Jihadist or Not?
06 Mar, 2008
In the Counter-terrorism Conference of East-West Institute in Brussels (19-21 February), reports Reuters, the debate repeatedly turned to arguments over whether the term "Jihad" and "Jihadists" should be applied to activities and members of al-Qaeda and like-minded terrorist organizations. Although the two terms have become synonymous with "holy wars" and "holy warriors" against the West, and that, al-Qaeda has used it in the same sense, but for most Muslims, says the report "it originally means a spiritual struggle and they don't want it hijacked anymore."
Sheikh Mohammed Mohammed Ali, an Iraqi scholar, told the conference that "Jihad is the struggle against all evil things in your soul... There is no jihadi terrorism in Islam."
Emphasizing that Jihad can be a struggle "for elimination of poverty," "for education" or "for something very, very positive in life," the former chairman of Pakistan's joint chiefs of staff General Ehsan Ul Haq asserted that calling the terrorists Jihadists is either reflective of a "lack of understanding of Islam" or unfortunately "an intended misuse." He added: "It might have been somewhat excusable in the trauma post-9/11 but I don't think it is any more."
The foundations of Islam are the Quran, the words of Allah, and the Sunnah, the actions and deeds of the Prophet. Historically, Jihad, which stands for 'fighting in the cause of Allah', first entered into the Islamic doctrine after Prophet Muhammad emigrated to Medina in June 622 CE, following his largely failed 13-year-long mission to propagate Islam among the people of his home town of Mecca.
It should be noted that although there was strong opposition to Prophet Muhammad's new religion in Mecca, which sought to eradicate the existing idolatrous religion and culture, there is no record of violence, at least of serious nature, against him or those free citizens, who freely converted to his creed.
But soon after relocating to Medina, the first verses of Jihad were revealed, in which the Islamic God demanded that the Muslims fight against the idolaters (of Mecca) in His cause to drive the Meccans out from where Muslims were (allegedly) driven out [Quran 2:190-1]. Allah demanded that Muslims must fight and slay the idolaters and kick them out until "until there is no more Tumult or oppression" and the "religion should be only for Allah" [Quran 192-4]. "Tumults or oppression" referred to idolatrous or polytheistic beliefs, which Allah dislikes and disapproves.
The Islamic deity also later revealed verses of Jihad regarding the Jews and Christians, in which he demanded that Muslims must unconditionally fight them until they were defeated and humiliated (to dhimmi status), and willingly paid Jiziyah taxes [Quran 9:29].
With these commands of God, Prophet Muhammad embarked on a ceaseless armed violence against the idolaters, Jews and Christians of Arabia. The first successful Jihad expedition of Islam under the Prophet's command was the attack on a Meccan trade-caravan at Nakhla in December 623 CE, in which one of the attendant of the caravan was killed, one made captive and another was able to escape, while the caravan was plundered as sacred booty.
Since just seven months of his relocation to Medina, according to the records of the Prophet's original biographers, his mission became a monotonous tale of uninstigated armed expeditions against the infidels of Arabia, whereby he exterminated idolatry completely, the rich and influential community of Jews of Medina expelled or slaughtered en-masse and other non-Muslims were either converted to Islam or subjugated to dhimmitude. The Prophet had ordered about 100 armed Jihad expeditions, with himself commanding some 27 of them. According to Prophet's biographers Ibn Ishaq and al-Tabari, expelling the remnant Jews and Christians from Arabia were among his last three wishes in his death-bed. This command was put to action by his immediate successors.
Taking Jihad forward from the examples of Prophet's life, the history of Islam has been a monotonous tale of ceaseless wars against the infidels, the idolaters, Christians, Jews and other non-Muslims of the Middle East, Africa, India and Europe ▬ which the medieval Islamic historians have proudly and gleefully called Jihad against the infidels. The last declaration of Jihad by a Muslim state was that of the reigning Ottoman Sultan against the Armenians in the 1910s, which led to genocide of 1.5 million Armenians.
Although historically, from the days of Prophet Muhammad, Jihad has been applied to armed campaigns for extending the territories or domination of Islam, there has been an increasingly intensified effort since 9/11 to term Jihad as an "inner spiritual struggle" against vice and worldly desires. Others have called it a struggle for establishing human rights and women rights, fighting poverty, and anything that are considered good and noble in modern civilized thoughts.
One is however left to wonder what was the "inner spiritual struggle" of Prophet Muhammad, who was the only ideal Muslim and perfect human being? During the last 10 years of his life in Medina, he spent more time away from home, with his armed followers, scouring the lands of Arabian Peninsula, raiding and attacking infidel caravans, communities and territories, in which he plundered booty, enslaved the men, women and children, and expelled or slaughtered them en-masse. Of the enslaved, he ransomed the adult men, sometimes sold the women and children captives, and the rest, he kept as slaves. The prettier of the young women were kept as sex-slaves.
What was his "inner spiritual struggle" of his soul against worldly vice when his harem was full of women (wives) and sex-slaves?
How the Prophet could promote human and women's rights, when he attacked infidels, slaughtered them, expelled them en-masse from their homes and properties, and enslave the women and children!
Does his plundering the innocent infidels of their caravans, livestock and properties, and distributing the captured booty among his plundering disciples lead to poverty eradication?
What were the schools, universities and research centre, which he did establish to promote education?
Raphael Perl, head of the Action against Terrorism Unit at the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, emphasizing urgency on devising the correct terminology for violent Islamist groups and their activities, told Reuters that "Use of the wrong terms (such as Jihad) can be a major factor contributing to the radicalisation process."
Indeed, this urgency of dissociating Jihad from violent activities of Muslims has already been put into practice by the U.K. government, when it recently stopped using terms like Jihad, Islamic terrorism, Islamic extremism or Islamic violence. Instead, it utmost ridiculously decided to call the violent activities of pious Muslim extremists as "anti-Islamic activities."
There is nothing wrong in making right of a misconceived, misused or misunderstood terminology. However, while ascertaining the true meaning of Jihad, the concerned authority must thoroughly investigate the genesis, theology and history of slam.
Being a Muslim turned atheist, I do not believe there is anything holy. Yet, in popular belief, the term 'holy' applies to something 'noble'. The term 'holy war' can be conceived of, for example, as fighting on behalf of the weak and the oppressed.
In light of the theological doctrines and history of Islam, Jihad definitely does not stand for such a 'noble' struggle or mission. Yes, there is a definite need for changing the meaning of 'Jihad' from 'holy war' to its appropriate meaning. Let the pundits decide what the most accurate meaning of Jihad should be.
Imam al-Ghazzali (d. 1111), the greatest Sufi master, Islamic intellectual and revivalist of Islam, who is considered the second-greatest Muslim after Prophet Muhammad, wrote on Jihad:
"One must go on Jihad at least once a year… One may use a catapult against them when they are in a fortress, even if among them are women and children. One may set fire on them and/or drown them… One may cut down their trees… One must destroy their useful book [Bible, Torah etc.]. Jihadists may take as booty whatever they decide…"
Prophet Muhammad directed or personally commanded some 100 Jihad expeditions in the last 9 years of his life ▬ that is, one Jihad expedition a month. Al-Ghazzali reduced it to one a year.
- The government and security officials in Europe, desperately seeking to dissociate Jihad from the violent activities of Muslim fanatics, have started calling them "violent extremism" or "international terrorism." One is left to wonder whether the true meaning of Jihad comes close to these terms.
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Name: Platypus
Date: Friday March 07, 2008
Time: 01:21:13 -0700
Comment
Are we sure the Brits are descendants of Homo sapiens?
Name: vbv.
Date: Friday March 07, 2008
Time: 03:54:50 -0700
Comment
Jihad is nothing 'holy' just rob,loot,rape and scoot shouting 'Allahu Akbar'.Muslims want political ascendency with this kind of idealogy. What if they convert the whole world to islam - there will be uniform backwardness and poverty embellished by irrational animosity towards each other - will they cut each others throats with nothing much to loot except women taken as war booty!? Well , this is islam for you. No progress ,no education, just read quran,hadiths and sunna and related madness , wallow in misery,backwardness,lechery,murder and hate!So much for "holy war" or jihad!
Name: Godot
Date: Friday March 07, 2008
Time: 08:39:05 -0700
Comment
It always amazes me how manipulative the Muslims are. They adopt the most convenient interpretation of their Quran and Hadith that serves their current agenda which is by itself another form of PR Jihad. Unfortunately, it does not work!
Name: Patrick Risk
Date: Friday March 07, 2008
Time: 09:13:09 -0700
Comment
Nobody says it better than Pat Condell when it comes to the state of the UK/Muslim catastrophe. Check him out on youtube.com >>> it will be worth your time...RIGHT ON A.H...Nothing is holy. Calling Jihad holy war lends undeserved creditability to the term. As an ex-Muslim, you have seen the absolute worst the world has to offer when it comes to religion. You made the correct decision in not taking a side-step to any of the other false doctrines. You have become fully human...Patrick Risk
Name: Godot
Date: Friday March 07, 2008
Time: 09:31:23 -0700
Comment
It's extremely disturbing to see the debate on pure semantics that some are involved in. You can call it whatever you want, I will continue denounce it. I am afraid that Islamists succeded in starting this game of giving new names to bad old Jihad to distract attention.
Name: pmk
Date: Friday March 07, 2008
Time: 10:36:54 -0700
Comment
It's hard to see jihad as an internal struggle when one of the first modern terror groups to target non-Muslims called itself ISLAMIC JIHAD (caps mine). If jihad were truly internal, few non-Muslims would even know the word.
Name: pmk
Date: Friday March 07, 2008
Time: 10:43:38 -0700
Comment
An addendum: far from being politically incorrect, jihadist would seem to be preferable. It would be perfectly correct to say that all jihadists are Muslims but not all Muslims are jihadists. Muslims should welcome this term as way to distinguish the violent from the non-violent. Their insistence that it not be used is one more way to limit discussion. They don't want their views and practices examined. Why can't they come up with another word for "inner struggle" since "jihad" has already been associated with violence in the name of Islam? Muslims were the ones who first called these actions jihad, in an effort to legitimize murder. If the non-violent Muslims had protested this use in the very beginning they might have had an argument. Now, it's too late.
Name: Allat
Date: Friday March 07, 2008
Time: 14:45:24 -0700
Comment
You gotta hand it to the ole sheik, he's right:... "Sheikh Mohammed Mohammed Ali, an Iraqi scholar, told the conference that "Jihad is the struggle against all evil things in your soul."...._______________It's just his islamic views are completely twisted, from the Western views....Ya know what I mean?
Name: agnostic
Date: Friday March 07, 2008
Time: 14:45:38 -0700
Comment
[[[[[[Sheikh Mohammed Mohammed Ali, an Iraqi scholar, told the conference that "Jihad is the struggle against all evil things in your soul... There is no jihadi terrorism in Islam."]]]]] Another PROOF that muslims are LIARS! According to Muslim scholar Bassam Tibi, "Muslims are religiously obliged to disseminate the Islamic faith throughout the world.... If non-Muslims submit to conversion or subjugation, this call can be pursued peacefully. If they do not, Muslims are obliged to wage war against them. … Those who resist Islam cause wars and are responsible for them" "We have sent you forth to all mankind" (Q. 34:28). If non-Muslims submit to conversion or subjugation, this call (da’wa) can be pursued peacefully. If they do not, Muslims are obliged to wage war against them. ">>Majid Khadduri of Johns Hopkins University wrote that jihad is "an instrument for both the universalization of (Islamic) religion and the establishment of an imperial world state." "Individual Moslems may show splendid qualities, but the influence of the religion paralyzes the social development of those who follow it. No stronger retrograde force exists in the world. Far from being moribund, Mohammedanism is a militant and proselytizing faith. It has already spread throughout Central Africa, raising fearless warriors at every step." -- Sir Winston Churchill - circa 1899****Islam has a developed doctrine, theology, and legal system that mandates warfare against unbelievers. To say that Islam has been around for 1300 years but that radicalism is somehow new ignores centuries of Islamic expansionism and violence that was justified by the doctrines of jihad. The evil incarnate paedophile MO himself said “I have been made victorious with terror cast in the hearts of the enemy” (Bukhari, 4, 52, 220). The filthy quran repeatedly calls for the use of this tactics, such as in verse 8, 12: “When your Lord revealed to the angels: I am with you, therefore make firm those who believe. I will cast terror into the hearts of those who disbelieve. Therefore strike off their heads and strike off every fingertip of them” . "Kill the unbelievers wherever you find them" is an injunction both unambiguous and powerful. Time for the West, instead of grovelling, appeasing, and being weenies emulate China and Russia. Vladimir Putin destroys an entire muslim country (Chechnya) and is welcomed as a friend in Saudi Arabia. China rules with an iron fist and its 21 million muslims toe the liine or else! So who better understands islam and muslims? In the world of reality, who has succeeded?
Name: Mohammad
Date: Friday March 07, 2008
Time: 19:06:29 -0700
Comment
Jihad means struggle. That struggle could be fighting the oppressors on battlefields, or could be fighting ignorance on internet. And both such people are called Mujahid (someone who engages in Jihad). I think it is preferred to use the word Mujahid instead of Jihadist because Jihad is not an ideology. It's like calling an American soldier: Pentagonist. The main problem is that a (military) Jihad must be declared by a Muslim state or at least by authorities in the Muslim world (Muslim scholars). So the military operations by the Muslim Caliphate before 1920s were acts of Jihad. However there is no Caliphate anymore and the only institutions that can declare holy war are the religious institutions such as Al-Azhar or Najaf. Of course on a personal level or among members of a group, everybody can consider himself a Mujahid.
Name: Larry Houle
Date: Friday March 07, 2008
Time: 19:58:54 -0700
Comment
VERY IMPORTANT STATISTICS CONCERNING ISLAM By Larry Houle www.godofreason.com intermedusa@yahoo.com MUHAMMAD VERSUS ALLAH IN THE KORAN Muthuswamy cites research on the Koran, conducted by the Center for Political Islam, which illustrates the Islamic focus on conformist behavior and beliefs. According to the Center's analysis of the Koran, the Sira, and the Hadith, only 17% of the Islamic trilogy deals with the words of Allah. The remaining 83% refers to the words and deeds of Mohammed. Of all of the references to "hell" in the trilogy, 6% are for moral failings, while 94% are for the transgression of disagreeing with Mohammed. Statistical analysis of the trilogy revealed that 97% of references to "jihad" relate to war and a mere 3% to the concept of "inner struggle." About 67% of the Koran of Mecca deals with punishing unbelievers for merely disagreeing with Mohammed. Over 50% of the Koran of Medina deals with hypocrites and jihad against unbelievers. Nearly 75% of the Sira deals with jihad. About 20% of the Hadith by Bukhari is about jihad. The majority of the doctrine is political and it is all violent. JIHAD: A STATISTICAL ANALYSIS What is the real jihad, the jihad of inner, spiritual struggle or the jihad of war? Let’s turn to Bukhari (the Hadith) for the answer, as he repeatedly speaks of jihad. In Bukhari 97% of the references to jihad are about war and 3% are about the inner struggle. So the statistical answer is that jihad is 97% war and 3% inner struggle. Is jihad war? Yes—97%. Is jihad inner struggle? Yes—3%.. WOMEN IN ISLAM: In 4% of the cases, women were superior, in 91% of the cases they were inferior and in 5% they were equal. But there is a big catch. The only way that women are equal is after death on Judgment day, when men and women will be judged on how well they followed the Koran and the Sunna. And guess what? The only way to follow the Koran and the Sunna is to obey men. Equality means obeying men Woman are superior by being a mother, who must obey her husband. So the perfect woman on Judgment day will be a mother, who obeyed all the men in her life. So really, the women are subordinate to men in 100% of all of the Koran, Hadith and the Sira.
Name: Bobby
Date: Friday March 07, 2008
Time: 21:41:43 -0700
Comment
People from totally different parts of the world - in Phillipines, Sudan, Somalia, India, Malaysia, Australia behaving irrationally and with complete submission of their brain to a crazy idealogy. What is common among them- Islam! What is it about Islam that make people go berserk (kill for insulting mohammed, make enemies of non-muslims) - is it really a mental disease? A lot of similiarity with cult members.
Name: Truth Seeker
Date: Sunday March 09, 2008
Time: 08:14:27 -0700
Comment
Dear Dr.Alamgir, Muslims try to defend saying that Islam is peace etc. But the influence of islam is so bad that it makes muslims mentally sick. Muslims can not think freely and scientifically, and they have a mental blockade. They give a religious twist in their thinking and arguements. Non-muslims are treated badly in countries where muslims are majority. Muslims suffer due to their own foolishness and ignorance; and non-muslims also suffer due to system promoted by ignorant muslims, and due to the evil mindset created among muslims by islam. Muslims are the victim of islam. Islam violates the basic human rights and human values. We should create awareness among people about the dark side of islam. We have to save the humankind. We want peace. Thank you for the good work you are doing for the human kind. Kind regards, Truth Seeker
Name: Allat- Wild Amazon Polytheist
Date: Monday March 10, 2008
Time: 12:13:27 -0700
Comment
To Mohammed______>>>Gee, why can't you be original, at least be original,pick tom, dick or harry___________ "Jihad means struggle">>>>It really means one thing one day, and another thing another day________________" That struggle could be fighting the oppressors on battlefields, or could be fighting ignorance on internet.">>>>.Why don't you fight your oppressors then, your clerics and rulers? But you prefer to fight on the battlefield, AFTER, you, islamics, have started the wars. And fighting ignorance on the internet, so, go then "Jihad" on your own ignorance, have you red the koran lately? ________ "And both such people are called Mujahid (someone who engages in Jihad)>>>But they're really THE RABBLE IN THE MARKET-PLACE, because they're the only ones with time on their hands to go out and pillage, rape and steal. And when they have women, islamics use their muscles to beat the weaker, as well, as use children-the weak and vulnerable, for sex_______________"to use the word Mujahid instead of Jihadist because Jihad is not an ideology"..>>>Go ahead and make up lies as you go along__________"Jihad must be declared by a Muslim state or at least by authorities in the Muslim world (Muslim scholars)>>>>>> You're been absorbed by the Hive___________-So the military operations by the Muslim Caliphate before 1920s were acts of Jihad. However there is no Caliphate anymore and the only institutions that can declare holy war are the religious institutions such as Al-Azhar or Najaf. Of course on a personal level or among members of a group, everybody can consider himself a Mujahid >>>Who cares? That was then, this is now. In the 1920s, the islamic campaigns were and are, to keep their own people down - any free-thinker or dissident. The long and the short is that the mentality of the jihadists is still set to act against their own civilians - and terrorize them, no matter how cowed civilians are. As well, as power-struggles betw one faction of islam against another. This happened/is happening is Algeria, where one group even breaks into homes and kidnaps young girls and women, to be sexually used by the band. And is still happening in Afghanistan, where the Northern Alliance breaks into homes and steals women (right in their own homes where islam says women belong), and drafts the youth into one group of guerillas or the other, as well, as rapes the young boys and men. In this way, sexual diseases are spread, bringing down the vigor of the culture, tribe or group. Do you call this beneficial? (THis is the same in Arabia) So while the clerics and rulers, sing and dance, the people lose health and vigor, and will, and instead, disease and lack of hope, work on the body, making the person wander in a fog, dispirited. in lassitude. Betw. the clerics and rulers, the common people are screwed____________I say, leave people to believe in whatever they want - it's no one's business. LIVE AND LET LIVE!
Name: Allat
Date: Monday March 10, 2008
Time: 13:34:48 -0700
Comment
Mohamed: This one is for you:____________ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_pCVmSZ41Rw&feature=related_
Enjoy!
Name: jack diamond
Date: Monday March 17, 2008
Time: 06:50:30 -0700
Comment
(Re: Mohammad) 'Umdat al-Salik has 7 pages on Jihad and it is clearly defined (and all mainstream schools of Islamic jurisprudence are in accord) as waging war against non-Muslims to establish the religion (over earth). There is no discussion of Jihad as an inner spiritual struggle or anything else but extending the realm of Islam over non-Islam ("and fight them until persecution is no more and the religion is for Allah (8:39) and in the saying "I have been commanded to fight mankind until they say 'there is not god but Allah') It is also establishes the primacy of Surah Nine as the last word on the subject. "Jihad means to wage war against non-Muslims, and is etymologically derived from the word Mujahada, signifying warfare to establish the religion." This is the legal definition. This is the consensus of Islamic scholarship on what is the law of Allah, it is therefore the controlling definition. There is no need to debate semantics. A poster says Offensive Jihad can only be called by the Caliph, of course Al Qaeda etc call what they are doing Defensive Jihad. The absence of a Caliph only increases the obligation of individual jihad, since Islam is "under attack everywhere." Item: 1915 fatwa from the "Seat of the Caliphate" that called for global jihad (Universal Proclamation to All the People of Islam)and the individual duty to wage "heart war" ("The Muslim should believe in his heart that the infidels are enemies to him and to his religion and that he should desire their disappearance & the destruction of their power, and no Muslim can be imagined who is not under obligation to this degree of the war") "speech war"("tongue or pen, enjoined upon all Muslims") and "personal action" ("it may be by the use of cutting, killing instruments") i.e. murder