Removing Doubts Concerning Verses of Jihad in Quran: Do Jihad-Verses in Quran prove that Islam prefers war and fighting? Part 3
Kamaal Mustafa Azhari for
New Age Islam
(Translated from Urdu by
Newageislam.com)
28 May 2021
Suspicion No. 3: Jihad
has been mentioned in the several verses of the Qur'an, which shows that Islam
prefers war and fighting.
Important points
discussed in Part 3
Linguistic Meaning of
Jihad
Meaning of Jihad in the
Quran and Sunnah
Jihad against devil
[Satan] and the evil in oneself [nafs]
Serving the parents is
also a kind of Jihad
Jihad also means doing Hajj
[Obligatory Pilgrimage]
…………
In order to remove the
aforementioned suspicion, it is necessary to first clarify the meaning of
jihad.
The Meaning of Jihad
Linguistically Jihad is
derived from juhd meaning ability, exertion or power, or from Jahd
which means fatigue or exerting oneself to the limit of one’s effort, or doing
effort most vehemently, which can be seen in the following verse;
Allah Almighty says, “And
the believers say, “Are these the ones who swore by Allah most vehemently (jahda)
in their oaths, that they are with you?” All their deeds are destroyed, so they
are ruined.” (5:53)
It is mentioned in the hadith,
“I seek refuge in Allah from the jahd (stress) of calamity”. (Lisan
al-Arab, 4/134)
The fighting was called jihad
because it involves effort with life and property. Thus Jihad became a common
usage to mean war.
The word jihad has been
mentioned in the Holy Qur'an and the hadiths, however, it does not
always refer to the concept of fighting that is waged against the enemies
during a battle. But rather Jihad denotes several meanings in addition to
fighting. We must keep in mind that jihad is mentioned 141 times in the entire
Quran in which only 10 places are there where it connotes the concept of
fighting.
Jihad is also used for
“making an effort to gain what is good and remove what is evil” (Bayanun li
al-Naas, Jamia al-Azhar, 1/276). That refers to an effort made to achieve
good and profit or remove evil and loss, which can happen in any field by any
means. This notion is equally emphasized in both peace and war, for which it is
not necessary to take up arms.
The meanings of jihad in
the Qur'an and Sunnah
The Holy Qur'an and the Hadiths
state various meanings of jihad, some of which are as follows:
1.
Jihad by da'wah and Preaching by proof
Jihad by dawah and
preaching involves an act of one’s establishing evidence for the truth as
opposed to its opponent.
Allah Almighty says in
one of the Makki verses (which were revealed before the Prophet’s
Migration from Makka to Madina, as referenced by Al-Itqan 1/37):
“So do not obey the
disbelievers, and strive against them [with the Qur'an] a great striving”
(25:52)
Commenting on verse
25:52, Imam Qurtubi says, “Do not obey the disbelievers” means do not
obey them when they call towards their gods and Hazrat Ibn Abbas (may
Allah be pleased with him) says, “strive against them” with the Quran, i.e. do
Jihad against them by establishing evidence from the Quran. (Tafsir al-Qurtubi,
13/57)
In one of the Madani
verses [revealed after the Prophet’s migration], Allah Almighty says, “O
Prophet! Strive against the unbelievers and the hypocrites, and be severe to
them. Hell shall be their abode; what an evil destination!” (9:73)
This verse, Imam Nasafi
comments, ‘denotes the fighting by the sword against the aggressive infidels
and by establishing evidence against the hypocrites’. (Tafsir al-Nasafi, 2/99)
This is a verse of Surah
Tauba, which is Madani Surah as per the unanimous agreement
of the scholars. The Prophet (peace be upon him) never commanded to take up
sword against the hypocrites, but to do Jihad against them by establishing
evidence. Hazrat Ibn Abbas reportedly said, “We have been commanded to
do Jihad against the aggressive infidels with the sword, and against the
hypocrites by the tongue (Jihad bi al-lisan/Jihad by the tongue). (Tafsir
al-Qurtubi, 8/204)
2.
Jihad against devil [Satan] and the evil in oneself [nafs]
Jihad also pertains to
struggling against the evil in oneself to refrain from lusts and evil pleasures
and protect oneself from matters contrary to the Shariah and to engage
in obedience to Allah.
Allah Almighty says,
“Strive in the cause of Allah in a manner worthy of that striving.” (22:78)
Imam Qurtubi writes:
“This verse refers to obeying all the commands of Allah Almighty and refraining
from the forbidden things, that is, ‘to keep yourself in obedience to God
Almighty, protect yourself from the lusts of the self, fight against the devil
[Satan] and its whispering, repel oppression from the oppressors, and denying
the disbelief of disbelievers”. [Tafsir al-Qurtubi: 99/12]
3.
Jihad by serving the parents
Serving the parents has
also been declared a kind of Jihad.
Hazrat `Abdullah bin `Amr
reportedly said, “A man came to the Prophet (peace be upon him) asking his
permission to take part in Jihad. The Prophet asked him, “Are your parents
alive?” He replied in the affirmative. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said to
him, “Then exert yourself (i.e. do Jihad) in their service.” (Sahih al-Bukhari
3004, Book 56, Hadith 213/ Sahih Muslim 2549)
4.
Hajj [Obligatory Pilgrimage]
The term Jihad has also
been used to denote Hajj.
Hazrat ‘Aisha
said she asked the Prophet’s permission to take part in jihad, and he replied,
“The jihad of you women is the pilgrimage [Hajj].” (Sahih Bukhari 2875 and
Sahih Muslim)
Apart from this, jihad
has been widely applied to non-war, such as obedience to God, patience,
struggle, etc., and examples of each are abundant in the Qur'an and Sunnah.
Dear Readers!
From the above texts, it
has become clear that jihad has been applied not only to the infidels and
polytheists who oppose and fight against Islam but also to other matters.
Therefore, the suspicion that Verses of Jihad in the Quran Prove Islamic
preference of war and fighting is undoubtedly false and rejected.
If any non-Muslim
examines the system of Islam without jealousy and envy, with the intention of
seeking the truth, on the condition of justice, with a sound mind, and with the
inclusion of divine help, he will surely avoid embracing such suspicion and
accept the truth of Islam.
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Mustafa
Kamal Azhari, the son of a popular Sunni debator Allama Sagheer Ahmad
Jokhanpuri, is a classical Islamic scholar (Aalim and Fazil). Presently he is
doing research work in the Faculty of Theology at Al-Azhar University, Cairo,
Egypt.
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Related Article:
Removing
Doubts Concerning Verses of Jihad in Quran: Is Jizya in Islam an act of
oppression? Part 2
URL: https://www.newageislam.com/debating-islam/concerning-verses-jihad-quran-part-3/d/124894