I am interested in doing some reading on this subject. The first book I found on amazon.com is Jihad by Paul Fregosi, and the material from the dust jacket and review do nothing to quiet my unease, change the view I have currently that:
even if the Koran does not say it is OK to kill infidels, the Jihad was a war of coercion, the objective of which was to conquer territory and force the conquered to convert to Islam.
Any suggestions for reading about the Jihad?
Well, there’s no such thing as “the Jihad” in Muslim history; “jihad” is a general term that means “striving”, usually in the context of how one strives personally to live a spiritually correct life everyday, defeating personal enemies like fear, doubt, sloth, etc. The secondary meaning refers to external striving against enemies of the faith.
As for wars per se, there’s no doubt the territory that Muslims controlled expanded rapidly during Islam’s early history. However, because a fundamental tenet of the religion is “Let there be no compulsion in religion”, forced conversion was not a policy.
In fact, the Jew and Christians of Muslim societies are to be protected and given full rights to practice their own faiths. By and large, this was done – but there always exceptions to the rule and corruptions in the practice of faith.
Islam was originally an ethnic religion and sought no conversions. There was considerable social upheaval when non-Arabs began converting in large numbers. It was partly the struggle for equality of all Muslims, Arab and non-Arab alike, that prompted the civil war ( fitna ) that unseated the Arabo-centric Umayyad dynasty and replaced them with the Abbasid dynasty in 749. Serious repression of non-Islamic populations only began later, as the Pax islamica began to crumble under stress from without and within. Egypt for example, was conquered in the 7th century, but remained was overwhelmingly Christian until the 10th or 11th. Generally speaking conversions proceeded not from open force, but rather through a combination of economic and social incentives ( easier to get ahead as a Muslim ), as well as some undoubtedly genuine religious experiences. By and large Islamic states historically were far more tolerant of Christian and Jewish populations, than their equivalent Christian contemporaries.
The only large-scale of forced conversion I can think of, was the conversion of Persia?Iran from a largely Sunni Muslim state to a largely Shi’a Muslim state in the 16th century under the Safavids. Even this was accomplished less through intimidation than the bulk of the population, but rather through the extermination and expulsion of the Sunni “clergy” and their replacement with Shi’a clergy. Conversion of the populace proceeded from that point.
Jihad refers ( when to referring to an individual, internal struggle with one’s consciousness ), to a struggle against enemies of Islam - Those who seek to destroy Islam or Islamic peoples. In essence it is a defensive posture, though it is easy ( very easy ) to take the “best defense is a good offense” route under this definition. But it does not refer to the destruction of innocents or forced conversion.
Or at least it doesn’t in mainstream practice. Extremists can twist philosophy to create exceptions ( as in everything else ).
Stupid typos.
Islamic states were generally more tolerant of Christians and Jews, than Christian states were tolerant of Jews and Muslims.
That’s Persia/Iran ( no question mark 
)
…when not referring to an individual’s internal struggle ).
Please ignore the rest 
.
From “30 Facts About Islam” by the MeccaCentric Da’wah Group:
“22. The word ‘jihad’ does not mean ‘holy war’. Instead it means the inner struggle that one endures in trying to practice Islam. Some Muslims may say they are going for ‘jihad’ when fighting a war to defend their faith; but they will only say this because they are conceding that it will be a tremendous struggle. There are many forms of jihad (struggle) such as the struggle against self-desire, against a tyrant ruler, against the Devil himself, etc., etc.”
From me:
In this time of crisis, I ask you to remind others to keep a cool head and to continue to practice the respect for others and their beliefs that charaterize the true meaning of being an American and/or a citizen of the free world.