New Worlds and Th eir Challenges 97reason was that it was regarded, in the Islamic religion, as a praiseworthy
thing to bring as much of the world as possible under Muslim rule. At least
in theory, this did not amount to a license for aggression for its own sake.
Instead, conquest was seen as a means to certain overriding noble ends. One
of these was to provide full protection to any Muslims who might be living
under infi del rule. In addition, nonbelievers in the acquired area could be
provided with a continuous demonstration of the superiority of the Islamic
faith and social system, thereby (presumably) giving them a high incentive
to convert. It was clearly established in Muslim law that conversion could
not be compelled. But that did not mean that the example of the faith in ac-
tion could not be placed before unbelievers by means of armed conquest. It
will be seen that this argument came to be advanced in Christian circles too.
Related to the idea of intrinsic hostility between Muslim and infi del states
was the concept of jihad. Although oft en thought of as meaning holy war,
the actual meaning of the word is “striving.” Th e duty of jihad in its generic
sense is therefore the duty of believers to exert themselves to the utmost to
promote the faith. Th is can be done in a vast variety of ways. Th ere is a “ji-
had of the tongue,” which means putting the art of eloquence to work in
ser vice of the faith, or a “jihad of the pen,” which means writing in support
of the faith. Th ere is also, of course, a “jihad of the sword,” which is the use
of military prowess in support of the true religion. It should be stressed,
though, that jihad, at least in its inception, was to be seen in positive terms,
as a duty to advance the faith, rather than in negative terms, as hostility or
aggression against infi dels.
Any inclination to regard this “jihad of the sword” as analogous to the
medieval Eu ro pe an doctrine of the just war must be rejected. Th e E u r o p e a n
just war was a remedy against legal wrongdoing, without regard to the faith
of the miscreant. Jihad, in contrast, was a means for the promotion of the
Muslim faith in general. It was therefore, by its nature, directed primarily
against unbelief and, as such, applicable chiefl y to relations with infi dels (al-
though it could also be employed against internal threats, such as apostasy).
Some Practical Adjustments
It has been observed that, in Eu rope, a rich body of state practice arose in
international legal aff airs to deal with practical problems for which natural