On Jihad and Terrorism

This is an editorial preface by J.B. Hare, written in September 2001 and posted alongside an English transcription of selections from the Hadith (drawn primarily from al-Bukhari's Jami' and the Mishkat) — the traditional recorded sayings of the Prophet Muhammad that hold secondary authority in Islam after the Quran. The central argument, framed explicitly as a response to the 9/11 attacks, is that the terrorism committed in Islam's name directly contradicts core Islamic doctrine: the text contends that Islam is fundamentally a religion of peace, legal observance, and tolerance toward other faiths, particularly Jews and Christians. Hare focuses substantial attention on the concept of Jihad, arguing that its common Western translation as "holy war" is a mistranslation — the term encompasses proselytizing and internal spiritual struggle, and its military sense is strictly defensive, with explicit prohibitions against harming non-combatants or imposing Islam by conquest. He further argues that suicide attacks on civilians cannot qualify as martyrdom (shahid) under Islamic law, effectively placing such acts outside the religion's own standards. The preface also situates the Hadith within the broader tradition of Islamic scholarship — comparing it to the Talmud and Pali Suttas — and credits Islamic centers of learning with preserving classical Greco-Roman texts through the European Dark Ages. Written by a self-identified non-Muslim for a non-Muslim audience, the piece is explicitly conciliatory in intent, urging readers to approach the text with an open mind and to substitute familiar words ("God," "struggle") for unfamiliar Arabic terms.

On Jihad and Terrorism

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