THE TRUE JIHAD

~ 13 ~ who engage in this jihad will be held deserving of paradise in the Hereafter. ‘Jihad’ essentially is a peaceful struggle. One form of this peaceful struggle is dawah (communication of the message of God). The Quran States: Do not yield to the unbelievers, but fight them strenuously with it (the Quran) (25:52). No military activity is referred to in this verse of the Quran. We are not meant to engage in physical combat with the non-believers. What this verse actually means is that we must engage ourselves in dawah activities through the teachings of the Quran, that is, striving ourselves to the utmost on an ideological plane, while sifting truth from falsehood. Even in the face of a military challenge from the enemy, all efforts will be made to counter aggression by peaceful methods. The path of peace can be abandoned only when it has become impossible to stick to it, and only when there is no