The Intensification and Reorientation of Sunni Jihad Ideology in the Crusader Period
24th October 2016
One of the more pernicious and prevalent post-9/11 myths is that one of Islam’s most fundamental concepts, jihad, has been distorted by “violent extremists” who have “hijacked the religion.” In this fairy-tale view, jihad is above all a struggle for self-betterment that al-Qaeda, the Islamic State, Boku Haram, and others have twisted and deformed. Mourad of Smith College and Lindsay of Colorado State University provide an excellent antidote to this ahistorical nonsense by offering a serious primer on the historical codification of jihad and its subsequent application in response to the Crusaders.