What is a jihadist and what do they want?

Jihadism, terrorism, extremism... all words we wished to leave behind, but have unfortunately re-emerged after the bloody October 7th attack by Hamas against Israel. One of the longest and most dangerous conflicts of our time was reignited in an instant, making an incredibly complicated situation so eerily simple in its brutality.

To understand what is happening, however, we need to take a small step back and explain who is a jihadist and what their goals are.

What is jihadism and what does it want?

The term “jihadism” identifies the Islamic fundamentalist movement and the different groups that have a common purpose: the support of the holy war against the infidels. Consequently, "jihadist", which derives from the common jihād ("holy war") refers to Islamic fundamentalists and supporters of the holy war.

The concept of jihād has, however, been strongly influenced by Western interpretation, at least since September 11, 2001, when Al-Qaeda terrorists struck the Twin Towers and the Pentagon, at the heart of American society. Yet the term jihād in Islamic language has a wide spectrum of meanings.

Jihad literally means effort and conveys the idea of a internal spiritual struggle. In Islamic doctrine, "effort" is made intellectually through study and the understanding of sacred texts or law. This is understood as "higher jihād", on the contrary "lower jihād" is the expansion of Islam outside the Muslim world.

This is just a short summary of the concept of jihād and does not claim to explain the interpretation of the term either from a religious point of view or from a cultural and historical point of view. However, we can focus on the first meaning of jihād, that is non-violent and personal struggle and inner effort for understanding the divine mysteries.

What comes next is interpretation, because it is precisely by interpreting the passages of the Koran that Islamic movements have introjected the meaning of "armed struggle" and therefore "holy war". There are many Muslims who promote jihād not as armed struggle. After all, the Quran uses the term jihād only four times and never with explicit reference to armed struggle, even if the Quran contains the concept of "Islamic war" in other passages - which refer to specific historical events.

Jihād in the Western world: the role of terrorism

The reason why Islam and jihād are most often linked to terrorism is contemporary history. In the West the term arrived thanks to the media account of the events that preceded and followed September 11, 2001. The attacks that hit the United States in 2001 were the consequences of relationships and conflicts born to maintain a presumed balance in a post-Cold War world.

The West has therefore come together against Islam, often identified as extremist, fundamentalist, jihadist and therefore terrorist. Today jihadism appears patchy throughout the world, in so-called terrorist cells or jihadist organizations.

Original article published on Money.it Italy 2023-10-29 20:56:04. Original title: Chi sono gli jihadisti e cosa vogliono