THE CONCEPT OF WAR AND MILITARY ETHICS IN SHIITE ISLAM

In Islam, as in many other civilizations, religious texts / principles define and set human behavior.Religion and religious ideas have great importance in understanding the nature of war and military ethics in the Islamic world.In Islamic Jurisprudence, war is equal to "Jihad" which is one of the ten secondary rules of Islam. Therefore, it is one of the main chapters/topics of the Islamic Jurisprudence. This article aims to analyse the interpretation of Jihad and military ethics in Shi’ite Islam with reference to the Islamic texts that deal with Jihad from the Shi’ite perspective.Any proper study of concept of Jihad in Shi’ite Islam shall be based on two principles:a. Differentiating the classic and new interpretations of Jihad in Islamic jurisprudence.b. Understanding the basic difference in concept of Jihad between the Shi’ite and Sonnies.Since these two Issues are so essential, without a proper understanding of the concept of Jihad in Shi’ite Islam, a through understanding of the issue of Jihad would not be possible.