Mayhem, myths, and martyrdom: The Shi'a conception of jihad

Terrorism and Political Violence

Volumn 19, Issue 1, 2007, Pages 125-143

  Moghadam, Assaf ^a  

^a HARVARD UNIVERSITY   (United States)

Author keywords

Jihad; Martyrdom; Shiah doctrines

Indexed keywords

EID: 33847010946     PISSN: 09546553     EISSN: 15561836     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1080/09546550601079656     Document Type: Review

References (91)

1. Bruce Lawrence, "Holy War (Jihad) in Islamic Religion and Nation-State Ideologies," in John, Kelsay, and James Turner Johnson, eds., Just War and Jihad: Historical and Theoretical Perspectives on War and Peace in Western and Islamic Traditions (New York; Greenwood Press, 1991), 146.
2. Rudolph Peters, Jihad in Classical and Modern Islam: A Reader (Princeton, NJ; Markus Wiener, 1996), 1.
3. Mustansir Mir, "Jihad in Islam," in Hadia Dajani, Shakeel, and Ronald A. Messier, eds., The Jihad and its Times (Ann Arbor, MI: Center for Near Eastern and North African Studies, University of Michigan, 1991), 113.
4. See, for example, Mir (note 3), 114.
5. For examples of more passive Meccan verses, see Surahs (13:22 and 41:34-35 of the Quran. For Medinan verses permitting the violent defense against aggression, and active aggression,
6. see Surahs (2:190; 4:75; 22:39; 2:217; 9:5; 2:191-93 and 216; and 9:29).
7. Peters (note 2), 1. Peters points out that the Quran does not provide an unequivocal statement on whether Muslims are to fight the unbelievers only as a defense against aggression or under all circumstances. Supporting the view are a number of verses, including the following: "And fight in the way of God with those who fight you, but aggress not: God loves not the aggressors." (K. 2:190).
8. See Peters (note 2), 2. On the distinction between Meccan and Medinan verses, see also Noor Mohammad, "The Doctrine of Jihad: An Introduction," Journal of Law and Religion 3, no. 2 (1985): 384-388.
9. See, for example, Mir (note 3), 113.
10. For a documentation of this hadith, see http://www.livingislam.org/n/ dgjh_e.html.
11. Mohammad (note 5), 391.
12. Islam divides the world into two zones, the House of Islam (dar al-Islam) and the House of War (dar al-harb). Some jurists add to this categorization the House of Peace, or dar as-sulh.
13. James Turner Johnson, "Jihad and Just War," First Things 124 (June/July 2002): 12.
14. See Peters (note 2), 2. Peters quotes one verse from the Quran stating "Fight them until there is no persecution (or: seduction) and the religion is God's (entirely)." (K. 2:193 and 8:39).
15. Mohammad (note 5), 393.
16. Bernard Lewis, Islam and the West (New York: Oxford University Press, 1993).
17. For more on Salafism, see Oliver Roy, Globalized Islam: The Search of a New Ummah (New York: Columbia University Press, 2004).
18. On Salafi-Jihadism, see Marc Sageman, Understanding Terror Networks (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2004),
19. and Quintan Wiktorowicz, "Anatomy of the Salafi Movement," Studies in Conflict and Terrorism 29, no.3 (April-May 2006).
20. See also the writings of Reuven Paz, available at http://www.e-prism.org/
21. Sageman (note 14), 14.
22. Ibid, 12.
23. Quintan Wiktorowicz, "A Genealogy of Radical Islam," Studies in Conflict and Terrorism 28, no.2 (March-April 2005), 79.
24. Ibid.
25. Kharajites were members of a sect in Islam that had seceded from the followers of Ali because of their belief that the Shi'a were exceedingly willing to compromise with Muawiya, then the governor of Damascus, who competed with Ali over the rightful succession of the caliphate.
26. Karen Armstrong, Islam: A Short History (New York: Random House, 2002), 35-36.
27. Yann Richard, Shi'ite Islam: Polity, Ideology, and Creed (Oxford, UK & Cambridge, MA: Blackwell, 1995), 29.
28. Armstrong (note 20), 43.
29. Navid Kermani, Dynamit des Geistes: Martyrium, Islam und Nihilismus (Göttingen, Germany: Wallstein Verlag, 2002), 12. [German, translated by author.]
30. David Pinault, The Shi'ites: Ritual and Popular Piety in a Muslim Community (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1992), 6.
31. See, for example, Ibid.
32. Richard (note 21), 41. It is worth noting that the concept of Mahdi also appears in the Sunni stream of Islam. See, for example, John O. Voll, "Wahhabism and Mahdism: Alternative Styles of Islamic Renewals," Arab Studies Quarterly 4, nos. 1, 2 (1982): 110-126.
33. Martin Kramer, "Introduction," in Shi'ism, Resistance, and Revolution, ed., Martin Kramer (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1987), 2.
34. Ibid., 7.
35. Moojan Momen, An Introduction to Shi'i Islam: The History and Doctrines of Twelver Shi'ism (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1985), 236.
36. For discussions of Shi'i Islam, see for example Momen (note 29);
37. Pinault (note 24);
38. Richard (note 21);
39. Roger M. Savory, "The Export of Ithna Ashari Shi'i sm: Historical and Ideological Background," in David, Menashri, ed., The Iranian Revolution and the Muslim World (Boulder, CO; Westview Press, 1990), 13-39;
40. and Ayatollah Ja'far Sobhani, Doctrines of Shi'i Islam: A Compendium of Imami Beliefs and Practices, in Reza, Shah-Kazemi, ed., transl. (London and New York: I.B. Tauris, 2001).
41. As regards particular Shi'i practices, particularly prior to the Iranian Revolution, prayer for example assumed a less significant role than in Sunnism due to the Occultation of the 12th Imam. In addition, some prayers (known as du'a or munajat) are designed specifically for Shi'a believers, and are used on special occasions or devotional reasons. See, for example, Momen (note 29), 181.
42. Other general differences in practice include the importance in Shi'ism of visiting holy Shi'i shrines; the existence of temporary marriages (muta, or sigha in Farsi); religious dissimulation (taqiyya); stricter laws of divorce when compared to Sunnis; and a more accommodating attitude toward women, e.g. in regard to inheritance. Momen (note 29), 181-183.
43. Quoted from Peters (note 2), 4. See also Majid Khadduri, War and Peace in the Law of Islam (Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins Press, 1955), 66.
44. Abdulaziz Sachedina, for example, points out that in Shi'i Islam, waging an offensive jihad requires the permission of the Imam. Abdulaziz Abdulhussein Sachedina, "The Just Ruler (al-sultan al-adil)," in Shi'ite Islam: The Comprehensive Authority of the Jurist in Imamite Jurisprudence (New York: 1988), 105. Quoted in Roger M. Savory (note 30), 18, 37.
45. See, for example, Khadduri (note 31), 66-67.
46. Mehdi Abedi and Gary Legenhausen, eds., Jihad and Shahadat: Struggle and Martyrdom in Islam (Houston, TX: Institute for Research and Islamic Studies, IRIS, 1986), 19.
47. Ibid., 17-18.
48. Ibid., 17.
49. Ibid.
50. Ibid., 19.
51. Khadduri (note 31), 67.
52. Ibid.
53. Abedi and Legenhausen (note 34), 19.
54. Ibid.
55. Compare Peters (note 2), 4;
56. Mir (note 3), 122;
57. and Momen (note 29), 180.
58. See also the Shi'a thinkers discussed in the section on the "Exponents of the Shi'a Perception of Jihad."
59. Sachedina (note 32), 112 as quoted in Savory (note 30), 18.
60. Momen (note 29), 180.
61. Lawrence (note 1), 146
62. Ibid., 147.
63. Here, Lawrence cites Etan Kohlberg, in Etan Kohlberg, "The Development of the Imami Shi'i Doctrine of Jihad," Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft (ZDMG) 126 (1976):68. Quoted in Ibid., 147.
64. "Biography," Website in the memory of Ali Shariati, available online at http://www.shariati.com/, last accessed 25 July 2006.
65. Ibid.
66. Mahmoud Ayoub, Foreword to Abedi and Legenhausen (note 34), vii-viii.
67. Ibid., viii.
68. Ali Shariati, "Jihad and Shahadat: A Discussion of Shahid," Website of Ali Shariati, http://www.shariati.com/jihadand.html, last accessed 25 July 2006. All subsequent quotes in this section are taken from this undated speech, unless otherwise footnoted.
69. Ali Shariati, "A Discussion of Shahid," in Abedi and Legenhausen (note 34), 230.
70. Ali Shariati, "Shahadat," in Abedi and Legenhausen (note 34), 214.
71. Ibid.
72. "Ayatolla Taleqani," Website of IRIB (Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting), available online at http://www.irib.ir/Ouriran/mashahir/siasi/ Talghani/html/en/page.htm, last accessed 9 November 2003.
73. Abedi and Legenhausen (note 34), 30.
74. Ayoub (note 51), iv-v.
75. Mangol Bayat, "Mahmud Taleqani and the Iranian Revolution," in Kramer (note 27), 89-90.
76. Abedi and Legenhausen (note 34), 32.
77. Ayatollah Sayyid Mahmud Taleqani, "Beliefs and Practices: Jihad and Shahadat," Al Islam Website, http://www.al-islam.org/beliefs/philosophy/ jihadandshahadat.html, last accessed 25 July 2006. All subsequent quotes in this section are taken from this undated speech.
78. Abedi and Legenhausen (note 34), 31.
79. Ayoub (note 51), v.
80. Abedi and Legenhausen (note 34), 37.
81. Ibid.
82. Ayatollah Morteza Mutahhari, "Jihad: The Holy War of Islam and its Legitimacy in the Quran," Islamic Propagation Organization, 1985, Website of Salaam: Islamic Information Resources, http://www.al-islam.org/short/ jihad/, last accessed 25 July 2006. All subsequent quotes in this section are taken from this source.
83. A similar unconditional verse is Quran, Sura (9:29): "And fight those who have not faith in God nor in the Hereafter and (who) forbid not what God and His Prophet have forbidden, and who are not committed to the religion of truth."
84. Mutahhari also cites Suratul Hajj (9:36) ("Fight with all the polytheists just as they fight with all of you") as an example of a conditional verse.
85. Lara Marlowe, "A Fiery Cleric's Defense of Jihad: Sheikh Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah Speaks," Time 147, No. 3 (15 January 1996).
86. "East-West Record: News Analysis of the Middle East: Exclusive Interview: Sayyid Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah," undated interview, available online at http://www.eastwestrecord.com=Get_Articles.asp?ArticleID=222, last accessed October 12, 2003.
87. Ibid.
88. Ibid.
89. Ibrahim Mousawi, "Fadlallah explains religious basis for suicide attacks; Senior cleric sanctions 'self-sacrifice' operations," Daily Star (Beirut), 8 June 2002.
90. Ibid.
91. Bernard Lewis, "The Shi'a in Islamic History, in Kramer (note 27), 28.