Ramadan is observed every year by Muslims around the world. During Ramadan, Muslims are required to fast during daylight hours to include abstaining from drinking, eating, immoral acts and anger. Other acts of worship such as prayer and reading the Koran are also encouraged during the holy month. Muslims also believe the Koran was revealed in Ramadan, and Muslims believe it was during this month that Allah revealed the first verses of the Koran, Islam’s sacred text.

Most Muslims follow the tradition of abstaining from eating, drinking, smoking, having sex, and other physical needs each day, starting from before the break of dawn until sunset during the month of Ramadan. However, other Muslims adhere to the tradition that perceives Ramadan as a month of jihad and martyrdom.

If Islam is a “religion of Peace” then why would Muslims commit Jihad during Ramadan? Allah gave the command in Quran 9:5 “Fight and kill the disbelievers wherever you find them, and seize them, beleaguer them and lie in wait for them in every stratagem of war…” and “Fight those who believe not in Allah nor the Last Day, not hold that forbidden by Allah and His Messenger, nor acknowledge the Religion of Truth, from among the People of the Book, until they pay the jizya with willing submission and feel themselves subdued.” (Koran 9:29). Or maybe because Sharia which is derived from the Koran (Allah’s Holy book) and the Sunnah (Words and actions of Muhammed) commands Muslims to wage Jihad against all non muslims until the entire world submits to Islam governed by Sharia. Sharia and all authoritative Islamic doctrine states “Jihad means to wage war against non-Muslims and is etymologically derived from the word mujahada, signifying warfare to establish the religion.” (‘Reliance o9.0, Jihad).

The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) notes that Islamist and terrorist groups stress themes of jihad in messages, articles, and sermons published on Ramadan.

Among the Ramadan themes identified by MEMRI, are:

The commandment of jihad, which is of supreme importance at all times, assumes even greater importance during this holy month and gains precedence over all other commandments… On Ramadan Allah grants fighters special strength, despite – or rather by virtue of – their fasting. Those who gain martyrdom during the month of Ramadan are doubly rewarded in Paradise.

In an article published on the occasion of Ramadan on the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) website, MB member Hussein Shehata, a lecturer at Al-Azhar University, praised the jihad waged by Muslims against their enemies around the world: against the Jews – “the descendants of apes and pigs” – in Palestine, against the Americans in Iraq, against the Russians in Chechnya, and against the Muslims’ enemies in Kashmir, Bosnia, Eritrea, and Somalia. He also emphasized the similarity between one who fasts and one who wages jihad on the battlefield, and urged Muslims to “transform the month of fasting into a training camp that will aid [them] in jihad when the time comes.”

MB General Guide Muhammad Badi’ wrote on the movement’s website in August 2012:

“Allah the Almighty wanted the [Ramadan] fast to coincide with fighting, so that the Muslims would win and deal their enemies a crushing blow that the world would speak of… Allah did not mandate [the fast] of Ramadan so that [we] sit idly and avoid jihad, action, and da’wa for the sake of Allah. The fast is not intended to be an excuse to avoid one’s obligations at work or one’s social commitments. Rather, it is a month of action and movement, of conquests and victories – the month in which most of the defeats of the nation’s enemies occurred. Is this not [incentive] enough for us to shake off the dust of sloth, inaction, and apathy, and spin the wheel of life with all the power and might [that Allah] has bestowed upon us?

One can only assume if Allah, the Prophet Muhammed, and other Authoritative Islamic doctrine defines Jihad as the supreme importance at all times, it must have even greater importance during this holy month and gains precedence over all other commandments. This is why we see a spike in Jihadi attacks every year during Ramadan. Between 2017 and 2019 thousands have been killed across the globe during the Islamic “holy month” of Ramadan.