I have no organization. I make my money from writing. I have studied the Jihad and Jihadist tradition since I was in lower manhattan on 9/11. I started off with opinions quite similar to "these lunatics have hijacked an obviously peaceful religion". However, when I began to read the Koran and studied the history of Jihad, I realized that the Jihad is a central part of the teachings of the Koran and the example of The Prophet, has become accepted legal doctrine for hundreds of years, and is still being taught in madrassas through out the world. For example, this is an essay on Saudi Grand Mufti on the history and implications of the Jihad. He writes regarding Jihad
As it is now obvious, at first "the fighting" was forbidden, then it was permitted and after that it was made obligatory- ( I ) against them who start "the fighting" against you (Muslims)... (2) and against all those who worship others along with Allah...
It is not as if I am taking quotations out of context. The history of Jihad is right there. It's not a figment of a feverish imagination.
These reasons are why it's been so hard for "moderate Muslims" to fight the Jihadists -- as their arguments are extremely strong in terms of Islamic tradition and law.
Now does that mean all Muslims are the enemy? No. Does it mean that Islam is evil? No. But it does help us answer some crucial questions: What is the enemy? Is the West facing a Jihad? Is Islam, as Bernard Lewis claims, again trying to "take Europe"? How long a struggle are we facing? We certainly are not waging a "war on terror" -- we ar waging a war against Jihadists, which is a violent project emerging from a political project which emerges straight from Islamic tradition and teaching itself.
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