The Politically incorrect Guide to Islam (and the Crusades)In a word: no. The unpleasant fact is that violent jihad warfare against
unbel ieversisnot a heret ical doctr ine held byatiny minori ty of extre mists,
buta constant element of mainstream Islamic theology. Islam is preoccupi ed
with legal questi ons; indeed. Islamic law contai ns instru ctions for the
minute st details of indivi dual behavio r, as well as regulat ions on the
stru cturi ng of gover nment and rela tion s betwe en stat es. It also contains
unmistakable affirmations of the centrality of jihad warfare against unbelievers.
This is true of all four principal schools of Sunni Muslim jurisprudence, the
Maliki, Hanafi. Hanbali, and Shafi'i, to which the great majority of Muslims
worldwide belong. These schools formulated lawscenturi es ago regardi ng the
import ance of jihad and thewaysin which itwas to be pra cti ced ; ho wev er,
th at doe sn 't mea n th at th ese la ws are ancient history and have been
superseded by more recent rulings. It is acommonl y accepte d princip le in the
Islamic world that the "gates of ijtihad," or free inquiry into the Qur'an and
Islamic tradition in order to discove r All ah' s rul ing s, have bee n clo sed for
cen tur ies. In oth er word s,Islamic teaching on princi pal matters has long
been settled andis not tohe call ed into ques tion. (To he sure , there are
refo rm-mind ed Musli n's tod ay who have call ed for a reo peni ng of the
"gat es of ijti had" so thatIslam can be reinte rprete d. but so far these calls
have gone unheed ed bythe most important and influential authorities in the
Islamic world.)
Therefore, barring a general reopening of the "gates of ijtihad," which seems
extremely unlikely, these rulings will remain normative for mainstr eam
Mus lims. All four pri nci pal Sunn i sch ool s agr ee on the impo rtan ce of
jih ad. Ibn Abi Zay d al-Qay raw ani (d. 996 ). a Mal iki ju ris t,declared:
Jihad isaprecept of Divine institution. Its performance by certa in
in di vid ual s may di spe nse ot her s fro m it. We Mal ik is maintain
that it is preferable not to begin hostilities with the enemy before
having invited the latter to embrace the religion