What is Jihad?
Jihad is a "holy war". It means the legal, compulsory, communal effort to expand the territories ruled by Muslims at the expense of territories ruled by non-Muslims. The purpose of jihad, is not directly to spread the Islamic faith but to extend sovereign Muslim power. Jihad did have two variant meanings through the centuries, one more radical, and one less so. The first holds that Muslims who interpret their faith differently are infidels and therefore legitimate targets of jihad. The second meaning, associated with mystics, rejects the legal definition of jihad as armed conflict and tells Muslims to withdraw from the worldly concerns to achieve spiritual depth. Jihad in the sense of territorial expansion has always been a central aspect of Muslim life.
Today, jihad is the world's foremost source of terrorism, inspiring a worldwide campaign of violence by self-proclaimed
jihadist groups. For two decades, under government auspices, jihadists have physically attacked non-Muslims. Jihadists
then enslaved thousands of females and children, and forced them to convert to Islam. They sent them on forced marches,
beat them and set them to hard labor. The women and older girls also suffered ritual gang-rape, genital mutilation and a
life of sexual servitude. Sudan's state-sponsored jihad has caused about 2 million deaths and the displacement of another
4 million making it the greatest humanitarian catastrophe of our era. It would be great were jihad to evolve into nothing
more aggressive than controlling one's anger, but that will not happen simply by wishing away a gruesome reality. Jihad
obstructs serious efforts at self-criticism and reinterpretation.
Jihad is an effort to practice religion in the face of oppression and persecution. The effort may come in fighting the evil in your own heart
or in standing up to a dictator. Military effort is included as an option, but as a last resort and not "to spread Islam by
the sword" as the stereotype would have one believe. The Qur'an describes jihad as a system of checks and balances,
as a way that Allah set up to "check one people by means of another". One example: "And did not Allah check one set of
people by means of another, the earth would indeed be full of mischief; but Allah is full of bounty to all the words".
Qur'an 2:251.
Jihad, or in other words "struggle in the way of God." The jihad grew out of the Arabic tradition of tribal raids, which
were allowed as a way to channel the war like energies of the Bedouin tribes. There are many definitions of jihad such as,
an individual striving for spiritual self perfection. A Muslim holy war or spiritual struggle against infidels. A bitter strive
or crusade undertaken in the spirit of a holy war. Also some people believe that jihad is an eternal war that will never end.
Violent jihad will probably continue until it is crushed by a superior military force. Only when jihad is defeated will moderate
Muslims finally find their voice and truly begin the hard work of modernizing Islam.
