Hi Momus,
Originally posted by Momus--
Seagoon, what is the source for your claim that approx 100 - 300 million muslims are directly engaged in jihad?
At first I was confused as to how you were getting that figure, I assume it is an extrapolation of my saying that only a pitifully small number of Muslims were involved in Jihad proportionately "10%? 30%?" and then comparing that to 1.9 Billion total population. My point was more aimed at what Ahmadinejad would call an inadequate response amongst the Umma to worldwide calls for Jihad, but depending on how one defines "participating in Jihad" then I would be comfortable with a 10% total figure.
Why? Well if we are defining supporting Jihad only as actively fighting for the spread of Islam in a terrorist organization, we have a large number. If we gather up the total numbers of Chechen, Jordanian, Iraqi, Philipino, Palestinian, Iranian, Bangladeshi, Sudanese, Nigerian, Kosovar, Macedonian, Afghani, Pakistani, Kashmiri, Egyptian, Uzbek, Lebanese, Tajik, Kuwaiti, Thai (yes Buddhists are being killed by Jihadis in southern Thailand), Algerian, Saudi, and so on, Jihadis we have a large and growing number of fighters, probably in the hundreds of thousands (this includes formal members of these organizations and associated militia i.e. part-time Jihadis such as the Janjaweed in Sudan - but the number would be higher if one included the "instant bloodthirsty armed mobs" of Indonesia, Pakistan, etc.)
But if one adds in those who support the Jihad financially, publish, print, and distribute Jihad encouraging materials, work for Jihad friendly media, train future Jihadis in thousands of religious schools worldwide or who study in these schools, work in or around or support Jihad preaching and endorsing Masjids (which is rapidly becoming a
majority in many nations especially via the deluge of Saudi supported materials and Imams) work for the government or armed forces of nations pursuing Jihad (like Sudan), work actively to enact and enforce Sharia law in various nations, and generally actively support all of the activities included under the heading Jihad, i.e. the religious cleansing of the Dar-El-Islam and the extension of Islam as the one faith worldwide and the elimination or subjugation of all other faiths, then yes, you are really talking about at least 10% of the Ummah. And yes clearly the Iranians would like that number to be much higher.
- SEAGOON