Evolving Approaches to Jihad: From Self-defense to Revolutionary and Regime-Change Politicial Violence

I. INTRODUCTION The Arabic language was used in the southern part of the Arabian Peninsula for centuries before the Qur'an was revealed to Prophet Muhammad in 610 CE. In its early developmental phase, Arabic was influenced by Aramaic and Syriac, which was a derivative language of Aramaic. Because Arabic was the language of a Bedouin and mostly nomadic society, it was essentially spoken. Arabic's oral tradition was by far more developed than its written one. Thus, when the Qur'an was memorized by the Prophet's companions, or sahaba, it had seven acknowledged readings, or qeraat, because written Arabic did not then have vowels or diacritical marks. By reciting the Qur'an in seven different ways, words could be given different meanings. This situation remained until 644 CE when Uthman Ibn Affan, the third Khalifa,1 had a group of learned sahaba redact the authoritative version of the Qur'an, which has since remained unchanged and unchallenged.2 Early Arabic was not as developed a language as it became after the Qur'an's revelation was completed in 632 CE, and more so some 100 years later when vowels and diacritical signs became common usage in the written Arabic. Thereafter, the language developed along two paths: the sacred as it relates to the exegesis of the Qur'an and the hadith} (sayings of the Prophet), and the popular-both written and spoken-in the different Arabic-speaking countries. The former has remained more or less constant though developing in sophistication and richness. The latter has changed and reflects the cultural diversity of the countries where it is spoken. The inhabitants of the mostly desert area of southern Arabia consisted of tribal societies, some nomadic herders, and others engaged in caravan commerce and other commercial endeavors. This brought them in contact with Jews and Christians who were Aramaic speaking, as well as with other sedentary Semitic groups who inhabited the northern parts bordering on the Mediterranean and who spoke both Aramaic and Syriac. The pre-Islamic Arab culture with the contributions of other cultures had an important influence on the understanding and application of Islam in the region of its birth. This Arab influence to date has marked the evolution of Islam's application in non- Arab Muslim societies. The sacred Arabic, for approximately the first three-hundred years of Islam, was influenced by theologians and jurists who tended to interpret the Qur'an and the hadith in ways that reflected the spiritual meaning and philosophy of Islam. Subsequently, exegesis was heavily influenced by language experts who understandably tended to be literalists. In time, the literalists consolidated their intellectual dominance of exegesis and that had a profound effect on how the interpretation of jihad has evolved. The nature of jihad - its scope and means-has evolved since the days of the Prophet, often reflecting political realities. During the Prophet's days, jihad was a call to put everything a person could into the service of Islam, and that included use of force in self-defense. With few exceptions, the spiritual dimension was the predominant aspect of jihad's meaning at that later time.4 Jihad became a state doctrine which legitimized preemptive self-defense and justified conquest. It also evolved into a doctrine supporting the use of force in the name of political legitimacy. Throughout the centuries, competing claimants to the khilafa resorted to it in their struggles for power. This doctrinal extension of jihad has reached an entirely new level since the nineteenth century, when it became a justification for regime-change. Groups seeking to accomplish regimechange advanced it as moral justification for their violent means, even when these means violated fundamental tenets of Islam, covering the protection of non-combatants.5 Over time, manipulation of jihad's meaning has distorted that aspect of the Shari'ah. This was possible because such manipulators of religious doctrine were allowed to do so by the official clergy and by timid or complacent governments. …