The true jihad in Islam means a struggle
against evil. It should be done only with a certain purpose and certain means as
indicated in the Qur’an or in the guidance of Prophet Muhammad (peace and God’s
blessings upon him).
Jihad is ordained “so that mankind
may uphold justice” (see Qur’an, 57:25).
When Muslims see evil growing around, they should not defer to it, but
they should strive hard to resist it by expanding and promoting Qur’an’s
teachings with utmost striving (Qur’an, 25:52).
Muslims
are exhorted, all the time, to call
people to God’s way through peaceful means, wisdom and convincing
arguments: “Call (mankind) unto your Lord’s path with wisdom and goodly
exhortation, and argue with them in the most kindly manner; truly your Lord
knows best those who stray from His way and He knows best those who are guided”
(16:125).
This is further
elaborated in another position in the Quran, indicating that the best deed is
to call to the way of God, to do good deeds and to show one’s pride in
submitting himself to the will and commands of God: “And who could better of speech than he who calls unto
God, and does what is just and right, and says: verily, I am of those who have
surrendered themselves to God? And they are not equal, the good deed and the evil
deed. Repel with that which is better then, behold, he between whom and you
there was enmity will be as though he were a dear friend. But none is granted
it, except those who are steadfast; and none is granted it except those
(deserving) of greatest good fortune!” (41:33-35).
Islam
exhorts its adherents to be ever steadfast in dealing with justice, and considers
leaning to hatred as a great sin deserving punishment from God in the
hereafter: “O you who have attained to faith! Be ever steadfast in your devotion
to God, bearing witness to the truth in all equity; and never let hatred of
anyone leads you into the sin of deviating from justice. Be just: this is
closest to being God-conscious. And remain conscious of God; verily, God is
aware of all that you do” (5:8).
Islam
forbids its adherents to befriend evildoers, to have sympathy for them, or to
rely upon them: “And do not incline towards, nor rely upon, those who are bent on
evildoing lest the fire (of the hereafter) touch you; for (then) you would have
none to protect you from God, nor would you ever be succoured (by Him)” (11:113).
It
does not content itself with that but goes further: Muslims should not stay
neutral when they see oppressed people suffer of horror under tyrants, but they
have to engage in jihad in order to give save and protect
those helpless people, whether they are Muslims or not: “And what is wrong with you, that
you do not fight in the way of God, and of the utterly helpless man and women
and children who are crying: o Our Lord! Lead us forth (to freedom) out of this
land whose people are oppressors, and raise for us, out of Your grace, a
protector; and raise for us, out of Your grace, a helper! Those who have
attained to faith fight in the cause of God, whereas those who are bent on
denying the truth fight in the cause of the powers of evil. Fight, then,
against those friends of Satan; verily, Satan’s guile is weak indeed!” (4:75-76).
Unfortunately,
nowadays we can find here and there some groups of shrinking people raising “Islamic”
slogans and spreading horror among people. They may be used by enemies of
Muslims, so they can tarnish the beautiful image of Islam. What these groups do
is not at all true jihad meant by Islam,
but it is rather false jihad !!!
Anas bin Malik, a
companion of Prophet Muhammad, narrated that once the Prophet (peace and God’s
blessings upon him) addressed an expedition said: “Go in God’s Name, trusting
in God, and adhering to the Religion of God’s Messenger! Do not kill a decrepit
old man, nor an infant, nor a child, nor a woman. Do not be dishonest about
booty, but collect your spoils; do right and act good deeds, for God loves
those who do good deeds!” (Abu Dawood).
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