Islam and the tenor of Jihad

In the land of the free after the "events of September 11th" 2001 it was a common theme for the Western press to cry "where are the moderate Muslims and why do they not condemn these actions." The press of SE Asia is saturated with editorials by Muslims discussing problems within the religion. Violence and Islam is a common theme that continues to be focal point of analysis as the issue continues to arise in cases such as the Pope's recent speech, the provacative cartoons orignating from the European right wing, and of course, in the actions of Al Quaeda, Hizbollah, and Hamas, etc. These are not treated as symptoms of the same malady here, rather they are seen as seperate and complex issues in and of themselves. Hizbollah and Hamas are not equated with terrorism, Al Quaeda generally is, and the reactions of some Muslims toward the free speech smears of elements of the Western conservative media are regarded as naturally offensive, but not everyone is ready to hurt another human being over such things.

The moderate Islamic view of jihad is that it is to be waged within oneself. Jihad is the battle against temptation and the struggle to live decently according to the dictates of the Koran. Some see themselves as the protector's of the faith and will look to harrangue and harass those they see as evil, but there are many voices saying that the true evil is human suffering, that the efforts of Muslims should be spent trying to find homes and education for street children and not smashing the windows of discos and alcohol selling establishments. J. has said, and I've read this elsewhere, that the concept of Islam as a religion under siege is historic but no longer relevant. Islam is a growing religion and needn't be so defensive. Yet, and I think there is a connection to the encroachment of free market globalization, the religion does seem to feen besieged these days, and some are acting out, but by no means all, or even most. That seem sentiment can be seen in America, yes? Do Americans not demonstrate irrational feelings of insecurity? The tragedy of 9/11 took the lives of 3000 innocents and was a terrible crime, but did it justify what followed in American policy? Few other nations could even conceive of a global war effort in reaction to such a thing, maybe no other nation. That is not to mitigate the crime, it is simply to say that most nations endure hardship on a daily basis, and nearly all have had to witness terrible loss, but they could not ignore the will of the international community when reacting. India knows this quite well. After their recent attack, they knew, or believed they knew who the culprit was, but American officials were demanding caution, and even citing it as the work of Al Quaeda. India had to listen, and India is no small player in world affairs.