Editing Jihad (section)

==Islamic jurisprudence==
Observers have noted the evolution in the rules of ''jihad''—from the original "classical" doctrine to that of 21st century [[Salafi jihadism]].<ref name=Kadri12/>{{rp|172}} According to [[legal historian]] Sadarat Kadri,<ref name=Kadri12/>{{rp|172}} during the last few centuries, incremental changes in Islamic legal doctrine (developed by Islamists who otherwise condemn any ''[[bid‘ah]]'' (innovation) in religion), "normalized" what was once "unthinkable".<ref name=Kadri12/>{{rp|172}} "The very idea that [[Muslims]] might blow themselves up for God was unheard of before 1983, and it was not until the early 1990s that anyone anywhere had justified killing innocent Muslims who were not on a battlefield."<ref name=Kadri12/>{{rp|175}}

The first or the "classical" doctrine of ''jihad'' which was developed towards the end of the 8th century, emphasized the ''jihad'' of the sword (''jihad bil-saif'') rather than the "''jihad'' of the heart",<ref name=Lewis-1988/>{{rp|[https://archive.org/details/politicallanguag00lewi_680/page/n80 72]}} but it contained many legal restrictions developed from interpretations of the [[Quran]] and the [[Hadith]], such as detailed rules involving "the initiation, the conduct, the termination" of ''jihad'', the treatment of prisoners, the distribution of booty, etc. Absent a sudden attack on the [[Ummah|Muslim community]], ''jihad'' was not a "personal obligation" (''fard ayn''); instead it was a "collective one" (''[[fard al-kifaya]]''),<ref name=Khadduri-1955-60/> which had to be discharged "in the way of God" (''fi sabil Allah''),<ref name=Kadri12/>{{rp|150}} and could only be launched by the [[caliph]], "whose discretion over its conduct was all but absolute."<ref name=Kadri12/>{{rp|150–51}} (This was designed in part to avoid incidents like the [[Khawarij|Kharijia]]'s ''jihad'' against and killing of [[Ali as Caliph|Caliph Ali]], once [[Takfir|they deemed]] that [[Apostasy in Islam|he was no longer a Muslim]]). [[Shahid|Martyrdom]] resulting from an attack on the enemy with no concern for your own safety was praiseworthy, but dying by your own hand (as opposed to the enemy's) merited a special place in [[Jahannam|Hell]].<ref name="ARSI-BL-xii">{{cite book|last1=Lewis|first1=Bernard|title=The Assassins, a radical sect in Islam|orig-year=1967|year=2003|publisher=Basic Books|page=xi–xii |url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=sRVmL_h_PcsC}}
 |access-date=13 October 2015|isbn=978-0786724550}}</ref> The collective obligation to ''jihad'' is sometimes simplified as "offensive ''jihad''" in Western texts.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Edwards |first1=Richard |last2=Zuhur|first2=Sherifa |title=The Encyclopedia of the Arab-Israeli Conflict: A Political, Social, and|page=553|publisher=ABC-CLIO|url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=YAd8efHdVzIC|page=553}}
|isbn=978-1851098422 |date=12 May 2008 }}</ref>

[[Islamic theology|Islamic theologian]] Abu Abdullah al-Muhajir has been identified as the key theorist and [[ideologue]] behind modern jihadist violence.<ref name="Atlantic 2016">{{cite magazine |last1=al-Saud |first1=Abdullah K. |last2=Winter |first2=Charlie |title=Abu Abdullah al-Muhajir: The Obscure Theologian Who Shaped ISIS |magazine=[[The Atlantic]] |location=Washington, D.C. |date=4 December 2016 |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2016/12/isis-muhajir-syria/509399/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612140424/https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2016/12/isis-muhajir-syria/509399/ |archive-date=12 June 2018 |url-status=live |access-date=28 September 2020}}</ref> His theological and legal justifications influenced [[Abu Musab al-Zarqawi]] of [[al-Qaeda]] as well as jihadi terrorist groups, including [[ISIS]].<ref name="Atlantic 2016"/> Zarqawi used a manuscript of al-Muhajir's ideas at AQI training camps that were later deployed by ISIS, referred to as ''The Jurisprudence of Jihad'' or ''The Jurisprudence of Blood''.<ref name="Atlantic 2016"/><ref name="Guardian">{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/may/12/isis-jihadist-manual-analysed-rebutted-by-islamic-scholar|title=The core Isis manual that twisted Islam to legitimise barbarity|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|access-date=9 June 2018|date=12 May 2018|last1=Townsend|first1=Mark |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180609090007/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/may/12/isis-jihadist-manual-analysed-rebutted-by-islamic-scholar|archive-date=9 June 2018|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="ChrisStout">{{cite book |last1=Stout|first1= Chris|title= Terrorism, Political Violence, and Extremism: New Psychology to Understand, Face, and Defuse the Threat|publisher=[[Greenwood Publishing Group]] |date=9 June 2018 |orig-year=24 May 2017|pages=5–6|chapter=The Psyhchology of Terrorism|chapter-url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=QvHeDgAAQBAJ|page=5}}|isbn=978-1440851926|author1-link= Chris Stout (psychologist)}}</ref>

The book has been described as rationalising "the murder of non-combatants" by Mark Towsend, citing Salah al-Ansari of [[Quilliam (think tank)|Quilliam]], who noted: "There is a startling lack of study and concern regarding this abhorrent and dangerous text ''The Jurisprudence of Blood'' in almost all Western and Arab scholarship".<ref name="Guardian"/> Charlie Winter of ''[[The Atlantic]]'' describes it as a "theological playbook used to justify the group's abhorrent acts".<ref name="Atlantic 2016"/> He stated:

{{Blockquote|Ranging from ruminations on the merits of beheading, torturing, or burning prisoners to thoughts on assassination, siege warfare, and the use of biological weapons, Muhajir's intellectual legacy is a crucial component of the [[Ideology of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant|literary corpus of ISIS]]—and, indeed, whatever comes after it—a way to render practically anything permissible, provided, that is, it can be spun as beneficial to the ''jihad''. [...] According to Muhajir, [[Suicide attack#Islam|committing suicide to kill people]] is not only a theologically sound act, but a commendable one, too, something to be cherished and celebrated regardless of its outcome. [...] neither Zarqawi nor his inheritors have looked back, liberally using Muhajir's work to normalize the use of suicide tactics in the time since, such that they have become the single most important military and terrorist method—defensive or offensive—used by ISIS today. The way that Muhajir theorized it was simple—he offered up a theological fix that allows any who desire it to sidestep the Koranic injunctions against suicide.<ref name="Atlantic 2016"/>}}

Psychologist [[Chris Stout (psychologist)|Chris E. Stout]] claimed that jihadists regard their actions as "for the greater good"; that they are in a "weakened in the earth" situation that renders [[Islamic terrorism|terrorism]] a valid resort.<ref name="ChrisStout"/>