Jihad is an Islamic term referring to a religious duty of Muslims. In Arabic the term 'Jihad' refers to 'striving' or 'exerting oneself', often referred as 'Holy War'. The concept of Jihad was not widely known in the western world before the terrorist attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001. Since then, the word has been woven into what our media and government feed us along with notions of Terrorism, Suicide Bombings, Hamas, Al-Qaeda, Osama Bin Laden, and now, Jihad. Jihad is perceived by non-Muslims as the holy war which naturally implies some military actions targeting the elimination or defeat of all enemies of Islamic faith and often associated with certain extremist movements that use military methods of struggle to achieve their goals which they attempt to justify by some sacred reasons in order to pretend that they are acting in accordance with the will of Allah (God). The beauty of Jihad is hidden behind the supposed meaning which is "holy war" in actuality there is so much more to jihad, it is a way in which Muslims can struggle and strive for their creator Allah. Understanding the various ways that Jihad has been interpreted throughout Muslim history will help one distinguish between extremist organizations and the majority of Muslims.
The Qur'an's concept of Jihad distinguishes itself in four different stages. At the beginning, the Prophet Muhammad was enjoined to propagate the message of Islam peacefully and to avoid direct confrontation with the unbelievers. Then, Allah joined the Prophet to confront the unbelievers by means of argumentation. After, Allah granted permission to the prophet and his followers to fight their enemies with the Divine command. The final stage came with the Divine command of Allah enjoining the Prophet and his followers to wage war against the unbelievers unconditionally. Richard Bonney depicts that the jihad has two concepts which coexist: one is the Muslim's struggle against his or her own lower nature, the struggle within the self and the other is a more political concept, the Muslim view of 'just war'.
