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omar ibrahim baker

A VERY SHORT INTRODUCTION TO JIHAD

A-Origin;
"Jihad", derivatives include "jihadist","Al Jihad=Jihadism" etc, is derived from the verb "jahada= exert (one self)to the maximum .
Theologically and culturally it is used to denote any special, out of the day to day ordinary, effort that goes to achieve a certain task or mission.
JIHAD is manifested in personal improvement (travel to far places to seek knowledge is Jihad),

family or personal conditions amelioration ( to seek employment in hardship conditions or locations to improve a family's financial resources is Jihad), and in society serving efforts(participation in social work and community service is Jihad )etc etc.
Another aspect of the meaning of Jihad to non Moslems, the one most liable to misunderstanding by people of good will and conscious distortion by people of ill will, relates to the effort to SPREAD the Faith, Islam, and to its DEFENSE.
At the outbreak of the Moslem mission it was Jihad to spread it, peaceably if possible, militarily if need be.
History records that prior to the Moslem campaigns to spread Islam in Byzantine and Persian dominated areas, being most adjacent and accessible to the Arabian Peninsula whence the mission sprung, emissaries were sent by the Prophet inviting their respective overlords to embrace Islam and allow their subjects to adopt it.

When both overlords turned down the invitation and beheaded the emissaries
Their domains were invaded by "Jihadist" armies of volunteers.
Instructions to the advancing armies were very strict and explicit:
-Absolutely no coercion was to be used with believers in monotheistic religions; Judaism and Christianity.
If they chose to retain their faiths a tax, en lieu of military service, will be levied from them (Al Jizya).
-Pagan worshippers would be compelled to adopt Islam or face the sword.

The mission of the invading Moslem armies to spread Islam was JIHAD (fi sabil il LAH= in the cause of God.)
Once Islam was established in these invaded and conquered lands, with many others of course, it was AND IS always Jihad to defend (Dar Al Islam= the home of Islam ) i.e. lands in which Islam took roots and general public acceptance as the religion of that land.
Other lands were classified as (Dar al harb= home of war) i.e. lands that has not (yet?) allowed the mission to enter and invite its population to Islam .
The above is the basic, generally accepted, history and religious significance of Jihad in Arab and Moslem culture.
B-Subsequent History:
After a time lapse of several centuries in ever increasing lands (up to China in the East and Spain/ Portugal in the West) of spreading the mission and the subsequent confrontation with a multitude of diverse cultures, several changes occurred.
Some of these changes, if not most, were mainly due to the geopolitical requirements of a large empire in which spreading the Faith, the original motive force, became secondary if at all in evidence in the later stages.
C-The relevance of Jihad to day:
Jihad is very much alive in Arab and Moslem life and culture in the personal, family and societal sense.
It is very much in evidence in the DEFENSE of Dar al Islam such as in Palestine, against Zionist occupation, and Iraq and Afghanistan against American occupation.
Both above facets of Jihad has universal acceptance and are firmly adhered to in the Arab/Moslem World.
The other important facet of Jihad, SPREADING the Faith, is much more controversial in contemporary life.
A very tiny minority, of absolutely no practical significance, adheres to the old model of conquest.
An important minority of some influence still believes in spreading the Faith through peaceful means. They confront the tiny minority with the unassailable argument:
“Since present Governments of non Moslem countries DO NOT DISALLOWS, or fight, the mission to spread the faith peacefully, there is, therefore, no need for conquest!"
A second forceful argument they use is the Hadith of the Prophet: ”Antum Alam bi shooun dinyakum= You know better the conditions of your world (time and place) !”
The majority, however, believes that since things, as far as faiths are concerned, have settled the way they did, SPREADING the Faith has become a private, personal consideration and not an affair of an Islamic mission.
D-Epilogue
The above is the perception of an actively engaged Moslem, a non Islamist but not an anti Islamist, observer of the concept and significance of JIHAD in the 21st century. A perception possibly shared by many in the Arab/Moslem World .