JIHAD

JIHAD

In the Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary the definition of Jihad is:  

1) a holy war waged on behalf of Islam as a religious duty; 2) a crusade for a principle or belief. 

In Islam jihad is an Islamic legal term that means the Muslims are to fight in the way of Allah so they can establish a just system that will uphold the laws of the Sharia and they are to seek and realize the aims of Islam on earth.

I would like to show because of Jihad the Crusades were formed to save Christendom.  Jihad wasn’t only against the Jews it was against non-Muslims (infidels) no matter who they were.  It is true that Muslims had enmity toward the Jews for both religious/Islamic and political/pragmatic reasons which were just a smokescreen but nonetheless they always used that for Arab-Israeli conflicts.  

The political/pragmatic was based only on the land and the religious Islamic was based on Islamic mandates toward the Jews and the land.  

When Palestine and later Jerusalem were lost to the Muslims to non-Muslims and worse of all the

Jews, the Muslims went ballistic.  That was the last draw.  They couldn’t take it any longer. 

The “Nakbah” better known as the Catastrophe gave the Muslims their right to unilaterally declare

by “fiat” (an authoritative or arbitrary order:  decree or dictate…) [Webster’s Dictionary] the struggle they are going through to proclaim Jihad (Religious War) against them. 

The Naksah (setback) characterization of Israel’s founding and victories is what gave the

Muslims their political engagement toward the Jews and non-Muslims (infidels).

The people in the West believe the enmity of the Jews and non-Muslims have to do with the

possession of Palestine and Jerusalem but if these two areas were given back to the Muslims

would Jihad be over?  No.  This is just a smokescreen. The Quran wants everyone to turn to

Islam and if not Jihad can be brought against you.  The Mission Call:  The Da’wa is to bring all

back into the Islamic fold by all means necessary.  All Muslims are to participate in this move

with their tongue, finances, themselves, migrations and even volunteering to go to battle so

they can personally engage the enemy.  This Jihad aids the Islamic missions for the reversion

(conversion) of people bring them back to Allah’s Fold by force or voluntarily.  They are to

embrace Islam or pay the consequences.

Muslims believe through their teaching of Islam that this is the only true way to return and

restore mankind to Allah’s fold unlike we in the Christian faith don’t force people and God

doesn’t force anyone to accept Him.  He gives us free will.  We have the right to choose and the

choice we make will tell where we will spend eternity.  Jihad on the other hand wants action

now, here in the present.  This is their salvation to mankind.  If you don’t return to the fold you

are considered rebelling against Allah, making war on Islam the penalty, death.

Looking at and understanding jihad from the beginning will help us to understand why they use

it not saying that they are right because in my opinion they are not because it is still going on today.

The word jihad to the Arabs means endeavor, training, exertion, effort, diligence, and fighting.   

Traditionally basic jihad was to be executed for three purposes:  to repel invasion or its threat,

to punish those who had violated treaties, and to guarantee freedom for the propagation of

Islam.

You have many types of jihads.  The struggle against religious or political oppression is

considered the lesser type between the soul’s struggle with evil. 

Muhammad was smart by associating warfare with being in the way of Allah so people would

follow him by the power of the sword according to the Quran and here are a few verses in that

respect:  Quran 8:65; 2:216; 2:191; 48:20; 8:38; 8:12; 9:111; 9:73; 9:123.  Some Muslims believe

that jihad is the 6^th pillar of Islam, the second greatest command of Muhammad found in Hadith: Al Bukhari Volume 1:25.  There are other Hadiths (the sayings of Muhammad) that refer to Jahid:  Sahi Bukhari Volume 4, Book 52, Numbers 46, 53, 48, 50, 42.  According to Muhammad the greater jihad is the inner struggle of faith.

The reason why Muslims are willing and ready to carry out jihad throughout history and still today is because of Jihad-i-Kabir (The Great Jihad) which means:  “1) To exert one’s utmost for the cause of Islam, 2) To dedicate all one’s resource to this cause, and 3) to fight against the enemies of Islam on all possible fronts with all one’s resources in order to raise high the “word of Allah.”

The aim  of Jihad is the expansion and defense of the Islamic state not the conversion of non-

Muslims to Islam by force.

There are two types of religious warfare, offensive jihad when Muslims launch an offensive

attack on non-Muslims (kafir).  These are the people who have previously received the message

of Islam but rejected it.  Now if the message of Islam didn’t reach them they give them the chance to hear it and if they reject it they will have to pay Jizyah (kufr tax).  If they refuse to pay this tax then the Muslims can fight them.  Offensive jihad is performed in the enemies own territory.

You also have defensive jihad which entails when Muslims are attacked it is their duty to defend themselves.  This means armed struggles.  They have to defend their territory at all cost.

There are different methods of jihad just to name a few:

1.      Jihad of Words:  To use oratory, in a war of nerves, to inspire their own side in order to intimidate the opponent and to demoralize the self-esteem of the kafir (infidel).

2.      Jihad of Deception:  To confuse the enemy, it is acceptable to tell a lie, even if one is under oath.

3.      Jihad of the Sword-To-Kill the enemy, loot his possession and take hostages for ransom.

4.      Jihad of Taxation:  To have extra financial burden on non-Muslims, so that they are pressured to leave the land or convert to Islam.

5.      Jihad of Slavery:  To use as a weapon to subjugate non-Muslims and to have men as labor and woman and young boys for sexual pleasure.

6.      Jihad of Sharia Law:  To degrade non-Muslims to a lower status, deny them equal access to the law because the testimony of the non-Muslim is considered invalid.

7.      Jihad of Polygamy:  A Muslim has permission to have four legal wives (Surah 4:3,4).  That’s how Islam is propagating itself.

8.      Jihad of the Spirits:  A Muslim is to fight on Muhammad’s behalf both in his life and after his death. Hadith Volume 1 Chapter 43).

Islam was practiced only in Saudi Arabia after Muhammad died in 632 AD but in less than 100 years different territories were conquered.

In closing if you look at the Quran more than 80% is filled with Holy War (Jihad).  In the Arabian

Peninsula early Islam was spread mainly by Jihad.  Many war battles were fought and the

Crusades which consist of only eight battles had to be fought to protect Christendom from Islamic invasions.  The Roman Catholic Church was the one to initiate the Crusades.  It was not commanded or referenced to in the teachings of Jesus Christ.  Remember He was a peace maker not a peace breaker.  You will not see the word crusade anywhere in the Bible.  It was the cruel, ruthless, and determined expansion of Islam by the sword that the Roman Catholic Church initiated the Crusades.  The purpose of the crusades launched in 1095 by Pope Urban II was to reclaim the sacred city of Jerusalem and the Holy land.  So peasants and knights from many Western Europe nations travelled over land and sea towards Jerusalem and captured the city on July 1099 establishing the Kingdom of Jerusalem.  “The Crusades were fought from 1095 and 1291 over a period of less than 200 years.”  Even though the Crusades were launched in 1096, Islamic Jihad had already been in action against Christendom for nearly five hundred years and it is still going on now but the Crusades are over.