Canadian Imam Jamal Badawi 'Splains Jihad, an Oft "Misunderstood" Concept

Speaking at an interfaithy thingy in the U.S., the Egyptian-born scholar who lives in Nova Scotia told the assembled that they had it all wrong re "jihad":

Moreover, Badawi said it was also important to pay attention to how people of other faiths interpret your holy books. In the case of the Quran, he said he feels like its message has been “unduly and wrongly criticized” about concepts such as jihad, an Arabic word meaning “struggle” that is often translated into English as “holy war.” 

“One must pay attention to the entirety of the Quran,” Badawi said. “The Quran never glamorizes fighting. Never.” 

Badawi added that the Quran only allows violence in order to repel attacking forces and to depose oppresive rulerships. Jihad, he said, is a noun that can apply to any kind of struggle, physical or spiritual. 

“Jihad has nothing to do with holy war,” Badawi said. “It is a myth, no matter how widespread.”

Phew, I can't tell you what a relief that is, imam.

Update: Just a quick question, imam. Since you're a mentee of Yusuf al-Qaradawi, spiritual leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, and since the 'hood's slogan is “Allah is our objective; the Prophet is our Leader; the Quran is our law; Jihad is our way; dying in the path of Allah is our highest hope,” how does that square with your contention that it's a myth that one meaning of jihad is holy war?