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The word "jihad" is ubiquitous in the global media. It generally appears in the context of violence waged against the West by militants in or from Muslim-majority societies. This usage overwhelmingly colors popular discourse about Islam and Muslims and it has resulted in a highly reductive, distorted, and ahistorical understanding of the concept of jihad. Asma Afsaruddin looks at the key questions about jihad and provides concise yet thorough answers.
Jihad: What Everyone Needs to Know ® provides a historically-grounded, scholarly yet accessible treatment of jihad that explores its various dimensions from the formative period of Islam until the contemporary period.
List of contents
- Acknowledgment
- Introduction
- Chapter One: Jihad in the Quran and Commentary Literature
- Chapter Two: Jihad in the Hadith Literature
- Chapter Three: Jihad in the Legal Literature
- Chapter Four: Jihad in Morally Edifying, Ethical, and Mystical Literature
- Chapter Five: Jihad as Conceived by Modern Revolutionaries and Militants
- Chapter Six: Jihad in the Thought of Modern and Contemporary Mainstream Scholars
- Chapter Seven: Jihad as Non-Violent Struggle and Peacemaking
- Chapter Eight: Jihad and Its Perceptions in the West
- Bibliography
- Glossary
- Index
About the author
Asma Afsaruddin is Professor of Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures in the Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies at Indiana University, Bloomington. She is the author and editor of eight books, including Contemporary Issues in Islam (2015); the award-winning Striving in the Path of God: Jihad and Martyrdom in Islamic Thought (2013); and The First Muslims: History and Memory (2008). She was named a Carnegie Scholar in 2005 and inducted into the Johns Hopkins Society of Scholars in 2019.
Summary
The word "jihad" is everywhere in the global media. It generally appears in the context of violence waged against the West by militants in or from Muslim-majority societies. This usage overwhelmingly colors popular discourse about Islam and Muslims and it has resulted in highly simplistic, distorted, and ahistorical understandings of the concept of jihad. For most Muslims, jihad refers to the continuous human struggle to promote and implement what is morally good and noble in all walks of life, as well as to resist and prevent what is morally wrong and unjust. This book addresses the great need for a discussion of jihad that explores its various dimensions without fear-mongering or sensationalism. Here it is examined from multiple perspectives: scriptural, theological, moral and ethical, legal and socio-political. Asma Afsaruddin looks at the key questions about jihad and provides concise yet thorough answers. Jihad: What Everyone Needs to Know® provides a historically-grounded, scholarly yet accessible treatment of the meanings of jihad from the formative period of Islam until the contemporary period.
Additional text
A needed and balanced corrective to media hysteria and mainstream ignorance, this book is an excellent 'one stop shop' for any and all questions about jihad.
