(Episode 506): INCORRECT! Jihad…

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On today’s episode of INCORRECT! Professor Morgenstein Fuerst and Goodwin examine the word “Jihad”, its textual and global history, misconceptions of this word, and the truth behind its definition. IRMF is here to remind you that non-Muslims regard the word Jihad in public discourse is created by a racist and racialize understanding of Muslims as an inherent, violent, threat. The original meaning of Jihad is “struggle”, through historical and linguistic shifts, it has been translated to meaning “holy war” in English. This definition, coupled with Islamophobic worldviews (particularly post 9/11), has propelled a misunderstanding of Jihad which is intended to mean daily struggle, striving for community and self improvements. Listen while Professor Morgenstein Fuerst uses her expertise to unpack the original, textual meaning of Jihad, how understandings of this have changed overtime, and the dire consequences that this has for Muslims.

"few concepts have been subjected to more consistent distortion than the Arabic word 'jihad'"

-Ayesha Jalal

The 101: Where We Did the Professor Work…

So what really is Jihad? Why do people care? What went wrong and why does this matter?

The Lesson Plan…Here’s What We Talked About:

We did some defining….
Jihad means “struggle” or “striving”. This can mean everyday, struggling, or a larger, historical and communal struggle. This is where we get into the idea of a “just-war”, and a historical duty to struggle and defend which exists in so many religious traditions (very much INCLUDING christianity). The idea that is central to “just-war” in this context is that violence is a last resort, after all diplomatic options have been exhausted.
We talked about why this matters so. fucking. much.
The language of all Muslims as Jihadis comes from racist essentializations of Muslims as inherently violent. Greater Jihad shows up in many ways throughout history. There have been anti-colonial movements that are Jihads, the US was very supportive of Afghanistan’s Jihad against the USSR during the Cold War, etc. Jihad is complex, and the history of Jihad movements sheds light on the ways in which imperial powers benefit from an accurate definition of the term during certain historical moments more than others…
We did some debunking…
SOME terrorists/extremists fully use the language of Jihad. We can agree or disagree with this definition, but it is also very important to understand the historical circumstances that create a need for struggle. Further, it is important to see the ways that notions of Jihad shift depending on who it benefits.

Jihad literally translates to “striving” or “struggle”. Like, literally, the struggle is real! As in, “I strive against all odds; I strive to achieve my goal.” This can mean daily struggles, overcoming obstacles, literally doing things you don’t like. To the little boy in “A Land Called Paradise”, eating broccoli is literally his Jihad… Again, the struggle is really.

So, when did non-Muslims become so obsessed with defining Jihad?

In the 18th and 19th centuries, the dominant definition of Jihad is “holy war”, this becomes the cognate translation in English, French, and German. This term becomes heavily misconstrued, associated with a violent conquering in the form of war by Muslims. But this is certainly not the whole story.

Here are two main ways that we can think about Jihad….

Greater jihad = striving against the ego, in the path of god
Lesser jihad = warfare, but like, really specific warfare. It’s closer to European / Enlightenment understandings of just war than “religious war” or “holy war” — and literally all sources suggest that actual war, with bloodshed, is to be avoided at all costs

“last thing on jihad is that you had has been used as a metric through which to bar Muslims from public spaces, to oppress and repress really since the middle of the 19th century,but probably before that, depending on whose sources you're looking at. And the assumption that all Muslims are secretly jihadis, and all of us who talk about jihad, as secretly jihadis is a racialized and racist assumption.”

-Ilyse Morgenstein Fuerst

“A Land Called Paradise” By Kareem Salama

“Islamic feminism is a specific methodology and not everyone who is addressing the issue of the gender jihad is addressing it from the perspective of any kind of feminism.”

-Amina Wadud