Sinclair and John...
I have a few brief comments regarding your interesting exchange of posts on
Jihad and Holy Wars.
(1) In today's parlance, a "holy war" is a war launched for religious
purposes. The poster child for such wars is the Islamic conquest initiated
in the seventh century (and stretching over nearly a millennium thereafter)
"to make the world safe for Mohammed (and his co-religionists)". ;-)
Mohammed's thinking regarding "Jihad" evolved drastically during his
lifetime,
During the period of Qur'anic revelation while Muhammad was in Mecca
(610-622), jihad meant essentially a nonviolent struggle to spread Islam.
Following his move from Mecca to Medina in 622, and the establishment of an
Islamic state, fighting in self-defense was sanctioned by the Qur'an
(22:39). The Qur'an began referring increasingly to qital (fighting or
warfare) as one form of jihad. Two of the last verses on this topic (9:5,
29) suggest a war of conquest or conversion against all unbelievers.*
and his followers went further... much much further.
You chose to quote the first definition proffered by the Qur'an; I would
suggest that a more correct interpretation, (and certainly one much closer
to the objective historical facts of Islam), is the last definition of Jihad
in the Qur'an : "a war of conquest or conversion against all unbelievers".
(2) Augustine's "Just War" concept was developed to answer critics who
viewed the "thou shalt not kill" commandment as a prohibition against
participation in all wars by Christians. It had nothing to do with "holy
wars". It was intended to distinguish moral wars from immoral wars.... a
very very different concept.
(3) Aquinas merely clarified Augustine's concept... for much the same
reasons.
Best regards,
Joe Erkes
* From Encyclopedia of Politics and Religion, ed. Robert Wuthnow. 2 vols.
(Washington, D.C.: Congressional Quarterly, Inc., 1998), 425-426.
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> From: "John S. Quarterman" <jsq@quarterman.org>
> Reply-To: sinclair@quarterman.org
> Date: Mon, 05 Aug 2002 09:29:51 -0500
> To: sinclair@quarterman.org
> Subject: Re: 14 July 1099
>
>> On the 14th of July 1099 AD The Crusaders Jerusalem captured Jerusalem in
>> the First Crusade, after laying of siege for seven weeks. The Crusaders,
>> in the name of God them promptly began slaughtering the city's Muslim and
>> Jewish population.
>>
>> A Christian, Frankish, kingdom of Jerusalem was set up. The kingdom was
[ Excess quotations omitted. ]