TRUE JIHAD

T HE Quran exhorts believers to “strive for the cause of God as it behoves you to strive for it.” (THE QURAN 22: 78) .This earnest struggle is expressed in Arabic by the word jihad which is derived from the word juhd, which means to strive, to struggle, to exert ourselves to the utmost to achieve our goals. Thus the original meaning of jihad is striving very hard. Since the early Muslims had to strive hard during wars with aggressors, these wars by extension, came to be called jihad. However, the actual word for such a war in Arabic is qital, not jihad. Islamic jihad is a positive and continuous process. It is at work in the entire life of a believer War with an aggressor is a chance occurrence, taking place as warranted by particular situations, while jihad is a continuous and on-going action at the core of the believer’s life, day in and day out. It is the struggle to maintain strict adherence to the will of God in all aspects of our lives and the resistance to any obstacles that come in the way of fulfilling God’s will—for instance, the desires of the self, the urge to serve our own interests, the compulsion of social traditions, the temptation to compromise on one's principles, ego problems, the greed for wealth, etc. Overcoming all such hurdles and persevering in obeying God’s commands is the real jihad. This is the primary use of the word jihad. We cite here some traditions, as recorded in Musnad Ahmad, which define the role of a mujahid or one who is engaged in Jihad. A mujahid is one who struggles with himself for the sake of God. (THE QURAN 6: 20) A mujahid is one who exerts himself for the cause of God. (THE QURAN 6: 22) A mujahid is one who struggles with his self in submission to the will of God. The Greater Jihad Jihad essentially is a peaceful struggle. One form of this peaceful struggle is to do dawah (to communicate the message of God). TRUE JIHAD