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Jihad (Template:Lang-ar jihād) is an Islamic term, from the Arabic root jhd ("to exert utmost effort, to strive, struggle"), which connotes a wide range of meanings: anything from an inward spiritual struggle to attain perfect faith to a political or military struggle to further the Islamic cause. The meaning of "Islamic cause" is, of course, open to interpretation. Mainstream Muslims consider jihad to be the most misunderstood aspect of their religion by non-Muslims[1]. The Islamic religious legitimacy of the goals or methods of various Islamist movements who adopt the terminology of jihad is often brought into question, usually by moderate and liberal Muslims.

The term is frequently mistranslated into English as "holy war"; however, the concept of jihad encompasses more than just warfare, and a more accurate translation probably would be "holy struggle" or "righteous struggle". The denotation is of a challenging or difficult, (frequently) opposed effort, made either in accomplishment or resistance.

A person who engages in any form of jihad is called a "mujahid", meaning "striver" or "struggler". This term is most often used to mean a person who engages in fighting, but, for example a Muslim struggling to memorize the Qur'an is called a mujahid. The neologism jihadist is sometimes used to describe militant Islamic groups, including but not restricted to Islamist terrorism (c. f. Jihadist organizations and Rules of war in Islam).

The Philosophy of Jihad

In Islam, jihad is a comprehensive process, which takes in the striving of an individual or a group of Muslims, to adhere to the divine teachings and values. The Arabic word "jihad" means "to struggle" or "to strive." In as much as jihad is a struggle, it is a struggle against all that is perceived as evil in the cause of that which is perceived as good, a cosmic and epic struggle spanning time and all dimensions of human thought and action, and transcending the physical universe. Muslims often do not refer merely to "jihad" but to jihad fi Sabilillah (in the path of God).

Literally, jihad means that Muslims should fulfill their duties to promote the cause of Islam.Traditionally understood, jihad enunciates a paradigm of struggle which is for the most part internal, spiritual and peaceful, but which also expresses strategic, legal and collective justification, ratio legis, for going to war. It is a struggle to perform and maintain goodness, abolishing injustice, oppression, and evil from within oneself, as well as from the whole society. Thus, jihad takes many forms; spiritual, social, economic, as well as political It is not only an outward act, but also an inward one to strengthen one’s own self and correct one’s own mistakes. Clearly, the exertion of the self in all directions - in every effort and act, personal and collective, internal and external - is the essence of jihad in the Islamic sense. This rule illustrates that jihad does not necessarily involve waging a war.

In other words, jihad is supposed to run through all aspects of a Muslim’s life, as it is his duty in the world to do good and prevent harm and evil in every possible way. This can, of course, entail the use of force when peaceful means are not successful . It is a serious, continuous, and sincere struggle, on both the personal, as well as on the social level.

Muslims generally classify jihad into two forms, jihad al-akbar, the greater jihad, is said to be the struggle against one's soul (nafs), while jihad al-asgar, the lesser jihad, is external and is in reference to physical effort and/or fighting . Traditional Muslim scholars explained there are five kinds of jihad fi sabilillah (struggle in the cause of God): 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), and jihad by the sword (jihad bis saif). [2] "Jihad of the heart/soul" is an inner struggle of good against evil in the mind, through concepts such as tawhid. Jihad by the tongue is a struggle of good against evil waged by writing and speech, such as in the form of dawah (proselytizing), khutbahs (sermons), and political or military propaganda. Jihad by the pen and knowledge is a struggle for good against evil through scholarly study of Islam, ijtihad (legal reasoning), and through sciences (such as military and medical sciences). Jihad by the hand refers to a struggle of good against evil waged by actions or with one's wealth, such as going on the Hajj pilgrimage (seen as the best jihad for women), taking care of elderly parents, providing funding for jihad, political activity for furthering Islam as a political movement, stopping evil by force, or espionage. Jihad by the sword refers to qital fi sabilillah (armed fighting in the way of God, or holy war).

General theological issues

Greater and lesser jihad

Some Muslims believe that the non-violent jihad is the "greater jihad" and the violent jihad is the "lesser jihad." This belief has its origins in a hadith. The Sufis are particularly known for supporting this tradition, though some Sufis prefer to use the Arabic word mujahada instead of "greater jihad." Islamic scholar and alleged founder of Salafi thought, Ibn Taymiyya, famously criticized this hadeeth and went so far as to say that "Jihad against the disbelievers is the most noble of actions, and moreover it is the most important action for the sake of mankind." [3] . Although he didnt consider the concept of Greater Jihad wrong . As related from him by Ibn al-Qayyim toward the very end of Rawdat al-Muhibbin: "I heard our Shaykh say, 'The jihad of "nafs" (the inner self) and "hawa" (desires) is the foundation of jihad of the disbelievers and hypocrites; one cannot do jihad of them before he first does jihad of his nafs and hawa, then he goes out and fights them.'"Ibn al-Qayyim too writes about the jihad of the ego as the "prime" (al-muqaddam) and "most obligatory" (al-afraD) jihad in al-Fawa'id, Zad al-Ma`ad, al-Ruh, Ighathat al-Lahfan e.t.c.[4]. Sunni scholars consider this hadeeth to be authentic [5]. So although there seems to be a controversy about the authenticity of hadeeth , Muslims agree upon the importance struggle for purification of self (Jihad bin nafs).

Eschatology

In terms of eschatology, Islam exalts jihad as the greatest deed, in its canonical literature. The Qur'an distinguishes between "those who strive and fight in the cause of Allah with their goods and persons" and "those who sit and receive no hurt," exalting the former above the latter [Qur'an 4:95]. According to various canonical hadith, there is no deed equal to jihad in reward during the afterlife [Bukhari. Volume 4, Hadith 44].

It is often said that Muslims believe that those who are martyred during jihad receive 70 houris in heaven. This is not exactly true; in reality, there is a belief that all who enter heaven receive the 70 houris, not just martyrs. However, as said above, Muslims do believe that martyrs receive a higher (but unspecified) reward than civilians.

Historical Muslim views on Jihad

According to Ibn Abi Zayd al-Qayrawani a 10th century Maliki jurist:

Jihad is a precept of Divine institution. Its performance by certain individuals may dispense others from it. We Malikis maintain that it is preferable not to begin hostilities with the enemy before having invited the latter to embrace the religion of Allah except where the enemy attacks first. They have the alternative of either converting to Islam or paying the poll tax (jizya), short of which war will be declared against them.

According to al-Mawardi an 11th Century Shafi'i jurist

The mushrikun [infidels] of Dar al-Harb (the arena of battle) are of two types: First, those whom the call of Islam has reached, but they have refused it and have taken up arms. The amir of the army has the option of fighting them…in accordance with what he judges to be in the best interest of the Muslims and most harmful to the mushrikun… Second, those whom the invitation to Islam has not reached, although such persons are few nowadays since Allah has made manifest the call of his Messenger…it is forbidden to…begin an attack before explaining the invitation to Islam to them, informing them of the miracles of the Prophet and making plain the proofs so as to encourage acceptance on their part; if they still refuse to accept after this, war is waged against them and they are treated as those whom the call has reached…

Ibn Taymiyya , a 14th Century Hanbali jurist15

Since lawful warfare is essentially jihad and since its aim is that the religion is God's entirely and God's word is uppermost, therefore according to all Muslims, those who stand in the way of this aim must be fought. As for those who cannot offer resistance or cannot fight, such as women, children, monks, old people, the blind, handicapped and their likes, they shall not be killed unless they actually fight with words (e.g. by propaganda) and acts (e.g. by spying or otherwise assisting in the warfare).

In the Hidayah, vol. Ii. P. 140 (Hanafi school)

It is not lawful to make war upon any people who have never before been called to the faith, without previously requiring them to embrace it, because the Prophet so instructed his commanders, directing them to call the infidels to the faith, and also because the people will hence perceive that they are attacked for the sake of religion, and not for the sake of taking their property, or making slaves of their children, and on this consideration it is possible that they may be induced to agree to the call, in order to save themselves from the troubles of war… If the infidels, upon receiving the call, neither consent to it nor agree to pay capitation tax, it is then incumbent on the Muslims to call upon God for assistance, and to make war upon them, because God is the assistant of those who serve Him, and the destroyer of His enemies, the infidels, and it is necessary to implore His aid upon every occasion; the Prophet, moreover, commands us so to do."

Ibn Khaldun the 15th century Tunisian Historian states

In the Muslim community, the holy war is a religious duty, because of the universalism of the Muslim mission and the obligation to convert everybody to Islam either by persuasion or by force... The other religious groups did not have a universal mission, and the holy war was not a religious duty for them, save only for purposes of defense... Islam is under obligation to gain power over other nations.

Jihad as warfare

The word "jihad" is widely used to mean "holy war." When jihad refers to a holy war, classical Islam expounds an elaborate military doctrine which lays down the basic rules of war in Islam as well as a political ideology.

Traditional Islamic doctrine divided the world into two parts: the Dar al-Islam (land of Islam), and the Dar al-Harb (land of war). The former were the Muslim territories, governed by Islam as a political movement, while the latter were the non-Muslim territories of the world. The concept of warfare in Islam is of two distinct types: defensive jihad, which is defense of the Dar al-Islam, and offensive jihad which is the military conquests of the Dar al-Harb by Islam as a political movement (hence the term, "land of war"). The Wikipedia articles on defensive jihad and offensive jihad discuss Islamic legal aspects of these two concepts in detail, while the article on Islam as a political movement discusses the Islamic political ideology that jihad seeks to further.

The United States Department of Justice defines Jihad as follows:

"jihad" is the Arabic word for "holy war." In this context, jihad refers to the use of violence, including paramilitary action against persons, property or governments deemed to be enemies of a fundamentalist version of Islam.[6]
Violent jihad or Jihad include planning, preparing for, and engaging in, acts of physical violence, including murder, maiming, kidnapping, and hostage-taking.[7]

The noted specialist of Islam, Maxime Rodinson, wrote (perhaps too simplistically) that "Jihad is a propagandistic device which, as need be, resorts to armed struggle – two ingredients common to many ideological movements." (Maxime Rodinson. Muhammad. Random House, Inc., New York, 2002. p. 351).

The neologism jihadist is sometimes used to describe militant Islamic groups, including but not restricted to Islamist terrorism (c. f. Jihadist organizations and Rules of war in Islam). The Islamic religious legitimacy of the goals or methods of various Islamist movements who adopt the terminology of jihad is often brought into question by liberal Muslims.

See also

Encyclopedic sites

Islamic sites discussing Jihad

Non islamic sites discussing Jihad

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