JIHAD


Meaning
Jihad is the Arabic for what can be variously translated as "struggle" or "effort," or "to strive," "to exert," "to fight," depending on the context.
The word jihad comes from the word JUHD which means to strive, to struggle.

Misconceptions About Jihad
If we were to make a list of all the Islamic terms and concepts that have been inadvertently misconstrued or deliberately distorted, by the apologetic Muslims or Western orientlists, then Jihad can easily be placed at the top of that list.


Holy War & Harbun Mukkaddasa
The word Jihad is not synonymous with “Holy War” which is what the Western media wants everyone to believe.
In fact Holy War does not mean Jihad.

This word „holy war‟ was first used by the Christian crusaders who spread the religion at the point of a sword. And now it‟s used for the muslims unfortunately.

Because „holy war‟, in Arabic if you translate means Harbun mukkaddasa.
The word Harbun mukkaddasa doesn‟t appear anywhere in the Quran neither in the sayings of the Prophet

War & Qital
It is not the equivalent of war, for which the Arabic word is qital.
Jihad is exerting our best and greatest effort to achieve something.
Jihad has a much wider connotation and embraces every kind of striving in God‟s cause.
A mujahid is one who is sincerely devoted to his or her cause; who uses all physical, intellectual, and spiritual resources to serve it;
who confront any power that stands in its way; and, when necessary, dies for this cause.
Jihad in the way of God is our struggle to win God‟s good pleasure, to establish His religion‟s supremacy, and to make His Word prevail.

A highly misleading but popular idea in this respect is that any war in which the Muslims are engaged,
even if the motives are other than purely Islamic, is Jihad fi Sabeel lillah.
In view of the confusions and misunderstandings that surround this most fundamental of Islamic concepts.

The Quran does call for "jihad" as a military struggle on behalf of Islam.
But the Quran also refers to jihad as an internal, individual, spiritual struggle toward self-improvement, moral cleansing and intellectual effort.

It is said that Prophet Muhammad considered the armed-struggle version of Jihad "the little jihad," but considered the spiritual, individual version of Jihad--the Jihad within oneself--as "the great jihad."



Importance of Jihad
In the Holy Qur'an many verses clearly show the importance of Jihad (struggling for the sake of Allah) in the life of a Muslim and urges the believers to take part in this noble duty.
Allah mentions jihad in conjunction with imaan or belief, paradise and His pleasure.
Any person who claims to be a sincere believer in Allah should understand the obligation of jihad.


“O you who believe! Shall I show you a commerce that will save you from a painful doom?
You should believe in Allah and His Messenger, and should strive for the cause of Allah with your wealth and your lives.
That is better for you, if you did but know.”
(Al-Saff 10-11)


They alone are the mo‟min who come to believe in Allah and His messenger and afterwards never doubted, and who strive in the way of Allah with their wealth and their lives. Only they are truthful and sincere.
(Al-Hujurat 49:15)


“And do not say to those who have laid their lives in the cause of Allah that they are dead, but in fact, they are living, although you do not understand.”
(Al-Baqara: 2:154)



Allah (swt) has raised the status of Mujahid, the person who sacrifice his life in the way of Allah (swt) to the that extent to be consider alive till the Day of Judgment.

The great sacrifice in the cause of Allah is made in Jihad, because a loss of few lives, some thousands, some lacs, or even more does not count anything
as compared with the dreadful calamity that may befall mankind as a result of the victory of evil over good, and of aggressive atheism over the religion of Allah.

The sincere believers are anxious to sacrifice their wealth and lives for the sake of Allah and do their best to fight with their fellow Muslims who are oppressed by the enemies of Islam.

When jihad becomes obligatory on the Muslim and he does not concern himself with it, then he is similar to those bedouins who claim to have faith yet the true and complete faith had not actually entered into their hearts.

They say that they believe but they do not meet Allah‟s description of the believers.

“The true believers are only those who believe in Allah and His Messenger and afterward doubt not, but strive with their wealth and their lives for the cause of Allah. Such are the sincere”
(Al-Hujurat 49:14-15)


Types of Jihad

One could make Jihad by using good words,
using one's wealth for the sake of Allah,
or by using their physical strength to do good.

We can use these three different types of jihad depending on the time,
the place, the situation, or the individual.
We may apply these different types of jihad all together or individually.

1. Jihad against Ignorance:
This jihad means to teach people the truth and the good.
God Almighty addresses the Prophet as follows in the Quran:
“Invite (all) to the way of thy Lord with wisdom and beautiful preaching;
and argue with them in ways that are best and most gracious.” (an-Nahl, 125)
The following is stated in another verse:
“Let there arise out of you a band of people inviting to all that is good,
enjoining what is right, and forbidding what is wrong;
they are the ones to attain felicity.” (Aal-i Imran, 104)
The Quran is a spiritual drug that is enough to cure the material and spiritual,
and individual and social wounds of not only one nation but also all of the people to come until the Day of Judgment.
The duty of presenting this drug to humanity was given to Muslims.

2. Jihad against one's Soul:
Jihad-e-Akbar (The Greatest Jihad).

Struggling against one's self desires means forcing yourself to follow the orders of Allah
and to stay away from what Allah has ordered us to stay away from;
This Jihad is called Jihad-e-Akbar (The Greatest Jihad).
This includes performing the obligatory and the voluntary,
and to abandon all acts that are Haram (unlawful) or Makrooh (disliked).
This type of jihad also includes forcing oneself to behave with the best manners,
the best morals, and to stay away from bad behavior at a time when our desires tell us the opposite.

The believers are warned against the trick of the soul as follows in a verse:
“…nor follow thou the lusts, (of thy heart), for they will mislead thee from the Path of Allah.” (Sad, 26)

The Prophet (pbuh) stated the following
“The greatest jihad is the one against your soul.” He also said,
“Your greatest enemy is your soul, which is inside you.” (Ajluni, Kashfu’l-Khafa, Beirut, I, 143, Hadith No: 413)

The Prophet attracts attention to the importance of this jihad.
As a matter of fact, while returning from a battle, the Prophet (pbuh) said,
“We have returned to the great jihad from the small jihad.”
(Kanzu’l-Ummal, IV, 430, Hadith No: 11260 )
Thus, he expressed concisely that overcoming one's soul was more difficult and more important than fighting the enemy.

3. Jihad against Satan:
Obligatory Jihad Against Satan
Struggling against Satan means to defend yourself from his evil whisperings,
his doubtful matters, his temptations, and his lustfulness.
This type of jihad is an obligation for all individuals and no one can do it on another ones behalf.
We should understand that Satan's whisperings will never go away, and therefore, we must keep struggling throughout our lives.

The following verse in the Quran shows that Satan is the greatest enemy to man:
“Verily Satan is an enemy to you: so treat him as an enemy.”(Fatir, 6 )
Thus, attention is attracted to the fact that the greatest jihad is the one done against the greatest enemy.

4. Jihad Against Disbelievers and Hypocrites (with Weapons):
Jihad Fard Kifayah
The struggle against the disbelievers and the hypocrites.

which are: In the heart, the tongue, one's wealth and one's soul.
When struggling with the disbelievers, more than likely, we will use our hands or physical strength.
On the other hand, when struggling against the hypocrites, we will make jihad by using our tongue to preach to them.

These two types of Jihad are called Fard Kifayah ,
which basically means if some Muslims successfully perform these two types of jihad, then it will no longer be obligatory for other Muslims to perform it.

Otherwise, it remains obligatory upon all Muslims until the goal of Jihad is achieved.”

This jihad is not continuous.
It is not fard for everybody.
If the state has enough power,
jihad is fard al-kifayah; that is, when a group of people makes jihad,the other people are not held responsible.

certain conditions for Jihad
It is well known that the concept of Jihad is subject to certain conditions.

Jihad is meant for upholding the uprightness of the Word of Allah, for the victory of the suppressed, for safeguarding the places of worship and for defence against the aggression and atrocities of the tyrants.

In Islamic Shariah, the direction or order for killing is applicable to those enemies of Islam, engaged in fight against Muslims.

It applies to such enemies of Islam who are determined to seize their lands.

Not only that they are determined to deny the freedom to pronounce the name of Allah on the earth.

It is not meant for eliminating other religions, destruction of their places of worship or unwarranted massacre of Non-Muslims.

For propagation and acceptance of its teachings Islam recommends interesting and suitable form of preaching, persuasion and discussion.

"Invite (all) to the Way of thy Lord with wisdom and beautiful preaching; and argue with them in ways that are best and most gracious. "(Surah Al Nahl, verse 125) Do not utilize power of the sword and so-called ‘Jihad'.

Permission for Jihad has been given for defence or in unavoidable circumstances, that too, subject to certain conditions.
It does not mean that if you find a Non-Muslim or their group, you rush for beheading them.


Conclusion

From this whole discussion we can conclude that there is no perfect Iman without the concept of Jihad.
Jihad is as compulsory as other fundamentals of Islam‟s are on their priority.
We all are doing jihad as we are striving and struggling hard for our existence and making our life on the on track prescribed by Allah and His Prophet Muhammad (pbuh).