The Politically incorrect Guideto Islam (and theCrusades}necessary to implore His aid upon every occasion; the Prophet,
moreover, commands us so to do."'Shafi'i scholar Abu'l Hasan al-Mawardi (d. 10581, who echoes Muham-
mad's instruct ions to invite the unbeliever s to accept Islam or fight them
if they refuse, also agrees:
The mushri kun [infi dels! of Dar al-Harb (the arena of battle )
ar e oft woty pe s: Fir st , th os e wh om th e cal l of Isl am ha s
reached, but 'hey have refused it and have taken up arms. The
ami r of the ar my has the opt io n of fi ght in g th em in acc or-
dance with what he judges to be in the best interest of the Mus-
li ms an d mo st ha rm fu l to th e mu sh ri ku n Se co nd , th os e
who m the inv ita tio n to Isla m has not rea ched , alt hou gh suc h
person s are few nowaday s since Allah has made manifes t the
call of his Mess enge r... it is forb idde n to ... begi n an atta ck
bef ore expl aini ng the invi tati on to Isla m to the m, info rming
th em of th e mir acl es of th e Pr oph et and mak in g pl ain th e
proo fs so as to enco urage acce ptanc e on their part; if they
stil lrefuse to accept after this, war is waged against them and
theyare treated as those whom the call has reached."Proof that none of this is merely of historical interest is another Shafi'i
manual of Islami c law that was certi fied in 1991 by the highes t autho r-
ityinSunni Islam , Cair o's AI-Azha r Unive rsity. The manua l, Umdat
al- Salik(available in English asReliance of theTraveler),was declared to
conf orm "to the pract ice and fait h of the orth odox Sunni commu nity ."'
After defini ng the 'great er jiha d" as "spiri tual warfar e again st the lower
sel f," it dev ote s ele ven pag es to the "le sse r jih ad. " it def ine s thi s
jih ad as "war agai nst non-Musl ims," noti ngthat the word itsel f"is
etymo logica lly der ive d fro m the word rnuj ahad asig nif yin g warf are
to est abl ishthe religion.'