By Mohammed Maluki
Jihad is an Arabic word that has been misunderstood, and at times deliberately misinterpreted and misused by those who spill blood of innocent people.
Jihad means to strive to achieve one’s utmost goal. When a person wakes up very early in the morning to pray, he is struggling to get to paradise and to get closer to his Lord. When a person goes to work or goes to his farm to plant seeds so that he can harvest, when a student goes to school to learn to secure his future, when a person struggles to make ends meet, all that is Jihad.
During the early days, Muslims had to strive to ward off aggressors. According to the Sunnah of Prophet Mohammad, Islam allows only a defensive war and that too, is only when there is no other option. A tradition narrated by Aisha, the prophet’s wife, provides a guiding principle. She said: “Whenever the prophet had to choose between two courses, he would always opt for the easier one.”
All the battles that the prophet fought were defensive after being pushed to the wall and after using all the options to stop war.
It is therefore against the prophets teaching to punish the innocent. Those killing one another in Somalia, Iraq Afghanistan, Pakistan and all over the world, are they not killing innocent Muslims and non Muslims who have not offended them?
In his book The True Jihad, Maulana Wahiduddin Khan states three types of Jihad.
Jihad –e- nafs: To control one’s negative and undesirable feelings within oneself and to persevere in the life of God’s choice in all circumstances.
Jihad of Da’wa: To communicate the message of God to all human beings with full compassion and well-wishing. This is a gigantic task and that’s why it has been called the greatest Jihad in the Qur’an.
Jihad with antagonists: To counter any challenge from the opponents of religion, and to safeguard in all circumstances. This Jihad basically has always been a peaceful process, and it is still so even today. In this respect, far from being an armed offensive, Jihad is essentially a peaceful struggle.
Finally, Wahiduddin warns those who engage in acts of aggression that go against these Islamic teachings that they should expect divine punishment.
The writer is patron, Maragua Muslim Community
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