Islam and World Peace

among people a healthy spirit, exhorting them to positive action and seeking to refine their character. Jihad inspires people to seek to become beneficial to others and to be concerned about their welfare. The weapon used in jihad is love, not hatred or violence. Some people misunderstand jihad as the equivalent of war, or what is called qital in Arabic. Considering the two to be synonymous is really to misconstrue or distort the significance of jihad. The fact of the matter is that qital is a very limited and temporary action. On the other hand, jihad is a continuous and comprehensive or all-embracing process. Jihad is an exalted process in Islam, which should carry on continuously, every day and at every moment in our lives. Under no condition should it stop. When a person seeks the Truth, he is immersed in an intellectual jihad. When he realizes the Truth, his jihad continues throughout his life, taking on added dimensions. He must now engage in jihad or struggle to the utmost against his own self and his base, Satanic, desires and against the difficulties and challenges of his surroundings. In this way, he strengthens and deepens his faith and trust in God. He engages in continuous constructive intellectual development, and so his realization of the Truth continuously develops, till at last he reaches the highest possible stage. According to a hadith, one’s faith increases and decreases. To save one’s faith from erosion requires a continuous jihad. Living in society, one is repeatedly beset by negative feelings or emotions, such as anger, jealousy, revenge, pride, ingratitude, greed, and so on. These negative emotions threaten to weaken or decrease one’s faith. In such a situation, one has to awaken one’s consciousness and struggle against these negative tendencies and inner feelings and eliminate them. This is a jihad, and without this jihad no one can save his or her faith from damage, decrease or erosion. Wahiduddin Khan skhan@goodwordbooks.com