Jihad and holy war in Islam
In today’s world(especially in the west), Muslims are viewed as violent fanatics who are blinded by hatred with the desire to kill any unbeliever. Many people in the Western world do not try hard enough to understand the true nature of Islam and it’s teachings. Forget about what we see pretty much daily on CNN, what does Islam really say about holy war and what does jihad really mean? A large amount of people in the western world believe that the word “jihad” means literally holy war. ... Jihad simply means to struggle or strive or to work for something with determination. Although jihad could be a war or armed struggle, the goal of jihad is not to have a war or to conquer and kill people. ... Although not jihad doesn’t necessarily mean to fight physically, in some cases it does. But jihad does not call for aggression, or conquest but rather the creation of justice. If a foreign army invades Muslim lands with the goal of conquering and looting territory, then Muslims could call for a Jihad to defend themselves from the aggressors If the invaders want to make peace then muslims then are also obliged to make peace.