Source: www.duluthnewstribune.com

While the investigation continues, political analysts and U.S. officials portray Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the Boston Marathon bombing suspects, as “aspiring jihadists.” Vice President Joe Biden described them as “two twisted, perverted, cowardly knock-off jihadists.” The Wall Street Journal published an op-ed with the evocative headline, “Make no mistake, it was jihad.”

M. Imran Hayee of Duluth is a professor and the director of graduate studies in the electrical engineering department at the University of Minnesota Duluth.

No doubt, the Boston bombing was a despicable attempt to mass-murder innocent civilians. Three were killed and hundreds more were wounded. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the suspect in custody, told investigators he and his older brother, now dead, were motivated to commit the alleged evil act by America’s wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

A mass murder of innocent civilians, if politically motivated, is called an act of terrorism. The Boston bombing perfectly fits this definition. So why do the media and others label it as jihad?

History reveals that whenever someone from a Muslim background commits an act of terrorism, it is confused with jihad. The misperception is strengthened when perpetrators themselves take pride in being called jihadists.

Ironically, the notorious Virginia Tech shooter, Seung-Hui Cho, who likened himself to Jesus Christ in his own recorded videos, was declared mentally incapacitated rather than driven by any religious misunderstanding.

Does jihad really equate with terrorism?

Both fundamental elements of terrorism — mass murder of innocent civilians and political motivation — are far removed from the concept of jihad.

A war of jihad is bound by much stricter rules than the stipulations of even the Geneva Convention. Prophet Muhammad commanded Muslims preparing for jihad, “Oh, people! I charge you… read the rest @ www.duluthnewstribune.com