Terrorism and Jihad: Differences and Similarities

<p>What many Westerners call criminal <em>terrorism</em> is, in the eyes of many Islamists, legitimate <em>jihad</em>. They say they are opposed to terrorism but by this they mean certain uses of force against one target but not again another. Are we talking about diffe...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Philipp Holtmann
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: University of Massachusetts Lowell 2014-06-01
Series:Perspectives on Terrorism
Online Access:http://www.terrorismanalysts.com/pt/index.php/pot/article/view/352
_version_ 1811286549228158976
author Philipp Holtmann
author_facet Philipp Holtmann
author_sort Philipp Holtmann
collection DOAJ
description <p>What many Westerners call criminal <em>terrorism</em> is, in the eyes of many Islamists, legitimate <em>jihad</em>. They say they are opposed to terrorism but by this they mean certain uses of force against one target but not again another. Are we talking about different phenomena when we talk about terrorism and jihad or are these basically the same? Jihad is sometimes translated as <em>holy war</em>, i.e. religiously sanctioned warfare. In Islam, jihad has been around for more than 1300 years. Terrorism as we know it is, as a doctrine, little more than 200 years old when we take the <em>Terreur</em> phase of the French revolution (1793-1974) as point of departure, or little more than 140 years old when we look at non-state propaganda-by-the-deed type terrorism of the anarchist sort. In the meantime, both terrorism and jihad have evolved, at least to some extent.</p>
first_indexed 2024-04-13T03:02:12Z
format Article
id doaj.art-27bad39900e44cb9998374b81b3e6f76
institution Directory Open Access Journal
issn 2334-3745
2334-3745
language English
last_indexed 2024-04-13T03:02:12Z
publishDate 2014-06-01
publisher University of Massachusetts Lowell
record_format Article
series Perspectives on Terrorism
spelling doaj.art-27bad39900e44cb9998374b81b3e6f762022-12-22T03:05:24ZengUniversity of Massachusetts LowellPerspectives on Terrorism2334-37452334-37452014-06-0183345Terrorism and Jihad: Differences and SimilaritiesPhilipp Holtmann<p>What many Westerners call criminal <em>terrorism</em> is, in the eyes of many Islamists, legitimate <em>jihad</em>. They say they are opposed to terrorism but by this they mean certain uses of force against one target but not again another. Are we talking about different phenomena when we talk about terrorism and jihad or are these basically the same? Jihad is sometimes translated as <em>holy war</em>, i.e. religiously sanctioned warfare. In Islam, jihad has been around for more than 1300 years. Terrorism as we know it is, as a doctrine, little more than 200 years old when we take the <em>Terreur</em> phase of the French revolution (1793-1974) as point of departure, or little more than 140 years old when we look at non-state propaganda-by-the-deed type terrorism of the anarchist sort. In the meantime, both terrorism and jihad have evolved, at least to some extent.</p>http://www.terrorismanalysts.com/pt/index.php/pot/article/view/352
spellingShingle Philipp Holtmann
Terrorism and Jihad: Differences and Similarities
Perspectives on Terrorism
title Terrorism and Jihad: Differences and Similarities
title_full Terrorism and Jihad: Differences and Similarities
title_fullStr Terrorism and Jihad: Differences and Similarities
title_full_unstemmed Terrorism and Jihad: Differences and Similarities
title_short Terrorism and Jihad: Differences and Similarities
title_sort terrorism and jihad differences and similarities
url http://www.terrorismanalysts.com/pt/index.php/pot/article/view/352
work_keys_str_mv AT philippholtmann terrorismandjihaddifferencesandsimilarities