Jihad
The primary aim of jihad as warfare is not the conversion of non-Muslims to Islam by force, but rather the expansion and defense of the Islamic state.[105][106]
In theory, jihad was to continue until "all mankind either embraced Islam or submitted to the authority of the Muslim state."
There could be truces before this was achieved, but no permanent peace.[107]
One who died "on the path of God" was a martyr (shahid), whose sins were remitted and who was secured "immediate entry to paradise".[90]
Jihad (/dʒɪˈhɑːd/; Arabic: جهاد, romanized: jihād [dʒiˈhaːd]) is an Arabic word which literally means "striving" or "struggling", especially with a praiseworthy aim.[1][2][3][4]
In an Islamic context, it can refer to almost any effort to make personal and social life conform with God's guidance, such as struggle against one's evil inclinations, proselytizing, or efforts toward the moral betterment of the Muslim community (Ummah),[1][2][5][6] though it is most frequently associated with war.[4][7]
In classical Islamic law (sharia), the term refers to armed struggle against unbelievers,[2][3] while modernist Islamic scholars generally equate military jihad with defensive warfare.[8][9]
In Sufi circles, spiritual and moral jihad has been traditionally emphasized under the name of greater jihad.[5][10][3]
The term has gained additional attention in recent decades through its use by various insurgent Islamic extremist, militant Islamist, and terrorist individuals and organizations whose ideology is based on the Islamic notion of jihad.
Terrorism
Many Muslims, including scholars like al-Qaradawi and Sayyid Tantawi, denounced Islamic terrorist attacks against civilians, seeing them as contrary to rules of jihad that prohibit targeting noncombatants.[128] After the September 11 attacks in 2001, the United States blamed Saudi Arabian Osama bin Laden and the Taliban in Afghanistan, triggering bin Laden, who in turn on October 7 issued a televised message, declaring "Allah had blessed a vanguard group of Muslims, the spearhead of Islam, to destroy America." American and British forces were deployed around Afghanistan, and the Mullah Mohammad Omar, also the Commander to the Faithful of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, in turn called the world's Muslims to join him in a jihad.[181]