All Islamic Fundamentals are Aimed at Military Preparation for Jihad, Said Maulana Maududi; What do the Mainstream Ulema Say?
By Ghulam Rasool Dehlvi, New Age Islam
10 February, 2015
Jihad has always been misconstrued by the self-styled
jihadists and radicals who peddled hatred towards other human beings, deprived
them of their fundamental rights and natural privileges, denied them justice
and peace and created mischief and chaos. The outrageous misinterpretation of
the scriptural texts of divine Islamic literature is primarily motivated by
petty motives and vested interests. The radical production of jihad, Islamic
state and many other religious doctrines of Islam in the writings of Maulana
Maududi, the ideologue of the Islamic state advocates in the Indian
subcontinent, is one such grave instance.
Maulana Maududi’s politicized interpretation of
Islamic doctrines and practices reached an extent that he viewed every belief
and act of Islam with a political outlook. In his bid to propagate Islam as a
political ideology of wanton jihadism, rather than a faith of peace and
spirituality, he issued completely baseless and incendiary pronouncements on
theological issues. He even challenged the collective consensus of Muslims on
the Islamic prayers, which they offer to seek pleasure of and closeness to God,
declaring them “means and tools to prepare for Jihad”. He writes in a
provocative and style:
“Salaat (Namaz) is a training exercise for Jihad.
Zakat (Islamic charity) is a military fund for Jihad. Fasting is aimed to train
people like soldiers who have to stay without food at times for long periods
during the Jihad. Hajj is a huge conference in nature for plotting larger scale
military operations. Thus, Salaah, Fasting, Zakat, and Hajj are actually meant
for this very preparation and training” (Fundamental of Islam by Maulana
Maududi – Page: 250).
Maulana Maududi advocated establishing an Islamic
state where the so-called “Islamic Jihad” should be incumbent upon every Muslim
until the authority of God is established on the entire earth, where the rights
of non-Muslims would be limited and they would not be permitted to practice the
faith, rituals of worship or social customs, where “Islamic Jihad” would not
recognize their right to administer state affairs, because, as laid out in the
writings of Maulana.
Maulana wrote nearly 120 books in which he extended
intellectual and theological support to the radical Islamism and exclusistic
ideology of faith. In his book
Haqiqat-e-Jihad ( literally meaning “the truth of Jihad”), he elaborates his
point:
“A ‘Muslim Party’ will not be content with the establishment
of Islam in just one area alone –both for its own safety and for general
reform. It should try and expand in all directions. On one hand it will spread
its ideology; on the other it will invite people of all nations to accept its
creed, for salvation lies only therein. If this Islamic state has power and
resources it will fight and destroy non-Islamic governments and establish
Islamic states in their place.
(Maulana Maududi, Haqiqat-e-Jihad ,Pg 64, Taj Company
Ltd, Lahore, Pakistan 1964)
In another book “al-Jihad fil-Islam” (Jihad in
Islam), he explains his radical understanding and militant interpretation of
Jihad:
“It must now be obvious that the objective of the
Islamic jihad is to eliminate the rule of an un-Islamic system, and establish
in its place an Islamic system of state rule. Islam does not intend to confine
his rule to a single state or a handful of countries. The aim of Islam is to
bring about a universal revolution. Although in the initial stages, it is
incumbent upon members of the party of Islam to carry out a revolution in the
state system of the countries to which they belong; their ultimate objective is
none other than world revolution”.
(Jihad Fi Sabillilah: Jihad in Islam by Sayyid Abul
Ala Maududi “– Chapter 3, Pg 10)
In his writings, Maulana exhorted Muslims to fight
“evil forces” physically and go to the extent of laying down their life,
possessions, powers, wealth and health in the fight against “evil forces of the
world”. He writes In his book “Jihad in Islam”: “But the most important -
indeed the most basic - ideal of the revolutionary doctrines of that
“Revolutionary Party” known as Muslims is to expand all the powers of the body
and soul, life and possessions, in the fight against the evil forces of the
world; not so that, having annihilated them, we should step into their shoes,
but so that evil and contumacy may be eradicated and Allah’s Law enforced on
earth. This is the significance of jihad fi Sabillilah, Jihad for the cause of
Allah.”
He further writes: “the terms “offensive” and
“defensive”, which are usually applied to definitions of warfare, are not at
all applicable in the case of Islamic Jihad. These terms are relevant only in
the context of wars between nations and countries, for technically speaking,
the terms “attack” and “defence” can only be used with reference to a country
or a nation.” He further elaborates his point: “The division of Islamic Jihad
into “offensive” and “defensive” is not permissible. Islamic Jihad is both
offensive and defensive at one and the same time. It is offensive because the
Muslim party attacks the rule of an opposing ideology, and it is defensive
because the Muslim Party is constrained to capture state power in order to
protect the principles of Islam in space-time forces.” (Maulana Maududi: Jihad
in Islam)
After reading the above excerpt from Maulana Maududi’s
book, it should not be difficult to see what the essence of Islamic Jihad in
his view was. Much against the view of mainstream Islamic scholars of the
Muslim world who look at “Jihad fi Sabillilah” as a defensive struggle
against oppression and tyranny, Maulana Maududi declared Jihad to be an
offensive war on non-Muslims, both combatants and civilians, aimed at
establishing the sovereignty of God on earth.
Contrary to Maulana Maududi's self-created view of
offensive Jihad, the mainstream Islamic scholars, including those from the
early Islamic period, have been of the opinion that Islam permits only
defensive jihad. Imam Burhanuddin Marghinani the author of the text books on
Islamic jurisprudence (Fiqh), which are taught in the mainstream Madrasa
curriculums, writes:
“If the
enemies attack the city, it is permissible for the civilians to launch
self-defence” (Hidaya: Vol. 2, p. 559)
Allama Abu
Bakr Kashani writes in his book al-Baday’e, which is also included in the
Dars-e-Nizami curriculum of Indian Madrasas:
“Fighting is
lawful against the war-mongers and war farers. It is not lawful against women,
children, elderly men and ailing persons.” (al-Baday’e: volume 6, p. 64).
An overwhelming number of moderate Islamic scholars,
in recent past, have endorsed and preached the same view. The most noted among
them were Shaikh Muhammad al-Ghazali, the renowned Egyptian scholar, Mufti
Muhammad Abduh and his disciple Shaikh Rashid Rida, Abdur Rahman Azam, Allama
Mustafa Sibai, Ahmad Amin, Mahmud Aqqad, Shibli Numani and the famous Indian
scholar Maulana Ahmad Raza Khan etc. Even the Egyptian Islamic scholar Shaikh
Yusuf al-Qaradawi, who is known for his Salafist influence and attachment with
the Muslim Brotherhood, also shares the same view, as is outlined in his book
“Fiqh al-Jihad” (the Jurisprudence of Jihad), which has triggered a
considerable debate in the Arab world. Following the moderate Islamic scholars,
the adherents of mainstream Islam subscribe to the doctrine of defensive jihad
and they believe that the rationale (Illat) of waging a war in the early
Islamic period was the aggression or offensive attack from the infidels and
deniers, not just their infidelity or denial of the ruth (Kufr).
It will also be interesting to know what the present
day Sunni-Sufi scholars have to say about the rulings of Jihad in Islam.
Noted Sunni Sufi scholar of India Mufti Shareeful Haq
Amjadi defines Jihad in his commentary on the Bukhari Hadith collections:
“Literally, the word Jihad means exertion and
struggle. In Islamic terminology, it implies one’s struggle to uphold the
truth. Being a multifaceted term, it also denotes one’s endeavour to strive
against one’s baser self (Nafs) in order to curb and tune it to saintly
virtuousness, merely to please God”. (Nuzhatul Qari, Sharh-e-Bukhari: Volume 6,
page 154, Dairatul Barkat, Ghosi, Mau, UP, India)
A well-versed Sunni-Sufi Islamic jurist Mufti Ale
Mustafa Misbahi (Mufti of Jamia Amjadia, Mau, UP) writes in his article “Jihad:
Its Conditions and Requisites” published in the special Issue on Jihad of Urdu
Monthly Jaam-e-Noor: “It is incumbent on us to spread the message of Islam to
those who are not acquainted with it. But it is not permissible for the
believers to wage jihad against them in this process. Islam does not aim at
waging jihad or causing injury, rather it seeks to bring man closer to God. And
this aim is achieved by propagating the divine message by mouth, not by sword.
So, there is no justification to resort to armed struggle for the preaching of
Islam”
Maulana Yaseen Akhtar Misbahi, leading Sunni-Sufi
Islamic scholar and renowned Urdu writer gives his reflections on the verses of
Jihad in the Quran:
“Although there are certain verses of the Qur’an which
mention killing and murder, there is a specific reason and context behind these
verses. However, a group of people have taken these verses out of context and
have not tried to understand the story behind them and raised objections
against these verses and against the Holy Qur’an. It has become the habit of
these people to portray Islam as a religion of murder and mayhem and especially
in this era of sectarianism all over the world. They are using these verses to
turn people against Islam and its teachings. It is the effort of these
narrow-minded people to portray Islam as a violent and dangerous religion and
Muslims as aggressive mischief-makers.” (Aayat-e-Jihad Ka Qur’ani Mafhoom,
Foreword)
It is a common knowledge that the violent acts by the
self-styled jihadists and all other extremist Muslim groups, perpetrated in the
name of jihad, are completely antithetical to the principles of Islam. But
still radical Islamism and violent jihadism are growing in the Muslim
countries. Why? The reason is simple. They are supported and motivated by
radical religious ideologues and extremist clerics who misinterpret the
Qur’anic verses of jihad, Qital, Jizyah, Khilafah etc. which actually came in
relation to particular political contexts and for unavoidable reasons. This is
a harsh reality of the Muslim countries today that cannot be discarded.
However, the more distressing phenomenon is that the
radicals’ universal interpretation of the Jihad-related verses just goes
unchallenged and even unnoticed by the mainstream Ulema. I think this is also a
reason for the spread of extremist ideology among growing number of youths in
the Muslim world. Obviously, when their misguided ideologues present the verses
of jihad and qital out of context to ensure the permissibility of killing
non-Muslims and seizing their properties, they see no reason why they should
take a second thought over their mindless acts.
Therefore, mainstream Ulema and moderate Islamic
scholars are required to engage in more concerted efforts to denounce and refute
all kinds of violence and terror in ideology. Thus, they can substantiate the
point that the holy Qur'an, both in content and spirit, is a symbol of peace
and non-violence. It is about time they come up with the true interpretations
of the Qur’anic verses related to jihad, Qital, Shahadah, Khilafah, in a way
that can redress the grievances of the present day. If they adopt a proactive
approach to interpret the Qur'an and disseminate the correct understanding of
its verses, none of the Muslims will potentially slip into the path of terror
and violence.
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Ghulam Rasool Dehlvi is a classical Islamic
scholar. He has graduated from a leading Islamic seminary of India, Jamia
Amjadia Rizvia (Mau, U.P.), acquired Diploma in Qur'anic Arabic from Al-Jamiat
ul Islamia, Faizabad, U.P., and Certificate in Uloom ul Hadith from Al-Azhar
Institute of Islamic Studies, Badaun, U.P. He has also graduated in Arabic
(Hons) and is pursuing his M. A. in Comparative Religion from Jamia Millia
Islamia, New Delhi.
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