During the ancient times, Jihad was perceived by Muslims as a way of restoring Muslim ways of life by persecuting those who violated Sharia laws. According to Hillenbrand ( 2015), these changes were made during 1098 when Jihad radicals used force to drive away Crusaders from the Holy City of Jerusalem. Jihad was used to enforce Islamic teachings among Muslims who were believed to have lost their ways in their devotion to the religion. Cities were mostly affected, including Syria and Palestine ( Hillenbrand, 2015). The radical concept that was used involved inflicting fear among Muslims by punishing those who had been converted to Christianity by the Crusaders. Leaders of Jihad started campaigns to convince Muslim followers that Islam was their only religions. For example, there were Jihad sermons that every Muslim in Syria and Palestine had to recite. Also, books, hadith collections, and Muslim prayers were published for Muslims to read and use in their everyday lives. There was Jihad poetry, which was written to show the spiritual commitment of Jihad military leaders to remove fear among the Muslim communities. To convert non-believers back to the Islamic religion, Jihad military would use prominent figures of the Jihad community to express strong leadership among the Muslims.
Before the twentieth century, Jihad was used perceived as a part of Muslims ways of enforcing the religion among them. One of the famous Jihad leaders who enforced the Muslims ways using Jihad was Ibn Taymiyya. Taymiyya argued that Jihad was used to purge the Muslim society that had been spiritually polluted by Christian ideologies ( Hillenbrand, 2015). He reveals that Jihad was used by radicals to justify people that by accepting this radical concept, it was the way to knowing God. For instance, there was a saying that suggested that Muslims who supported the aims of Jihad were doing the work of God. Generally, Jihad was considered to be a community obligation, but when aggression against Muslims was initiated, Jihad was considered a defense strategy for protecting the Islamic religion. For example, before Jihad was enforced, infidels were given a last chance to covert back of the Islamic faith before the military could take action against them ( Hillenbrand, 2015). Jihad was used to drive Crusaders out of Jerusalem by inciting to Muslims about its significance in the Quran. Thus, it was a part of Taymiyya’s crusade to create a strong political force against Crusaders to conquer Jerusalem.
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Modern Jihadis are similar to traditional Jihadis through the formation of Islamic governments that support Jihadis values. For example, the Taliban group was formed in 1959 to promote Jihad views through the recruitment of Jihadi soldiers ( Hillenbrand, 2015). These soldiers were used to restore the much-needed Islamic ways through Sharia laws. The views of the Taliban group have been observed to be narrow as members considered Islam as their own. In 1996, a Taliban leader, Mullar ‘Umar, announced himself to be the rightful follower of the Taymiyya’s values by taking the lead in propagating views of the Jihadis among the Muslims communities. For example, ‘Umar took the role of punishing Muslims who refused to accept the ways of Jihad similar to the way Jihad groups operated during ancient times. Another recent figure is that of Usama Bin Laden, who played a major role in fighting a Jihad against Crusaders in 2000 ( Hillenbrand, 2015). Osama detested western imperialism, and he promoted Jihad values among Muslims so that they could condemn the western influence. His role as a Jihad extremist was revealed in 2001 when he staged a bomb attack on Twin Towers in New York.
He expressed his views against western imperialism by promoting Jihad values within the Muslim community. To demonstrate his political stand as a Jihad extremist, he masterminded the bombing attacks of the Twin Towers in New York in 2001.
Reference
Hillenbrand, C . (2015). Introduction to Islam: Beliefs and practices in historical perspective . New York: Thames & Hudson.
