Holy War Research Articles

To Whom Much is Given: The Russian Orthodox Church’s Role in the Russo-Ukrainian War

Abstract The essence of a war is in its justification. In Vladimir Putin’s Russia, the state has turned to Patriarch Kirill and the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) to assemble a tranche of religio-legal justifications for the war in Ukraine. Russia’s full-scale invasion of its neighbor was instantaneously colored by theological proclamations from the Kremlin and the Patriarchate. While powerful as mere propaganda, much more is at stake. In March 2024, the ROC officially declared Russia’s “special military operation” to be a “holy war,” the first time the ROC has made such a statement since the Russo-Japanese War under Tsar Nicholas II. This article argues that the decree is the logical reverberation of a broader urge to revivify Russian imperial mores, particularly in the legitimation of warfare against Ukraine. Vladimir Putin and Patriarch Kirill have instrumentalized one another. Patriarch Kirill gives religious substance to the Russian president’s claims of geopolitical slight, while the latter buttresses the ROC’s relevance amidst modernization. It is a partnership as nostalgic as it is pragmatic, rooted in the symphonic heyday of tsars and primates. An examination of the historical relationship between the Russian state and its church (as the ROC has come to be known) offers a multitude of lessons in the maintenance of the Kremlin’s power, the stateward trend of ROC theology, and the lengths to which states go to legitimate revanchist acts.

Fractured Orthodoxy

The Russian World (Russkii Mir) theology is at the heart of the invasion of Ukraine, and is fueling the ongoing war with apocalyptic rhetoric. Specifically, the Patriarch Kirill (Gundiaev), Patriarch of Moscow and all Rus’ and Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church, has declared the “special military operation” in Ukraine to be a Holy War, and sees the Russian Federation as the prophesied one restraining the reign of the Antichrist (2 Thessalonians 6–7). The West, and its permissive culture of secularist governments, religious pluralism, reproductive freedom, and acceptance of LGBTQIA+ persons, is seen as literally satanic – that is, as heralding the coming of the Antichrist from the Book of Revelation. This article traces the evolution of this aberrant theology, as well as the geopolitical contexts in which it has evolved. The article concludes with a counternarrative coming from the Orthodox Church Father, Saint Irenaeus of Lyon (☦︎ 202 CE). It is hoped that a “Return to the Fathers” in theological worldview will, in turn, help Russian Orthodoxy to return to sanity, and away from its dangerous apocalyptic rhetoric.

Holy war and the international order

ABSTRACT Scholars have traditionally characterised perang sabil, the Malay term for waging holy war in the way of Allah, as the predominant feature of the Aceh War in the late 19th century. In this sense, perang sabil was often understood as a natural response of Acehnese Muslims toward the Dutch (kafir) invasion of Aceh. This perspective emphasised the existence of rigid borders and centuries of rivalry between the Muslim world and Christendom. It tends to locate the Sultanate of Aceh as an outsider of the broader international society. Recent scholarship, however, has challenged such depictions. Scholars maintain that Muslim empires or sultanates historically integrated into and contributed to international society, effectively dismantling the binary notion of Muslim versus Christian. Ibrahim Alfian, an Acehnese scholar, has suggested that the Acehnese ulama formally declared perang sabil after 1877, four years after the Dutch first invasion, and it gained popularity in the 1880s. This raises the question: If perang sabil is considered a natural Muslim response to a Christian (kafir) empire, why did it not occur from the outset of the Aceh War? This article posits that Acehnese perang sabil was a reaction to the evolving stratification of the international society in the late 19th century, the persistent racialisation of Muslims, and the Dutch colonial genocide during the Aceh War.

Mau‘iẓat al-Ikhwān and the Knowledge of the Acehnese Past

This article attempts to study a work of late nineteenth century Aceh, known as Mau‘iẓat al-Ikhwān. The main bulk of this inquiry revolves around the question of how far the text conveys the ‘historical knowledge’ of Aceh at the height of its war against the Dutch within the time of its composition (1886 AD). The work, which is a short treatise with only 14 pages in length, was written by Shaykh Muḥammad ‘Abbās al-Āshī, a prominent ‘ālim (religious scholar) and a war leader. Its composition was initially intended as an ‘exhortation’ (mau‘iẓat) for the Acehnese in their efforts at waging the holy war against the Dutch, and therefore it was addressed to them for contemporary use. Yet, as a product of the past the text also encompasses some factual data which can enrich our knowledge of the Acehnese past, especially that of the late nineteenth century. As such, the work plays its role beyond its initial intention as it also functions as a historical source. This study employs a ‘descriptive analytical’ method which will be supported by the mode of Culler’s ‘hermeneutics of recovery’.

“Framing” contentious activism: a sociological analysis of Boko Haram’s ideology, through its discourse (2008 – 2016)

ABSTRACT How does a terror movement like Boko Haram employ language and discourse towards collective action? This is the central question our paper addresses. Focusing on Boko Haram as a militant jihādist social movement organisation (SMO), our article shows how the movement’s ideology, evidenced through its discourse, “frames” narratives that identify the problem, call for action and motivate adherents and potential recruits towards violent repertoires. Using interview data, critical discourse analysis (CDA) and Social Movement Theory (SMT), specifically framing analysis, we interrogate Boko Haram’s Qur’anic exegesis based on the group’s publications, exhortations, lectures and sermons between 2008 and 2016. Along with calls for jihād (holy war, within the movement’s interpretation) and criticism of Nigeria’s federal constitution vis-à-vis Sharī‘a (Islamic law) as a superior social alternative, Boko Haram employs a specific takfir (apostate declaration) doctrine that divides the world into two camps: unbelievers (al-kāfirūn) or (kuffar) and believers. Such identity construction constitutes part of a “framing” approach to mobilisation and recruitment. In this sociological analysis of Boko Haram’s discourse, we identify diagnostic, prognostic and motivational “framing” patterns employed alongside an injustice master frame as a means to encourage collective action by the “in-group” (adherents and potential recruits) against “out-group” identities.

Exploring the Shifting Understanding of Jihad Among Former Terrorists in their Journey Towards Disengagement: Transforming the Sword

Purpose: This article explores the transformation of former terrorists' understanding of jihad verses to promote non-violence and disengagement. Method: The research uses a qualitative, narrative-phenomenological approach to analyze this shift. Data collection techniques with interviews (in deph interview), observation, and documentation. The depth of the data was obtained by searching for additional informants with snowball sampling techniques.Conventional content analysis techniques for open coding in this study. Open coding is obtained from the narration of informants. Result: The findings indicate a change in perception among former terrorists, but it does not completely eliminate their desire for holy war. Instead, they now view global jihad as defensive rather than offensive, and the law of jihad has shifted from an individual to a collective obligation. Former terrorists have replaced acts of terror with peaceful, humanistic actions. This transformation occurs during the process of indoctrination and later reflection on their perceived jihad actions. The informants' reflections are influenced by holistic interpretations of jihad verses, considering the impact of terror acts and social interactions with outgroups, family, and humanity. Ultimately, the research recommends a contextual examination of jihad verses to form the basis of deradicalization programs. Providing ongoing support to former terrorists during their reflection is crucial. Conclusion: Based on previous discussions, it can be concluded that a shift in understanding the meaning of jihadi verses occurred in all informants in this study. The shift in understanding of global jihad to defensive jihad; the law of jihad from fard 'ain (individual obligation) to the law of fard kifayah (collective obligation); jihad with acts of terror to jihad with peaceful and humanist action. This shift in understanding occurs in two stages, namely when the process of indoctrination of terror and when they reflect on actions that have been believed to be jihad.

The Warfare Ideology of Ordeal: Another Form of Just War Thinking? Theory and Practice from the Early Middle Ages

ABSTRACT Studying the military thinking and military history of the Middle Ages, one can observe several forms of warfare ideologies. Three of these ideologies are the holy war ideology, the ideology of ordeal (or iudicium Dei), and the traditional just war theory. Every such ideology has the common characteristic of a stronger or weaker link to concepts of a Christian God, religion, or church. Beyond this common characteristic, the ideologies differ from each other in some key respects. The holy war ideology applies first and foremost the concept of God, traditional just war theory applies the concept of justice, and the ideology of ordeal relies on both the concepts of God and justice. This article presents the ideology of ordeal as a form of just war thinking, and describes its features through historical examples, through its essence, and in contrast to other ideologies.

“Holy War” and Russia as “Katechon”

“Holy War” and Russia as “Katechon”

The librettos of Moniuszko’s operas and the European literary tradition: a comparative perspective on the opposition between serious drama and comedy

The aim of this study is to indicate several features of serious drama and comedy proper to Moniuszko’s operatic output and to describe them within the context of European points of reference (Pierre de Beaumarchais, Alfred de Musset, Jane Austen, Italian librettists). The network of generic and intertextual relationships shows that an important feature of Moniuszko librettos is not their supposed closure within the circle of national inspiration, but on the contrary – a seemingly insatiable openness to the most valuable areas of foreign legacies. The consistent comparison of comic and serious works in a single study also reveals an affinity between the issues at the heart of Moniuszko’s musical dramas, regardless of the tone of particular works. Moniuszko’s oeuvre, both in its comical and serious aspects, reflects, in different ways, one of the themes that has recurred in Europe after cataclysms, such as the holy wars of the Renaissance, the French Revolution (or the Partitions of Poland during the same period) and the conflicts of the twentieth century. One issue at the core of Polish opera turns out to be the disintegration of the social order and the transition to its opposite – the sudden or gradual, but ineluctable movement from harmony to confusion and violence-filled chaos. Halka and The Pariahforge models of a community based on the exploitation of the weak by the strong. Highlighted are instances of individuals refusing to conform to the anti-order. In the comic variant of Moniuszko’s output, meanwhile (The Haunted Manor, The Countess), the relationship between the order and its contradiction takes on the form of an unjustified renouncing of communal values. At the same time, the comparison between serious and comical works refutes the thesis that Moniuszko was an unequivocal eulogist of an ethics based on the unconditional belonging to a national community.

Miracles and Divine Intervention during the Struggle between the Teutonic Order and Lithuania in Christian Narratives from the 14th Century

More than a hundred years of fighting between the Teutonic Order and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania have left us with a considerable amount of narrative sources that allow researchers today to imagine the language of the Christians who fought against the pagans, and to understand their beliefs and propaganda measures. One little-studied question in this regard is how the Christian narrative tradition of the 14th century portrayed miracles and divine intervention during the struggle between the Teutonic Order and Lithuania. To address this question, the author of the article focuses on the chronicles of the Teutonic Order, which represented the idea of the Crusade to the Lithuanian lands, and therefore showed a strong need to emphasise the religious aspect of the whole military conflict. At the same time, however, she also draws on other surviving documents for comparison, including Lithuanian and Ruthenian narrative sources. The author argues that the accounts of miracles and divine intervention in sources from the Teutonic Order were influenced by the nature of the Order as a religious military corporation and the chroniclers’ need to explain the campaigns to Lithuania as a holy war. It was this need that led them to place a great emphasis on the depiction of divine intervention in the campaigns of the crusaders to help them.

Russian False Religious Accusations of Ukrainians

Abstract The text provides a summary of several months of research on Russian false religious accusations against Ukrainians (Satanists, Satan) and actions (de-Satanization, Holy war, Jihad). Only the essential elements required for the conceptual analysis of the insufficiency of existing explications will be presented. The extensive evidence supporting the existence, falseness, and characteristics of the accusations will be supplied where necessary for the analysis. The analysis requires certain preliminary clarifications, namely: the evidence of the existence, falseness, and other attributes of the Russian accusations (section 1), the description and analysis of the most plausible explanations regarding the motives behind the accusations (section 2), and an argument highlighting the insufficiency of these explanations, which includes logical, factual, clinical, and interpretative objections (section 3). The underlying reason for the insufficiency of explanations can be attributed to various possibilities, some of which include the peculiarity of the phenomenon itself, particularly within the context of Russia, as well as the absence of applicable models for seemingly similar contemporary and historical phenomena such as a lack of democratic practices (section 3.2).

Asking for forgiveness as an aspect of crusade

Analyses of medieval crusade have highlighted the ways in which participants expressed multifaceted martial, ecclesiastical, regional and gendered expressions of identity. Much of contemporaries’ consideration and display of ‘crusading identity’ took place far away from the battlefield. This paper examines an element of crusading identity manifest in the Kingdom of Scotland – a region that produced numerous crusaders and benefactors of the Military Orders, and yet has seldom featured as a centre-point for crusade studies. This article focuses on crusaders’ practice of settling disputes and displaying their magnanimity within their community, ahead of their departure. Using Earl Patrick II of Dunbar (d 1248) and Robert de Brus (d 1295) as case studies, the article argues that their preparations for holy war are indicative of a strong awareness of the subtleties of wider Latin Christian crusading culture among Scotland’s nobility.

ʻAinulmardiyyah: A Heavenly Reward Promised by Acehnese Jihad Texts

The sanctity of Acehnese conceptualisation of jihad for the promise of heaven becomes apparent via a heavenly houri called ʻAinulmardiyyah. She is the maiden waiting for her “husbands” in the heaven who fall in the battlefield. This paper discusses the portrayal of ʻAinulmardiyyah(maidens in heaven for a Muslim martyr) in the most celebrated Acehnese text on Islamic holy war, Hikayat Prang Sabi (HPS). The hikayat text is first approached philologically to verify the adaptations that likely have been made. Methods of commentary are employed by comparing the portrayal of the houri in the hikayat and other texts with holy war themes. The texts are then approached semantically to analyse any underlying concepts and standard vocabularies used in text on the female charm. Hence, this guides this paper to formulate a pattern of how portrayal of the houri is used to spur the mujahidin to fight for the dignity of their religion and state. It is found that the endorsement of ʻAinulmardiyyah in the Hikayat Prang Sabi text is subject to Islamic teaching that is transmitted not only through the Qur’an and the sunnah, but also numerous Islamic eschatological texts heralding the holiness of martyrdom in jihad. The promise of the tantalising reward of heaven is also intensified by sociopolitical factors throughout Aceh’s history.

How Holy War became Unholy

Abstract The Livonian war in the second half of the 16th century was understood by its participants within the Christian Providentialist discourse and was seen primarily through the optics of Christian ethics (the idea of sin and its punishment, the idea of ‘God’s penalty’ which every person has to pay as a potential sinner by undergoing pain and trials, the idea of retribution and reward for feats and sins, etc.). Since the war coincided with the aggravation of religious confrontations in the region (Catholics vs Protestants, the Orthodox vs Catholics and Protestants amongst themselves), there were attempts to turn the conflict into something bigger than a war over territories and political ambitions. But the idea of a religious war failed. For Europeans, the religious factor in the Livonian conflict had very little symbolic expression. No cults of Livonian saints, martyrs for the faith, etc. emerged. For the Orthodox Church a number of significant religious and propagandistic actions were organized at the beginning of the war (‘the Narva miracle,’ creation of hagiographic monuments, etc.) that glorified the victory of the Orthodox Cross and Russian arms. However, as the conflict developed, the significance of these actions faded and was reduced to local memory objects. The defense of Pskov from King Stephen Bathory in 1581 was the most resonant and significant event. Its image was embodied in many objects of both local and all-Russian historical memory, which retain their importance to the present day.

Ethics of Holy War

Ethics of Holy War

Religious Horror and Holy War in Viking Age Francia, by Matthew Bryan Gillis

The analysis of both religious and political rhetoric has long been a staple of Carolingian studies, often with the salutary benefit of revealing the underlying intentions of major secular and ecclesiastical figures, as well as their conceptions of their audiences. The fortuitously increasing scholarly attention to military matters in the Carolingian era in recent decades has opened up new areas for this type of rhetorical analysis, with concomitant benefits for our understanding of contemporary thinking about warfare and its role in shaping many different aspects of society. Matthew Gillis’s study is a valuable new addition to the rhetorical analysis of later ninth- and early tenth-century Carolingian texts, which shed light on contemporary attitudes and concerns about politics, religion and, above all, warfare against the Northmen. Rather than a traditional monograph, Gillis has organised his study into four distinct essays that nevertheless overlap both in subject matter and in the source materials. Part I considers in detail the language of horror employed by the West Frankish ruler Carloman II (879–884) in a capitulary that he issued at the royal palace of Ver in March 884. The focus of the capitulary, like many of the royal edicts issued by Carolingian kings in West Francia, was the danger posed to the realm by marauding bands of violent men, as well as by magnates, who were driven by lust for power rather than for the good of the res publica. As Gillis makes clear, however, Carloman’s capitulary differs from earlier texts in its use of the rhetoric of horror. Particularly striking is the king’s use of the imagery of Christian soldiers eating the flesh and drinking the blood of the people whom they were supposed to protect. Gillis argues that this imagery was chosen in order to shock Carloman’s audience into an understanding of just how great their sins were, and to make clear that victory against the Northmen, who were a constant danger in this period, was impossible so long as Christians were guilty of the same kinds of atrocities against their own people as were these marauders.

Islamic Missiology: The Rise of ‘Procreative Jihad’ and Islamophobia in Nigeria

Nigeria has already experienced a lot of crises; therefore, it is obvious that it is unprepared for the havoc that Islamophobia can bring about as a result of ‘Procreative Jihad’ – a new missiological strategy in Islam. 'Procreative Jihad' is currently happening in Nigeria, where radical Muslims have started having sex with non-Muslim girls and women, abducting, impregnating, marrying, and forcing them to convert to Islam so that their offspring will inevitably grow up to be Muslims. This research provided a qualitative analysis of the ramifications of the Islamic missiological tactic known as ‘Procreative Jihad’ which aims to convert non-Islamic populations in Nigeria to Islam. The paper employed a critical literature review and phenomenological methods. The literature review was used to provide a historical overview of 'Procreative Jihad', while the phenomenological method was used to collect data for the study through oral interviews and observations. Using extant literature, oral interviews, and observations, the findings revealed that ‘procreative jihad’ is an affront to human dignity, a violation of non-Muslim women's human rights and freedom, undercuts Islam as a religion of peace and justice, and breeds Islamophobia. The study concludes that the mission or da'wah goal of Islam does not necessarily include the holy war of any form. As a result, Muslims should use all of Islam's holistic qualities, such as compassion, honesty, tolerance, humility, and decency, in spreading the religion in Nigeria and beyond.

Concept of jihad for education

Jihad has a very broad context that encompasses many fields, each with its own definition. The term Jihad is also widely used by Muslims for a positive purpose that is to strive for good to gain the pleasure of God. However, non-Muslims and even some Muslims have a misconception about the true meaning of jihad, conflating it with a violent struggle to uphold one's religious beliefs. In addition, many Muslims and non-Muslims alike give a limited definition of jihad, claiming that it only refers to "Holy War". Therefore, this study will examine the concept of Jihad in general through the views of reliable scholars. In addition, the researcher will specifically examine the merits of Jihad in seeking knowledge based on the arguments of the Quran and Sunnah that are appropriate for this Jihad seeking knowledge. This study will use a data-based library which the descriptive analysis of the text will be used as the main mechanism to analyze the content of the text to collect data related to the concept of Jihad. This analysis takes into account the opinions and views of the scholars that they conclude based on the Quran and Sunnah in their books. This study demonstrates that seeking knowledge is a component of Jihad, which is highly demanded by Islam. Furthermore, the study relating to the concept of Jihad demonstrates that Jihad has a very broad scope, encompassing Jihad against lust, the devil, with property for the sake of Islam, and more.

Crusade: The Arising of a Concept Based on Portuguese Written Records of Three Military Campaigns (1147–1217)

The historiography of the crusade and reconquest in the Iberian Peninsula, and Portugal in particular, dates from the beginning of the twentieth century. Since the 1920s, it has been assumed that the reconquest was an output of the crusade in the Iberian West due to the so-called “Bull of Crusade” given to Portugal. The “idea of the Crusade” in Portugal was enhanced by Carl Erdmann in the 1930s and 1940s. This interpretation has been endorsed by the very context in which the Kingdom of Portugal emerged and developed throughout the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. From the 1980s onwards, the launching of systematic research on the military orders also reinforced this perspective. The deep affinity between the military orders and the crusades in the context of the reconquest is reflected in this historiography. These concepts—military orders, crusade, reconquest—have been studied without distinction being made between them, adding to the complexity of this analysis. Considering the historiographical achievements regarding the crusade, it is pertinent to rethink the associations between reconquest, crusade and military orders. Reading certain historical narratives is crucial for this analysis, although the written records do not fully deplete the subject. To reinforce the relevance of this approach, we will also consider royal and pontifical diplomas. Tracing the terminology used in these documents and identifying how these historical realities were referred to are the two main goals of this paper. For that purpose, three key moments of the Portuguese reconquest have been chosen: the conquests of Lisbon (1147), Silves (1189), and Alcácer do Sal (1217). These have one feature in common: the presence of crusaders travelling to the Holy Land, which supports the terminological analysis of those discourses. Different perspectives are embodied in these conquest narratives when compared with royal and papal diplomas on the same issue and of a similar chronology. Historiography on Reconquest, crusade, and the military orders is often conditioned by ideology, occasionally revealing a tendency to repeat ideas without debating them. This paper’s analysis is based on the aforementioned written records and is undertaken in order to verify when the word crusade/crusader appeared in Portugal, to assess to what extent the war of conquest in Portuguese territory followed the example of the holy war and to evaluate the commitment of the crown and the Holy See in this complex process.

Covid-19, communalism, and Islamophobia: India facing the disease

ABSTRACT As threats to human security, epidemics cause fear and anxiety, thus generating conspiracy theories, fake news, and discrimination. In 2020, the most widespread xenophobic reaction to the Covid-19 pandemic was Sinophobia. In comparison, India’s response to the pandemic was both conventional and exceptional. Like other countries, India recorded a surge in Sinophobia; but –remarkably– in Islamophobia too. Turning to both history and theory, this paper investigates how Coronavirus got transformed into a ‘Muslim disease’ and connected to narratives of holy war and Islamization (‘Corona Jihad’). We contextualize the 2020 Covid-related Islamophobic wave within a longer process of demonization of the Muslim that is catalysed by the beliefs and policies of Hindu nationalism. In light of Muslims’ continuing relegation to the fringe of the Indian body-politic, we propose an interpretation of the 2020 disease-induced Islamophobia as scapegoating, based on René Girard’s mimetic theory. In conclusion, the case of Covid-19 in India confirms that in divided societies collective threats like epidemics are likely to exacerbate already existing forms of discrimination rooted in the society’s mainstream memory and norms, and highlights the role of beliefs in mediating between threat and violence. This case study also highlights the deep penetration of communal discourse in India’s everydayness and its far-reaching implications.