ABSTRACT
The tremendous interest in Islam and Islamism generated by September 11, 2001 is best illustrated by the mushrooming in writings on jihad, or what I would here call Jihadiology . The literature dealing with jihad in Western sources today ranges from academic writings and mainstream media to popular and scaremongering internet blogs such as Jihad Watch. Most debated in this diverse literature are questions associated with the meaning of the word ‘jihad’, what the concept of jihad entails in the Islamic history, and what it entails for contemporary Muslims. In the years following September 11th these questions have been posed with some urgency because of the apparent security implications attached to the concept of jihad. Within this context, a majority of specialists in Islamic studies in Western academic institutions – both Muslim and non-Muslim – have been painstakingly working to divorce the concept of jihad from its inherent association with violence that came to be the hallmark of ‘terror analysts’ and media reporters. Yet, for several media, academic, policy contributors and specialists, the word ‘jihad’ became, more or less, synonymous with terrorism, hatred and destruction. As far as the latter are concerned all attempts by Muslim and nonMuslim scholars to present multiple meanings of jihad are nonsensical apologetic views, if not plain lies deliberately aimed at deception.
