Terrorism and `just war'

Christian Century, Nov 14, 2001 by Martin L. Cook, Glen Stassen, Jean Bethke Elshtain, James Turner Johnson

As we talk about the just war tradition that developed in the West, we should recognize that it overlaps in important ways with the jihad tradition. The jihad tradition also requires that force be used by the right authority. Historically, for the Muslim community to act, the leader of that community--the caliph for the Sunnis, the imam for the Shi`ites--had to authorize the action. Individuals had a responsibility to respond to an attack on Islamic society, but there were stringent restraints on such action. In this context, Osma bin Laden's issuing of a fatwa (or edict) against the West in 1998 and styling himself a sheikh went against the tradition of the defensive jihad.

The jihad tradition also sets limits on whom one may fight against in a just war. A number of traditions or hadiths associated with Muhammad prohibit killing women and children. Some of these traditions also rule out killing the aged, the infirm and the mentally incompetent. These are exactly the kinds of discriminations we find in the just war tradition and in contemporary international law.

So there is no fundamental clash of cultures here. From both the standpoint of Islam and the standpoint of the just war tradition in the West, the attacks of September 11 were evil and unjust, and there is a justified reason for authorities to respond to them on behalf of the public good.

James Turner Johnson teaches at Rutgers University. His books include The Holy War Idea in Western and Islamic Traditions and Morality and Contemporary Warfare. This article is adapted from remarks he made in Washington, D.C., in early October at a discussion sponsored by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life. The full discussion is available at <www.pewforum.org>.