Download Jihad

Matthew Hill
ERH-211X
Islam: The Jihad
The word “jihad” is one of the most misunderstood words coming out of
the Islamic world today. Many people interpret the word “jihad” in Arabic as meaning
“holy war”, but if we are speaking in a purely linguistic sense, the word jihad means
“struggle” (Islamic Supreme Council). For years, many people have associated the word
jihad with terror attacks, as terrorists often use the word to mean a holy war against those
who attempt to harm Islam, however, most Muslims believe that these terrorists are
misrepresenting what jihad actually means in the Quran. For most Muslims, these
terrorists corrupt the words of the Quran, like the word jihad, and use it to carry out their
violent personal agendas, while often claiming to be defending Islam through jihad. Jihad
is often misunderstood by many people outside of Islam, due to the misrepresentation of
the word by terrorists and other extremists, but in actuality, jihad does not mean violence
against others, but is intended to mean a struggle against one’s self.
Jihad literally means, “struggle” in Arabic, and Islam has traditionally used it to
point out two types of struggle: a spiritual struggle against pride and self-sufficiency, and
a physical struggle against those who wish to harm Islam (Prothero 34). In the religious
and spiritual sense, it is understood to be described in the Quran and the teachings of the
Prophet Muhammad as an internal and external effort to be a good Muslim, as well as to
inform others about the faith (Islamic Supreme Council). If the physical or military sense
of jihad is needed to protect Islam, it can be performed by using legal, political, or
economic means (Islamic Supreme Council). If there exists no alternative and peaceful
method to end the attack on Islam, then Islam allows the use of force, but there are strict
rules about this force, innocent people cannot be harmed, and if the enemy offers peace
proposals, then they must be accepted (Islamic Supreme Council). The physical jihad
calls for a range of tactics, including preaching, teaching, and working to bring about
social justice, which may include war (Prothero 34). This military action is only one
interpretation of jihad and is rarely used, and if physical jihad is necessary, then not
everyone can declare jihad, the religious conflict can only be declared by the proper
Islamic authorities who say that it is imperative to declare war to protect Islam because
the people of the faith are under attack (Islamic Supreme Council). Jihad is only meant to
be violent when necessary, and that is rare; it is primarily meant to be an internal struggle
against self to become better people and better followers of Islam.
The word jihad has been taken by many political and religious groups for
centuries to validate forms of violence (Islamic Supreme Council). In many cases,
Islamic extremists have declared jihad to fight against the established Islamic order, other
religions, and other nations, in order to justify personal agendas, Islamic scholars say this
misrepresentation of jihad contradicts Islam (Islamic Supreme Council). According to
Islamic scholars, jihad is not a declaration of war against other religions, the Quran refers
to Christians and Jews as “people of the book” and these people should be respected and
protected because Islam, Christianity, and Judaism all worship the same God (Islamic
Supreme Council).
Islam and its followers, according to the Quran, are intended to be a peaceful
people. According to the Islamic Supreme Council of America, “It cannot be over-
emphasized that Islam upholds the values of reason, balance and responsibility in the
conduct of its worldly affairs” (Islamic Supreme Council). However, the critics of Islam
claim that Islam and its followers are hostile and intolerant towards other communities,
and the critics refer to the Quran’s verses that encourage their believers to fight the
infidels, from the battles of early the Muslims to the crusades, to the current stereotype of
the Arab terrorist (Islamic Supreme Council). In answering these critics, according to the
Islamic Supreme Council of America, it is important to focus on a general definition of
Islam so the term jihad is not misinterpreted, Islam is described as “establishing the
kingdom of heaven on earth” (Islamic Supreme Council). It is important to understand
the context and circumstance of the Quran and the teachings of Muhammad when talking
about jihad (Islamic Supreme Council). It would be an error to judge Islam and Muslims
based upon “the kind of “Jihad” that has fallen victim to ideological tendencies” (Islamic
Supreme Council). These critics have to be aware of the interpretation of Jihad, “which is
projected, and sometimes imposed, by the selective “religious reformism” so rampant
today” (Islamic Supreme Council). The critics often ignore the central aspects of Islam’s
intellectual history, and repress the important figures of Islam and its immaculate past of
abiding by the standards of law and justice in state affairs (Islamic Supreme Council).
With all of the emphasis on jihad by Islamic extremists and Western
neoconservatives, it would be assumed that jihad is of Islam’s central concepts, however,
it is not. According to the Shahadah, the three key words in the Islamic faith are Allah,
Muhammad, and the Quran (Prothero 36). Most Muslims live by the teachings of the
Quran and the teachings of Muhammad that command believers to live peacefully and
respectfully among other religious and cultural groups. Jihad, as shown, is not intended to
be a violent term, but only an internal struggle to better the external world and create
more followers of Islam. It is important to not let the actions of a few “Muslims”, that
commit horrific acts of violence and persecution under a misrepresented flag of Islam and
jihad, ruin what the religion truly is, peaceful and accepting.
Bibliography:
Kabbani, Muhammad, and Seraj Hendricks. “Jihad: A Misunderstood Concept from
Islam”. The Islamic Supreme Council of America.
Kabbani, Muhammad, and Seraj Hendricks. “Jihad: A Misunderstood Concept from
Islam: What Jihad is, and is not”. The Islamic Supreme Council of America.
Prothero, Stephen. God Is Not One: The Eight Rival Religions That Run The World. New
York: HarperCollins Publishers, 2010. Print.