Is jihadism a good word?

Matthew H. writes:

With the exception of naming the enemy “Jihadism” and not Islam, I think Walid Phares is right on target in this article. Even just plain Jihad would be a huge improvement. There is really only one issue in this election. (Excuse his English.)

LA replies:

I consider “jihadism” a perfectly acceptable way of describing the threat we face and have advocated its use myself.

However, I have to amend what I just said. Jihadism is not a sufficient term for the thing that threatens us. Eliminate active jihadism and you still have the entire body and belief of mainstream, traditional, sharia Islam, which, wherever it grows in numbers and force, becomes a hostile alien presence within our society and a direct threat to our liberties, something totally incompatible with our way of life.

So, the problem is not terror, and the problem is not jihad—the problem is sharia. Which means: the problem is Islam.

Posted by Lawrence Auster at February 04, 2008 02:45 PM | Send