THE TRUE JIHAD

~ 22 ~ the most effective course of action. It would therefore be no exaggeration to say that in present times a violent struggle is not only a hard option but is not in practice useful. Whereas non-violence is not only an easier option, but is also highly effective and result-oriented. Now, a peaceful course of action is not just one of the possibilities: it is the only feasible and result-oriented option. This being so, it would be right to say that violence has been practically abandoned. This is what we call an abrogated command in the language of the shariah (Islamic law). Now believers are, in reality, left with only one choice, and that is indeed the peaceful course of action. In recent times, one celebrated example of the success of such a course is to be found in the life of the Indian leader, Mahatma Gandhi (d.1948). Due to temporal changes, it became possible for Mahatma Gandhi to wage political battles successfully by adopting the principle of non-violence and engaging in peaceful activism in the full sense of these expressions.