JIHAD OR EXTENSION OF TRIBAL CULTURE?

tribal society was characterized by continuous war, or chain war. The Prophet of Islam wanted people to resolve their natural differences through peaceful discussion. He strongly sought to dissuade them from letting their differences become an excuse to fight with one another under the influence of tribal conditioning. History shows that vast numbers of people who began entering the fold of Islam did not, however, go through the process of deconditioning this deep rooted pre-Islamic tribal conditioning. There was no appropriate system for mass de-conditioning in those times. So, all sorts of preIslamic cultural norms, customs and practices, including internecine war, infiltrated Muslim society through converts who recited the kalimah but retained their ancient, pre-Islamic mental attitude. This proved to be the case with many new converts to Islam not only in Arabia but in several other parts of the world where mass conversions to Islam later took place. This phenomenon of returning to the past assumed various forms— for instance, the emergence of hereditary monarchies among Muslims after the age of the first four Caliphs, the emergence of a completely ‘form-based’ understanding of Islamic worship and the writing of Muslim history solely on political lines. The most undesirable form that this phenomenon took—as mentioned in the above Hadith—was a return to violence and war after the Prophet left this world, violence and war began to tear apart Muslim societies. This phenomenon continues even today. It is essentially due to the deep rooted cultural conditioning that continues to remain unaddressed. Put simply, it is all about the extension of ancient, pre-Islamic tribal culture in the name of Jihad. o Success Just as a small plant uses all the resources from nature and grows into a big tree, similarly a person can attain success in all his endeavors when he utilises the qualities bestowed on him by God.