1-The usage of the term (war) in this context might create a problem, since we are talking about our war of ideas as an intellectual war, (a peaceful war) as a substitute for a military war, or as a de-escalating factor, curtailing the use of military might except in the most compelling situations. It is the culture of our contemporary times, where Humanity has reached a level of civilization, practice of democracy, human rights recognition and peace, it realized that war is not the solution for conflicts at all times, rather war could be the worst solution, better yet, itself becoming an added problem. We are still feeling the pains of two world wars that resulted in the death of millions of combatants and civilians, and what followed them of local and regional wars, in Korea, Vietnam and the Middle East, none of which succeeded in accomplishing the desired objective, which is peace, tranquility and harmony among people, and the removal of causes of future wars. Hence, to use the term (war) in our war of ideas, is considered distasteful due to the negative connotations it elicits, 2-yet we are forced to use it for two reasons:

The ammunition of a war of ideas differs from that of militarized war. Its ammunition is extensive knowledge of Islam and Muslims. To use such ammunition in new armaments like a written word, a picture, through publishing books, articles, research papers, the internet, radio, TV and the arts. The foot soldiers of this war of ideas are the Muslim scholars, whether extremists, war and terror mongering as on the other side, or peace and reform advocates as in our camp.

The battle field is the one and the same for both; the heart and the mind of the Muslim. We try to teach and inform him with the forgotten principles of Islam, try to win his heart and mind, to reform him peacefully from within Islam. They try to force upon him, their Wahhabi doctrine, the culture of enslavement, and jihad that they interpret as the killing of the other different in religion or sect. This is evident in the young man whom they arm with their doctrine to become a suicide bomber; they fill his heart with hatred for the other, and the urgency of murdering him, they convince him ,through their Wahhabi or extreme Shiite doctrine to  blow himself up in order to kill the innocent other. In contrast, our war of ideas, tries to convince him from within the Quran, that killing himself and others, is nothing more that utter and absolute enmity to Allah, Glory be to Him, to His messenger and to Islam, and that if he were to commit such an act, he would earn Allah’s wrath, he would be accursed by Allah, and his destination on Judgment day would be eternal hellfire.

Two degrees of war of ideas

The simple degree is to convince someone to act as you want him to do. The dangerous degree is to brainwash him or her in order to control him or her to sacrifice his or her life or money for the cause, or what you make as a cause. This final dangerous degree is usually found in the religious fields. This is the difference between war of ideas in Western cold war against the late Soviet Union and the current war of ideas led by the Al Qaeda and the fanatic Jihadists against the West and the US.

In religious fields, you find only two kinds of war of ideas: abandon the real religion and fabricating a human made religion to deceive masses, or to uphold the real religion and its high value of justice, freedom, peace and tolerance to undeceive people and enlighten them.

This could be explained through Arab Muslim history.