Qur'an, Hadith and Scholars:Defensive Jihad: Difference between revisions

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Medieval Islamic scholars categorised Jihad into two forms: One form involved expanding the realm of Islam, called in Arabic جهاد الطلب "jihad at-talab", "the jihad of request" (referring to the invitation to Islam which must be sent to the opposing infidels before hostilities may commence). Muslims are also commanded by the Qur'an to fight to defend the religion (and the Islamic State) from outside aggressors, and this too constitutes the holy duty of jihad. Islamic modernist scholars and some academic scholars regard this division as a product of the expansionist ideology prevalent in the emerging empire and early Caliphates, and that the Quran itself only sanctions defensive and pre-emptive fighting, with the battles mentioned in the earliest sources aligning with these principles (though this is certainly contested).