The Holy War

by Julius Evola

Julius Evola explores the “holy war” in Islamic tradition and the distinction between the spiritual “greater holy war” and the physical “lesser holy war,” and their connection to overcoming the crisis of death.

This article was originally published in the journal Geist der Zeit (Spirit of the Time) in October 1939.

It should not be surprising if we primarily refer to the Islamic tradition. The Islamic tradition stands here in place of the Aryan-Iranian one. The idea of the “holy war” — at least concerning the elements to be considered here — came to the Arab tribes from Persian thought: it thus had the significance of a later renaissance of an ancient Aryan heritage and can be used from this perspective without hesitation.