On Tuesday, February 27th, New York City’s Department of Education (DOE)’s training sessions for teachers on understanding and combating anti-Muslim bias sparked controversy as it propagated that Jihad means “personal struggle and effort” rather than what it is – a synonym for Islamic holy war.
OpIndia The Jewish teachers who attended the session in question titled “Understanding Muslim Experiences and Combating Anti-Muslim Bias” criticized the portrayal of concepts such as jihad and the interpretation of Sharia law.
The DOE’s training sessions are part of a more extensive anti-discrimination program where educators learn about different concepts. In these sessions, the educators were informed that jihad primarily signified “struggle” or “effort” rather than being a synonym for holy war.
The examples that were used to explain jihad included personal struggles for fitness or building friendships, which practically detached the term from its violent associations with extremist groups. “Jihad is the Muslim concept of striving in the path of God,” the host reportedly said.
As per the New York Post’s report, some of the examples of explaining jihad during the sessions included “My jihad is to never settle short of my best effort”, “My jihad is to not judge people by their cover”, and “My jihad is to build friendship across the aisle”. The portrayal of jihad neglected the complexity of the issue and the historical use of the term to promote violence.
Another educator told the New York Post, “Jihad may mean struggle, but it’s disingenuous to omit that it is commonly used to mean holy war and then to say that the media outlets who use it that way just control the narrative.”
Jewish educators and critics voiced concerns over the interpretation. One of the Jewish teachers remarked that such re-definitions have potential danger to society and said, “They are trying to normalize jihad, but we have to address the elephant in the room; that for many Muslims, it means war/violence.
It’s like genocide doesn’t mean genocide anymore, and terrorist means freedom fighter. When someone hears a word like jihad, they now associate it with a struggle to go to the gym rather than violence. How will they be able to spot dangerous and violent ideologies?”
Their sentiments reflected a broader apprehension that DOE might want to inadvertently obscure the understanding of the radical ideology in the classrooms. Moreover, discussion on Sharia law during the sessions also faced criticism as it overlooked the stringent applications in specific regimes.
For example, there are documented incidents of brutal punishments and human rights violations where Sharia law is in place. The moderators who conducted the sessions focused on personal religious observance of Sharia. However, educators attending the sessions felt they failed to address the complex realities and criticisms of Sharia law and its broader implications on society.
MyJihad’s Facebook page has been running a “Free Palestine” campaign. Interestingly, CAIR is a Hamas-linked organisation that has extensively worked on whitewashing crimes done in the name of jihad. In January 2023, the organization asked the USA to stop using the term “terrorist watchlist” as it contained primarily Muslim names.
In December 2022, CAIR‘s Ibrahim Hooper blamed “Hindutva” and “Islamophobia” in India after a mob of Muslims beat a Muslim couple for watching the Kannada film Kantara. It was propagated that Hindus beat up the couple, but in reality, it was a Muslim mob that attacked them.
Not only this, but in December last year, CAIR had reportedly taken offence at the display of the names of the LeT terrorists and scenes from the deadly 26/11 terror attack that were displayed on a mobile billboard truck in New Jersey. While calling the movement of the vehicle ‘deliberate and well co-ordinated’, CAIR criticised the broadcast of 26/11 footage as ‘messages of hate.’ This was despite the fact that the mobile billboard truck did not display anything contentious but the truth.
In 2022, CAIR released a report titled “Still Suspect: The Impact of Structural Islamophobia”, in which it said that there has been a rise in discrimination against Muslims living in the United States.
CAIR claimed that government discrimination and bias continue to have a disproportionate effect on American Muslims and further demonstrate that Islamic communities continue to be viewed with suspicion. The report also listed the impacts of severe structural and interpersonal Islamophobia in the United States.
When most Americans hear the word “jihad,” they think 9/11 Muslim suicide bombers, Fort Hood massacre, Times Square bomber, London, Madrid, Bali, Mumbai, etc. Islamic terrorists. But these bus ads from terror-linked CAIR that are rolling out across the United States will try to convince you otherwise.
CAIR calls ‘MY JIHAD’ a campaign to educate ignorant Americans on the politically correct meaning of Jihad. In other words, Muslim Brotherhood proxy CAIR has devised a deceptive campaign to convince stupid Americans that Islamic jihadists aren’t really the savages that the world has seen them to be as they were commanded by the prophet Mohammed in the 7th Century.
The “MyJihad” campaign was conceptualized in 2012 by Ahmed Rehab, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) Chicago. Reportedly, the aim was to reclaim the term from “extremists”. The campaign encouraged Muslims and non-Muslims alike to use the hashtag “MyJihad to reflect the “spiritual struggle” within.
In an act of extreme “taqiyya” (Islamic deception), CAIR’s “My Jihad” ad campaign attempted to sanitize the term “Jihad” (the Holy war against non-believers).
CAIR Ahmed Raheb, a Muslim thug employed by CAIR (Council on Anti-American Islamic Relations) in Chicago, has recently put out an ad campaign to change the view of the word “jihad” and, by the transitive property, change the image people have of Muslims.
What many on both sides of the debate are missing is that at the heart of the problem is the blatant misuse of the word “Jihad” as if it were an acceptable synonym of say “terrorism.” Islamophobes aside, many Americans remain confused about this.
The best response to the hateful ad campaign is to convert it into an opportunity to get to the heart of the problem and to reclaim the word “Jihad,” a word many Muslims have shied away from and left to the ravaging of the ignorant in both the Muslim extremist and anti-Muslim extremist circles – both of whom seem to ironically agree on a bloody definition for the word.
I love Jihad! Not Jihad the perverse way Bin Laden & Pam Geller define it. But: the struggle against ignorance, injustice & hate. It is the struggle against the darkness in ones own soul. It is the struggle to be patient in times of adversity etc.
Jihad is not savage, except in the minds of those who are too lazy or too careless to wish to understand a well-documented 1400 year old concept in both Islamic literature and Muslim life.
My Grandma’s Jihad was against diabetes and MS while bedridden for seven years. #MyJihad is against bigotry and hatemongering. What’s yours?
Also this will be more than a twitter campaign. There will be an ad campaign as well in public transportation in various cities. The best tweets will be used as ads, so tweet away.
The only way to fight ignorance is through knowledge, and these ads are providing a different set of information to people who would otherwise believe solely in stereotypes. I can’t wait to see more of these types of adverstisements for every misunderstood sector of society in the U.S.
Their sentiments reflected a broader apprehension that DOE might want to inadvertently obscure the understanding of the radical ideology in the classrooms. Moreover, discussion on Sharia law during the sessions also faced criticism as it overlooked the stringent applications in specific regimes.
For example, there are documented incidents of brutal punishments and human rights violations where Sharia law is in place. The moderators who conducted the sessions focused on personal religious observance of Sharia. However, educators attending the sessions felt they failed to address the complex realities and criticisms of Sharia law and its broader implications on society.
NY Post New York City teachers were told that “jihad” means simply “struggle” — not holy war — in training sessions against “anti-Muslim bias” run by the Department of Education.
Educators were even given the example that it could simply mean “my jihad to get fit” in a video seen by The Post, ignoring its history of being used to justify violence, including terrorism by groups such as Hamas, al Qaeda and ISIS.
A trainer from the DOE also told teachers that Sharia simply means religious observance and did not mention brutal punishment and persecution of women and minorities by Sharia regimes including the Taliban in Afghanistan.
Examples she gave included, “My jihad to never settle short”; “My jihad to not judge people”; “My jihad to build friendships”; and “My jihad is to stay fit despite my busy schedule.”
A Jewish teacher who attended told The Post: “They are trying to normalize jihad but we have to address the elephant in the room; that for many radical Muslims it means violence.
“It’s a form of subliminal messaging and brainwashing. By changing the terminology it becomes easier to say and repeat, especially for children. It’s like genocide doesn’t mean genocide anymore and terrorist means freedom fighter.
“When someone hears a word like jihad they now associate it with a struggle to go to the gym rather than violence. “How will they be able to spot dangerous and violent ideologies? The Department of Education is promoting this twisting of terminology.”
Another Jewish attendee said: “Jihad may literally mean struggle but it’s disingenuous to omit that it is commonly used to mean holy war and then to say that the media outlets who use it that way just control the narrative.”
The video was first reported by the Jewish Chronicle of London. The DOE referred The Post to the city’s Commission on Human Rights.
The webinar went on to discuss Sharia law. The host said: “Sharia literally translates to ‘path of the watering well’. Sharia is overwhelmingly concerned with personal religious observance such as prayer and fasting and not with national laws.
“There is no official document, such as the ten commandments, that encapsulates Sharia. Sharia is personal religious and moral guidance for the vast majority of Muslims.”
But again it ignored the use of Sharia law in parts of the Middle East to justify for example Saudi Arabia’s former ban on women driving and current punishments including amputating convicted thieves’ hands, or Iran’s public hangings of opponents.
Most notoriously ISIS’s reign of terror saw gay people thrown from tall buildings and Americans beheaded.
Human rights groups have criticized Sharia law for violating the most basic rights. The European Court of Human Rights ruled that Sharia is “incompatible with the fundamental principles of democracy.”
John L. Esposito, professor of Middle Eastern and religious studies at Georgetown University and notorious Islamic extremism apologist and anti-Semite, said: “Jihad is a concept with multiple meanings, used and abused throughout Islamic history.
“Although it has always been an important part of the Islamic tradition, in recent years some Muslims have maintained that jihad is a universal religious obligation for all true Muslims to join the jihad to promote a global Islamic revolution.”
The webinar also discussed how to support Muslim colleagues. It advised that there should be “Culturally competent training for staff and administration,” “Dedicated prayer space and breaks for prayer,” “Accommodation for religious attire/growing out beard’ and a “Halal food option.”
Milana says
My Jihad Is To Wipe Pisslam Off The Earth
55surfire says
muslims swear jihad my kind swear an oath never shall the two mix without the blood run deep as the flow of water as it moves across the land … Death to Islam .
JS John says
Fkin liars! The U.S. government better get its crap together!
jarmanray says
Only an idiot would fall for this nonsense. Try explaining the concept of Sharia to the ladies in Iran who died because they simply wished to be left alone and decide for themselves regarding the wearing of a hijab. Tell the more than twelve hundred men, women and children that jihad does not mean to slaughter, rape and every atrocity imaginable; I guess they can’t since they are dead and killers are looking forward to their seventy-two virgins.
Az gal says
Didn’t Mohammed say Holy war/ Martyrdom was the highest form of jihad? It will get you into the highest level of heaven, according to Old Mo. Can’t compare to the jihad of getting your homework done.
Siddi Nasrani says
Yes you are correct.
Abdul Salam Zoud: “There is no solution other than Jihad for the sake of Allah. Jihad continues until Judgement Day. The Prophet Muhammad, the Righteous Caliphs, the Umayyad Caliphate, the Abbasid Caliphate – none of them conquered the world by peaceful means, negotiations, concessions, or understandings. They conquered it through Jihad for the sake of Allah. The goal of Jihad for the sake of Allah is not to kill people and take over their lands. Rather, the goal of Jihad is to remove obstacles before the spreading and rule of Islam.
[…]
“This is the Purpose of fighting and waging Jihad against the enemies of Islam – to fend off their evil from the religion of Islam, and to defend Allah’s religion, which was created to reign supreme over all other religions – an all the more so when the Jihad is meant to fend off an aggressor. Jihad for the sake of Allah is the only solution when it comes to the infidels. The Prophet Muhammad conquered countries only through Jihad.
[…]
“Do not even dream that [Palestine] can be regained through negotiations. By Allah, Palestine will only be restored through Jihad for the sake of Allah.