The Concept of Jihad in Islam

peaceful methods was challenging. However, today the situation has completely changed. In today’s world, violent methods have become completely undesirable and unacceptable. In contrast, peaceful methods are now the only acceptable option. Moreover, today, peaceful methods enjoy solid intellectual and practical support, making them extremely powerful and effective. These supports for peaceful methods are very many—for instance, the right to express one’s views, the possibilities of widely disseminating one’s views using modern means of communications, employing the power of the electronic media, the internet and social media in one’s favour, and so on. These modern transformations have made peaceful methods both much more popular and, at the same time, much more effective options. As mentioned earlier, the Prophet’s Sunnah or practice was that when peaceful methods are available, these methods alone must be used for the Islamic movement, and violent struggle should be abandoned. In today’s context, because of the vast transformations that have taken place, peaceful methods are now available and, based on the supporting factors mentioned above, they have become much more effective. It can be safely