Changes

Jihad is the "effort" or "struggle" each Muslim faces in the everyday trials of life, such as the effort to get better grades in school, or the striving to achieve better results from a job, or the struggle to avoid sinful temptations. Jihad also can be applied to warfare; participating in jihad in Allah's cause was the third most important good deed listed in the Hadith, after prayer and honoring one's parents. Jihad often was a rallying cry for the military spread of Islam in the seventh through tenth centuries against non-Muslims.

Jihad is the "effort" or "struggle" each Muslim faces in the everyday trials of life, such as the effort to get better grades in school, or the striving to achieve better results from a job, or the struggle to avoid sinful temptations. Jihad also can be applied to warfare; participating in jihad in Allah's cause was the third most important good deed listed in the Hadith, after prayer and honoring one's parents. Jihad often was a rallying cry for the military spread of Islam in the seventh through tenth centuries against non-Muslims.

==Wahhabi and Islamic Fundamantalism==

====Osama bin Laden and Fundamentalists====

For more than two centuries, [[Wahhabi]] has formed a funadamentalist style in Islam. It originated with Syrian jurist Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab (1703–92), and for over a century has dominated Islam in Saudi Arabia. Abdul Aziz ibn Saud (1876-1953), the founder of modern Saudi Arabia, was faithful to the Wahhabi sect, as are his hundreds of sons and gransons who still rule the country.  Once they gained oil monet they used it to spread the sect. Wahhabism's explosive growth outside Arabia began in the 1970s when Saudi charities started funding Wahhabi schools (madrassas) and mosques from Islamabad to California.

[[Osama bin Laden]], a follower of a particular brand of Islam popular in Saudi Arabia, has stated that Islam is at war with the United States and its allies. Some observers maintain that the number of Muslims who believe as bin Laden does is growing, and others go further to suggest that all "fundamentalist" Muslims are enemies of the West. But other observers differentiate between conservative "fundamentalists" and the "extremists" who follow bin Laden or other terrorists. These observers suggest that the fundamentalists disagree with bin Laden as much as do Westerners.  It is hard to know the truth. Many westerners are still haunted by the images of cheering crowds dancing in the streets when the 9/11 attacks were announced and were disappointed at the lack of prominent condemnation of the attack from Islamic circles worldwide.

 

It is a fundamentalist version of Islam that insists on a literal interpretation of the Koran.  It rejects all luxury, dancing, gambling, music, and tobacco, as well as alcohol, and punishes infractions severely, often with death. Strict Wahhabis believe that all those who do not practice their form of Islam are heathens and enemies.

 

Critics say that Wahhabism's rigidity has led it to misinterpret and distort Islam, pointing to Wahhabi extremists such as Osama bin Laden and the Taliban.

====People of the Book====

====People of the Book====

== See also ==

== See also ==

[[Image:Africa islam 87.jpg|thumb|Islam in Africa today]]

[[Image:Africa islam 87.jpg|thumb|Islam in Africa]]

*[[Arab American]]

*[[Arab American]]

*[[Islamic republic]]

*[[Islamic republic]]

*[[Qur'an]]

*[[Qur'an]]

*[[Ramadan]]

*[[Ramadan]]

==Further reading==

==Further reading==

* Armour, Rollin. ''Islam, Christianity, and the West: A Troubled History'' (2002) [http://www.amazon.com/Islam-Christianity-West-Troubled-History/dp/1570754071/ref=sr_1_32?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1259342713&sr=1-32 excerpt and text search]

* Armour, Rollin. ''Islam, Christianity, and the West: A Troubled History'' (2002) [http://www.amazon.com/Islam-Christianity-West-Troubled-History/dp/1570754071/ref=sr_1_32?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1259342713&sr=1-32 excerpt and text search]