Started
reading Raphael Israeli's new book Suicidal
Democracy: Israel's Future in the Arab Environment and
I am already surprised by my ignorance.
'The classical Muslim war and
peace strategy assumes that Jihad against infidels is
certainly a defensive war, because even when pursued for the sake of expansion
and military conquest in the Path of Allah, it requires launching a
warning/ultimatum first to the target nation, asking it to surrender
peacefully, failing which it bears the responsibility of its refusal to submit
to the "Will of Allah", therefore its takeover by force can never be
regarded by Islam as aggressive. The aggressors are those who foolishly refuse
to surrender "peacefully" '. (page 8)
