Interaction with Delegates

The interactions with the delegates from around the world allowed Maulana to share the Islamic perspective and realistic approaches. I replied by expressing the view that Islam had a need, not for reform (islah) but, instead, for revival (ihya) and clarified that the actual meaning of jihad is a struggle for a noble cause. Some politicallyoriented Muslims of later times had wrongly made the concept of jihad appear synonymous with armed action, but now there was a need to restore the accurate picture of the concept. I also pointed out the need to distinguish between Islam, on the one hand, and Muslims, on the other. Finally, I suggested to the professor that he should not form an opinion about Islam based on the words or actions of Muslims. Instead, he should gauge the Muslims’ actions in the light of Islamic teachings.