THE MEANING OF JIHAD AND ITS IMPLICATIONS IN THE WORLD TODAY

January 16th, 2010 by kbgreat14471

Adyad, Makkah, KSA

The first revelation Muhammad ever received from God was “Read!” (Ali 1672).
This was a fitting command for the final prophet of Islam to receive, commanding
him to take an action. Taking action would be important for a religion that would
soon be largely centered on doing deeds to emphasize faith in and submission to
God. The actions that Muslims carry out in the course of their lives are quite far-
ranging, but all actions are performed with God in mind. From the pilgrimage to
Mecca to praying five times daily, Muslims carry out these religiously prescribed
actions with strict devotion to God, never forgetting that submission to Him is the
pinnacle of their faith and the essence of their actions.
One action in particular which has drawn much attention to the Muslim faith is
jihad. The original meaning of jihad and the way it is still practiced today by the
vast majority of Muslims is admirable, emphasizing perseverance towards a just,
ever-lasting and rewarding goal—spiritual enlightenment (Gilen 208-227).
However, jihad has recently been misinterpreted, misunderstood, and misused
by many non-Muslims and by a few Muslim extremists. This has resulted in many
great mistakes, made both by the extremists and non-Muslims alike. The
extremists have taken jihad and manipulated its meaning to suit their own beliefs
and dogmas. The end result of all this has been and will continue to be heavy
criticism and scrutiny of Muslims for performing an action that in actuality is very
peaceful and responsible in its meaning. The true meaning of jihad is to struggle,
to persevere and the meaning of the word does not include implicit or explicit
approval of the radical acts of terrorism that have been committed by extremists;
such people have simply misinterpreted its meaning.
To strive or struggle is the most suitable translation of the word jihad (Gilen 208-
227). Jihad is carried out (or at least is prescribed to be carried out) by Muslims
both collectively and individually. There are two parts of jihad: the lesser and the
greater. The greater jihad is the inner struggle that an individual Muslim goes
through in order to fight against superstition, wrong belief, carnal desire, and evil
inclinations while striving to obtain intellectual and spiritual enlightenment. The
lesser jihad is encouraging others to strive for and reach the same goal of
enlightenment. Both aspects are carried out in the name of God and both
aspects are interdependent on each other, since one cannot work without the
other.
If Muslims want to be successful in the greater jihad they must make their focus
in life striving for the sake of God. This includes all aspects of their lives, from
sleeping to coming home from work at the end of the day. Every thought and
every action Muslims take up must be directed towards God so that they can
overcome their primitive carnal impulses. The goal of this, as mentioned before,
is to obtain spiritual and intellectual enlightenment (Gilen 208-227). The caliph
Umar exemplified his jihad through some of his actions. An example is a story
related about this caliph in which he was giving a sermon and interrupted his own
sermon, saying: “O Umar, you were a shepherd taking care of your father’s
sheep!” Later, he was asked why he had said this, and he replied: “I remembered
that I was the caliph, and was afraid of feeling proud.” Another story which
exemplifies his jihad is when Umar was asked why he was carrying a sack on his
back, to which he replied “I felt some pride, and wanted to get rid of it” (Gilen18-
31). Through these two examples we can see how Muslims in the past strove to
achieve spiritual enlightenment.
The lesser jihad a Muslim will strive for includes all outward actions towards
others that are done for the cause of God. In other words, this means conveying
God’s message to others through all aspects of a Muslim’s daily life. Given this
idea, the lesser jihad will be practiced while going to war with others, but let us
not forget that it will also be practiced in other more prosaic actions, such as
shaking hands with someone. If the outwardly action will help one person or
many people and it is carried out in the name of God then it is considered to be
jihad. Forceful jihad is resorted to and permitted only when a person or many
people seek to maintain a society or group that has been built on corruption, self-
interest, oppression, and the degradation of the rights of others. This means that
forceful jihad is only permitted when a society or group seeks to contain or even
deflate the basic principles of Islam and in essence, Islam itself (Gilen208-227).
This point is clearly illustrated in the history of the persecution that the first
converts to Islam faced while living in Mecca. Moustapha Akkad outlines this
point successfully in his film, The Message: Muslims who were living in Mecca
were facing extreme persecution from the pagans. It was upon God’s command
that Muhammad, who was with his some of his followers in Medina, led his
followers into battle against the persecuting Meccans. The Muslims in Medina
took arms against the Meccans only because numerous Muslims in Mecca were
facing severe persecution for their beliefs and practices. Thus jihad was
necessary in order to save those who were victims of persecution. In his
commentary on the revelation associated with this event, Abdullah Ali states how
jihad was used justifiably,
Even from the human point of view, the cause of God is the cause of justice, the
cause of the oppressed. In the great persecution, before Mecca was won again,
what sorrows, threats, tortures, and oppressions were suffered by those whose
faith was unshaken? Muhammad’s life and that of his adherents was threatened:
they were mocked, assaulted, insulted, and beaten; those within the power of the
enemy were put into chains and cast into prison … they could not even buy the
food they wanted or perform their religious duties. (208)
Thus, there was need and justification for Muhammad and his followers to fight
the persecuting Meccans. It is easy to see from this example that forceful jihad is
used only as a method of last resort and it is only a small aspect of the lesser
jihad. Hence, lesser jihad incorporates all aspects of Muslims’ outwardly actions,
which unless otherwise directed by God, will be peaceful, since they will strive to
share the message of God with others.
Lesser and greater jihad are interdependent of each other; Muslims must first be
struggling and striving within their self before they can strive outwardly in the
name of God. Fethullah Gilen explains this idea exceptionally well by saying, “the
deeper [the believers’] belief in and submission to God, the deeper their concern
for all creatures” (208-227). Gilen’s quote reflects the idea of individual inwardly
action (deep belief in God), being interdependent of outwardly action (deep
concern for all creatures). Thus he emphasizes the point that the lesser and
greater jihad are dependent on each other.
It is important for Muslims to constantly be striving for God; if Muslims abandon
this goal, they will become without an aim and this will be the cause of their own
failure in the quest for intellectual and spiritual enlightenment (Gilen 208-227).
To further emphasize devotion to jihad I will examine some passages from the
Qur’an. The first is found in chapter 9, verses 38 to 39. This passage focuses
solely on the individual Muslim, his/her jihad and the implications of the jihad.
The verse stresses the actions of the individual both inwardly and outwardly,
O you who believe! What is the matter with you, that, when you are asked to go
forth in the Cause of God, you cling heavily to the earth? Do you prefer the life of
this world to the Hereafter? But little is the comfort of this life, as compared with
the Hereafter. Unless you go forth, He will punish you with a grievous penalty,
and put others in your place; But Him you would not harm in the least. For God
has power over all things. (449-450)
In this passage, God challenges the individual to go forth in God’s cause and to
abandon clinging to worldly ideals. Focusing on the hereafter is an action that
leads to perseverance and devotion for Muslims. In challenging the individual to
go forth, God is commanding them to strive within themselves to win the inner
struggle. That struggle is acting justly in the name of God in day to day life (the
greater jihad). In giving the command to go forth, God also challenges the
individual to go out into the world and spread the message of God to everyone;
this is the second part of jihad. Nowhere in this passage is harming, fighting, or
killing others in the name of God spoken of. The message here is that through
peaceful, inner struggle the individual will not be punished, but will rather be
unharmed and able to live in the hereafter.
The next section of the Qur’an to be looked at comes from chapter 8, verses 72
to 74. These lines focus on the lesser jihad of a group of Muslims rather than just
one individual Muslim. It emphasizes the promotion of Islam by a group of
Muslims to others through jihad (fighting for God and also through hospitality to
others),
Those who believed, And adopted exile, And fought for the Faith, With their
prosperity and their persons, in the cause of God, as well as those who gave
(them) asylum and aid—these are (all) friends and protectors, one of another. As
to those who believed but come into exile; You owe no duty of protection to them
until they come into exile, but if they seek your aid in religion, it is your duty to
help them, except against a people with whom you have a treaty of mutual
alliance. And (remember) God sees all that you do. The unbelievers are
protectors, one of another: Unless you do this, (protect each other), there would
be tumult and oppression on earth, and great mischief. Those who believe, and
adopt exile, and fight for the Faith, in the cause of God, as well as those who give
(them) asylum and aid—these are (all) in very truth Believers: For them is the
forgiveness of sins and provision most generous. (433-434)
The line which reads “if they seek your aid in religion, it is your duty to help them”
is God’s command to Muslims to promote Islam to others only if they ask for aid.
This can be seen as the lesser jihad and though it is a very daunting task for any
one Muslim, it is still a very tranquil, peaceful, and patient act as God says that
religious aid should be provided only if they (friends and protectors) seek it. The
gentleness of this passage is further extended when God says if the unbelievers
and the Muslims do no protect each other then there will be tumult and
oppression in the world. The exact opposite of violence and radical acts of
terrorism is emphasized here (the people who it is implied to be protected here
are Jews and Christians). So it is obvious that this passage shows that the lesser
jihad Muslims should practice has peaceful aspects and has very little to do with
violence.
The Qur’an does however contain passages that speak of fighting, going into
battle, and taking prisoners. But as we will see, these actions are not associated
in any way with the mass murders that Islamic extremists commit, claiming
(obviously incorrectly) that such actions are performed in the name of God.
Verses 74 to 75 of Chapter 4 read as follows:
Let those fight in the cause of God who sell the life of this world for the hereafter.
To him who fights in the cause of God—whether he is slain or gets victory—soon
shall we give him a reward of great (value). And why should you not fight in the
cause of God and of those who, being weak, are ill-treated (and oppressed)?—
Men, women, and children, whose cry is: “Our Lord! Rescue us from this town,
whose people are oppressors; and raise for us from You one who will protect;
and raise for us from You one who will help!” (207-208)
Emphasis in this passage falls upon fighting in the cause of God; fighting for the
oppressed and the maltreated. However the reader must be aware of the context
of the passage before drawing conclusions about what is being commanded.
First of all, this revelation came to the Prophet when he and some of his followers
were in Medina. It was around this time that the Muslims still living in Mecca were
facing severe persecution from the pagans. Muslims in Medina had wanted to
retaliate and fight back, but Muhammad only allowed for fighting back after God
had commanded him to do so. Therefore, this passage is likely to be one of the
revelations the Prophet received from God directing him and the other Muslims to
fight the persecutors of their religion. It is important to note that only after the
Muslims in Mecca came under direct attack did God command the Muslims in
Medina to fight the persecutors. In this passage God does not give permission for
random mass murders, but rather only to fight the oppressors. As Abdullah Ali
says in his commentary of this passage, “… the cause of God is the cause of
justice, the cause of the oppressed” (434). The idea of defending Islam by means
of fighting is a part of jihad, but it is vital to understand that such fighting is only
necessary after Islam and the followers of Islam have come under direct attack
from oppressors. And even in that fighting, as Ali mentions, there should be
justice, and justification for fighting. The justification is that Islam is coming under
attack. Given these ideas about jihad, it becomes clear that Islam does not
promote radical acts of terrorism committed by extremists today. The extremists
are wrong in claiming that their killing of innocent people is for the cause of God.
After taking into account all these misinterpretations, acts of terrorism, and acts
of striving for justice in the name of God (as individuals and as groups), where do
we go from here? Robert Jewet and John Lawrence claim that today it is
inappropriate to focus on a crusade against Islamic terrorists attacking the West.
Rather, they say it is far more appropriate for the West, while seeking forms of
international law enforcement, to examine their own religious traditions and
through research find resources that transform zeal and jihad into dimensions
that match the political values of the West (165). While I agree with the first part
of this solution, I strongly disagree with the second part. It is true that when
dealing with jihad and the way it is used by extremists, we should not persecute
and scrutinize Islam. However, when dealing with this issue, we must not retreat
back to Christianity, afraid to take a leap ahead. Christian doctrine is not the key
to the solution, contrary to what Jewet and Lawrence suggest. The solution does
not lie within books of scripture; why look away from a problem and into a book
when instead we can literally face the problem head on? The solution rests on
the shoulders of each and every person who has a brain and a heart and who
knows how to effectively use both. We must use our brains to realize that this
issue will never completely go away but that we can minimize it. We must also
use our brains in a way that allows us to learn and understand Islam and its key
doctrines, beliefs, and practices, because if we willingly adhere to ignorance then
we do not deserve to be described in a way that is different from how Bin Laden
has described the West. Bernard Lewis cites a letter from Bin Laden in his book,
The Crisis of Islam, published in November 2002. Bin Laden says in this letter
“[we want you] to stop your oppression, lies, immorality, and debauchery” (157).
He claims America is “without principles or manners” (158). We must use our
hearts to allow us the patience and tranquility to understand the doctrines,
beliefs, and practices of Islam, because if we cannot learn to accept Islam then
we might as well deport all of the immigrants currently living in the West. The
same must be done by Muslims who seek to deal with this issue, so that
everyone will be working together to minimize the situation we find ourselves in.
If we in the West do not seek to understand Islam and live peacefully with
Muslims, then we will slowly lose our reputation as a multi-cultural society and we
will slowly gain a reputation that is similar to that of the United States.
References
Akkad, Moustapha. The Message. Released 1976.
‘Ali, Abdullah Yusuf. The Meaning of the Holy Qur’an. 10th ed. Beltsville,
Maryland: Amana, 1999.
Gilen, M. Fethullah. The Messenger of God: Muhammad, The Light, Inc., New
Jersey.
Gilen, M. Fethullah. Questions and Answes about Faith I, The Light, Inc., New
Jersey.
Jewett, Robert and John Shelton Lawrence. Captain America and the Crusade
Against Evil. The Dilemma of Zealous Nationalism. Grand Rapids, Michigan:
Wm. B Eerdmans, 2003.
Lawrence, Bruce B., Shattering the Myth. Islam Beyond Violence. New Jersey:
Princeton, 1998.
Lewis, Bernard. The Crisis of Islam. Holy War and Unholy Terror. New York:
Modern Library, 2003.
Lincoln, Bruce. Holy Terrors. Thinking About Religion after September 11,
University of Chicago, 2003.