By this they mean warfare, obviously. Yet when I report on things like this, so many Muslims in the West recently have asked me, “What do you think jihad means, anyway?” — attempting to put over yet again the idea that jihad warfare or terrorist activity represents some misunderstanding of Islam, and that the Muslim clerics who teach that these things are Islamic duties are teaching a twisted, hijacked version of the faith. Who do they really think they’re fooling? Where are the Islamic scholars in Afghanistan or elsewhere standing up and saying to these Muslim scholars that they’re misunderstanding jihad? Or are these Western Muslims fooling themselves above all? After all, it’s easier to berate a non-Muslim who reports about jihad activity than a Muslim who commits it.
“Led By Osama Bin Laden’s Friend Sheikh Abdullah Zakiri, Ittehad Ulema-e-Afghanistan Issues Fatwa Against Anti-Muhammad Movie, Urges Islamic Nations To Wage Jihad Against America,” from MEMRI, October 4:
The Ittehad Ulema-e-Afghanistan (Alliance of Afghan Islamic Scholars), which is headed by Osama bin Laden’s friend Sheikh Abdullah Zakiri, has issued a fatwa urging the rulers of Islamic countries to boycott the U.S. and United Nations in protest against the controversial anti-Muhammad movie. Sheikh Abdullah Zakiri was described by Al-Qaeda leader Ayman Al-Zawahiri as Osama bin Laden’s friend in a video statement issued via jihadist internet forums on September 26, 2012.
Describing jihad against the United States of America as obligatory, the Ittehad Ulema-e-Afghanistan urged the Islamic nations to expel the U.S. ambassadors and recall their envoys from the United States. The fatwa, which is signed by over 25 Afghan Islamic scholars associated with Ittehad Ulema-e-Afghanistan, also condemned the Saudi Arabian leadership for permitting 250,000 American troops on Saudi soil. It also rejected a recent fatwa by Saudi cleric Qazi Abdul Aziz, which declared attacks on U.S. installation as haram (forbidden).