9/25/06, Opinion-Editorial, printed in The Broadside (George Mason University)

The Meaning of Jihad
Luqman Tahir Mahmood
 
In light of the Popes recent remarks, and in the hopes that it will inform those who do not know the true meaning of what is Jihad in Islambe they Muslims or people of any other faithI have decided to write this paper in order to evaporate any notion that the Jihad of early Islam has any relation to the Jihad that is being shouted at the head every battle today where Muslims are involved. The issue about Jihad needs clearing up for Muslims especially because it seems that every skirmish is labeled Jihad. This labeling has greatly increased misunderstanding of Islam and has led in some cases to people distrusting this most peaceful religion.

In Islam, there is no compulsion in matters of faith. God clearly states in the Holy Quran that right is certainly distinct from wrong, and that people are given free will. No one can be coerced or forced into doing anything, especially when it comes to matters of faith. Faith is a matter of the heart, when people see Muslims praying and prostrating towards God in utter humility, it is solely due to their love of God and the true realization of His existence that they have attained through following Islam and the Holy Founder of Islam (peace and blessings be upon him).

What is Jihad then? The literal meaning is to strive.This can be striving in any sense, whether it is against the passions of oneself, against oppression or against others in defense.

There are types of Jihad that have been given precedence by the Holy Prophet. On returning from an expedition to Tabuk, he is reported to have said that the Muslims are returning from the lower Jihad to the greater Jihadthe greater Jihad meaning that which was the struggle to purify ones self. This makes it clear as to which Jihad the Holy Prophet considered to be the greater one. So do todays Muslims who advocate Jihad against one and all, even against other Muslims or people of other faiths who look at Islam with a crooked eye, know it better than the Founder of Islam himself?

In the Holy Quran, it clearly states that permission to take up arms is given to those against whom war is made, because they have been wronged and Allah, indeed, has power to help them(22:40). Who are those people that have been wronged? Those who have been driven out from their homes unjustly, only because they said, 'Our Lord is Allah&And Allah will, surely, help him who helps Him. Allah is, indeed, Powerful, Mighty(22:41).

It becomes apparent that permission to fight is given to Muslims in self-defense. This type of Jihad is to defend against oppression, because in the Holy Quran God says that if a people were not there to defend against the oppression of others, then there would be a free reign to commit every sort of injustice in the world. This principle of the Holy Quran is founded even in America today. When a person commits a crime according to the laws of the government, the best action to take is to try him and, if convicted, put him in prison for however long the law states. That person is not given freedom to continue his crime, because that freedom may prompt others to do the same.

When this is the law of worldly governments, then what room is left to criticize Islam for its early defensive struggles against its oppressive enemies? The Holy Founder of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, states this in regards to the wars that took place in early Islam.

Let it be perfectly clear that there is no compulsion in religion according to Islam. Nowhere in the Holy Quran is it justified to kill innocent people just because they profess a belief different than yours, and, in fact, it is stated in the Holy Quran that to kill one innocent person is like killing all of mankind.

The Muslims of today should realize that the greatest Jihad in Islam is that which leads to peace, because Islams literal meaning is peace. How can one claim to associate themselves with the religion of peace if people continuously try to create friction and take up any opportunity to declare Jihad and raise slogans against another person or place? To those who think that Islam ever resorted to force to spread its message, the founder of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community writes: The religion that can easily establish its truth and superiority by sound intellectual arguments, heavenly signs or other reliable testimony, does not need the sword to threaten men and force a confession of its truth from them.

Islam never had any use for physical force in spreading its message. In fact, it was in Muslim lands that people of other religions escaped in refuge from persecution. History bears witness to the fact that no sword fell upon the hearts of the Chinese that caused some of their provinces to become totally Muslim. There was no coercion used against the largest Muslim country in the world, Indonesia, to pledge itself to One God.

All of these countries are giving lie to the accusation that Islam was spread by force and the truth is that there was no compulsion in the spread of Islam, except the heart of the Holy Prophet which compelled all hearts and flooded them with love and regard for him. Why such love? As Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (peace be upon him) explains concerning the Holy Prophet: He is not God, but through him we have seen God. His religion which has come to us is a mirror of Divine Powers. Had it not been for Islam, it would have been difficult in this age to appreciate what Prophethood is and whether miracles are possible and whether they are part of the law of nature.

This is the Jihad that is demanded of Muslims today the Jihad of putting forth the true character of the Holy Prophet, not only in word but in character. I hope that the misgivings and misunderstandings concerning Islam are put to rest, and that those who have questions about Islam will not hesitate to address those questions to us. We are more than willing to answer each and every question that anyone has about Islam or about anything that I have written.


Editor's Note: The Broadside is George Mason University's student newspaper, published on Mondays.