Setting the record straight on the caliphate: early Islamic history carries the seeds for contemporary reforms.(VIEWPOINT)

From: National Catholic Reporter | Date: April 14, 2006| Author: | Copyright information

Many Muslims watch in horror these days as some of the terms they associate most positively with their religion are appropriated by extremists and then fed back to Western media with a negative spin. "Jihad" and "Shariah" were the first victims. Now "caliphate" has met the same fate.

"Jihad" has traditionally referred to the effort made by pious Muslims to better themselves and the world around them through spiritual, mental, educational and physical--including military--means. But extremists today use the term only in the military sense, against anyone they arbitrarily name ...

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