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This page is about the fictional Butlerian Jihad, an event in the extended Dune universe. For the novel which details it, see Dune: The Butlerian Jihad.

The Butlerian Jihad is an epic turning point in the back-story of Frank Herbert's fictional Dune universe.

In Terminology of the Imperium, the glossary of the novel Dune, Frank Herbert defined the Jihad thus:

JIHAD, BUTLERIAN: (see also Great Revolt) — the crusade against computers, thinking machines, and conscious robots begun in 201 B.G. and concluded in 108 B.G. Its chief commandment remains in the O.C. Bible as "Thou shalt not make a machine in the likeness of a human mind."

Herbert referred to the Jihad many times in his later works in the Dune series, but did not give much detail on how he imagined this conflict. Herbert's death in 1986 left this topic unexplored and open to speculation.

In 2002, Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson released the first novel in their prequel series Legends of Dune, which they stated was based on Frank Herbert's work notes left behind after his death, as well as his outline for a seventh novel in the original series.

In Legends of Dune it is explained that the Jihad was a struggle between humans and Thinking Machines. The latter were first created to serve humankind, but were then used by a group of ambitious militant humans, the Titans, to enslave many worlds. The Titans soon made the transition into cyborgs called cymeks; through the use of specialized interfaces, their brains were installed inside large walking machine bodies. These fearsome, weaponized bodies made the Titans virtually immortal — and unstoppable. They later converted a number of subservient humans into an army of "neo-cymeks" to enforce their rule over the universe, and this so-called "Time of Titans" lasted for a century.

Eventually, the AI program Omnius usurped control from the Titans themselves. The machines dominated and enslaved nearly all of humanity in the universe for 900 years until a "jihad" was ignited by the independent robot Erasmus' murder of the child Manion Butler, son of Serena Butler. Decades later the the known universe would be purged of all forms of thinking machines, resulting in not only a ban on the re-creation of similar devices which remains in effect throughout the periods described in the original six Dune and Prelude to Dune series novels, but also a great technological reversal for humanity.

The Jihad ended in human victory at the Battle of Corrin. The de facto leader of mankind Faykan Butler merged his position of Viceroy of the League of Nobles with the vacant position of Grand Patriarch, as the first step to consolidate his power. Faykan changed his family name to Corrino in tribute to the Battle of Corrin and declared himself Emperor, thereby establishing the Corrino Empire. Later, he asserted his power through military might over the factions of the former League through the formation of the army that became known as the Sardaukar. The Landsraad was formed by the League in order to keep the power of the Corrinos in check. The Corrino Emperors ruled for the next 10,000 years, until the events of Dune and the ascension of Paul Atreides.

The Jihad proved to have many profound long-lasting effects on the socio-political and technological development of humanity throughout the galaxy. After the destruction of the intelligent machines throughout the human worlds, the commandment from the Orange Catholic Bible, "Thou shalt not make a machine in the likeness of a human mind", holds sway, as does the anti-AI laws in which the penalty of owning one AI device or developing the technology resembling the human mind was death.

As a result, the "human computers" known as Mentats were developed and perfected in order to replace the analytical powers of computers without violating the commandment of the OC Bible. Over the millennia, the mental abilities of the Mentats were honed to the point where they became superior to those of the ancient thinking machines.

The Butlerian Jihad also led to the rise of the new feudal galactic order which lasted for another ten thousand years until the rise of the God Emperor Leto Atreides II. This order, also known as the Imperium, included the Bene Gesserit, the Spacing Guild, and the Great Houses, such as House Corrino, House Atreides and House Harkonnen. However, as the centuries passed, fringe worlds like Ix and Tleilax began to focus on developing technology that, if not actually transgressing the commandments of the Jihad, at least came extremely close. This emphasis on technology gave birth to the technological powers of the Ixians and the Bene Tleilax; the former were known for their cutting-edge mechanical technology, while the latter gained fame for their emphasis on biological technology.

The name we use for the period implies an answer to the question: If we call those events "The Butlerian Jihad," we side with the historians who define as "great" those individuals who move the mass of humankind in a new direction; if we use the term "The Great Revolt," we ally ourselves with those who see "leaders" as simply the front rank of a humanity moving in the direction the masses determine.^[1]

The Dune Encyclopedia (1984) by Dr. Willis McNelly invents an extensive, alternate portrayal of the Butlerian Jihad. The canon status of this book is disputed.

In this version, Jehanne Butler gave her name to the Jihad. Jehanne had been trained as both a priestess and as a Bene Gesserit on the planet Komos. After her training, she married Thet'r Butler, both of them marrying late in life and looking forward to having a child. Due to her Bene Gesserit training, Jehanne was in contact with her developing fetus and knew the state of its health and development. After waking from the anesthesia given during delivery, she was shocked to learn that the fetus had been malformed and the infant therapeutically aborted. She later discovered through investigation that her child had in fact been fine, but that the hospital director, the first self-programming computer on the planet, had been secretly carrying out a policy of unjustified abortions.

It was this discovery which triggered further investigation into the extent to which such machines had been controlling society and altering the emotional and intellectual characteristics of planetary populations over a course of centuries.

During the course of these investigations, the chief priestess of Komos, Urania, interrogated one of the chief computer engineers, Doctor G. Demlen. She observed that he was an arrogant and unrepentant man, and she was shocked to witness his pride in his machines. Urania told him that his work violated the fundamental principles of respect for human life and was an offense to the worship of the Goddess.

"At the mention of the Goddess, Demlen exploded in a fit of acid and honest outrage, and in his fury, after suggesting that there was more worth reverence in one of his machines than in the worship of 'a supposed "goddess" invented by a clutch of bucolic bumpkins on a pigsty of a planet,' Demlen turned to the icon of Kubebe as if to spit on it. Before he could commit the act, Urania had killed him with her ceremonial knife." ^[2]

That moment of sacrilege was the beginning of the Jihad. The priestesses of the planet met that night, and the next day, the Jihad began to be preached to the faithful of Komos, against "the thinking machines and all who find their gods within them."^[3]

Jehanne argued against it, knowing the horrors that a jihad would bring. In spite of this, she let her name be used and was its leader for its first twenty years. During this time, the battles were "planned and led by a tactical genius, whose concern for the lives of her soldiers and of her enemies is the dominant element."^[4] After her death, this element of the campaigns disappeared.

• Neo-Luddism
• Technophobia

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