They're Not Jihadists
We should stop calling Islamic extremists "jihadists," argue Douglas E. Streusand and Army Lt. Col. Harry D. Tunnell IV of the National Defense University. The term simply legitimizes their efforts in the Muslim world, because jihad "literally means striving and generally occurs as part of the expression 'jihad fi sabil illah,' striving in the path of God," the scholars say, according to a Defense Department report. So what word should we use? Streusand and Tunnell suggest "hirabah," which specifically refers to those engaged in warfare contrary to Islamic law.
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