Between Terrorism and Jihad

It is imperative for one to treat equal, equal, and unequal, equally. Today, due to one’s sentimentalism or naivety, these two words are given wrong meanings that are not fit for purpose. To my utmost surprise, this misconception is not only attributed to the non- Muslims, but to the believers as well. According to Longman Contemporary English Dictionary, the word ‘terrorism’ means ‘the use of violence such as bombing, shooting, or kidnapping to obtain political demand’. Jihad on the other hand refers to ‘a holy war fought by the Muslims ‘according to the same dictionary. Based on these two wrongly perceived definitions, one comes to the conclusion that the words are either misunderstood or misused by some people across the globe for their personal interests.

It is important to note that, based on the realities of history that cannot be changed; the word ‘terrorism’ is used by the west to qualify the people they hate. This is because; the people find it necessary to fight for their integrity and total liberation that has been tempered with. For instance, in 1775, the Americans waged a serious resistance against the British Colonial Government that had deprived them their rights to live independently as the British. This struggle for independence was spearheaded by George Washington and his like. At this juncture, the word used by the Great Britain to qualify the American Revolutionaries was ‘terrorists’ and their activity as ‘terrorism’. Hence, if this is what the word denotes, then it is a duty upon any given society to undertake it for the betterment of their peoples.

However, the word is now taking a new shape, color and meaning and usage to strictly be applicable to the Muslim communities around the world. It is obvious that, these Muslim communities living in Palestine, Afghanistan, Somalia to mention but just a few, wanted to be free from the Western domination, suppression, brigands, looting, influence and brutality. This no doubt led to the hatching and concoction of words like terrorism, extremism and fundamentalism to refer to the Muslim communities. Thus, this is just a mere propaganda that emanates from the West which they capitalize on to destroy the Muslim countries.Not all terrorism are Muslims, neither all muslims are terrorism, the so called suicide bombing was pioneered by the Tamil Tigers of Sri Lanka the group whose members were largely Hindu Faith

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