Jihad

Jihad is most commonly understood to mean an Islamic holy war. Literally "struggle" in Arabic, "jihad" also has a range of definitions, starting with one not well known in the west. Its original basis was the struggle, within oneself, to follow the doctrine of submission to Allah; a translation of Muslim is "one who submits to God".

The concept broadened in the 12th century work of Ibn Tamiyya, who formulated an additional concept of "external" jihad, or struggle, usually but not necessarily armed, against enemies of Islam. Some theologians considered external jihad, when Islam faces enemies, to be an addition to the five basic Pillars of Islam.

Today, "armed" or "violent" jihad is a basic concept of jihadist terror groups such as al-Qaeda. A jihadist refers to one involved in armed jihad. It may be limited in scope to reestablishing Muslim rule (e.g., the Caliphate of Sunni Islam), or go beyond, into the interpretation of takfir, which calls for the killing of non-Muslims. The term jihadist or jihadi usually refers to one engaged in armed jihad.

Violent jihadists differ in their priorities. Those concerned with the near enemy first want to reform, by overthrow if necessary, Islamist governments that they consider to be compromising the tenets of sharia. Others, however, are concerned with the far enemy, essentially the West; Israel is often considered ideologically part of this group. Ibn Tamiyya did not use the term, and his situation was complex: his nation was being invaded (i.e., far) by invaders who claimed to be Muslim.