‘Reclaiming Jihad from Extremists on All Sides’
By Sarwat Husain, New Age Islam
20 May, 2015
Recently, I was traveling by air; flight was packed full as a result I was placed in the very end of the plane.
Two gentlemen were sitting on my either side and I got the middle seat.
As the plane got air bound, I pulled a paper out from the bag to read, the heading of the paper was Jihad. The person sitting on my right, in the aisle seat got up left. After a few minutes the one on the window side excused himself, I gave him the way, he was gone.
Right after that I felt the crew was walking around closer to me, I felt uneasy, and then realized perhaps the paper I was reading had in bold letters written “Jihad”. Afterwards found out the two passengers sitting with me were placed in the business class now.
I could understand their fear. In the West erroneous views are basically determined by the lack of knowledge of Jihad and its role for Muslims. Common myths about this noble practice are perceived as ‘holy war’: Islam is spread by force by sword or guns: it is wrongly equated with acts of violence/terrorism against civilians and suicide bombings: and Islam / Quran promotes clash of civilization.
Often, Jihad is falsely associated with certain extremist movements that use military methods of struggle to achieve their goals which they attempt to justify by some sacred reasons in order to pretend that they are acting in accordance with the will of God.
However, such a view on Islam is very simplistic and has little in common with the real essence of Jihad as a very important part of Islamic religion and culture. These kind of false explanations are not only due to lack of knowledge but also created intentionally to cash in on the fear of innocent people.
To have a better understanding of Jihad we need to understand Islam. Islam means to submit to the guidance of God for salvation, peace, harmony, integrity within one soul and for the society.
Jihad is a common Arabic word meaning to strive and to struggle in a cause to make this world a better and peaceful place for yourself, your family and the society at large. Fighting in Jihad is only done as a last resort in defense to promote equality and justice.
There are four main type of Jihad: Jihad against nafs (soul/instincts) is to work hard to acquire knowledge, to be a better person, spread the knowledge you have learnt and to strive in the face of hardship.
Jihad against Satan is to disregard misgivings and doubts he raises to invalid your faith, to ignore his temptations to erroneous desires and intentions. This brings patience and steadfastness.
Jihad against hostile enemies and Jihad against injustice to be done with compassion, communication, wealth and education. When all fails then only, as a last resort, you need to use force.
Real aim to do Jihad is to purify oneself from all the ill acts within oneself and society to attain true humanity to achieve peace, harmony and to make the world a better place to live for all.
There are significant differences between Jihad and warfare. The differences are obvious even in the methods that Jihad admits in the process of war. For instance, Jihad forbids killing women, children, and non-combatants, while warfare, as the historical experience of human society proves, uses all methods and in the 20th century the killings of civilians, including children and women became a norm of warfare, the norm totally rejected by Jihad.
There is no such thing as a “holy war” in Islam to proselytize or to commit violence against innocent people. The expression “holy war” was concocted and practiced by crusaders against Jews and Muslims from 1095 AD to 1291 AD.
War is only allowed when it is inevitable against oppression, persecution, injustice occupation and to defend against enemies.
Quran chapter 2 verse 190 says “Fight those who fight you but do not transgress the limits. God does not love those who exceed their rightful limits”.
Another myth is that Islam was spread by sword. Quran 2:256 says “Let there be no compulsion in religion. Truth stands out clear from error. Whoever rejects evil and believes in the peaceful teaching of God, has grasped the most sure handhold that never breaks, and God is hearing and knowing”.
Islam did not spread by sword. Muslims ruled Spain for 800 years, under their rule Christians and Jews enjoyed the freedom to practice their religion. Muslims ruled India 700 years and they remained minority.
The great historian De Lacy O’Leary, (1872–1957) wrote in “Islam At the Cross-roads”: “History makes it clear however, that the legend of fanatical Muslims sweeping through the world and forcing Islam at the point of the sword upon conquered races is one of the most fantastically absurd myths that historians have ever repeated.”
On sanctity of life Quran 5:32 says: “Who so ever kills a soul, unless it is for murder or occupation of your land, it is as though he has killed all mankind. Whoever saves one life, it is as though he has saved the whole mankind”.
Jihad does not include striving for individual or national power, dominance, glory, wealth, prestige, or pride.
Calling terrorist “Jihadi” is like legitimizing their criminal behavior, like recognizing their criminal behavior as a noble act.. We should be calling them murderers, killers and criminal, but, please do not call them Jihadi.
Writing this, short description on account of my experience in the airplane is my Jihad, because I also know what kind of response I am going to get from some of the readers who are bent on spreading the fear by spreading misunderstanding to keep peace loving people divided.
Sarwat Husain
President
CAIR-TX, SA
210-378-9528
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