The State of Jihad in Tunisia
Jihad; is a buzzword that is heard fairly often in the Western world but one that is hardly understood for what it is supposed to be. In the academic world, however, this word receives the glory that it should and is dissected for all of the different meanings and way it could be perceived. The word jihad, because of its importance in the Arab world, has become a hotbed of discussion for academics to track down the roots of the different variations of the same word. Because of the curiosity and powerful meanings associated with this word, Tunisia is an interesting part of the Arab world in this aspect because of the different forms the word Jihad takes on in the region. Jihad in Tunisia is a topic that is touched upon by academics from different schools of thought and different opinions so that there is a diversity between what is discussed and how the word jihad is used. For example, through the works of Byman or Besenyo, the reader can witness the word jihad being used exclusively in reference to violence, but in the works of Fahmi and Alvi, the word is used to describe social and spiritual movements rather than violence. The way that an author uses the word jihad tends to set the tone of the topic or displays the lens that they view the concept of jihad through. The different meanings of this word so actively used across the academic landscape regarding Tunisia allow for all of these different representations of jihad to be expressed properly and without suppression.
As mentioned previously, the word jihad and its use in academia led to the word being framed into certain categories that only represent a part of what the word represents. In his 2011 piece for Foreign Affairs, entitled Terrorism After the Revolutions: How Secular Uprisings Could Help (or Hurt) Jihadists, Byman contrasts the future of counterterrorism efforts by the United States as affected by the Arab Spring to the short-term effects of the spring on terrorist groups such as Al-Qaeda. Throughout this article, Byman uses the word jihad in regard to terrorism and those who are subscribing to this way of extremist thinking. The author, Byman, is quick to compliment the handling of terrorism by Tunisia, "U. S. counterterrorism officials have long praised countries such as Tunisia and Egypt for their aggressive efforts against terrorism and their cooperation with the United States" (Byman 4). On the revolution and what Al-Qaeda wants to occur in Tunisia, the Maghreb said "The duty upon Muslims in Tunisia is to be ready and not lay down their weapons."(Byman 4), which is direct instruction for violent jihad in Tunisia that was blatantly ignored by the people of Tunisia. Violent jihad is seen in this article as not having a place in Tunisia because of the power of the country's democracy post-revolution. This rhetoric is backed by Byman's later mention that suppressing extremist beliefs like which led to a civil war in Algeria in 1992, would be...
