LAHORE - John Kiser, an American intellectual, says that word 'jihad' has been much abused by a tiny, but spectacularly successful minority of angry Muslims, whose success has been to pervert a good and holy word into a bad word, one that is associated in the non-Muslim world with Muslims killing people in God's name. John, who is working for inter-faith harmony across the world, is author of two books, "The Monks of Tibhirine" and, "Commandar of the faithful: the life and times of Emir Abd el-Kader". He is in City for few days in connection with launch of his second book on Emir Abd el-Kader, an Algerian who fought against French colonialism in nineteenth century. In an interview with The Nation on Friday, John said that Jihad and violence were now widely viewed in the public mind as synonymous with Islam. Such thinking, he believed, fuels Western Islamophobia which, in turn, encourages various forms of aggression-verbal and otherwise-that lends credence to the jihadist argument that the West hates Islam and wants to destroy it. And that is their most potent recruiting tool, he added. "This sense of threat to Muslims' religious identity can best be understood among secular people if we think of Islam representing what flag and home represent to us," he observed. According to John Kiser, "Defending and dying for one's flag is considered patriotism, and for many Muslims, Islam is flag and home. For those Muslims who have not yet been secularized-faith is a primary source of identity, much as it is for a Trappist monk or Mennonite. But when they fight, especially in a violent manner, Westerners call it fanaticism". In his view, the jihadist are making up their own law and like all politically motivated leaders, want to wrap their cause in righteousness, and they do it by cherry picking scripture and inventing or dismissing Hadiths (sayings of the Prophet). According to his understanding of Islam, God doesn't outlaw fighting, but does give guidance on how to fight and why to fight. He argued that life-blood of terrorism is hatred; and this hatred is often in turn the disfigured expression of grievance, grievance that may be legitimate. "In the present day, few doubt that the on-going injustices in Palestine and other parts of the Muslim world give rise to legitimate grievances; but there is nothing in Islam that justifies the killing or injuring of civilians, nor of perpetrating any excess as a result of hatred, even if that hatred is based on legitimate grievances," John opined. Talking about his new book, he said that Emir Abd el-Kader could serve as a model to illustrate the spirit of True Jihad. Emir, he said, was one of the most important figures of recent history, leader of the Algerian Muslims in their heroic resistance to French colonial aggression between 1830 and 1847. John said that Emir responded to such unbridled savagery not with bitter vengefulness and enraged fury but with dispassionate propriety and principled warfare. He stated that at a time when the French were mutilating Arab prisoners, wiping out whole tribes, burning men, women, and children alive; and when severed Arab heads were regarded as trophies of war the Emir manifested his magnanimity, his unflinching adherence to Islamic principle, and his refusal to stoop to the level of his "civilized" adversaries by issuing the following edict: "Every Arab who captures alive a French soldier will receive as reward eight douros. "Every Arab who has in his possession a Frenchman is bound to treat him well and to conduct him to either the Khalifa [Caliph] or the Emir himself, as soon as possible. In cases where the prisoner complains of ill treatment, the Arab will have no right to any reward." When asked what the reward was for a severed French head, the Emir replied, twenty-five blows of the baton on the soles of the feet". He concluded by saying, "Abd el-Kader was one of those rare individuals God sends into the world as exemplars of godly behavior, whom Muslims call "friends of God" and Christians call "saints".