Daniel Pipes, the president of the Middle East Forum, has defined jihad as “holy war.” He believes that it refers to Muslims’ collective effort to expand Muslim-ruled territories at the expense of territories ruled by non-Muslims and that it is inherently offensive. … However, to depict holy wars as something quintessentially Islamic is a historical fallacy because the tradition of holy wars is a Western one. Holy wars were the method of shaping church–state relationships in medieval Europe until about the 12th century.

Asena Karipek, Portrayals of Jihad, loc. 61