populace an "evil", certainly. What did you expect me to say?

Well, Dubya told the president of France that he was fighting Gog and Magog... so his Bible scholarship stank.
 

A Vestigial Mote

Well-Known Member
Well, Dubya told the president of France that he was fighting Gog and Magog... so his Bible scholarship stank.
Likely a metaphor for his thinking (or attempting to use as an excuse) that he was protecting the world from apocalypse - or some form of world-threatening evil at any rate. I wouldn't necessarily count that statement as truly religiously motivated either - just borne out of a mind primed to equate religious allegory with "cleverness."
 

Thief

Rogue Theologian
If you look at the meaning of the Arabic word Jihad it do actually mean fight within our self to take away the evil within. But if you do not believe so that is your view, and that is ok
but it's not ok.....taking the belief and thrusting that upon your fellowman

I would agree.....the enemy is within

good luck....if you have demons to slay
 
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