Jihad vs. Terrorism: Terrorists and Islamophobes Must Stop Their Campaign of Equating Jihad with Terrorism

By Ghulam Ghaus Siddiqi, New Age Islam

 9 September 2022

Terrorism and jihad are two clearly different concepts that can never coexist in the same action

 Main Points:

1.       Misconceptions about Jihad must be dispelled because terrorists frequently succeed in deceiving laypeople in the name of Jihad.

2.       Jihad has today mostly been used by terrorist groups to justify violence against civilians and terrorism.

3.       Jihad does not entail engaging in terrorist activities or killing innocent people without cause.

4.       Jihad is indeed Islamic; however terrorism is sinful and goes against Islamic values. 

5.       Dr. Abd Al-Hamid Al-Ansari: “Jihad is a means of defending differences, pluralism and diversity… “The first ones to distort the concept of Jihad were the ancient Khawarij.”

6.       Dr. Shawki Allam: “Terrorism does not come close to fulfilling any of the many conditions which are necessary for a just Jihad”.

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Islam has been the subject of criticism and attacks due to its universal values since its inception. The enemies of Islam, especially Islamophobes, refer to terrorism and violence as acts of jihad. In a similar vein, some terrorists, extremists, and evil groups like ISIS deliberately work to defame Islam and Muslims. They achieve this by distorting the true meaning of jihad and spreading false information about the religion of Islam. Their engagement in a jihadi campaign directly contradicts the core tenets of Islam. Given the shambolic nature of the situation, Muslims must be alert and educated on the differences between jihad and terrorism.

Jihad has today mostly been used by terrorist groups to justify violence against civilians and terrorism. Jihad is indeed Islamic; however, terrorism is sinful and goes against Islamic values.  Jihad does not entail engaging in terrorist activities or killing innocent people without cause. This is due to the Islamic belief that killing one person is equivalent to killing all of humanity.

Understanding the distinctions between Jihad-e-Akbar and Jihad-e-Asghar in Islam is vital in this regard. Jihad-e-Akbar means the greater Jihad. Jihad-e-Asghar refers to the lesser Jihad. None of them even hint at the idea of killing innocent people. It is important to understand that Jihad-e-Akbar, often referred to as spiritual Jihad, entails a battle with one's own impure evils and tendencies. The lesser jihad is mostly referred to as the jihad of the sword in order to curb oppression, and defend the religion and lives.

Jihad literally means "to strive for anything." Terrorists have altered the definition of jihad today, endangering both humanity and Islam. It is a conspiracy to distort Islam in order to malign Muslims. Therefore, it is imperative that misconceptions about Jihad be dispelled because, as a result of misinterpretations, terrorists frequently succeed in deceiving young people, have a detrimental impact on Muslims and non-Muslims worldwide, and result in the labelling of all Muslims as terrorists.

Everyone should be aware that Jihad is about defending people's lives and possessions, their reputations, and their ability to abstain from using drugs, alcohol, violence, and other abusive behaviours while helping the needy. Due to the persecution and excesses of the evil elements, there was a cloud of dangers to the religion of Islam and Muslims, their lives, property, honour and dignity, etc., which led to Hazrat Muhammad (peace be upon him) issuing the call to wage Jihad. Things are significantly different now, with political leaders in charge of every nation and laws in place making it unlawful for anybody to undertake jihad-e-Asghar on their own or through an organization.

“The Ideological Battle: Egypt's Dar al-Iftaa Combats Radicalization” is a book I recently came upon. This book does an excellent job of debunking terrorist doctrine. The Grand Mufti of Jamia Al Azhar, Dr. Shawki Allam, has compiled his writings in this book. Al-Azhar University is the greatest international Islamic scientific institution. This university has a big impact on Muslims all around the world, but especially in the Arab world. Shawki Ibrahim Abdel-Karim Allam is the Grand Mufti of Dar al-Ifta al-Misriyyah associated with Al-Azhar University. Dr. Shawki Allam makes it very clear in the book how terrorism and jihad differ from one another. I am presenting an extract from his book in order to show that the terrorism occurring in the modern era cannot be regarded as Jihad. This distinction makes the terrorists’ goal more difficult to achieve because when laypeople join the terror movement, they mistake it for religious jihad; nevertheless, when this truth is shown to them, they will regret their acts.

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Jihad vs. Terrorism

By Dr Shawki Allam, the Grand Mufti of Al-Azhar University

Terrorism cannot be the outcome of any proper understanding of religion. It is, rather, a manifestation of the immorality of people with cruel hearts, arrogant souls, and warped logic.

Islam by its nature is a religion of moderation, not of extremes. In his famous saying, the Prophet of Islam advised Muslims to always choose the middle ground and not seek extremes on either side. This moderation in religion means that one neither exaggerates; transgressing the limits set by God, nor neglects them altogether, thereby falling short of His expectations. While calling upon all Muslims to exercise moderation with all permissible things, Islam clearly and categorically rejects all forms of extremism, including ghuluww (excessiveness), tanatu‘ (zealotry) and tashaddud (extreme practices). These forms of extremism do not find a home in Islamic teachings, because Islam recognizes that extremism is morally flawed and unproductive. It is against human nature and has always been a short-lived phenomenon which does not work.

The problem faced by Muslims today – and indeed religious communities across the globe – relates to the issue of authority. In both Islam and other religions, we are witnessing a phenomenon in which laypeople without a sound foundation in religious learning have attempted to set themselves up as religious authorities, even though they lack the scholarly qualifications for making valid interpretations of religious law and morality. In many cases, they have been facilitated in this by the proliferation of new media and irresponsibly sensationalistic journalism. It is this eccentric and rebellious attitude towards religion that clears the way for extremist interpretations of Islam that have no basis in reality. None of these extremists has been educated in Islam in genuine centres of Islamic learning. They are, rather, products of troubled environments and have subscribed to distorted and misguided interpretations of Islam that have no basis in traditional Islamic doctrine. Their aim is purely political – to create havoc and chaos in the world.

Unfortunately, terrorists often invoke the Islamic concept of ―Jihad‖ to justify their crimes. This has led to much confusion and the tendency to misinterpret this important Islamic idea by linking it to violence and aggression. Military Jihad, by contrast, is the antithesis of terrorism. It is a just war of the sort that can be found in every religious law and civil code.  As the Qur‘an says, “Fight in the way of God against those who fight against you, but avoid aggression for God does not like the aggressor, but if they cease [fighting], then God is Forgiving, Merciful.”‖ This statement has been repeated many times throughout the second chapter of the Qur‘an and forms the fundamental parameters for the Islamic law of warfare: namely, that it is permissible only for the purpose of repelling an attack, and protecting one‘s self, one‘s home and one‘s family.

Terrorism does not come close to fulfilling any of the many conditions which are necessary for a just Jihad. Among these is the fact that war can only be launched upon the authorization of the Muslim ruler, after consultation with specialists and consultants. Vigilantism has been clearly forbidden throughout Muslim history.

Similarly, terrorism involves killing people and taking them by surprise. The Prophet has instructed: ―A believer is not to kill [others]. Faith is a deterrent to killing. Similarly, he has said: ―A believer is not to attack [others] by surprise. Clearly, terrorists can only accomplish their goals by going against these Islamic teachings, which are fundamental to the type of chivalrous character Muslims must always exhibit, whether in wartime or during periods of peace.

Moreover, terrorism kills and harms women and children. A tradition of the Prophet relates that a woman was found dead in one of the battles. The Prophet found out about this and thereupon forbade the killing of women and children. Another phrasing of this hadith states: ―The Messenger of God (peace be upon him) forbade killing women and children.‖

 The great scholar of Islam, Imam al-Nawawi commented on this: ―There is a scholarly consensus on acting on this tradition as long as the women and children do not fight.‖ It is clear once more that this is counter to the practice of terrorists.

As such, it is clearly a mistake to label the terrorists as the practitioners of Jihad or mujahidin. This is a lofty Islamic concept which bears no resemblance to the lawlessness practised by terrorists.

The word commonly used in modern Arabic for terrorism, irhab, though an improvement, also poses its own set of problems. Indeed, irhab and the related Arabic root (r / h / b) often contain positive resonances for those conversant with classical Islamic vocabulary. For example, the Qur‘an uses a word in the semantic range spawned by (r / h / b) to explain the proper awe with which humans ought to relate to God. ―O Children of Israel, remember My favour wherewith I favoured you; and fulfil my covenant and I shall fulfil your covenant, and have awe of Me.‖ [2:40].

Similarly, the Quran uses a related word (Rahban) to refer to monks and monasticism (Rahbaniyya), and their manner of interacting with the Divine. Finally, and more concretely, the root (r / h / b) is used to refer to a praiseworthy deterrence against those enemies who would seek to aggressively intimidate the Muslim community. ―Make ready for them whatever force you can and of horses tethered that you may thereby awe the enemy of God and your enemy.‖ [8:60]. This term therefore is often used to refer to a concept of deterrence aimed at securing an advantage that will lead to peace with an enemy that would otherwise transgress against the Muslim community.

The term Irjaf as the proper translation into Arabic for terrorism is more favoured. ―This word, which denotes subversion and scaremongering to bring quaking and commotion to society is derived from the root (r / j / f), which means to quake, tremble, be in violent motion, convulse, or shake.‖ This term occurs in the Qur‘an in this context in one telling verse: ―Now; if the hypocrites do not give over, and those in whose hearts there is sickness and they make commotion (Murjifun) in the city, We shall assuredly urge thee against them.‖ [33:60].

In the context of this verse, al-Qurtubi, the renowned thirteenth-century Qur‘anic commentator and Malikiī jurist, explains the meaning of irjaf with respect to ―the shaking of the hearts (Tahrik al-Qulub),‖ noting the root‘s corresponding application to ―the shaking of the earth (Rajafat Al-Ard).‖ Within an Islamic context, connecting this metaphor of creating commotion on earth (murjifun) with that of shaking hearts (Tahrik Al-Qulub) connotes that those who do wrong are in fact acting against the wishes of the Divine.

The term Murjifun (singular, Murjif), as well as the equivalent rendering irjafiyyun (singular, Irjafi), is a far better translation of terrorists ... Of course, there are multiple ways to bring about such intense commotion to society, but all of these fall under the term Irjaf. From a linguistic perspective, the term unambiguously connotes the cowardice, deceit, and betrayal associated with terrorism in striking from behind.

(Dr Shawki Allam, The Ideological Battle: Egypt's Dar al-Iftaa Combats Radicalization, p.25-29)

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Abd Al-Hamid Al-Ansari, a liberal Muslim scholar and former dean of Islamic Law at Qatar University issued a modern fatwa on jihad in which he asserted that terrorists were misconstruing the essence of jihad in order to support their violent and terrorist ideologies. His fatwa, which was printed in the daily newspaper Al-Ashraq Al-Awsat in March 2004, stated that:

“Jihad, in its true sense as defined in the Quran and as implemented by the Prophet (Muhammad peace be upon him) and his noble companions, is a means of defending differences, pluralism and diversity. That is, it is a means of defending the freedom of choice as is written in the Quran, “There is no coercion in Islam” (2:256). From the beginning, Jihad has been defined by two goals: The first was a response to aggression and oppression as told in the Quran 22:39. The second goal is the liberation of the persecuted peoples from tyrannical regimes, as happened to the Persian and Byzantine peoples.

“The first ones to distort the concept of Jihad were the ancient Khawarij. They rose up with arms against the righteous Imam [i.e, the Caliph Ali Ibn Abi Taleb] and against the virtuous society of the companions of the Prophet. The Khawarij called themselves Al-Muwahhidun [the unifiers of God, or monotheists] and they called their movement Jihad. The companions of the Prophet were not deceived by these shows of piety and numerous ritual acts; they called them Khawarij and saw their actions as insurrection and rebellion.” (End of quote)

If we compare all the horrifying terrorist attacks carried out by terror organisations around the world with the obvious limitations imposed by Allah Almighty, we will have no choice but to accept that the terror organisations committing crimes in the name of jihad are transgressors and that their act is not jihad but rather an act of terrorism.

The Sunnah and the Quran both harshly warn their followers to refrain from transgression in a variety of contexts, including war. Allah Almighty says, “Do not exceed the limits, and Allah does not like the transgressors” (2:190).

This command of God Almighty, as per the majority of classical Islamic scholars, is Muhkam and not abrogated (mansukh). They use this Divine command to discuss the usual rules of war, such as the prohibition against killing women, children, old people, monks, hermits, the chronically ill and peasants etc.

Hazrat Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) said, “The phrase “do not exceed the limits” renders “do not kill women, children, old men, or those who offer peace and restrain their hand. If you do that, you will have transgressed against them”. (Jamiul Bayan, vol. 2, p. 110-111, printed at Beirut Darul Ma’rifa)   

Whenever the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) dispatched a commander of an army, he would exhort him personally to fear Allah and prohibited transgression, killing of children, mutilation and treachery. (Tirmidhi, Ibn Majah, Abu Dawud etc)

Hazrat Abu Bakr al-Siddiq used to instruct the army soldiers, “kill neither a child, nor a woman, nor an aged man. Bring no harm to the trees, nor burn them with fire, especially those which are fruitful. Slay not any of the enemy’s flock, save for your food. You are likely to pass by people who have devoted their lives to monastic services; leave them alone” (Muwatta Imam Malik p. 466)

Related Article: Associating Islam with Terrorism Is Unfair Because They Are Poles Apart

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A regular Columnist with NewAgeIslam.com, Ghulam Ghaus Siddiqi Dehlvi is a Classical Islamic scholar with a Sufi background and English-Arabic-Urdu Translator. 

URL:    https://newageislam.com/radical-islamism-jihad/jihad-terrorism-terrorists-islamophobes-/d/127912

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