18given interpretation of Islam on society. When
I say “jihadism,” I mean the use of force to spread
Islamism.
Islamism and jihadism are politicized, contempo-
rar y readings of Islam and jihad; they are not Islam
and jihad per se. As I’ve said, Islam is a traditional
religion like any other, replete with sects, denomi-
nations, and variant readings. But Islamism is the
desire to impose any of those readings on society.
It is commonly expressed as the desire to enforce a
version of shari’ah as law.
Po liti cal Islamists seek to impose their views
through the ballot box, biding their time until they
can infi ltrate the institutions of society from within.
Revolutionary Islamists seek change from outside
the system in one clean sweep. Militant Islamists
are jihadists.
It is true that no traditional reading of jihad
can ignore the idea of armed strug gle, and it is in-
credibly naive to insist that Muslims ever held jihad
to mean an inner strug gle only. However, any and
all armed struggles, in any or no religious con-
texts, can be defensive or offensive, just or unjust,
reactive or preemptive, and terroristic or conven-
tionally militaristic. My usage of jihadism refers
only to a par tic u lar armed strug gle, regardless of
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