ISLAM-CHRISTIAN DIALOGUE

98 When talking about peace in the Koran, it is necessary to keep in mind that Muslim law considers the world as divided into two parts: Dar al Islam or Abode of Islam (countries where Islam is 'predominant') and, in contrast, Dar el Harb or Abode of War, which reads 'to be conquered little by little and to be subjected to Islam. But we see how the highest religious au- thority in the Arab world, the "Al-Azhar's Islamic Research Academy" (IRA), defi- nes war or peace. I would like to point out what this authority declared on March 10, 20 Knowing each other to co-live and bu- ild peace". According to Islamic law, if the enemy sets foot on Muslim land, jihad be- comes a religious duty for every Muslim male or female". The declaration appeals to Arabs and Muslims all over the world to do battle to defend their land, honour and nation. Then, he adds: "It is a religious obligation to help the Iraqi people against aggression by prohibiting Arab or Islamic governments from providing assistance to foreign invading forces in Iraq. And "the majority of the population believes that the main objective of the aggression against the Arab and Islamic nation is our faith, perceived as cheating the Arab na- tion". It is a perceived statement similar to a hypothetical appeal by the Pope to all Catholics to defend the faith through a just war. The appeal to holy war, is the Jihad made by religious leaders despite the fact that Arab governments do not provide military assistance to Iraq. At the end of the summit held in Beirut in January 2002 and attended by more than 200 Sunni and Shiite ulema from 35 coun- tries, the final communiqué issued stated: "Starting from their religious responsibili- ties, and in the name of all peoples, rites and countries of the Islamic nation, the actions of martyrdom of the mujàhidìn are legitimate and find their foundation in the Koran and in the tradition of the Prophet. Indeed, they represent the most sublime martyrdom since the mujàhidìn perform them with total conscience and free deci- sion". This vision is not limited, however, to the legitimation of the actions carri- ed out by the suicide bombers, but also affects the field of education: there are many books circulating in schools in Pa- lestine in which young people are taught the obligation of Jihad in all its forms and the deeds of those who are called "mar- tyrs of Islam" are legitimized, explaining that they should not be considered as suicides but as heroes and that they are obstinate in Paradise because they have made a true jihad. In short, they did not behave differently from the Koran, but sa- crificed themselves for the Islamic cause. In Palestine, where the war is a struggle for the national independence of the Pa- lestinians from the Israeli occupation, the Muslim countries insist on the religious dimension and turn it into a religious war, into a Jihad for the liberation of that land. This is another example of the underlying ambiguity for those who cannot distingui- sh faith from politics. Before talking about peace in the Koran I would like to mention the Jihad, a term we often find in the Koran: holy war or spiri- tual struggle for peace in the heart? The word means "the effort on God's path to make God's rights prevail on earth. The Islamic tradition distinguishes many ways to make this effort, privileging one or the other according to the historical times. The most common' is to spread Islam throughout the world; it has a uni- versal vocation. The spread is through sermons and missions. When people re- fuse, it is necessary to make thm open to Islam. It is also necessary to defend the territories that have become Muslim. In both cases, Jihad assumes a military form