TOWARDS GLOBAL PEACE

divine path. This is his jihad—a permanent feature of life of a believer, continuing day and night, and ending only with death. The other form of jihad is to propagate the constructive message of Islam. All those who embark upon this course must first of all study the Quran and Sunnah in a dispassionate and objective manner. No kind of conditioning should be allowed to come in the way of such study. Only after passing through this intellectual jihad will one be in a position to make a true representation of the religion to the world. Two conditions have been laid down in the Quran for the communication of the teachings of Islam to others—nasih (well wishing) and amin (trustworthiness). The former appertains to God and the latter to man. What is meant by nasih is an earnest desire on the part of the preacher of truth for the wellbeing not just of his immediate interlocutors, but of the whole of humanity. This wellwishing should be so steadfast that it remains undiluted even in the face of injustice and oppression. Overlooking people’s negative behaviour towards him, the preacher should continue to remain their well-wisher. The element of trustworthiness (amin) is important in that it ensures that the religion God has sent to the world will be presented to the people without deletion, addition or distortion. For instance, if the Islam sent by God is akhirah (Hereafter) oriented, it should not become world-oriented; if it is spiritually based, it should not become politicsbased; if it confines jihad to peaceful struggle, it should not become violence-based. Islam asks us to perform jihad by means of the Quran, calling this ‘greater’ jihad (25: 52). But it never asks its believers to do the ‘greater’ jihad by means of the gun. This is a clear proof that jihad is, in fact, a wholly peaceful activity, carried out through peaceful methods. It has nothing to do with violent activities or violent threats. Jihad through the Quran means striving to the utmost to present the teachings of the Quran before people. That is, presenting the concept of One God; presenting akhirah-oriented life as superior to worldoriented life; principle-oriented life as against interest-oriented life; a humanitarian-oriented life as more elevated than a self-oriented Two conditions have been laid down in the Quran for the communication of the teachings of Islam to others— nasih, well-wishing and amin— trustworthiness. The former appertains to God and the latter to man.