JIHAD OR EXTENSION OF TRIBAL CULTURE?

born on pure nature; it is then his parents that make him into a Jew, a Christian or a Zoroastrian.” (Bukhari) The massive corruption and strife among Muslims after the Prophet left this world, owed in large measure to this fact of conditioning. Mass conversions brought large numbers of people into the fold of Islam. In this period, which was much before the invention of the printing press, there was no system of mass education and training. This resulted in many people entering the fold of Islam by simply reciting the Kalimah (testifying that they believed in one God and accepting the Prophet). However, due to the absence of an appropriate system of training, their cultural deconditioning could not happen. In terms of religion they identified themselves as Muslims, but in terms of culture they remained largely as they had been before, clinging on to their ancient cultural values, norms and practices. There are numerous Hadith reports that mention beforehand that degeneration would soon set in among Muslims. This degeneration or perversion is generally thought to be arising from anarchy and disorder in society, but in reality its cause was the phenomenon of conditioning. That is to say, people continued to remain under the influence of their ancient mindsets. The environment that conditions you when you are young remains with you until the end of your life. For instance, there is a report which appears in several books of Hadith wherein the Prophet warns: “Do not return to disbelief after me, by striking the necks of one another.” (Bukhari) In this Hadith of the Prophet the verb, “to return” appears, which indicates reverting to one's earlier condition. This earlier condition was the pre-Islamic tribal culture which the people practiced before entering the fold of Islam. In this tribal culture, every man carried a sword and there was no room for peaceful disagreement. People conditioned by this culture knew only one way to solve their differences—by wielding their swords. In the pre-Islamic Arab society, it was not that fighting ever solved people’s conflicts. Instead, it only further exacerbated them, because the vanquished burned with the desire for revenge. That is why this