ePub Jih?d: From Qur’?n to Bin Laden by R. Bonney in History

Review

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful. Five StarsBy Eamonn T. SmythA must read if you want understand the present crisis in the Middle East.6 of 7 people found the following review helpful. Impressive Array of Material But Seems at a Loss as to What to do With ItBy Jazz It Up BabyR. Spencer; from [...]; said that Bonney acknowledges that "the traditional reading of the Qur'an outlines four `stages'" in the development of the concept of jihad within Islam. These "arose from the historical development in which the Prophet found himself. ... The final stage came with the Divine command of Allah enjoining the Prophet and his followers to wage war against the unbelievers unconditionally." He then provides a generally useful survey of the historical and juridical development of this concept in Islamic history; including an examination of the idea of jihad in the hadith (accounts of Muhammad's words and deeds) and the classical jurists; the development of jihad as a state system by the Ottomans; Safavid Persians; and Mughals; Muhammad ibn `Abd al-Wahhab and Wahhabism; and the much-overlooked area of jihad in the period of the colonial powers. Bonney concludes his survey with an evaluation of the jihad theories of Hasan al-Banna; Sayyid Qutb; Abu A`la Mawdudi; Osama bin Laden; and other pivotal figures of the modern era.The author amasses an impressive array of material but seems at a loss as to what to do with it. He is at his best when reporting the facts and at his worst when evaluating their significance. His analysis is superficial as when he dismisses the idea that Islam is a "religion of the sword" because it "contravenes the clear Qur'anic precept that `there is no coercion in religion' (Q.2:256);" but he does not even mention Qutb's argument contending that this verse in no way contradicts his overall schema of jihadist imperialism and Shari`a supremacism. In a volume such as Bonney's; ostensibly dedicated to bringing to light how modern-day mujahideen such as bin Laden situate their Islamic appeals within traditional Islamic thought; this is a gaping omission--and it is by no means the only one. Bonney's book; while useful as a guide to various sources; ultimately fails and even misleads as it consistently underestimates the power of the jihadist appeal among modern Muslims even while demonstrating the strong traditional roots of that appeal.10 of 14 people found the following review helpful. Reading Bonney's Jihad was a struggle(jihad)By alchemistReading Bonney's book on the history of Jihad for the past few weeks has made me come to the conclusion that his objective to cover the whole history of the idea and practice of Jihad was too ambitious given the means that are available to him. Some of these limitations include but are not limited to his inability to go to primary sources because of language restrictions and his limited understanding of the subject (Islamic studies) because it is not his area of specialty. Given these limitations; what he ends doing in his book is streamlining the political history of Islam through secondary sources for the most part and provides an overly generalized and non-coherent reading on Jihad that ends up reinforcing the polemical and simplistic narrative of Jihad that already exists in the West without adding nuance to the discussion. Often; he has summarized discussion of Muslim political history; case in point is his discussion of Colonial Africa Jihad movements (Somali and Ethiopian Muslim takeover of Christian Ethiopia; Shaikh Uthman's movement; Shaikh Umar's Movement; Shaikh Abdul Ghadir's struggle; etc); without providing historical contexts for the conflicts or maps of places mentioned which leaves one rather bewildered and then follow this up with a discussion on doctrines of Jihad that were proposed by certain Muslim thinkers assuming that the juxtaposed assortment of information somehow makes a coherent narrative about Jihad. Instead; the uninitiated reader feels a sense of confusion of how this political history and history of ideas about Jihad all fits together. On a whole; the work seems unoriginal and not well thought out. His cut and paste approach to creating a continuous narrative on Jihad (this can be easily assessed by looking at his footnotes and seeing how he used singular secondary sources to create this history) only seems to add more blur to the topic. Reading this book is certainly a Jihad.