Holy War
Lack of knowledge and years of indoctrination have led to religious intolerance and bigotry, something that Islam opposes. Islam is compatible with the ongoing process of time if its core values of justice, tolerance, morality, honesty, and accountability are promoted. In addition to this, Islam is broadly represented as a religion of intolerance and killing. The word “Holy War” portrays the negative image and is widely misunderstood. In the Arabic language, the word Jihad means “To strive.”
Additionally, in Islam, Jihad can be classified into several realms, Jihad by heart, tongue, hands, and finally, by the sword. Unfortunately, the latter is usually the level of Jihad that is most publicized and exposed due to its vast misinterpretation and misuse by extremist Islamic groups for their interest. Other factors could be lack of education, high illiteracy rate in majority Muslim countries, shallow democratic moves by leaders, and strong repugnancy towards the western world. Another factor could be the prevalence of unbridled materialism and moral decline, where the money is considered an essential thing in life. This dilemma was best portrayed by Jamal Din Al-Afghani, the founder of Pan-Islamism that “The Muslims have lost their courage, their ambition asleep, their hearts dying, but the only thing that is prevalent among them is lust and indulgence.”