Jihad

In the Associated Press Stylebook, the word Jihad is defined as, “the Arabic noun used to refer to the Islamic concept of the struggle to do good. In particular situations, that can include, holy war, the meaning extremist Muslims commonly use.


There is a huge misconception about this word, the word Jihad derives from the root word: to exert ones self, to struggle to attain something. This word is only used in reference to things that are seen as difficult or undesirable. The word for war in Arabic is harab. The word Jihad is to defend Islam, Muslims or to liberate a land where Muslims are oppressed is certainly allowed (and even encouraged) in Islam. However, any such activities must be done according to the teachings of Islam. Islam also clearly forbids "taking the law into your own hands", which means that individual Muslims cannot go around deciding who they want to kill, punish or torture.

The misconception is that the word Jihad is that a war started by an Muslim against an Infidel, or one that does not like Islam. It portrays Islam as religion of war, which in reality is a religion of peace.