Here’s a tremendously revealing article by a Pakistani writer named M.A. Niazi, on the subject of Pervez Musharraf’s recent attempt to argue against the spread of jihad from Pakistan: Jihad and the Amir. (Hat tip: Jihad Watch.)

For those still laboring under the delusion that jihad is an inner struggle to conquer bad habits, here is Niazi on the subject:

Jihad (with weapons, and intent to kill) is an obligatory duty (farz). It can be either farz kifaya (in which the participation of some fulfills the duty of all) or farz ain (in which all have to participate). It is a farz ain when it falls within a certain distance of one’s home, or if the Amir or his duly appointed subordinate has ordered a general mobilisation, and a farz kifaya when the jihad is elsewhere. An Amir may call for volunteers either for a jihad beyond the borders of the Islamic state, but it is a moot point whether he can forbid anyone from going abroad to participate in a jihad elsewhere. Actually, the traditional Sharia does not account for borders, though it recognises the possibility of different subordinate Amirs administering different territories independently, and owing a token allegiance to a single Caliph. Therefore, even if one assumes that Musharraf is indeed an Islamic ruler within the context of Sharia, his right to order people not to participate in a jihad outside the territory under his control is dubious.

In other words, Musharraf is out there in left field as far as Islamic scholars are concerned, and has no right to dictate what the jihadis should do—or who they should or shouldn’t kill.

The right and duty to undertake jihad is bound up in Islam’s elaborate fantasy ideology of the Caliphate. Trying to follow the twists and turns of the illogic involved will give you a headache, but I recommend reading this piece for a very good look into the thinking of mainstream Islam in one of its main strongholds.

And as we recoil in horror from yet another suicide bombing motivated by Islam today, we would do well to take heed of another very important point in this article:

The Kashmiris, the Afghans, the Iraqis, the Palestinians and the Chechens cannot wait for Dr Israr or the Hizb to establish the Caliphate. They are faced with oppression and foreign occupation right now. They have no option but to engage in jihad, by whatever means available. This is why the Grand Mufti of Al-Azhar (no firebrand, but enlightened and moderate enough to support the Frnech headscarf ban) has issued a fatwa declaring suicide bombings not just a valid means of jihad, but its highest form. In fact, this is the only formal fatwa holding the field on this issue. Though many Muslims have condemned suicide bombings as suicide, no scholar has issued a prohibitory fatwa. And these jihads are a farz kifaya for Muslims outside these areas.