What Jihad IS NOT!
If you open a modern Oxford English dictionary, you
would probably
find the definition of Jihad as “a holy
war undertaken by Muslims against
non-believers”. This is a very poor
definition. Before trying to define what
Jihad is, we should first define what it is NOT.
Jihad is NOT
Holy War
Jihad is NOT
blowing up one’s self (Suicide is a sin
in Islam)
Hadith : Shahi
Bukhari.
Book 23. Funerals (Al-Janaa'iz).
Volumn 002, Book 023,
Hadith Number 445.
-----------------------------------------
Narated By Thabit
bin Ad-Dahhak : The Prophet (p.b.u.h) said, "Whoever intentionally
swears falsely by a religion other than Islam, then he is what he has
said, (e.g. if he says, 'If such thing is not true then I am a Jew,' he
is really a Jew). And whoever commits suicide with piece of iron will
be punished with the same piece of iron in the Hell Fire." Narrated
Jundab the Prophet said, "A man was inflicted with wounds and he
committed suicide, and so Allah said: My slave has caused death on
himself hurriedly, so I forbid Paradise for him."
Jihad is NOT
killing innocent people
Jihad is NOT
flying a plane into a building packed with civilians
Jihad is NOT
fighting out of anger and hatred
Jihad is NOT
killing others just because they don’t agree with
you
Jihad is NOT
killing others just because they are not Muslims
The real meaning of Jihad
Jihad is an Arabic word from the root Jee
Ha Da. It literally means to
struggle or strive. Jihad is struggling or
striving in the way or sake of
Allah. Jihad takes a very important status
in the doctrine of Islam and is
one of the basic duties for every Muslim.
Though, it has nothing whatsoever to do
with the term Holy War. Such
a term, or its equivalent
doesn’t exist in the Islamic doctrine. The Christian
Crusaders in the mid-ages invented this
ideology of Holy War.
There is nothing
“Holy” about wars. Wars only involve killings
and disasters!
Jihad
has many forms,
-
Jihad of the heart/soul (jihad bin nafs/qalb)
-
Jihad by the tongue (jihad bil lisan)
-
Jihad by the pen/knowledge (jihad bil qalam/ilm)
-
Jihad by the hand (jihad bil yad)
-
Jihad by the sword (jihad bis saif)
Jihad of the Heart/Soul
Jihad of the heart/soul; in Arabic: jihad bin
nafs/qalb. It is referred as
“the greater
Jihad” (al-jihad al-akbar).
It is one’s inner struggle of good
against evil; refraining oneself from the
whispers of Shaitan (Satan).
This process involves allowing Islam to transform
one’s soul to achieving
internal peace; and forgoing the hatred and anger.
“Jihad is ordained for you
(Muslims) though you dislike it, and it may
be that you dislike a thing which is good
for you and that you like a
thing which is bad for you. Allah knows
but you do not know.”
{Quran, Surah 2: Al-Baqarah, Verse 216;
Mohsin Translation}
Jihad by the tongue
Jihad by the tongue; in Arabic: jihad bil
lisan.
It is defending Islam and spreading Islam
by scholarly lectures, speeches
and debates. It often overlaps with
Da’awah (invitation to Islam, or
spreading the message of Islam).
In The Last Sermon, Prophet Mohammed
(peace be upon him) asked the
listeners whether he has passed on the
message to them; and they
confirmed affirmatively.
Then the Messenger of Allah ordered all
those present today to pass on
the same message to those who are not here
today; and the last person to
hear the message should understand it
better than the people here.
Jihad by the pen/knowledge
Jihad by the pen/knowledge; in Arabic:
jihad bil qalam/ilm.
This form of Jihad involves scholarly
research of Islam in aiding the
spread and defence of Islam; and
publishing written articles in clearing
misconceptions and correction lies against
Islam.
Examples of such Jihad include the
research and discovery of scientific
evidences, literature miracles and
mathematical miracles from the Quran.
Messenger of Allah once stated that the
ink of a scholar is holier than the
blood of a martyr; and one who is reading
looks handsome in front of
Allah.
Jihad by the hand
Jihad by the hand; in Arabic: jihad bil
yad.
This is a Jihad of action rather than
words. At certain areas, it overlaps
with Zakart (charity) and Hajj
(pilgrimage).
Some of its examples include giving
charity to the poor and needy,
performing Hajj or Ummrah, helping those
who need help, saving
people’s lives, etc. These are
more of physical deeds instead of words.
“A person whose feet become dust
ridden because of [striving] in
the way of Allah will never be touched by
the flames of Hell”
{ Sahih Bukhari 2811}
The most beautiful of all Jihad is a
perfect Hajj. It involves testing of
one’s patience and piety to the
apex. The whole period of Hajj, with just
one intention and aim, worshiping Allah!
Jihad by the sword
Jihad by the sword; in Arabic: jihad bis saif. In
contrary to Jihad of the
heart/soul; this form of Jihad is referred as
“the
lesser jihad” (al-jihad alasghar).
Sometimes it is necessary to undertake Jihad by the
sword. This would
include usage of arsenals and engaging in a combat.
This could be simply
a bunch of freedom fighters or an organised
campaign of army.
Jihad by the sword is use of arms to engage into a
combat. It is
not
misuse of arms to create violence.
There are only two situations were Jihad by the
sword is allowed to be
undertaken.
1) For self-defence. When someone
attacks you or when your
nation has been attacked. Engaging into combat due
to self defence.
2) Fighting against evil and unjust. It
is also a sin if a Muslim
sees unjust been done, capable of stopping it, yet
not doing
anything about it. This can include war on drug,
war on child
labour as well as war on terror!
The American administration today seems to be
launching a global war
on terror, but are they the first to launch the war
on terror?
The Muslims already announced the war on terror
fourteen centuries ago,
under the name of Jihad bis saif!
There are many rules and limitations when engaging
in combat under the
title of Jihad. For example, civilians are not to
be harmed; trees are not to
be cut down; asylum should be granted to
surrendering enemy soldiers;
etc.
“And if anyone of the Mushrikun
seeks your protection then grant
him protection, so that he may hear the
Word of Allah, and then
escort him to where he can be secure, that
is because they are men
who know not.”
{Quran, Surah 9: At-Taubah, Verse 6;
Mohsin Translation}
The above verse states that when an enemy
soldier surrenders during a
battle, the Muslim soldiers must grant
asylum and in addition, escort him
to safety!
The treatment for prisoners of war is also
clearly stated in the Quran.
Prisoners of war under Muslim prisons are
to eat, drink and dress the
same Muslim soldiers eat, drink and dress.
And even under the unfortunate event of
shortage of food, it is the
prisoners who are to eat first before the
Muslim soldiers guarding them!
A closer look at the Sword
Despite the fact that Jihad by the sword is the
lesser Jihad, it is the only
form of Jihad that most of the people in the world
perceive Jihad as.
This is unfortunate, especially for the Muslims.
Many so-called “teachers
of Islam” have been misusing this to
assemble their so-called “holy
army” to fight their so-called
“holy war”.
But you can’t blame the religion for what
a few of its people do. In every
society, there is a black sheep.
Self-Defence:
Since Jihad by the sword has been overwhelmingly
magnified in the
wrong angle, let’s take a closer look at
it in the right angle.
What
is
wrong with Jihad by the sword if it is
fighting for self-defence?
In the early years of revelation of Islam in Mecca,
Muslims were not
granted permission from Allah to fight. So the
Muslims suffered both
moral and physical humiliations from the
non-Muslims in Mecca.
The first verses regarding Jihad were then revealed
allowing Muslims to
undertake self-defence.
“And fight in the Way of Allah
those who fight you, but transgress
not the limits. Truly, Allah likes not the
transgressors.
{Quran, Surah 2: Al-Baqarah, Verse 190;
Mohsin Translation}
Many of the Quranic verses are being
quoted out of context to
wrongly justify terrorist actions. Yet,
most of those verses are only
referring to a particular situation; such
as Battle of Badr or Battle of
Uhud.
Intention and war against Satan:
“Those who believe, fight in the
Cause of Allah, and those who
disbelieve, fight in the cause of Satan.
So fight against the friends
of Satan. Ever feeble indeed is the plot
of Satan.”
{Quran, Surah 4: An-Nisa, Verse 76; Mohsin
Translation}
Now the second question is,
what
is wrong in fighting against evil and
liberating people from sufferings?
“Once a person came to the
Prophet (sws) and said that some people
fight for the spoils of war, some for fame
and some to show off
their valour; he then asked the Prophet
(sws): “Which one of them
fights in the way of Allah”. The
Prophet (sws) replied: “Only that
person fights in the way of Allah who sets
foot in the battlefield to
raise high the name of Allah”.
{ Sahih Bukhari 2810}
Who is a Holy Warrior?
According to the Quran, a martyr who died in the
way of Jihad is
promised Paradise. But what are the criteria of
martyr, or in other words,
what are the criteria of a Holy Warrior undertaking
the True Jihad?
The most famous of all Hadith is the one regarding
everything we do are
judged by our intensions; so as it is mentioned in
the previous chapter.
So who is an example of a Holy Warrior?
Ali bin Abu Talib, cousin of Prophet Mohammed
(s.a.w) and the fourth
Caliph of the Islamic Ummah is a good example.
During one of the battles, Ali was about to give a
deathblow to an enemy
soldier. Just then, that enemy soldier spat at Ali.
Ali then suddenly
stopped, threw down his sword and refused to kill
that enemy soldier.
After the battle, Ali’s soldiers asked
Ali why he suddenly stopped
and refused to kill that enemy soldier on the
battlefield.
Ali explained that he got angry when that enemy
soldier spat at him. So
if he had killed that enemy soldier right then, he
would be killing out of
his own anger and no longer fighting for Justice.
In the sight of Allah, he
would then be no different from a murderer.
Brothers and Sisters
that
is how we should see a Holy Warrior!