OK, instead of flapping my mouth off, I decided to do some research.
Five pillars of Islam:
-The Testimony that there is none worthy of worship except God and that Muhammad is his messenger.
-Establishing of the five daily Prayers (Salaah).
-The Giving of Zakaah (charity), which is generally 2.5% of the yearly savings for a rich man working in trade or industry, and 10% or 20% of the
produce for agriculturists. This money or produce is distributed among the poor.
-Refraining from eating, drinking and having sex from dawn to dusk in the month of Ramadhaan (Sawm).
-The Pilgrimage (Hajj) to Mecca during the month of Zul Hijjah, which is compulsory once in a lifetime for one who has the ability to do it.
Jihad:
"lesser (outer) jihad"—a military struggle i.e. a holy war
"greater (inner) jihad"—the struggle of personal self-improvement against the self's base desires"
Other actions that are considered jihad (on the basis of hadiths with better isnad) include:
Speaking out against an oppressive ruler (Sunan Abu-Dawud, Book 37, Number 4330)
Going to Hajj - for women, this is the best form of jihad, (Sahih Bukhari, Volume 2, Book 26, Number 595).
Taking care of elderly parents, as the prophet Muhammad ordered a youth to do, instead of joining a military campaign (Narrated by Bukhari, Muslim,
Abu Dawud, al-Tirmidhi, and al-Nasa'i).
en.wikipedia.org...
Jihad against non-Muslim countries:
www.memri.org...
03
It seems the current Jihad is about Israel whom the US supports. Israel is seen as an invading force in the Middle East so the religious fanatics
attack both the country and its allies.
Islamic law
prohibits forced conversion to Islam as opposed to the Inquisition.
Therefore, we have people claiming that Muslim terrorists want to kill everyone not Muslim, which isn't true. They think they are defending
themselves and they are prohibited from converting people.
www.memri.org...
03
Islam does not preach towards killing all infidels, that is false. There are interpretations taken too far, but these Muslim extremists are still
held in the confines of the other practices. Again, the terrorists believe they are defending themselves and take on offensive and defensive jihad
for this reason.
If you want to understand more about the terrorists and jihad instead of just running off your mouths, I suggest you read the links. Though I don't
agree with their tactics, they do have valid claims in their mind, it seems this all comes back to Israel and western military installations in the
Middle East, which is their turf as they see it. I'll leave it for you to decide whether the US should be there as well as Israel.
[edit on 12-9-2004 by Jamuhn]