Jihad is an Arabic word which literally means "striving" or "struggling", especially with a praiseworthy aim. In an Islamic context, it can refer to almost any effort to make personal and social life conform with God's guidance, such as struggle against one's evil inclinations, proselytizing, or efforts toward the moral betterment of the Muslim community (Ummah), though it is most frequently associated with armed conflict. In classical Islamic law (sharia), the term refers to armed struggle against unbelievers, while modernist Islamic scholars generally equate military jihad with defensive warfare. In Sufi circles, spiritual and moral jihad has been traditionally emphasized under the name of greater jihad. The term has gained additional attention in recent decades through its use by various insurgent Islamic extremist, militant Islamist, and terrorist individuals and organizations whose ideology is based on the Islamic notion of jihad.
The Holy Land is an area roughly located between the Mediterranean Sea and the eastern bank of the Jordan River, traditionally synonymous both with the biblical Land of Israel and with the region of Palestine. Today, the term "Holy Land" usually refers to a territory roughly corresponding to the modern states of Israel and Palestine. Jews, Christians, Muslims, and Baháʼís regard it as holy.
Scholars have studied and debated Muslim attitudes towards Jews, as well as the treatment of Jews in Islamic thought and societies throughout the history of Islam. Parts of the Islamic literary sources give mention to certain Jewish groups present in the past or present, which has led to debates. Some of this overlaps with Islamic remarks on non-Muslim religious groups in general.
Gisèle Littman, better known by her pen name Bat Ye'or, is an Egyptian-born British-French author, who promotes the Eurabia conspiracy theory in her writings about modern Europe, in which she argues that Islam, anti-Americanism and antisemitism hold sway over European culture and politics.
A religious war or a war of religion, sometimes also known as a holy war, is a war which is primarily caused or justified by differences in religion and beliefs. In the modern period, there are frequent debates over the extent to which religious, economic, ethnic or other aspects of a conflict are predominant in a given war. The degree to which a war may be considered religious depends on many underlying questions, such as the definition of religion, the definition of 'religious war', and the applicability of religion to war as opposed to other possible factors. Answers to these questions heavily influence conclusions on how prevalent religious wars have been as opposed to other types of wars.
Abdul HadiPalazzi, legally named Massimo Palazzi is the secretary general of the Italian Muslim Assembly, and the Khalifah for Europe of the Qadiri Sufi Order. Controversially in Muslim circles, as of April 2010, he not only supported Israel's right to exist but also encouraged Jews to re-settle in Hebron.
Religious fanaticism, or religious extremism, is a pejorative designation used to indicate uncritical zeal or obsessive enthusiasm that is related to one's own, or one's group's, devotion to a religion – a form of human fanaticism that could otherwise be expressed in one's other involvements and participation, including employment, role, and partisan affinities. Historically, the term was applied in Christian antiquity to denigrate non-Christian religions, and subsequently acquired its current usage with the Age of Enlightenment.
"Islamofascism", first coined as "Islamic fascism" in 1933, is a term popularized in the 1990s drawing an analogical comparison between the ideological characteristics of specific Islamist or Islamic fundamentalist movements and short-lived European fascist movements of the early 20th century, neo-fascist movements, or totalitarianism.
Andrew G. Bostom is an American author, medical doctor and critic of Islam. Bostom has written books critical of Islam such as The Legacy of Jihad and The Legacy of Islamic Antisemitism. He is a retired associate professor of medicine at Brown University Medical School, who was an internal medicine specialist from 1997 to 2021. Bostom has been noted for his criticism of COVID-19 vaccinations and the public health establishment's narrative about the pandemic.
Jihadism is a neologism for militant Islamic movements that are perceived as existentially threatening to the West. It has been applied to various insurgent Islamic extremist, militant Islamist, and terrorist individuals and organizations whose ideologies are based on the Islamic notion of jihad. It has also been applied to various Islamic empires in history, such as the Umayyad Caliphate and the Ottoman Empire, who extensively campaigned against non-Muslim nations in the name of jihad.
Raphael Israeli is an Israeli historian and writer. He is a professor emeritus of Middle Eastern, Islamic and Chinese history at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, as well as a research fellow at Truman Institute for the Advancement of Peace and the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs.
Sunni Islam is a major religion in Palestine, being the religion of the majority of the Palestinian population. Muslims comprise 85% of the population of the West Bank, when including Israeli settlers, and 99% of the population of the Gaza Strip. The largest denomination among Palestinian Muslims are Sunnis, comprising 98–99% of the total Muslim population.
Muslim supporters of Israel refers to both Muslims and cultural Muslims who support the right to self-determination of the Jewish people and the likewise existence of a Jewish homeland in the Southern Levant, traditionally known as the Land of Israel and corresponding to the modern polity known as the State of Israel. Muslim supporters of the Israeli state are widely considered to be a rare phenomenon in light of the ongoing Israeli–Palestinian conflict and the larger Arab–Israeli conflict. Within the Muslim world, the legitimacy of the State of Israel has been challenged since its inception, and support for Israel's right to exist is a minority orientation. Pro-Israel Muslims have faced opposition from both moderate Muslims and Islamists.
The Legacy of Islamic Antisemitism: From Sacred Texts to Solemn History is a 2008 book by Andrew G. Bostom. It has been described by Raphael Israeli in The Jerusalem Post as a "collection of sources, Islamic and others, which testify to the long and sorry history of anti-Semitism in Islam."
Postcolonial Theory and the Arab–Israeli Conflict is a 2008 book edited by Philip Carl Salzman and Donna Robinson Divine and published by Routledge Press. The book is based on the proceedings of a conference on "Postcolonial Theory and the Middle East" held at Case Western Reserve University in 2005. The essays were first published in a special issue of the journal Israel Affairs.
From the time of Muhammad, the final prophet of Islam, many Muslim states and empires have been involved in warfare. The concept of jihad, the religious duty to struggle, has long been associated with struggles for promoting a religion, although some observers refer to such struggle as "the lesser jihad" by comparison with inner spiritual striving. Islamic jurisprudence on war differentiates between illegitimate and legitimate warfare and prescribes proper and improper conduct by combatants. Numerous conquest wars as well as armed anti-colonial military campaigns were waged as jihads.
This is a bibliography of literature treating the topic of criticism of Islam, sorted by source publication and the author's last name.
Quds Day, officially known as International Quds Day, is an annual pro-Palestinian event held on the last Friday of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan to express support for Palestinians and oppose Israel and Zionism. It takes its name from the Arabic-language name for Jerusalem: al-Quds. The event was first held in 1979 in Iran, shortly after the Islamic Revolution. The day is marked by widespread rallies and marches, during which senior leaders deliver speeches that frequently result in chants of "Death to Israel, Death to America." Israeli flags, whether painted on the ground or distributed for people to step on, are subjected to both trampling and burning. Additionally, exhibits featuring mock-ups of ballistic missiles showcase slogans like 'Death to Israel’.
Abu l-Aghlab Ibrahim ibn Allah was Emir of Palermo from 835 to 851. Grandson of Ziyadat Allah, Emir of Kairouan, on September 11, 835 left Africa for Sicily where after a naval battle against the Byzantines, he joined the government of Palermo.
The Battle of Samokov took place between the Ottoman army under the command of Lala Şahin Pasha, the Second Bulgarian Empire under the command of Ivan Shishman, and the Macedonian-Serbian Despotate under the command of Uglješa Mrnjavčević. Ottoman Turks headed to the city of Samokov after the conquest of Ihtiman. They encountered the armies of the Serbian and Bulgarian kings. Although the Serbian and Bulgarian armies were far superior to him in numbers, Lala Şahin Pasha did not hesitate to fight and achieved victory with a strong attack. The victory was so complete that the soldiers of the Serbian and Bulgarian armies fled without taking any of their provisions, leaving everything behind.
