The Islamic Sharī‘ah of Jihād Peace and freedom are two essential requirements of a society. Just as various penal measures help in protecting a society from the evils and excesses committed by an individual, resorting to armed offensives sometimes becomes essential to curb the evils perpetrated by countries and nations. As long as diplomatic relations and negotiations can be used to resolve matters, no one would endorse the use of force for settling affairs. However, if a nation threatens to disrupt the peace and freedom of the world and its arrogance and haughtiness exceed all bounds, a stage may come when the use of force and power becomes essential to keep it in check. In such cases, it is the inalienable right of humankind to forcibly stop its subversive activities until peace and freedom of the world are restored. The Qur’ān asserts that if the use of force had not been allowed in such cases, the disruption and disorder caused by insurgent nations would have reached the extent that the places of worship would have become deserted and forsaken, not to mention the disruption of the society itself: And had it not been that Allah set aside one people with another, the monasteries and churches, the synagogues and the mosques, in which His praise is abundantly celebrated would be utterly destroyed. (22:40) This use of force is called jihād; however, in the Qur’ān, it can be classified into two distinct categories: Firstly, against injustice and oppression. Secondly, against the deniers of the Prophet (sws) after the truth of his message had become evident to them. The first type of jihād is an eternal directive of the sharī‘ah. As stated earlier, it is launched to curb oppression and injustice. The second type, however, is specific to people whom the Almighty selects for delivering the truth as an obligation. They are termed as witnesses to the truth; the implication being that they bear witness to the truth before other people in such a complete and ultimate manner that no one is left with an excuse to deny the truth. Bearing witness to the truth in such a manner is called shahādah (شَهَادَة). In the history of mankind, for the very last time this status was conferred on the Prophet Muhammad (sws) and his nation, the Banū Ismā‘īl: And similarly, We have made you an intermediate community so that you bear witness [to this religion] before the nations, and the rasūl bear such a witness before you. (2:143) Once the process of shahādah (شَهَادَة) is complete, the truth is unveiled to a people in its ultimate form, and, if they now deny it in spite of being convinced about it, they are punished in this very world. At times, this punishment is through earthquakes, cyclones and other calamities and disasters, while, at others, it emanates from the swords of the believers. As a result, those who have denied the truth are totally vanquished in their land and the truth reigns supreme in it. In the case of Prophet Muhammad (sws), the Divine scourge took this very form. Consequently, just as his Companions (rta) were asked to wage war against oppression and injustice, they were also asked to wage war to punish the rejecters of his truth once it had become totally manifest to his addressees. This was actually a Divine plan executed through human beings. They themselves were not authorized to even think of such an undertaking. It is to this very fact which the following words of the Qur’ān allude: Fight them and God will punish them by your hands. (9:14) In the following posts, I will attempt to explain the directives of the sharī‘ah regarding both these categories of jihād.
Posted on: Sat, 03 May 2014 13:40:01 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015