The misinformation and misconception concerning Jihad are fueled constantly by the media in our society, controlled by people having vested interests. As a result, a prejudiced attitude is so nurtured that whenever any terrorism takes place, the ones to blame are Muslims. The damage done by such cowardly acts of literary terrorism by the media,and "pseudo-experts" the likes of Steven Emerson, surpass national boundaries and create a culture of hate.
This article is divided into three sections: i) Jihad and Islamic warfare, ii)Islam in history and iii)Peace & Islam The
word Jihad translated into English does not mean "Holy War" as people in
the media ignorantly state repeatedly. In the text of the entire Koran, the word
"Holy War" cannot be found. These are concocted words, invented by people who
want to deliberately convey a certain image of Islam. Usually the people who use
the term "Holy War" are quite ignorant of Islam. The word Jihad in Arabic
means "struggle". Jihad as the Koran makes clear, is struggle in the way of God
with oneself, and one's possessions.
I) Jihad and Islamic Warfare:
Islam only allows a war of defense
and not an offense. In the case of war, the attack is "only" to be directed
against those who are attack you and only to the extent of the initial
aggression, not to exceed it. If the enemy kills your civilians even then you
are not supposed to kill their civilians. Only those who attack you are to be
attacked.
"Fight in the way of God against those who fight against you, but begin not hostilities. Indeed God does not love transgressors (Koran 2:192-193)."
"..So if they hold aloof from you and wage not war
against you and offer you peace. God allows you no way against them (KORAN
4:90)."
"And if any of the idolaters seeks of you protection, grant him (her)
protection till he
hears the words of God, then convey him to his place of
security. That is because they are a folk who know not..(KORAN
9:6-8)."
"How is it with you that you do not fight in God's way, when the
feeble among the men,
women and children are saying, "Our lord, bring us
forth from this place whose people are tyrants. O God give us from your presence
some protector and helper.'(KORAN 4:75-76)."
"..If God had not repelled some people by means of others, the earth
would have been corrupted (KORAN 2:251)."
"Warfae is ordained for you though it is hateful for you. Yet it may
happen that you will hate a thing even though it is good for you and love a
thing that is bad for you. God knows, you do not know (KORAN 2:216)."
This reasoning led to the prejudice of Islam and Terrorism taking
root in western society throughout Europe and America because of the random acts
of a few misled, ill informed, Koranically uneducated people who called
themselves Muslims.
What the self-proclaimed Christian Crusaders did with
the sword to Muslim was surpassed only by the Mongols. However, history is
deliberately perverted by those having vested interests, to portray a negative
image of Islam.
The Koran is explicit on the freedom of
conscience:
"There is no compulsion in religion.
Truth is clear from falsehood (KORAN 2:256)
"Let him (her) who will
believe, and let him (her) who will disbelieve."
(KORAN 18:29).
"You
are in no way a compellor over them; but warn by the Koran him who fears my
threat
(KORAN 50:45)."
History gives a lie to the "fairy tale" that Islam spread by the
sword:
Albert Hourani, of St. Anthony's College, Oxford UK in his
standard work on Arab History, A History of the Arab Peoples
states:
"...a study based on the evidence of adoption
of specifically Muslim names has suggested orders of magnitude (about the stages
by which conquered peoples adopted Islam) which seem plausible. According to
this estimate, by the end of the Umayyad period (that is to say, in the middle
years of the SECOND Islamic and EIGHTH Christian century), less than 10% of the
population of Iran and Iraq, Syria and Egypt, Tunisia and Spain were
Muslim...most of the converts may have come from the lower ranks of
society...there was NO pressure or positive incentive for others to
convert..."(Hourani 1991:46-47)
The above
explicitly proves that Islam was not forced upon the masses by the sword. Over
time, the masses accepted Islam of their own volition. Hourani's source for this
study of Muslim names is R.W Bulliet's standard work on the subject titled,
Conversion to Islam in the Medieval Period (Cambridge,
Massachusetts, 1979).
One of the world's leading
historians of the Arabic-speaking peoples, Philip K. Hitti, in his book,The Arabs: A Short History, calls the
sword explanation of the spread of Islam, a "discredited
hypothesis" (Hitti 1973:59).
Consider these
historical facts as well:
1)Muslims ruled over Spain for 736 years. If
the Muslims had used any force during those 736 years to convert the Christians
to Islam there wouldn't have been a single Christian left to kick out the
Muslims after 736 years of rule.
2)Over 100 million Muslims live in
Indonesia, yet no Muslim army ever invaded any of its over 2000 islands. Same is
the case with Malaysia, and the east coast of Africa.
Odd instances of
"Muslims" not guided by the Koran, forcing people to accept their "Islam" may be
found. Similar cases can be found in Christianity or any other religious
group.
"Charlemagne's conversion of the saxons to Christianity was not by
preaching (THOMAS CARLYLE, HEROES AND HERO WORSHIP, PAGE
80)."
Bad
Muslims do not condemn Islam, just like bad Christians do not condemn
Christianity. Hitler was a self proclaimed Christian. Do his acts condemn
Christianity?
Hitler said:
"My
feelings as a Christian points me to my Lord and Savior as a fighter. It points
me to the man who once in loneliness, surrounded by a few followers, recognized
these Jews for what they were and summoned men to fight against them and who,
God's truth! was greatest not as a sufferer but as a fighter. In boundless love
as a Christian and as a man I read through the passage which tells us how the
Lord at last rose in His might and seized the scourge to drive out of the Temple
the brood of vipers and adders. How terrific was His fight for the world against
the Jewish poison. To-day, after two thousand years, with deepest emotion I
recognize more profoundly than ever before the fact that it was for this that He
had to shed His blood upon the Cross. As a Christian I have no duty to allow
myself to be cheated, but I have the duty to be a fighter for truth and
justice... And if there is anything which could demonstrate that we are acting
rightly it is the distress that daily grows. For as a Christian I have also a
duty to my own people.
-Adolf Hitler, in a speech on 12 April 1922
(Norman H. Baynes, ed. The Speeches of Adolf Hitler, April 1922-August 1939,
Vol. 1 of 2, pp. 19-20, Oxford University Press, 1942)
HISTORIANS OF ISLAM
The
word Islam comes from the same Arabic root word for salaam,, which means
peace. The universal greeting of Muslims is "As Salaam o Aleykum". It
means:"peace be with you." The Koran, the only book of authority on Islam
encourages peace making among humankind.
"There is no good in much of their secret conferences except, him who
enjoins alms giving and kindness and PEACE MAKING among mankind. Whoever does
that seeking the good pleasure of God. God will bestow on him (her) a vast
reward (KORAN 4:114)."
The
above verse has been in the Koran centuries before the United Nations was
formed.
Islam gives a world view of a close relationship between all men
& women based on a common essence of creation [Koran 4:1] and only one
creator God.
" O
Humankind! We have created you males and females, and have divided you into
nations and tribes so that you may recognize each other. The best among you in
the sight of God is the one most careful [of the truth] (KORAN
49:13)."
NEWSPAPER ARTICLE
Muhammed A. Asadi, thinks that the Jihad ordinance, as prescribed by
the Koran, is preceived often by the US public as being a "Holy War" consisting
of random acts of terrorism, violence and war against those who are not
Muslims.
"Jihad is misunderstood in the Western world as a 'Holy War'
because of the past words and actions of a few misinformed and uneducated
Islamic sects that have brought violence against the people," Asadi
said.
The Koran (Qur'an), Islam's "Bible", is believed by Muslims to be
Allah's (God's) word revealed to Muhammed Al-Mustafa from about 610 AD to the
time of his death in 632 AD. Muslims believe that Al-Mustafa, born in 570 AD,
received revelations directly from God throughout the 23-year
period.
Jihad is one of the most important of several ordinances revealed
to Al-Mustafa. Understood to be followed by all of humankind, the ordinance of
Jihad includes the aspect of physical fighting when defending oneself or others
against tyranny or oppression and the peaceful aspect, such as giving
"Zakah"(money, goods and services) to the poor and needy.
Jihad can also
include literary and verbal discussions and the individual's inner moral
struggle. When translated from Arabic into English, Jihad becomes "Struggle".
Asadi said that he understands Jihad to be the struggle in God's way as revealed
in the Koran.
Asadi explained that Islamic traditionalists have come to
the present day violent understanding of Jihad by associatiing with the Koran
other materials written centuries after the death of Al-Mustafa.
These
other writings are called Hadith and Fiqh.They are attributed to Islam but Asadi
doesnt consider them correct.
Hadith is presented as the actual words of
Al-Mustafa. Fiqh is presented as interpretations of "Islamic" law. Asadi
explained that these writings led to the fragmentation of Islam into many sects.
Each sect has a different understanding of Jihad and how the ordinance is to be
properly followed.
When Asadi was asked,"Do you believe that any person
belonging to the Muslim faith should attack any member,group or country
belonging to any other faith, such as Christianity or Judaism, simply because of
the difference of faith?" Asadi said, "According to the principle presented in
the Koran, the attack could only be justified if it was done to defend one's
self and it must be in the same manner, not to exceed the initial
attack."
He said that Jihad includes the removal of "tyranny and
oppression by defending other people who are being oppressed regardless of their
faith."Retaliation is allowed only to the extent of the harm done by the
aggressor. Muslims believe that if one person is killed unjustifiably, then it
is as if the whole of humankind is killed. Similarly, if one person's life is
saved, then the whole of humankind is saved.
Asadi said that any act of
terrorism is vehemently and religiously against any true meaning of the Jihad
ordinance. Jihad, as presented in the Koran is a habit that a Muslim is supposed
to develop throughout his/her lifetime.
The purpose of practicing Jihad
is for the establishment of world peace. Peace begins with the individual's
inner moral peace and moves outward to family and community, Asadi
explained.
According to Asadi, a Muslim practices true Jihad with
prayer."The Koran states that we are to seek God's help in prayer and to
persevere patiently and have hope in God," he said.
"Reciting verses
from the Koran also helps a person become more aware of God's message and
therefore more conscious of it," Asadi said.
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