I Was Recently Watching A Video On Facebook Of A Woman

Negative portrayals of Muslims in the mainstream media have led to widespread islamophobia in society. The way the media have illustrated Islam and Muslims in the media has influenced citizens to be misinformed about the true nature of both Muslims and Islam. As a result of the negative representations of Muslims in the media, societies views of Muslims have been adversely rendered and caused an unnecessary fear of Muslims in society. Exacerbation of islamophobia in the media has also led to a number of hate crimes towards Muslims (McQueeney, 2014). Instead of focusing on real news, medias often narrate stories

After watching video, the question or questions that remain in my mind about the meaning of jihad or any matter related to the video is why are there so many different definition of the word Jihad? In the video it says it a struggle, but also a holy war. Why are Muslims and non-Muslims misusing the word jihad? Why are people unaware of the controversial? Why is there a struggle to reclaim the word

Islam extremists believe in "jihad" which is interpreted by traditional clerics and Muslim scholars, the word speaks of spiritual struggle against sin. This can include fighting an attacker, but when it does, it has specific rules that bar indiscriminate killing. The word can also refer to the believer's internal striving for self-improvement. But within the dictionary of Islamic extremists, it has connoted acts of exceptional violence against governments that are deemed as non-Muslim or inadequately Islamic. This has led to include the launching of deliberate attacks against innocent civilians, essentially, terrorism. From the perspective of totalitarian ideologues, societies that reject the call for total revolutionary transformation are

The jihad is a complicated concept in how it is act upon within Islam. On the academic side, we must remember that jihad means struggle and that there are two parts of the jihad that Muslims follow. The greater struggle is the personal struggle against temptation while the lesser jihad is the struggle against polytheism. The lesser and the greater jihad are extremely misunderstood in our media and we can be the people who teach others what this concept actually

For example, from personal experience as a follower of Islam I am always subjected into conversations of how Islam only promotes violence through jihad and sharia law. From experiences from attending religious classes I see sharia as interpreted as a way of life and jihad as an inner struggle. These interpretations are based on the reasoning of putting things into context during the creation of Islam and during the times of Prophet Muhammad. During the time of the Prophet, the religion of Islam had to be defended by the means of violence because it was the inner struggle of those who were following it. For example, the Crusades were a reaction to instill Christianity throughout Europe. The crusades and those who use Islam to attack the United States are no different. Unfortunately the term jihad has been misinterpreted as an adjective to describe the actions of petty criminals who are

Jihadist...this is a word that most people hear everyday in the news. This term, these groups are evil beings who use fear and distort religion for their own benefit. Now many  Muslims have been faced with startling stereotypes coming from people who are a part of the “civilized” world. The real issue is not just the evil people behind the terrorist acts but, the people who stigmatize Islam while preaching for peace. Islam itself is a very peaceful religion that has similar moral values to the other Abrahamic religions (Judaism and Christianity).

The term has expanded immensely during the twentieth century to include any type of political violence that an observer does not agree with; thus contributing to the confusion and the murkiness of the meaning of the word. The media and Politicians are quick to label any violent enemy as terrorist. Deeming any act of violence that one disagrees with as terrorism cause the term to lose its meaning and become a highly contextual and highly subjective. Some acts of violence are portrayed as terrorism by certain media outlets and this notion of legitimate is resisted by others. Confusion further depends by the fact that researchers and governments have more than one hundred working different definitions for the term terrorism. Critics believe that another contribution to the media’s confusion is the need to get the news first which can lead to inaccurate reporting and misrepresentations (Tuggle, & Huffman, 2007) or “blatantly false pretenses” (Greenwald,

     The Islamic concept of jihad, often mistranslated as “holy war,” plays a strong role in Muslim just war tradition. Jihad more correctly refers to a “holy struggle” or “striving”. Unfortunately, jihad has been used as a means for justifying everything from defense of the right to worship Allah to blatant aggression against neighboring countries. Both Sunni and Shiite Muslim scholars recognize that jihad is a term to be used cautiously, as it seems to be in some sense applicable to fighting anyone whose faith in Allah can be questioned. Political leaders on the other hand have had a tendency to use the term whenever it increases their popularity or their people’s patience for enduring conflict. Iraq is one of numerous Middle Eastern nations that could be classified as dar-al-Islam; a nation in which Muslim law dictates much of everyday life. (Hunt, Crotty)

One of the most widely discussed issues in the U.S. Muslim community is the negative image of Islam in the American media, an issue that was cause for concern even before 9/11. While appeals to the media for accuracy and fairness continue, newspaper headlines regularly print the words “Islam” and “Muslim” next to words like “fanatic,” “fundamentalist,” “militant,” “terrorist” and “violence.” Uses of the term “jihad” in television programs

Jihad – a dispute or war between followers of Islam faith and those who do not follow the Islam faith; a struggle within a Muslim between good and evil (Dictionary)

However, there are also teachings which permit the use of force in certain situations. Jihad is a central teaching of Islam that means to strive or to struggle and in its proper usage refers mostly to the essential struggle in overcoming obstacles to submission to Allah. It can also refer to the military struggle to achieve religious freedom for Muslims, however, a war of aggression is not permitted in Islam. For Muslims, true peace can only exist where there is justice. Therefore, Islam justifies war against oppression which prevent people from living in freedom.

The concept of Jihad was not widely known in the western world before the terrorist attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001. Since then, the word has been woven into what our media and government feed us along with notions of Terrorism, Suicide Bombings, Hamas, Al-Qaeda, Osama Bin Laden, and now, Jihad. Our society hears exhortations resounding from the Middle East calling the people to rise up in Jihad and beat back the imperialist Americans. Yet, if we try to peel back all of these complex layers of information we can we attempt to find out what Jihad really means. Webster’s Dictionary defines Jihad as “a holy war waged on behalf of Islam as a religious duty or a crusade for a principle or belief” (1). Often, media depicts

In light of recent events in the global community, one word that is used frequently but rarely truly understood is the Islamic word Jihad. Jihad has become a very volatile word, so it is necessary that those who use it should understand exactly what it means, what it entails, and what significance it has in current global events.

The connection between Islam and terrorism was not intensified until the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center that pushed the Islamic faith into the national and international spotlight (Smith, 2013). As Smith (2013) articulated, “Many Americans who had never given Islam a second thought before 9/11 now had to figure out how to make sense of these events and relate to the faith tradition that ostensibly inspired them” (p. 1). One way in which people made sense of these events was through the media channels that influenced their overall opinions by shaping a framework of censored ideas (Yusof, Hassan, Hassan & Osman, 2013). In a survey conducted by Pew Forum (2012), 32% of people reported that their opinions of Muslims were greatly influenced by the media’s portrayal of Islam that depicted violent pictorials and fundamentalist Muslims. Such constant negative depiction is likely to lead to the inevitable—prejudice and hate crime. For instance, in 2002 alone there were approximately 481 hate crimes that were carried out against Muslims (Smith, 2013). Ever since the 9/11 attacks Muslim people have been the target of “suspicion, harassment and discrimination” (Talal, n.d., p. 9).

This survey reveals that the problem with the Islam faith is not racial: The Muslim people are welcomed, the Islam faith is not. The violence that has been perpetrated against America, whether executed or planned, has brought to fruition religious persecution not seen since the persecution of the Jews in W.W.II. This “trust no Arab” attitude has brought shame to the Constitutional intentions of freedom of religion intended by our forefathers, and has set religious tolerance back 200 years. Looking at media representation of Muslim Americans prior to 9-11, it shows religious diversity in America, depicting Muslim America as just another religious community seeking to advance and protect their interests, not unlike other Americans. After 9-11 the media portrayed representations of threat and fear, creating boundaries between Muslims and other Americans. Such depiction transforms the identity of Muslims and American religious pluralism (Byng, M. pg. 3).