Jihad

Jihad is a subject that non-Muslims find difficult to understand. In fact, there is nothing particularly outlandish about it. All one has to remember is that holy war is not the opposite of pacifism, but rather of secular war–fighting in pursuit of aims lying outside religion. Whether people are militant or not in its pursuit is another matter.––Patricia Crone, late Professor of Islamic History, School of Historical Studies, Jihad: Idea and History, opendemocracy.net