In the West, "jihad" is generally translated as "holy war," a usage the media has popularized. ( The Times, 25th February 2003, “…on another tape, jihad, el-faisal instructs his audience to use chemical weapons to exterminate non-believers”. According to Islamic teachings, it is UNHOLY to instigate or start war; however, some wars are inevitable and justifiable. If we translate the words "holy war" back into Arabic, we find "harbun muqaddasatu," or for "the holy war," "al-harbu al-muqaddasatu." We challenge any researcher or scholar to find the meaning of "jihad" as holy war in the Qur'an or authentic Hadith collections or in early Islamic literature. Unfortunately, some Muslim writers and translators of the Qur'an, the Hadith and other Islamic literature translate the term "jihad" as "holy war," due to the influence of centuries-old Western propaganda. This could be a reflection of the Christian use of the term "Holy War" to refer to the Crusades of a thousand years ago. However, the Arabic words for "war" are "harb" or "qital," which are found in the Qur'an and Hadith. The daily Mirror quoted on the 25th February, 2003, “ El-Faisal, a fanatic and extremist used religion to mask his hatred .” This shows how El-Faisal has misinterpreted the Qur’an. The deputy Assistant Commissioner peter Clark, head of Scotland Yard’s Anti-Terrorist Squad said “We simply do not know how many young, impressionable peaople may have gone abroad and never returned. This case is nothing to do with freedom of speech but everything to do with racial hatred and religious bigotry, and encouraging peoplke to commit avts of terrorism. When you look at the words that he was saying, it goes beyond being misguided or over enthusiastic. It is naked religious and racial hatred.” (The Times, 25th Febuary 2003).
A man asked the messenger of Allah, “what kind of jihad is better?” He replied “ A word of truth in front of an oppressive ruler” (sunan Al-Nasa’i). (, 03)
Jihad is the word used for the personal struggle of every Muslim to follow the teachings of Islam and to resist evil. It literally means “striving” or “trying the best you possibly can”. Sometimes this includes a physical battle against enemies of Islam and the willingness to accept martyrdom as the ultimate submission to Allah. It is important when studying Islam, however to realise that physiscal fighting is not eh main meaning of Jihad. Most of all, Jihad is a lifestyle following the example of Muhammad in food conduct and in the struggle against evil. The aim of Jihad is to establish the Islamic system of life in order to fulfil the will of Allah and gain Allah’s favour.” So why the suicide bombing, the hihacking and the massacre of innosent lives? Far from being endorsed by the Qur’an, this killing violates some of its most sacred precepts.” (Time, October 1, 2001, Karen Armstrong).
Abdullah El-Faisal has interpreted the word Jihad into a violent and murderous thing, encouraging his listeners to “wage war on non-believers”. This is not a true definition of the word Jihad, a war is not jihad if, the purpose is to force conversion to Islam, peaceful alternative ways of solving the problem have not been tried, the war is aggressive not defensive, and innocent women and children are exposed to physical danger. He is guilty of trying to inflict people to do all of these things, thus not making it Jihad. He also told his audience that women should bring up their sons with a “Jihad mentality”, buying them toy guns and tanks e.t.c. My view is that maybe Abdullah El-Faisal thinks that he is simply a khalifah on earth, and has overlapped this duty with Jihad.
Bibliography:
- www.unn.ac.uk/societies/Islamic/jargon/jihad2.htm
- newspaper clipping
- “Islam” by Janet Green
- www.queerjihad.org
