A Peaceful Struggle

A PEACEFUL STRUGGLE self leads him to evil. So, waging a struggle with one’s lower self is a form of jihad. Sometimes, friends or acquaintances might pressure you into engaging in activities that are not right from a moral standpoint. At that time, refusing to yield to such pressure and sticking firmly to a good attitude was a form of jihad. Exhorting people to goodness and making them refrain from indecency are tasks entailing a great struggle, and this is also jihad. Calling people to God whilst bearing many hardships is also jihad. If having been treated with bitterness by neighbours or acquaintances or after suffering any other kind of provocation, one refrains from reaction and retaliation and maintains pleasant relations unilaterally; this also can be a form of jihad. Among the different types of jihad, one, which is internal, is waging jihad with one’s lower self (jihad bin nafs). Another external form is the effort to share God’s word through the Quran. (25:52) ‘Jihad bin nafs’ refers to making the maximum effort to keep control over negative feelings in one’s self, such as arrogance, jealousy, greed, revenge, anger, etc. In social life, it happens time and again that all sorts of base or negative feelings well up within a person, sometimes leading him to succumb to desires and temptations. The internal psychological effort made in such a situation to overcome temptations and remain unswervingly on the path of righteousness is the truly Islamic jihad bin nafs. This struggle is a permanent feature of the life of a devout believer. Jihad throuh the Quran (25:52) refers to peacefully sharing the Quran’s constructive message with others. Therefore,