War or Just War
This work is concerned with whether the Arabic (and by now also English and German) term jihad (Jihad) can be equated with ‘war’ or ‘just war’. Before elaborating my thoughts on the matter however, this section briefly discusses the terms ‘war’ and ‘just war’.
As mentioned above, war is often associated with violence, the shedding of blood, destruction, suffering, and pain. Consequently, it may sound grotesque and cynical to describe wars as being just. Nonetheless, the formulation of the ‘just war’ forms not only part of the rhetorical repertoire of warlike conflicts, but also has a long tradition in legal, theological-ethical, and philosophical discourse, extending back to Greek Antiquity, across the Middle Ages, and down to the present.[270]
Over the last several decades, the negative associations accompanying the term ‘war’ have resulted in official statements largely abandoning use of the word altogether, heedless of the reality that warring activities continue to affect the everyday lives of many people around the world. Avoidance of the term is also an attempt to evade specific problems concerning its legality and definition. It is hardly possible to arrive at a consensus on the definition of war, since it can take diverse forms (wars between states, world wars, civil wars, colonial wars, wars of independence, etc.) and can have numerous causes (of a political, economic, religious, territorial, national, racist, freedom-related, or anti-colonial nature). Thus, more recent international treaties avoid the term ‘war’ altogether, in favour of expressions such as ‘armed conflict’, and ‘armed violence’.[271] [272] [273] Furthermore, euphemisms such as ‘humanitarian intervention’ are common features of diplomatic discourse.11 Regardless of how we signify the facts on the ground: a violent conflict is designated as ‘war’ today, if it is armed and collective, carried out between states. In order to be designated a just war, it must be carried out a) for the purpose of self-defence, that is thus, b) based on a just cause (ius ad bellum), and c) its conduct must be in accordance with the laws governing the conduct of war (ius in bello).12 What then does the term jihad mean, and can it be equated with Just War or only with ‘war’?