Book: Jihad – Challenges to International and Domestic Law

The meaning of ‘Jihad’ is not as straightforward as some might like it to be. This book aims to explore how its meaning has been manipulated since the rise of political Islam during the 1960s and to examine the relationships between Jihad, Islam and national and international law.

Since the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center, jihad has become symbolic of the confrontation between Muslims and the West. According to popular views, jihad represents a religiously sanctioned war to propagate or defend the faith by defensive and aggressive means. However, there is not one single meaning of jihad, but many different interpretations. In the most recent decades of Islamic history, jihad was invoked as an instrument for the legitimisation of political action, be it armed resistance against foreign occupation, the struggle for self-determination, or retaliatory attacks against the West. The evolution and contemporary abuses of jihad cannot be understood without a connection to the modern political context in which such action takes place. The aim of this book is thus to clarify the meanings of jihad and the manipulation of its sense since the rise of political Islam during the 1960s. Its authors address the intellectual underpinnings of the concept of jihad, and link it to the narratives and historical contexts in which jihad in its various meanings has been interpreted and applied. It draws a parallel between Islamic humanitarian tradition and international humanitarian law, challenging the distorted interpretation of peace and war in Islam. It aims also at exploring the impact that jihad has on international law and domestic law through state practice and in view of the mounting call that law should adapt to the new reality of transnational terrorism. The mixture of authors from Muslim as well as Western countries allows for a true dialogue between cultures and a diversity of views on the issue.
This book is obviously highly recommended reading for academics and practitioners dealing with Islamic, national and international law and all those intrigued by and interested in the subject.

about the Author:

Professor M. Cherif Bassiouni, is Distinguished Research Professor of Law Emeritus, and President Emeritus, International Human Rights Law Institute, DePaul University College of Law, Chicago, Illinois. He has served the United Nations in various capacities, all in the field of humanitarian law, international criminal law and human rights law. Amna Guellali is a Senior Researcher at the department of international humanitarian and criminal law of the T.M.C. Asser Instituut, The Hague, the Netherlands.

Table of Contents:

Part One

Jihad, its meaning, scope and purpose in the Islamic tradition

Evolving Approaches to Jihad: From Self-Defense to Revolutionary and Regime-Change Political Violence by Cherif Bassiouni

Jihad and the Interpretation of the Quran: Contextualising Islamic Tradition by Mohammad Hashim Kamali

Understanding the Discourses on Jihad in Islam Through Classical and Modern Narratives by Amna Guellali

The Pitfalls of Jihad as an Individual Duty (Fard ‘Ayn) by Nelly Lahoud

Resurrecting  Siyar Through Fatwas? (Re)Constructing Islamic International Law in a Post (Iraq) Invasion World by Shaheen Sardar Ali

Part Two

Jihad, jus ad bellum and jus in bello

The Challenge of Fragmentation of International Humanitarian Law Regarding the Protection of Civilians: An Islamic Perspective by Anicée Van Engeland-Nourai

Jus in Bello: Civilians’ Fundamental Rights Under Islamic and Public International Law by Hilmi M. Zawati

Does the Impact of Jihad Ideology and Action Require a Transformation in the Legal Rules on Targeting? by William J. Fenrick

Self-Defence Arguments in the Jihad Concept and their Counterparts in Western International Law by Kinga Tibori Szabó

Part Three

Jihad and domestic law

Jihad and Counter-Jihad: Western European Legal Responses to Islamic Militancy by Maurits Berger

Why Continue Counterterrorism Policies If They Are Hurting? by Bob de Graaff

Bibliographic Information

Title: Jihad – Challenges to International and Domestic Law -Hague Colloquium on Fundamental Principles of Law Series

Editors: Cherif Bassiouni & Amna Guellali

Publisher: Hague Academic Press; 1 edition

Language: English

Length: 300 pages

ISBN: 978-9067043120

Pub. Date: September 1, 2010