WHAT IS ISLAMIC JIHAD?
The following is a response to a report which was published in a Canadian Press in which an Imam was asked the question: Is it correct to say that "all followers of Allah have been commanded to kill everyone who is not of your faith; so they can have a place in heaven? The Imam replied, "Yes".
*****
The Arabic word Jihad comes from the root word Jahada which means the following:
He strove, laboured, or toiled; exerted himself or his power or efforts or endeavours or ability, employed himself vigorously, strenuously, laboriously, diligently, studiously, sedulously, earnestly, or with energy; was diligent, or studious; took pains, or extraordinary pains in such a thing. (Lane Arabic/English Lexicon, vol. 2, p. 473)
Coming out of the root word, the word Jihad means the following:
The using, or exerting, one's utmost power, efforts, endeavours, or ability, in contending with an object of disapprobation; and this is of three kinds: namely, a visible enemy, the devil, and one's self; all or which are included in the term as used in the Qur'an 20:78 (ibid. "Jihad").
In the Holy Qur'an Allah says:
And strive in His cause as ye ought to strive, (with sincerity and discipline): He has chosen you, and has imposed no difficulties on you in religion: it is the way of life of your Father Abraham.
No where will you find that the meaning of Jihad is to go out and kill a person just because he has not accepted Islam. A Muslim is commanded to fight if he is attacked, or in order to prevent oppression, etc. In this connection Allah says:
Fight in the cause of Allah those who fight you, but do not transgress limits, for Allah does not love the transgressors. (2:190)
Even when one is attacked and has the power to retaliate aggressively, Allah enjoins upon believers to use their discretion. For example He says:
And if you have to retaliate, do not retaliate worse than what they did to you, but if you show patience, that is indeed the best (course) for those who show patience. (16:126)
Islam does not uphold the principle of turning the other cheek; as a result a Muslim has the right to defend himself when attacked, but that does not give him the right to punish anyone for not accepting Islam, except if it is in an enemy country (i.e. those who attacked Islam) and in the process of repelling the attack the enemy is overpowered, then the Muslims can use their discretion in prescribing punishment to the attackers.
Prophet Muhammad (pboh) demonstrated the best meaning of Jihad when, after returning from one of the battles, he is reported to have said: Now we are leaving the small Jihad and returning to the great Jihad. When asked by his companions: What is the great Jihad, O Messenger of Allah? He replied; The Jihad against the Nafs; i.e. to control oneself from doing evil.
It is unfortunate that people associate Jihad with killing. Even in bringing the Message of Islam, the persons who are inviting others do not behave like the people of some other faiths where incentives and conditions are attached to the invitation to be converted. Allah directs Muslims to invite to Islam, not by force, but in the following way. He says:
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; for thy Lord knows best who have strayed from His Path, and who receive guidance. (16:125)
When Prophet Muhammad (pboh) captured Makkah, and held all those who made every effort to kill him before he migrated to Madinah; he asked them what shall I do with you? They replied: forgive us: He said: I forgive you as Joseph forgave his brothers.
It is the religious duty of every Muslim (believer in the Oneness of Allah) to convey to the non-believers the Message of Belief in One Creator of the universe and submission to Him only. That is the believers' Jihad. It is left to the person to accept or not to accept. The preacher cannot use any kind of force or scheme to convert the listener. Allah says:
O Messenger, proclaim the (Message) which hath been sent to thee from thy Lord; if thou didst not, thou wouldst not have fulfilled and proclaimed His Mission. (5:67)
Prophet Muhammad (pboh) did not spread Islam with the sword, he was the most loving and compassionate person, even among all the Messengers of God who came on earth; and because he is the believer role-model, all believers are supposed to relate with every human on the basis of love, and nothing else.
Friday 27 November 2009
Tuesday 17 November 2009
Love For Allah And The Prophet (pboh)
Love for Allah and His Habeeb
When a person falls in love with someone he would want to be close to that person. He would admire her and would want to say nice things to that person. It would be a thrilling experience to be close to the one that is loved.
Just as the lover has undying love for the beloved, so too, Allah wants us, His servants, to love Him more than anything else, because He loves us more than we could ever imagine. He says about the true believers the following:
“Those of Faith are overflowing in their love for Allah.”
(Chapter 2, verse 165)
If we culivate love for our Creator He will take us closer to Him,; on the other hand, if we are not sincere in our relationship with Him, He can replace us with people who will really love Him.
Allah gives us a lot of refrences in the Qur’an of what He is capable of doing. He says that if there are people who do not love and worship Him He can cause them to go out of existance and bring forth a group who will demonstrate love and devotion. This is recorded in the Qur'an in the following verse. Allah says:
O you who believe, if any from among you turn back from his Faith; soon will Allah produce a people whom He will love as they will love Him. (5:54)
Allah has recorded about the past nations, how He erased them and brought others in their places. For example, the people of 'Ad and Thamud, the people at the time of Prophet Noah (pbuh), the people at the time of Pharaoh; they were all destroyed and others were brought in their places.
Allah gave the Israelites the mission of establishing His Religion on earth; as they all disobeyed He removed the responsibility of projecting religion from them and He bestowed it upon the Muslims. Allah created a special bond between Him and the Muslims.
The true believers follow the ways of Father Abraham. He was a Muslim, and desmonstrated complete submission to the orders of his Lord. The Qur'an records that he said:
"Truly, my prayer and my service of sacrifice, my life and my death, are (all) for Allah, the Cherisher of the Worlds”.
Prophet Muhammad also demonstrated sincere love for Allah as a result he said nothing of his own desire. He had so much of love for Allah that he only said and did what Allah inspired him to do; he taught the believers to do likewise so they are taught to say: we hear and obey.
Now Allah has created a people, i.e. the Believers, that will have plenty of love for Him. They do not behave towards Him like the past nations who stipulated conditions for obeying and loving Allah . For example, when Jesus asked: Who will be helpers in the way of Allah, some of the Israelites said: we will be helpers on condition that you get us food from the skies.
The human personality comprises a physical (nafs) and non-physical (ruh). The ruh is pure and it cannot be contaminated and, if given a chance, it can have a beautiful connection with Allah . But Allah also wants us to use the physical side of our bodies to demonstrate love for Him. We do so by showing love to a material thing that He has created. This creation is His Beloved as, Prophet Muhammad is called the "Beloved of Allah". Prophet Muhammad (pboh) is therefore the common object of love from Allah on one side and the true believers on the other. The true believer is supposed to love him more than anything else in this world. He is reported to have said:
He is not a true believer until he loves me more than his father, his children and mankind at large.
Allah has made ways of cementing the bond of love between Himself and the true believers. One of these ways is His invitation to visit His Holy House in Makkah. So people who can afford it avail themselves of the opportunity to visit the Holy Cities of Makkah and Madinah. They either perform Haj at the specified time or Umrah whenever it is convenient.
Haj is especially significant, as during that time the beleivers from all around the world assemble in Makkah and connect themselves with the Sunnah of Father Abraham and his family. He was true in faith and a real model for mankind.
The believers also take the opportunity to visit the Holy City of Madinah and to cement their relationship with the beloved Prophet of Allah. They send salutations to him near to his person.
All the true believers are supposed to express love for Allah and Prophet in a respectable manner. Through this you will gain closeness to Him. True, pure, sencere love will get you close to Him, and that should be our goal.
We beg Allah to take us closer and closer to Him and His Habeeb and may He raise us in the Prophet's (pboh) companionship on the Promised Day.
When a person falls in love with someone he would want to be close to that person. He would admire her and would want to say nice things to that person. It would be a thrilling experience to be close to the one that is loved.
Just as the lover has undying love for the beloved, so too, Allah wants us, His servants, to love Him more than anything else, because He loves us more than we could ever imagine. He says about the true believers the following:
“Those of Faith are overflowing in their love for Allah.”
(Chapter 2, verse 165)
If we culivate love for our Creator He will take us closer to Him,; on the other hand, if we are not sincere in our relationship with Him, He can replace us with people who will really love Him.
Allah gives us a lot of refrences in the Qur’an of what He is capable of doing. He says that if there are people who do not love and worship Him He can cause them to go out of existance and bring forth a group who will demonstrate love and devotion. This is recorded in the Qur'an in the following verse. Allah says:
O you who believe, if any from among you turn back from his Faith; soon will Allah produce a people whom He will love as they will love Him. (5:54)
Allah has recorded about the past nations, how He erased them and brought others in their places. For example, the people of 'Ad and Thamud, the people at the time of Prophet Noah (pbuh), the people at the time of Pharaoh; they were all destroyed and others were brought in their places.
Allah gave the Israelites the mission of establishing His Religion on earth; as they all disobeyed He removed the responsibility of projecting religion from them and He bestowed it upon the Muslims. Allah created a special bond between Him and the Muslims.
The true believers follow the ways of Father Abraham. He was a Muslim, and desmonstrated complete submission to the orders of his Lord. The Qur'an records that he said:
"Truly, my prayer and my service of sacrifice, my life and my death, are (all) for Allah, the Cherisher of the Worlds”.
Prophet Muhammad also demonstrated sincere love for Allah as a result he said nothing of his own desire. He had so much of love for Allah that he only said and did what Allah inspired him to do; he taught the believers to do likewise so they are taught to say: we hear and obey.
Now Allah has created a people, i.e. the Believers, that will have plenty of love for Him. They do not behave towards Him like the past nations who stipulated conditions for obeying and loving Allah . For example, when Jesus asked: Who will be helpers in the way of Allah, some of the Israelites said: we will be helpers on condition that you get us food from the skies.
The human personality comprises a physical (nafs) and non-physical (ruh). The ruh is pure and it cannot be contaminated and, if given a chance, it can have a beautiful connection with Allah . But Allah also wants us to use the physical side of our bodies to demonstrate love for Him. We do so by showing love to a material thing that He has created. This creation is His Beloved as, Prophet Muhammad is called the "Beloved of Allah". Prophet Muhammad (pboh) is therefore the common object of love from Allah on one side and the true believers on the other. The true believer is supposed to love him more than anything else in this world. He is reported to have said:
He is not a true believer until he loves me more than his father, his children and mankind at large.
Allah has made ways of cementing the bond of love between Himself and the true believers. One of these ways is His invitation to visit His Holy House in Makkah. So people who can afford it avail themselves of the opportunity to visit the Holy Cities of Makkah and Madinah. They either perform Haj at the specified time or Umrah whenever it is convenient.
Haj is especially significant, as during that time the beleivers from all around the world assemble in Makkah and connect themselves with the Sunnah of Father Abraham and his family. He was true in faith and a real model for mankind.
The believers also take the opportunity to visit the Holy City of Madinah and to cement their relationship with the beloved Prophet of Allah. They send salutations to him near to his person.
All the true believers are supposed to express love for Allah and Prophet in a respectable manner. Through this you will gain closeness to Him. True, pure, sencere love will get you close to Him, and that should be our goal.
We beg Allah to take us closer and closer to Him and His Habeeb and may He raise us in the Prophet's (pboh) companionship on the Promised Day.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)