This post was inspired by hosts of ignorant, ill informed idiots who seem to think that they can pontificate about the religion of Islam without ever having read one single word of the Q'uran. Here goes.

In it's most basic form, "Jihad" means "to make great effort", "to struggle" or "to strive".

To look at it's meaning in a more detailed sense, there are two kinds of Jihad.

"Greater" Jihad or "Inner" Jihad: This is the struggle within oneself to be a better, more virtuous and just Muslim through cleansing of the spirit / prayer, self discipline, compassion and study of the laws of Islam.

Secondly, there is the other form of Jihad. This is the one which causes the most problems with people who don't have a clue what they are talking or writing about, or who wilfully try to deceive in the pursuit of their own sinister agenda. In this second sense it means to struggle, or fight to establish justice where justice is lacking, by force of arms if absolutely necessary.

Jihad by force of arms should be only be used when all peaceful means have failed. It also carries with it a number of qualifiers. These are:

* That the murder of innocent civilians and animals, and the destruction of crops (which may cause starvation) is STRICTLY PROHIBITED under God's law.

* That there should be no wanton destruction of civilian infrastructure as this would again hurt innocents.

* That prisoners of war are not harmed in any way, are treated fairly and have their needs adequately taken care of.

* That a Muslim soldier should never mutilate the bodies of their enemy unless in self defence and never mutilate the bodies of the dead under any circumstances.

* That all steps are taken to protect women and children from harm.

* That all enemy dead should be buried with dignity and respect.

As one scholar sagely pointed out, these rules for external Jihad were written 1400 years before the "Geneva Convention".

That's enough for now!