Skip to main content

WHAT JIHAD IS

http://islamicsupremecouncil.org/understanding-islam/legal-rulings/5-jihad-a-misunderstood-concept-from-islam.html?start=9

WHAT JIHAD IS

  • The Arabic word "jihad" is often translated as "holy war," but in a purely linguistic sense, the word " jihad" means struggling or striving.
  • The arabic word for war is: "al-harb".
  • In a religious sense, as described by the Quran and teachings of the Prophet Muhammad (s), "jihad" has many meanings. It can refer to internal as well as external efforts to be a good Muslims or believer, as well as working to inform people about the faith of Islam.
  • If military jihad is required to protect the faith against others, it can be performed using anything from legal, diplomatic and economic to political means. If there is no peaceful alternative, Islam also allows the use of force, but there are strict rules of engagement. Innocents - such as women, children, or invalids - must never be harmed, and any peaceful overtures from the enemy must be accepted.
  • Military action is therefore only one means of jihad, and is very rare. To highlight this point, the Prophet Mohammed told his followers returning from a military campaign: "This day we have returned from the minor jihad to the major jihad," which he said meant returning from armed battle to the peaceful battle for self-control and betterment.
  • In case military action appears necessary, not everyone can declare jihad. The religious military campaign has to be declared by a proper authority, advised by scholars, who say the religion and people are under threat and violence is imperative to defend them. The concept of "just war" is very important.
  • The concept of jihad has been hijacked by many political and religious groups over the ages in a bid to justify various forms of violence. In most cases, Islamic splinter groups invoked jihad to fight against the established Islamic order. Scholars say this misuse of jihad contradicts Islam.
  • Examples of sanctioned military jihad include the Muslims' defensive battles against the Crusaders in medieval times, and before that some responses by Muslims against Byzantine and Persian attacks during the period of the early Islamic conquests.

WHAT JIHAD IS NOT

  • Jihad is not a violent concept.
  • Jihad is not a declaration of war against other religions. It is worth noting that the Koran specifically refers to Jews and Christians as "people of the book" who should be protected and respected. All three faiths worship the same God. Allah is just the Arabic word for God, and is used by Christian Arabs as well as Muslims.
  • Military action in the name of Islam has not been common in the history of Islam. Scholars says most calls for violent jihad are not sanctioned by Islam.
  • Warfare in the name of God is not unique to Islam. Other faiths throughout the world have waged wars with religious justifications

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

R. Mendel Kasher, who I find is the source of almost all the classic Zionist distortions - by Megila

R. Mendel Kasher, who I find is the source of almost all the classic Zionist distortions. He was the one who made up the story of those Gedolim signing a paper was the Medinah is the aschalta degeulah, and he was the one who doctored the story of the meeting of the Moetzes Chachmei HaTorah in 1937 where he left out the poiastion of people like Rav Ahron Kotler. He wrote a book called HaTekufah heGedolah which is absolutely full of misquotes, fabrications and distortions. His deception has already been exposed and well known to those who have researched this topic. R. Zvi Weinman documented extensively the forgeries of R. Kasher - and he even challenged him in public to respond to his findings when R. Kasher was alive - in his excellent work "Mikatowitz ad 5 B'Iyar." Of course, R. Kasher did not produce any response to the evidence against him. More of R. Kasher's falsifications are exposed in the sefer "Das HaTziyonus", especially his now famous fra
Post a Comment
Read more

Israel pays students to post favorable comments online.

https://www.facebook.com/FromDarknessToLightTRUTH/videos/760705497393111/ There's a few ways of spotting the paid comment makers. One is they generally go for ad homenum attacks. This one is an antisemite, that one is an enemy of Israel, this one is not qualified to speak. I also find it amusing that Noam Chomsky is considered not qualified to speak because his PhD is in linguistics but Alan Dershowitz, a trial attorney, is even though Chomsky is just brimming with relevant facts and Dershowitz is so clearly a manipulator. They are not too educated these commenters.  Also, they also never respond to educated responses because they have no response and possibly they are instructed not to respond so as not to help promote educated thought on the topic.
Post a Comment
Read more

All That Remains

All That Remains: The Palestinian Villages Occupied and Depopulated by Israel in 1948 Paperback – April 13, 2006 by Professor Walid Khalidi, of Oxford and Harvard Universities (Editor). This authoritative reference work describes in detail the more than 400 Palestinian villages that were destroyed or depopulated by Israel in 1948. Little of these once-thriving communities remains: not only have they been erased from the Palestinian landscape, their very names have been removed from contemporary Israeli maps. But to hundreds of thousands of Palestinians living in their diaspora, these villages were home, and continue to be poignantly powerful symbols of their personal and national identity. The culmination of nearly six years of research by more than thirty participants, this authoritative reference work describes in detail the more than 400 Palestinian villages that were destroyed or depopulated during the 1948 war. Going beyond the scope of previously published accounts, All That Rema
Post a Comment
Read more