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Jihad

Jihad

Jihad literally means utmost effort to achieve an objective. In Islamic terminology it means to endeavour and make sacrifice for the cause of Allah, that is, for the deliverance of the people from injustice and subjugation, restoration of belief in Allah's unity and establishment of a just social system.

Defence is a special form of jihad which aims at preventing an attack by an aggressor. In the religious texts of Islam it has been described as resistence to the aggressive designs of an enemy against a Muslim land and thwarting his attempt to gain the control of the natural resources of a Muslim country. Hence defence is a form of jihad for the cause of righteousness and justice.

Aims of Islamic Jihad

Islam with its vast revolutionary programme aims at establishing unity of human society on the basis of justice and mutual love. It wants to restore human freedom and humanize the world. Hence it fights against every kind of polytheism, injustice and subjugation. The Muslim ummah considers itself responsible not only to lead individually and collectively a life based on justice and Unity of Allah, but also, as far as possible, does its utmost to propagate righteousness, to awaken the ignorant, to fight for the cause of the oppressed and the under‑privileged, to put an end to corruption and to restore freedom.

It is a basic duty of the Muslims to work for the removal of all obstacles in the way of human growth and develop­ment, and not to show indifference to them. The Muslims not only should defend the existing sphere of their religious influence but also should try to expand it.

It is also a duty of the Muslims to resist enemy aggression in every possible way, to forestall injustice and corruption and to co‑operate with others in this respect.

We conclude, therefore, that the following are the aims of jihad:

(1) Expansion of the belief in Allah and adherence to His commandments.

"Fight in the way o f Allah against those who fight against you". (Surah al‑Baqarah, 2:190).

"Fight for the cause of Allah with due determination" . (Surah al‑Hajj, 22:78).

(2) Helping the weak and the deprived.

"What stops you from fighting for the cause o f Allah and of the helpless men, women and children?" (Surah al‑Nisa, 4:75).

(3) Putting an end to persecution.

 "Fight them until there is no persecution ". (Surah al‑Anfal, 8:39).

Aggression is bad, whosoever may be the aggressor

A fighter in the way of Allah must always be careful that in his zeal and ardour he may not exceed the limits of justice. The Muslims must in no case violate the basic human rights.

"Fight in the way o f Allah against those who fight against you, but do not commit aggression, for Allah does not like the aggressors". (Surah al‑Baqarah 2:190).

"(Attack them) in the sacred month (if they attack you) in the sacred month, and sacred things are (also) subject to retaliation. If any one attacks you, attack him as he attacked you. Have fear o f Allah and remember Allah, and do not with your own hands cast yourselves into destruction. Do good, for Allah likes those who do good". (Surah al‑Baqarah, 2:194).

A Divine system cannot have a double standard. When it regards aggression as evil and fiendish for others, it cannot consider it to be sacred and divine for its own followers.

Jihad against Egoism

Addressing a party which had returned from a battle with the enemy the Prophet of Islam said:

"I congratulate you that you have carried out the minor jihad successfully. Now you have to carry out the major jihad ". They asked: "O Prophet of Allah! Which jihad is the major one? He replied: `Jihad against egoism". (Wasail al-Shi’ah vol. 6, p. 122).

Imam Ali (P) is reported to have said:

"The best jihad is his, who fights against his own wild passions". (Wasail al-Shi’ah vol. 6, p. 124).

Islam is a world system

Islam has not come for any particular people. It is a world system. From the point of view of a Muslim, every place is the domain of Allah and everything has been created by Him. Islam is not peculiar to any nation, nor is it confined to any race. It has not come for the guidance of any particular society. Islam wants the whole world to be benefited by its life‑giving teachings. The Qur'an described itself as guidance for all and the Prophet of Islam as a blessing for the whole world.

All human beings, irrespective of the race and the country of their origin, can become the members of the great Muslim society by accepting the fundamental principles of Islam, and thus become the brethren of other Muslims.

In order to form a society free from all doctrinal errors and every kind of misconduct, it is the duty of all, especially the believers, to guide the people to the right path.

Hence the scope of the Islamic responsibilities is not confined to any particular territory. It is universal and no conventional frontiers should be a barrier to the spread of the ideas of freedom and Muslim unity.

This persistent effort is not meant to impose Islamic doctrine on others. As the Qur'an has declared, there is no compulsion in the matter of religion and the right and wrong paths are quite distinct.

"There is no compulsion in religion. True guidance has become distinct from error". (Surah al‑Baqarah, 2:256).

This vast effort should be exclusive aim at relieving thought of the burden of myths, unfastening the shackles of injustice and delivering man from every kind of exploitation, subjection and ignorance.

Look into this Qur'anic verse:

"What stops you from fighting for the cause of Allah and of the belpless men, women and cbildren? tVbo say: Our Lord! Deliver us from this town of the oppressors, and appoint for us from you a protector and send us someone that will help us". (Surah al‑Nisa, 4:75).

Before having recourse to fight truth should be explained

Usually there are at least some persons among the enemy troops who have been dragged to fight against truth either forcibly or because of their ignorance of the facts. As one of the aims of jihad is to deliver the people from every kind of subjection, exploitation and ignorance, it is the duty of the commander of the Muslim forces that before the start of fight he should do whatever he can to enlighten all enemy soldiers and to show them the right path so that they may not be unnecessarily killed out of ignorance.

Imam Ali (P) is reported to have said:

"When the holy Prophet sent me to Yemen, he said: O Ali! Don't fight against anyone until you have invited him to Islam and to accept the truth. By Allah! If you succeed in guiding even one person to the right path, that is a great achievement. 'You will be in fact his saviour". (al‑Kafi, vol. 5, p. 34).

Special facilities provided by Islam for this purpose

If anyone from among the enemy soldiers wants to come to the Muslims to have discussions with them with a view to have a more clear idea about Islam, or wants to study the individual and collective way of life of the Muslims from a close quarter in order to know the truth about them, he may be provided due facilities. For this purpose even if a simple Muslim soldier gives an assurance of security, his pledge will be respected by all Muslims, even the Muslim Government.

The holy Prophet has said:

"All Muslims have a common responsibility. A pledge given by one of them is the pledge of all".

If a single soldier gives protection to anyone, that is to be regarded as the protection given by the whole Muslim ummah.

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