THE GREATER JIHAD

THE GREATER JIHAD I SLAM is, in essence, a peaceful religion. In Islam, peace is the general rule or norm. On the other hand, war is only a rare exception in Islam, as a compulsion in response to an armed attack by others. It is not something that Muslims should initiate. The basic aim of Islam is to bring about an intellectual revolution in their minds based on tawheed, or the oneness of God. Our actions depend on our thoughts. That is why Islam gives great stress to reforming our thought process and on our intellectual awakening. Hence, war is not part of Islam’s basic plan of life. In fact, war is something that goes diametrically against this plan. No matter what one’s religion, the fact is that through war or any other form of violence, no positive gains or achievements are possible. This is why if all possible efforts to prevent war are made, but yet, these fail; and one is compelled to take to war, the followers of Islam must seek to put an end to war as soon as possible; so that in a climate of peace the true constructive work of Islam can carry on unimpaired. The basic aim of Islam is to bring about an intellectual revolution in their minds based on the oneness of God. In this context, it is pertinent to discuss the notion of jihad in Islam. Jihad is, in fact, another name for peaceful struggle. In today’s parlance, it could be called ‘peaceful activism’, or, in other words, using peaceful means to try to attain certain lofty objectives. The literal meaning of jihad is ‘effort’ or ‘struggle’ i.e. to make the greatest possible effort. The Quran says: ‘Perform jihad with this most strenuously’ (this, here refers to the Quran) (THE QURAN 25: 52). The Quran is not a sword or a gun. It is a book of ideology. In such a case, performing jihad with the Quran would mean an ideological struggle to convey the peaceful message of Islam to people. In the light of this verse of the Quran, jihad in actual fact is another name for peaceful activism or non-violent activism. Where qital is violent activism, jihad is non-violent activism.