Why Muslims Participate in Jihad: An Empirical Survey of Islamic Religiosity in Indonesia and Iran

Firmly embedded in the Islamic religious thought, practice and ethos, jihad (colloquially, 'Islamic holy war') is far from being an anachronism. In the aftermath of September 11, statesman, laymen and scholars and would be researchers have struggled to explain and understand why Muslims would be willing to participate in jihad. Is there some form of logic behind the decision? To what extent does rational instrumentalism determine the variation in the level of willingness to participate? Can soci…