jihad vs extremism...those who dnt know d real meaning of jihad check out dis article & clear ua brains. The Arabic word ‘Jihad’ (to strive or struggle) is an important religious duty for Muslims. It is a pious religious concept of striving and struggling for the improvement as well as fighting back one’s honour, assets and homeland. It is also interpreted as the struggle against evil, internal or external, of a person or a society. However, the concept of Jihad has been misunderstood and misrepresented mostly by the outsiders as well as insiders of Islam. Jihad is neither terrorism nor extremism. Killing innocent people in the name of religion will certainly not be termed as Jihad. Abu Hurayrah radiyAllaahu‘anh reported Rasulullah (ﷺ ) as saying: “By Him in Whose Hand is my life, the world would not come to an end until a day would come to the people on which the murderer would not know as to why he has killed and the slain would not know as to why he has been murdered. It would be said: “Why would it happen?” To which he replied: “It would be because of general massacre and bloodshed (al-Harj).” And the slaughterers and the slain would be in Fire.” (Muslim) It is a common phenomenon that there will be a large number of deaths when war occurs. Wars during the 20th century had caused millions of lives killed. Today, in the 21st century, war continues to occur in several nations such as Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and Palestine, inflicting a significant amount of casualties. What is alarming this time is that it is as if the wars taking place in Iraq and Syria are actually portraying the contents of those two ahaadeeth. We see widespread killing, so much so that the killer does not even know why he needs to kill, and the victim does not know the motive of his demise. Mankind now would kill as they please. It truly causes great fitnah that even between two fighting factions; they would not know who their allies are and who their enemies are. Such a war does not only involve an oppressive government and its victims. Moreover, it also involves external parties and world superpower that have actually pre-planned wars in reaping the profits from the rich natural resources, to increase their influence, controlling West Asian countries, protecting Israel’s interest, and creating new markets for the military industry. In such scenario, we have witnessed the rising of numerous groups from all over the globe to partake in those wars. These ongoing wars that keep dragging for years have triggered the birth of extremist groups such as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), Tahreeki Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and many others. Their zeal to uphold Islam as a sovereign nation and enthusiasm in protecting the oppressed in war zones have become the main factors in attracting new recruitments from all walks of life in these wars. School children pay tribute to students who were killed in the terrorists attack in Peshawar. What is of major concern is that some of these high- spirited groups have fallen prey to the trickery that was cunningly planned by the enemies of Islam. This is because military Jihad requires the comprehension of deep profound knowledge. It is not confined to only the fiqh of Jihad, but also to comprehend matters pertaining international politics and the dark history of the enemies’ deviousness. Al-Qur’an has taught us that military Jihad necessitates sound knowledge. Hence, strong exuberance and passion alone are insufficient to pursue such noble endeavor. This can be understood from various texts from al-Qur’an: 1- Allah Subhaanahu Wata‘aala did not obligate military Jihad at a time when the Muslims were under oppression by their enemies. There are times where we are ordained to have sabr and there are times where we are commanded to fight. Allah Subhaanahu Wata‘aala mentions in al-Qur’an: “Have you not seen those who were told, “Restrain your hands [from fighting] and establish prayer and give zakaah? …” (An-Nisaa’ 4:77) 2- Jihad must be led by a righteous leader or its matters to be referred to the Muslim scholars. This is because the army of Jihad must duly know when to carry on with the fighting, when a truce should be accepted, how to treat the prisoners and war booty, and how to uphold the rulings after attaining victory. All these were provided as guidelines from textual evidences in al-Qur’an and ahaadeeth. For this reason, Allah Subhaanahu Wata‘aala had chosen Taloot as the commander due to his intelligence and physical strength. Allah Subhaanahu Wata‘aala mentions in al-Qur’an: “…He [their prophet] said, “Indeed, Allah has chosen him [Taloot] over you and has increased him abundantly in knowledge and stature. And Allah gives His sovereignty to whom He wills. And Allah is all-Encompassing [in favor] and Knowing.” (al-Baqarah 2:247) 3- The Muslims partaking in military Jihad must be fully equipped with sufficient sound knowledge. Allah Subhaanahu Wata‘aala reminds us in al-Qur’an: “And it is not for the believers to go forth [to battle] all at once. For there should separate from every division of them a group [remaining] to obtain understanding in the religion and warn their people when they return to them that they might be cautious.” (at-Tawbah 9:122) Ignorance in the fiqh of Jihad will lead the Muslim army to commit acts that will further worsen the situation. This is because circumstances on the battlefield may cause the enemies to resort to various tactics to weaken the Muslims. The long history of clashes between Islam and Western powers truly has caused them to constantly attempt to prevent the inevitable rise of Islam. Among their main measures in obstructing this revivalism is by preventing the Muslims from obtaining the complete and wholesome Islamic education and knowledge. There are various evidences that manifests clear intervention of the West in the Islamic educational system including those in prominent universities within the Muslim world. Their next measure is to effectively leverage on the weakness between the two opposing ends within the Muslim ummah, namely the liberals and the extremists. The liberals are very loose with the Islamic teachings, hence their weakness has caused to them to be easily susceptible to foreign ideologies and inclined to liberalism, democracy, religious pluralism, and others. They would accept a portion of Islamic teachings that are simple common sense, but would reject and isolate other aspects. For the extremists, it is their strong zeal and love for Islam but devoid of sound comprehension. Their ignorance is manipulated to portray a negative image of Islam to the global community. They would perform Jihad without fully understanding its fiqh, hence their hastiness in their pursuit of upholding Islam. They would instill Islamic laws without adhering to its actual conditions and procedures. Both of these groups are subtly funded by the West without their own realization. Both of these groups are needed by the West to hinder true Islam from flourishing. In result, the strife amongst Muslims continues to persist if we remain aloof to this dirty game. Islam teaches us to remain in moderation even on the battlefield. In one narration collected by Imaam Muslim and Imaam Abu Dawood rahimahumullaah , it was reported that Usaamah bin Zayd along with an Ansaari companion radiyAllaahu‘anhuma had encircled an enemy combatant, who then quickly uttered, “Laa ilaaha illAllaah.” This caused the Ansaari companion to abandon his pursuit upon the enemy. However, Usaamah continued to attack the enemy with his spear and killed him. When the matter reached Rasulullah (ﷺ ), he became furious and inquired: “Did you kill him after he uttered ‘Laa ilaaha illAllaah’?” Usaamah replied saying that the man had only professed it to save his own life. But he (ﷺ ) kept repeating his words: “Did you kill him after he uttered ‘Laa ilaaha illAllaah’?” This made Usaamah truly regretted his actions. This hadeeth indicated that Jihad necessitates the full comprehension of its fiqh. Fiery spirit that is not accompanied with knowledge will spur a rigid and extreme approach as manifested by the khawaarij in the history of this ummah . Such khawaarij-like characteristics are as follows: 1- Easily declaring takfeer (excommunicate) upon anyone who is not upon their cause. 2- Declaring war upon those who do not accept them regardless of their background and reasons for rejecting them. 3- Using textual evidences from al-Qur’an as their proofs literally (zhaahir) without referring to its explanation from ahaadeeth and commentaries by Muslim scholars. The existence of these extremists has actually been prophesized by Rasulullah (ﷺ ) even before their actual existence. In a hadeeth narrated by Abu Sa‘eed al-Khudri radiyAllaahu‘anh , he had heard Rasulullah (ﷺ ) say: “A group of people will appear among you whose prayer, fasting and deeds will make you think little of your own prayer, fasting and deeds. They will recite the Quran, but it will not get pasttheir throats, and they will pass through the deen like an arrow passes through game. You look at the arrowhead, and you see nothing, and you look at the shaft, and you see nothing, andyou look at the flights, and you see nothing. And you are in doubt about the notch.” (al-Bukhaari, Ahmad, and Maalik). It is incumbent upon the Muslim ummah to comprehend that Islam teaches its adherents to remain moderate, with humility amongst Muslims, and firm upon the disbelieving (kuffaar) enemies of Islam. The Muslim ummah must enhance their knowledge pertaining to Jihad and the true Islamic way of life, especially those related to Jihad. It is these two matters that have seemingly vanished from extremist groups, causing them to incite enmity amongst Muslims. Therefore, the Muslim ummah must remain vigilant upon such trait and approach by delving into sciences relating to al-Qur’an, hadeeth, and fiqh of Jihad. Al Quran cautions us as, “O you who have believed, when you go forth [to fight] in the cause of Allah, investigate; and do not say to one who gives you [a greeting of] peace “You are not a believer,” aspiring for the goods of worldly life; for with Allah are many acquisitions. You [yourselves] were like that before; then Allah conferred His favour upon you, so investigate. Indeed Allah is ever, with what you do, acquainted.” (an-Nisaa’ 4:94).
Posted on: Wed, 31 Dec 2014 01:28:20 +0000
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