Is Jihad a Just War?: War, Peace, and Human Rights Under Islamic and Public International Law (Studies in Religion and Society)

This work is an analytical study of "jihad" ("just war") which helps to focus the attention of human rights and minority groups to a cause that should have been a focal point of their concern for several decades now. The concept of "jihad" has sometimes been abused by irresponsible leaders within the Islamic world and used to inflame the passions of those for whom the richness of Islamic law is reduced to slogans and billboards. Similarly, "jihad" has been invoked by Western "analysts" who are completely ignorant of the Islamic tradition, to justify assertions of evil intent on the part of millions of the Muslim faithful. Zawati analyzes both Western and Islamic legal concepts and attempts to point a way out of this mess. He draws on primary sources, including books, articles and official documents, and his book should be interesting reading for Muslims who seek to better define their relations with the non-Muslim world, and for anyone wishing to escape the caricature of orientalism and the end-game of clashing civiizations.