Jihad is strewn throughout Western media outlets on a daily basis. The New York Times, The Today Show, Fox News, among many other high-impact media, employ this word to explain conflicts perpetuated by religious motivation. Violent images are situated near the word jihad, extending the negative connotation of this word. What most people don’t understand – and fail to acknowledge – is the peaceful aspect of this word.
         

In chapter 2 of his book entitled Infidel of Love, Professor Asani discusses the social and political construction of the word jihad. Coming from the j-h-d Arabic root, jihad literally means “to struggle, to toil, to exert great effort” (p. 80). However, Asani explains how the word’s multifaceted interpretations prevent it from being “reduced to a single and simple definition” (p. 79). Asani also provides three different accounts of how Muhammad and His followers interpreted jihad: military campaigns, caring for one’s parents, and inner struggles.

These different aspects of jihad represent the multivalence of the doctrine of jihad; however, years of social and political associations of jihad with violent conflict has brought that interpretation to the forefront. Using a cultural-studies approach, one can understand why certain groups of people interpret jihad in different ways. The danger of isolating jihad as solely violent action rooted in religious warfare negates the overall ethical element of jihad.

For this week’s response, I decided to mold the Arabic word jihad out of modeling clay. Sculpting this word required me to manipulate the clay until it “looked like” its Arabic script. Leaving my fingerprints along the way, the beauty of this artistic representation symbolizes how Muslims mold their own interpretations of the word jihad. The concepts of jihad are modeled in Hadith, and therefore each individual, consciously or subconsciously, models their own interpretation from the clay of the Hadith.

The word jihad has many different meanings for many different people. It’s important to understand the context in which these people find themselves in order to fully encapsulate their meaning of jihad.