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JIHAD
IN ISLAM AND ITS REAL MEANING
Islam
is the religion chosen by God for
humanity’s individual and collective
welfare in this world and the next. It
is based on belief in and worship of
God, without associating with Him any
partners, whether in the form of
something created, a person, or a
concept. True belief and worship
requires a deep concern for all animate
and inanimate things. The deeper their
belief in and submission to God is, the
deeper is their concern for all
creatures. Belief in God’s Unity
prevents humanity from enjoying and
exercising absolute freedom in dealing
with creatures.
Islam
is derived from the Arabic root s-l-m,
which means salvation, peace, and
submission. In its religious context, it
is the expression of God’s Grace
flowing in the universe’s arteries,
the Divine system to which all
creatures-except humanity-have submitted
willingly. The universe displays perfect
order, for everything therein is Muslim,
in the sense that it submits to God’s
laws. Even people who reject belief in
God or worship that which is not God are
Muslims, as far as their bodily
existence is concerned. While we
journey between being an embryo and a
corpse, every bodily tissue and every
limb follows the course prescribed for
them by God’s law.
The
fundamental Islamic principle of Tawhid
implies that humanity necessarily must
be in harmony with the surrounding
world. The vast Muslim universe
displays a coherence and harmony of
which our world is a part. Although our
world is subject to laws special to
itself and to the general “laws of
nature,” it is also in harmony with
other laws governing surrounding
phenomena. Human beings, unlike other
creatures who tread “the path of
nature,” have free will. We bear the
gift of freedom and the obligation to
harmonize our life with nature. This
harmony is also the path of our
exaltation and progress, the path upon
which God created human nature: Set your
face to the religion, a man of pure
faith-God’s original nature in which
He originated humanity. There is no
changing God’s creation. That is the
right religion, but most of humanity
know it not (30:30).
To
harmonize our lives with nature, we
first should realize our personal
integrity. To do this, we must apply our
free will to our energies (e.g.,
desires, thoughts, and actions) to keep
them within the limits established by
God. If we do not recognize such limits,
we might usurp other’s property, seek
illicit sexual relations, and indulge
in other sins. If we do not recognize
such limits with respect to our
intellect, we may use it to deceive
others. Our powers must be held in
check, our intellect used with wisdom,
and our desire and anger restrained by
lawful behavior and moderation. In
addition, we should remember that we are
social beings; if we do not restrain
ourselves as God demands, wrongdoing,
injustice, exploitation, disorder, and
revolution will occur in society.
God
does not approve wrongdoing and
disorder. Rather, it is His Will that we
live in peace and justice. Therefore,
those who believe in God and worship Him
faithfully are obliged to work for
justice in this world. Islam calls this
responsibility jihad.
Meaning
of Jihad
Jihad
has the literal meaning of exerting our
best and greatest effort to achieve
something. It is not the equivalent of
war, for which the Arabic word is qital.
Jihad has a much wider connotation and
embraces every kind of striving in God’s
cause. A mujahid is one who is sincerely
devoted to his or her cause; who uses
all physical, intellectual, and
spiritual resources to serve it; who
confront any power that stands in its
way; and, when necessary, dies for this
cause. Jihad in the way of God is our
struggle to win God’s good pleasure,
to establish His religion’s supremacy,
and to make His Word prevail.
A
related principle, that of enjoining
good and forbidding evil (amr bi al-ma‘ruf
wa nahy an al-munkar) seeks to convey
the message of Islam and establish a
model Islamic community. The Qur’an
introduces the Islamic community as a
model community required to inform
humanity of Islam and of how the Prophet
lived it: Thus We have made you a
community justly balanced, that you
might be witnesses for all humanity, and
the Messenger may be a witness for you
(2:143).
The
greater and lesser jihad
There
are two aspects of jihad. One is
fighting to overcome carnal desires
and evil inclinations; this is called
the greater jihad; the other is
encouraging others to achieve the same
objective and is called the lesser
jihad.
The
Muslim army was returning to Madina
after they had defeated the enemy in a
battle, when the Messenger of God said
to them; We are returning from the
lesser jihad to the greater one. When
the Companions asked what the “greater
jihad” was, he explained that it was
fighting with the carnal self.1
The
aim of either jihad, the greater or the
lesser, is that the believer be purified
of sins and so attain true humanity.
The prophets were sent for this purpose.
God says in the Quran:
Thus
We have sent unto you a Messenger
from among you, who recites unto you
Our revelations (and makes Our signs
known to you), and who purifies you
and instructs
you in the Book and in the Wisdom,
and also instructs you in what you
don’t know. (2:151)
Human
beings are in some sense like raw
minerals to be worked upon by the
Prophets who purify and refine them by
removing the seal from their hearts
and ears, and by lifting the veils from
their eyes. Enlightened by the message
of the Prophets, people are enabled to
understand the meaning of the laws of
nature, which are signs of the existence
and Unity of God, and to penetrate into
the subtle reality behind things and
events. Only through the guidance of the
Prophets can mankind attain the high
status expected of them by God.
In
addition to teaching the signs, the
Prophets also instructed men in the
Book and in Wisdom. As the Quran was
the last Revelation to the Last Prophet,
upon him be peace and blessings, God
means the Quran when He speaks of the
Book, and the Sunna when He speaks of
Wisdom. We must therefore follow the Quran
and the Sunna of the Prophet Muhammad,
if we desire to be rightly guided.
The
Prophet also teaches us what we do not
know and humanity will continue to learn
from the Prophet until the Day of
Judgment. We learn from him how to
purify ourselves of sins. By following
his way, many great saints have attained
their distinctions as saints. Among them
‘Ali says that his belief in the
pillars of Islam is so firm that even if
the veil of the Unseen were lifted, his
certainty would not increase.2 ‘Abd
al-Qadir al-Jilani is said to have had
insight into the mysteries of the
seventh heaven. These and many others,
such as Fudayl bin ‘Iyaz, Ibrahim bin
Adham and Bishr al-Khafi might well
have been endowed with Prophethood, if
God had not already set a seal on
Prophethood.
The
dark clouds of ignorance have been
removed from human intellectual horizon
through the guidance of the Prophet
Muhammad, and many more advances will be
made in science and technology as a
result of the light he brought from
God.
Jihad
is the legacy of the Prophets, and
Prophethood is the mission of elevating
men to God’s favor by purifying
them. Jihad is the name given to this
prophetic mission, which has the same
meaning as bearing witness to the truth.
Just as judges listen to witnesses to
settle a case in a court of law, so
those who have performed jihad have
borne witness to the existence and Unity
of God by striving in His way. The Quran
says: God bears witness that there is
no god but He and so do the angels and
the people of learning, maintaining
justice. There is no god save He, the
All-Mighty, the Wise (3.18). Those who
have performed jihad will also bear
witness to the same truth in the
heavenly court where the case of
unbelievers will be settled.
Those
who bear witness to the existence and
Unity of God should travel far and wide
into the remotest parts of the world and
preach this truth. This was the duty of
the Prophets as stated in the Qur’an,
and it should be our duty as well:
...Messengers
who brought good news to mankind and
who admonished them, so that they
might have no argument against God
after their coming. God is the
All-Mighty and the All-Wise. God
Himself bears witness by what He has
revealed to you that it has been
revealed with His knowledge; and so
do the angels. There is no better
witness than God. (4.165-6)
There
has been no people to whom God did not
send a Prophet, so that every people has
some notion of Prophethood. As the term
used to describe the activity of
Prophethood, jihad is deeply engraved on
the heart of every believer so that he
or she feels a profound responsibility
for preaching the truth in order to
guide others to the Straight Path.
The
lesser jihad, which has usually been
taken to mean fighting for God’s
cause, does not refer only to the form
of striving done on battlefields. The
term is comprehensive. It includes
every action done for God’s sake.
Whether speaking or keeping silent,
smiling or making a sour face, joining a
meeting or leaving it, every action
taken to ameliorate the lot of humanity,
whether by individuals or communities,
is included in the meaning of the lesser
jihad.
While
the lesser jihad depends on the
mobilization of all the material
facilities and is performed in the outer
world, the greater jihad means a person’s
fighting against his or her carnal soul.
These two forms of jihad cannot be
separated from each other.
The
Messenger of God has taught us how to
perform both forms of the jihad. He has
established the principles of preaching
the truth, which have application until
the Day of Judgment. When we scrutinize
the way he acted, we shall see that he
was very systematic. This is actually
another proof of his Prophethood and a
wonderful example of following the way
of God in behavior.
The
believers kept their belief vigorous and
active by means of jihad. Just as a tree
keeps its leaves as long as it yields
fruits so a believer can preserve vigor
as long as he performs jihad. Whenever
you encounter a hopeless pessimist you
soon realize that he or she is one who
has abandoned jihad. Such people have
been deprived of the spirit, and are
sunk in pessimism because they have
abandoned preaching the truth. Whoever
performs jihad unceasingly never loses
his or her enthusiasm and always tries
to increase the scope of his or her
activities. Every good deed results in a
new one, so that believers never become
deprived of a good: As for those who
strive for us We surely guide them to
our path. God is with the good (29.69).
There
are as many paths leading to the
Straight Path as the number of breaths
drawn in the creation, mankind included.
Whoever strives for His cause, God
guides him to one of these paths and
saves him or her from going astray.
Whoever is guided to His Straight Path
by God lives a balanced life, exceeding
the limits neither in his or her human
needs and activities nor in his/her
worship and other religious observances.
Such balance is the sign of “true
guidance.”
However
great the sacrifices made in fighting
with the oppressive unbelievers, they
nevertheless all constitute the lesser
jihad. It is striving to discharge
religious obligations as perfectly as
possible. As for the greater jihad, it
is really much more difficult to
accomplish since it requires us to
fight against all our own destructive
drives and impulses such as arrogance,
vindictiveness, jealousy, selfishness,
self-conceit, and the carnal desires.
Although
the person who abandons the lesser jihad
is liable to spiritual deterioration,
he or she may recover. Everything in
the universe praises and glorifies God
with its every breath and is,
accordingly, a sign of the existence and
Unity of God: a person may be guided to
the Straight Path through one of these
signs. For this reason, it is said that
there are as many paths leading to the
Straight Path of God as the breaths of
all His creatures. A person returning
from the lesser jihad is vulnerable to
worldly weaknesses. Pride, love of
comfort and ease may captivate that
person. These are some of the perils
awaiting one who has returned from the
lesser jihad. It is for this reason
that the Prophet warned us through his
Companions: returning to Madina after a
victory, he said: We are returning from
the lesser jihad to the greater.
The
Companions of the Prophet, upon him be
peace, were fearless on the battlefields
on the one hand, and as sincere and
humble as dervishes in worshipping God
on the other. Those victorious warriors
used to spend most of their nights in
prayer to God. Once, when night fell
during battle, two of them had to take
turns in standing guard. One took his
rest while the other began to pray to
God. Having become aware of the
situation, the enemy shot a shower of
arrows at him. He was hit and bled
profusely but did not abandon his
prayer. When he finished his devotions,
he woke his friend, who asked him in
amazement why he had not woken him
sooner. His reply was: “I was reciting
the sura al-Kahf, so I did not wish the
deep pleasure I found in this prayer to
be interrupted.”3
The
Companions went into a trance-like state
of ecstasy when in prayer, and would
recite the Quran as if it were being
revealed directly to them, so they did
not even feel the pain caused by arrows
which penetrated their bodies. Jihad, in
its lesser and greater aspects, found
complete expression in them.
The
Prophet, upon him be peace, combined
these two aspects of jihad in the most
perfect way in his own person. He
displayed monumental courage on the
battlefields. ‘Ali, who was one of
the most courageous figures of Islam,
confesses that the Companions took
shelter behind the Prophet, upon him be
peace, at the most critical moments of
the fighting. To give an example, when
the Muslim army experienced a reverse
and began to scatter in the first phase
of the Battle of Hunayn, he urged his
horse towards the enemy lines and
shouted to call back his soldiers who
were retreating: I am a Prophet, I do
not lie; I am the grandson of ‘Abd al
Muttalib, I do not lie.4
1.
Ajluni, Kashf al-Khafa’, 1, 424.
2.
Imam Rabbani, Ahmad Faruq al-Sarhandi,
Maktubat, 1, 157).
3.
Ibn Hanbal, Musnad, 3. 344; 359.
4.
Bukhari, “Jihad,” 52, 61, 67.
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