Al-Dawoody examines the justifications and regulations for going to war in both international and domestic armed conflicts under Islamic law. Examined are the various kinds of use of force by both state and non-state actors in order to determine the nature of jihad, the Islamic law of war, and specifically whether Islamic law sanctions "holy war," offensive war, or only defensive war. It also investigates the permissibility under Islamic law of resorting to the use of force to overthrow the governing regime and discusses the Islamic treatment of terrorism and the punishment of terrorists and their accomplices. This timely work answers the questions of why and how Muslims resort to the use of force.