Until the advent of materialism and 19th c. dogma, Western Civilisation was superior to anything Islam had developed. Islam has not aided in the development of the modern world; in fact civilisation has only been created in spite of Islam. Proof of this resides in the 'modern' world and the unending political-economic and spiritual poverty of Muslim states and regions. Squatting on richer civilisations is not 'progress'. Islam is pagan, totalitarian, and irrational.
Jihad is etymologically derived from the word mujahada, which means in Arabic to wage war to establish dominance. Mujahedin, or soldiers of the mujahada, are 'warriors of Jihad'. Jihad as 'war' is declaimed by Moslems, including their cult-founder, to be the 'lesser' Jihad. The 'greater' Jihad is considered to be a method of spiritual warfare against the lower self, (nafs). Muhammad supposedly said as he was returning from Jihad, “We have returned from the lesser jihad to the greater jihad”.
The ‘lesser Jihad’ or war is the most important of the two. The entire Koran and the explanatory Hadiths are in essence, calls to Jihad against Infidels. The ‘lesser Jihad’ mandates and obliges all Muslims in some capacity, to wage war against non-Moslems. The ‘capacity’ to realise ‘lesser Jihad’ can take many forms: direct fighting, backing those engaged in the direct fighting, support of the Umma as it cleanses society of zalimun (unjust, unclean), and piety to the commandments of the Koran and Muhammad including prayers and zakat (tax paid to support the Musulman welfare state).
There are about 1600 verses of violence in the Koran advocating Jihad in one way or another. Demanding Jihad as a 'duty' from Moslem cult members can be found in Koranic verses such as:
1) Fighting is prescribed for you (2:216)
2) Slay them wherever you find them (4:89)
3) Fight the idolaters utterly (9:36)
In general, Jihadic war is the '6th pillar' of Islam and is an obligation incumbent upon all Moslems. Bukhari's Hadiths, or commentary on Muhammad's life, make Jihad even more pronounced as a duty. In fact, Jihadic war is deemed to be in the top 2 or 3 duties of a Moslem [see for eg. Book 1 of Bukhari, here and here]. Bukhari writes:
“I have been commanded to fight people until they testify that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, and perform the prayer, and pay zakat. If they say it, they have saved their blood and possessions from me, except for the rights of Islam over them. And their final reckoning is with Allah''; and the Hadith reported by Muslim which finds many echoes in Bukhari, and “To go forth in the morning or evening to fight in the path of Allah is better than the whole world and everything in it.''
Muhammad's entire 'career' was one of Jihad, plunder, murder, killing, war, sex-slaving and enriching himself. He was murdered by his own men [not a Jewess doctor], who had long grown tired of 'revelations' from a fat man covered in gold and silver, ensconced with a harem. Muhammad fought in some 29 battles and ordered nearly 60 more expeditions of pillage and Jihad. Calling the leader of this Moslem Jihadic cult a 'prophet' is about as intelligent as calling Herr Hitler a spiritual counsellor. Stating that Jihad is some form of spiritual struggle whilst ignoring its real meaning as an obligation to wage war, is simply insufferable ignorance.