Jihad and Just War

The concepts of jihad and St. Augustine’s theory of just war had both similarities and differences and contained aspects that were trying to establish a way to declare war in a just manner. However, a difference in these two concepts arises when considering why they developed these methods in the first place. The idea of jihad was expanded upon as the religious statement of struggling in the way of God. In other words, they were obeying their calling of fighting for a higher purpose. Just war on the other hand, had a more practical and applicable reasoning behind it. War wasn’t necessarily viewed as a bad thing; it just had to be performed in the right manner and this included abiding by several regulations in order for the performed action of aggression to be considered just. Both were significant methods that examined the overall morality of war, but are different when it comes to approaching religion through this observance.

Where the jihad is concerned, its primary goal is to maintain the constant reflection on religion, and how ethical principles apply to the steps taken concerning just warfare. It is with the culture that each Muslim thinks it is their call of duty of kill opposing civilians, along with their followers. “This is in accordance with the words of the Almighty God, and fight the pagans all together as they fight you all together, and fight them until there is no more tumult or oppression, and there prevail justice and faith in God.”(Donner 132) In summation, this concept relies on religious transcripts, primarily the Qur’an as its standard on determining if war is pronounced in the right context that is holy and pleasing to God. It is this manuscript that entails a clear and direct message of “fight in the cause of Allah those who fight you, but do not transgress limits; for Allah loveth not transgressors.” This was designed to imply that war had the potential of being put into action according to this, and that it was dependent upon the devout follower of Allah to strategize according to this.

In contrast, the theory of just war, as established by Saint Augustine, relied primarily on New Testament writings, as well as the works of the renowned philosopher Saint Augustine. It was through him making use of these two components that developed this moral perspective on declaring war, which has influenced several philosophers throughout time. It was because of these people that the main goal of just war was made clear; which was to re-institute peace in an appropriate and fair manner. This peace must be the favorable method of demeanor that would be successful despite whether the war had occurred or not.

It is in addition to this principle that establishes the fact that the theory of just war has the potential of being both theoretical and historical. Where the theoretical position is concerned, it deals with the true ethics and reasoning behind the agreements that have been established concerning the rules that were put in place. This then leads to the characteristics that justified war can display, in that it must agree with the set standards. In addition to this, the historical aspect is also included, which is the actual concrete rules that have been evident in various wars over the course of history. These were not only put in place for authority figures to condemn wrong doings, but also for inspecting the philosophical facets on how the regulations should be altered. Both of these areas have contributed significant ideas that has formed the true meaning and theory of just war through the work of Saint Augustine.

Despite their differences, the idea of jihad and just war had some similarities. The first one being that they both included the concept of self-defense as a main focus concerning the cause of war at its very origin. The reasoning of both of these views ultimately embraces the idea of expressing war righteously. In conclusion, though they come at the idea of war in slightly different ways, jihad and just war are very similar. “The scholars of jihad, for example, possess an abundance of scripture and traditions regarding the ethics of war and are motivated by religious doctrine stating that God's law is superior to man-made law. They are therefore more capable of including religion in their assessments.”(Rudolph 103) This is displayed through the religious teachings of Mohammad and the Qur’an that inspired the interworkings of how jihad was both thought of and portrayed. The development of just war followed a similar development pattern in that it was most influenced by Augustine. In addition, just war focused more on direct references to warfare through a more secular perspective, through intellectual reasoning. Despite the two outlooks, the goal was common, which was to fight a war justly.

Donner, Fred. The Sources of Islamic Conceptions of War: Greenwood Press: New York, 1996.

Peters, Rudolph. Jihad in Classical and Modern Islam: Markus Wiener Publishers: United States, 1996.