This item is available on the Militant Islam Monitor website, at http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/7565
July 16, 2017
Holy War" is not an Islamic term?
BY STEPHEN M. KIRBY
Linda Sarsour's use of the word jihad at the recent convention of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) raised quite a few eyebrows, with many non-Muslims claiming that Sarsour was calling for a "holy war" against the Trump administration.
Many Muslims immediately responded by stating that those non-Muslims misunderstood the true meaning of the word jihad. One Muslim, Imam Kifah Mustapha ElMera'bi [sic], went even farther. He recently wrote this about Sarsour's use of the word jihad:
Following verbal attacks against Linda Sarsour from Islamophobes and remarks from concerned Muslims that she should have used a different term than Jihad, I say this: Jihad is NOT Holy War. "Holy War" is not an Islamic term…
Imam ElMera'bi is one of the imams of the Mosque Foundation, located in Bridgeview, Illinois. The Mosque Foundation wants to become
the leading mosque in the United States in providing Islamic guidance and services to the community.
With this lofty goal in mind, one would think that Imam ElMera'bi has to be correct in his assertion that jihad is not "Holy War," and that "Holy War" is not an Islamic term.
But if that is true, then that misunderstanding of the word jihad is rampant in the Muslim community, e.g.:
Perhaps Imam ElMera'bi will contact CAIR, and the authors and publishers of these works, and let them know that they are perpetuating an un-Islamic understanding of the word jihad. I'm sure a trip to Saudi Arabia to visit with the folks at Darussalam publishers about this could be very enlightening for the Imam.
This item is available on the Militant Islam Monitor website, at http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/7565