Jihad

The word jihad has many meanings and implications, one of these being in how it is expressed in the Quran. This also relates to how Mohammad thought and acted upon it, which heavily influenced many people in the Islamic society. This then brought about the justification of it, coming from such a powerful leader in a vast religious community who was looking to express aggression in a way that was holy and pleasing to God.

Jihad frequently refers to combat, as this lies at the core of the definition. The Qur'an makes oabundant references to this fighting in the cause of faith. The question, however, is whether this fighting is sanctioned only for the purpose of self-defense. The Qur'an itself seems to be of two minds on this matter and Definitions can include Holy war waged on behalf of Islam as a religious duty and a bitter strife of a spirit of a holy war. It is also commonly referred to as “striving in the way of the Lord”, as derived from the Arabic translation. However, the concept jihad is wrongly called holy war most of the time, however it had two distinct meanings throughout the centuries. The first being that Muslims who hold the view their faith differently are considered infidels, or targets of jihad and Lends to the explaination as to why peopled groups such as Egyptians, Afghans, and Algerians were often victims of the jihadist violence. The second definition being that it defines the legal description of jihad as it instructs Muslims to abandon worldly distress, in order to attain spiritual profundity.

With its established definition, jihad was first permitted when Muhammad made his journey to Medina in the year 622 known as the Hegira. It was during this expedition that he and his few followers began raiding the caravans of the Meccans, which displayed aggressive action that lead to the first jihad. “In the raids the Muslims were taking the offensive. Muhammad cannot have failed to realize that, even if the raids were only slightly successful, the Meccans were bound to attempt reprisals. In these little raids, then, he was deliberately challenging and provoking the Meccans. In our peace-conscious age it is difficult to understand how a religious leader could thus engage in offensive war and become almost an aggressor.”(Kepel 103) They immigrated to this area and performed this action to preserve their livelihood on this expedient rampage.

It was after this that many people started to defend Mohammad and his exploit and one of their first reasons being that it was very common among the Arabian Desert people during the seventh century to retrieve resources that they could not access. This made it common for different tribes to ransack each other’s belongings. The second motive being that it was justified revenge, as attributed from the Qur’an. “Thus, whether Muhammad incited his followers to action and then used their wrongs [wrongs committed against them] to justify it, or whether he yielded to pressure from them to allow such action, the normal Arab practice of the razzia [raid] was taken over by the Islamic community. In being taken over, however, it was transformed. It became an activity of believers against unbelievers, and therefore took place within a religious context. The Emigrants were described as "striving with goods and person in the way of God [Qur'an 4:95, 9:20, 9:41, 9:44]." They were promoting one of the purposes of the Islamic community in trying to establish a region in which God was truly worshipped.”(Cleveland 205) Mohammad had created a title for himself of a person who was both a crucial spiritual leader and an overall good human being. When it concerns this expressed revenge, Islam thought of it as not being self defense, but rather that it was invalid motivation.

As demonstrated, these raids through way of jihad quickly transitioned from being a battle between Mohammad’s followers and fellow peoples for possessions, to a fight between believers and non-believers. It was during these that the common phrase “the first arrow shot, the first bloodshed, and the first man killed, was in the name of Islam.” The transition has been made clear; the purpose of jihad had gone from an economic “expedient” to a prominent stand for the new faith that had been established, staying strong within that culture to this day.

Cleveland, William L. A History of Modern Middle East: Westhouse Publishers Inc.: 2000.

Kepel, Gilles. Jihad: Trail of Political Islam: I.B. Tauris Publishers, 2001.

Saint Augustine's Theory of Just War

As the Roman Empire continued to decline, two different problems arose that combined to form some of the most profound philosophical questions. One of the dilemmas was that Rome was under constant military threat from a variety of tribes, from both the north and east. The second difficultly arose when the people within the empire, who dedicated themselves to the new official religion of Christianity, found themselves in a position of having no direction as to what military roles their faith would tolerate. It was the death of the apostles that put them into this position, as they left no revelation in the form of writings. This presents the main question that was formulated, and is also the center of Saint Augustine's theory of just war which is, "Can a Christian show their dedication towards military duty while still holding a guilt free conscience towards God?" Saint Augustine provides a deep insight when dealing with this issue that is truly inspirational.

It was during the fifth century that Saint Augustine of Hippo longed to provide an answer to this question. The way he approached the situation later became the basis for his theory of just war, which has had, and still continues to hold an extremely important philosophical influence concerning military matters. It is vitally important to recognize Augustine’s basis for thought and also to decisively consider this crucial principle.

The just war theory is one of the most significant perspectives on both war and peace. There are six stages that are to be performed within this, the first three which include a just cause, right intentions, correct power, and widespread declaration. Within just cause, it states that you can only proclaim war for the right reason. This usually extends to self-defense from an outside attack or the protection of others from forms of brutality that might be issued upon them. The rights reason declares that having an accurate reason is not enough to start a war. "The actual motivation behind the resort to war must also be morally appropriate. Ulterior motives, such as power, land grab, or irrational motives, such as revenge, or ethnic hatred, are ruled out."(Banner, 75 ) A third step in this proclamation is that you may only go to war if the proper choice has been ruled out by authority figures. They then announce it to the public, so that both the citizens and the enemies of the state are aware. The states who fail to abide by these standards cannot legitimately go to war.

The last three standards that comprise the just war theory are final alternative, the chance of being successful, and reasonable proportions. When the final resort is concerned, a state must resort to war only if all other peaceful alternatives cannot be expressed or applied in order to solve the conflict. Another degree that it has to pass is the stage of diplomatic cooperation, as they want to be completely sure that serious war is only announced when it is the only reasonable way left. In discussing the chance of being successful, it is not possible to enter a state of war if seeing ahead of time that it will have no significant impact. The overall goal here is to eliminate violence of the masses, which would be useless. Within the final step of reasonable proportions, a state has to figure out the widespread good that will come from initiating war, against the general iniquity that has the potential of resulting. "The universal must be stressed, since often in war states only tally their own expected benefits and costs, radically discounting those accruing to the enemy and to any innocent third parties."(Mattox, 63) In other words, war is only worth declaring if it worth the costs may the war action proceed.

As demonstrated, Saint Augustine's idea of just war is a very demanding theory, as all six of the principles must be articulated in order for war to be pronounced. It is vital to note that the first three conditions, known as the first-principle requirements, that imply for war to be just, certain core duties must be dishonored, which includes the responsibility not to express aggression. Saint Augustine ultimately came to the conclusion that for war to be declared, we must have both the proper authority and motives. Also that if we suffice to the obligation that comes with both declaring war, and the consequences that follow.

Mattox, John M. St. Augustine's Theory of Just War. United States: Worth Publishers, 2007.


Banner, William A. The Path of Saint Augustine. New York: Wiley Publishing, Inc. 2005