ISLAM: Jihard and Pre-emptive strikes

[chookyman]

It was intersting, while talking to muslim people randomally the other day, I asked each one to explain the what "Jihad" actully means.

For evey person the answer is different. Baed on this I reflected that night and realised one thing, the term Jihad is a term in which muslums themself find hard to identify the correct meaning of Jihad as muhhammad siad to what people today have come to believe.

It is like the grapevine, a the message spreeds down the grapevine, it's meaning changes until it is totally changed from the original.

But one thing was certian and a common responce I recived was, that Jihad means to defend oneself aginst the enemy. Many politics of the world especilly Bush, Howard, and Blair refer to this as "pre-emptive strike" on your enemy. Attack your enemy before they attack you.

Can Jihad mean this? Is this the reason why muslim terorist groups attack other countrys now (bombings etc) now? What does Jihad actully mean?

Even in translation of the Qu'ran translation can infact be wrong based on the fact that their are no word in the translated language which are the same as the mother tounge, so there fore they find a word which is simular.

 

[_salam_]

There are two types of jihad in Islam. First off let me explain what the word jihad actually means, it doesn't mean "holy war" as it's often translated, it means to strive or struggle. Now I'll explain the two different types of jihad in Islam. The first/more important act of jihad is a persons own stiving or struggle to live by Allah's way or to not sin. The second/lessor act of jihad could be a military action. Keep in mind that there are certain rules for war in Islam and one of those rules is that we can't attack anybody unless we are being oppressed or are under attack.

 

[croak]

If it is a struggle against oppressors who are against Islam, then it is classified as a holy war.

 

[TamerAhmad]

Well. Let me say this....
This is maybe one of the hardest things for non Muslims to understand about Islam cause you will have to study all the aspects of religion and realize the greatness and completeness of it all to understand why Jihad and what it means ..... there’s also the other problem of Muslims who don’t know what Jihad is and others who would prefer to interpret it in a way that will make Islam look better in front of non Muslims who have it all wrong and will sometimes use the least word to prove the terrorist theory and so on , but all this does not and will never change Islam and thus the true meaning of Jihad..... (This is in their opinion of course for Islam does not need to be any better than it already is)
I say then to those who do not understand or say Jihad is self defense Muslims or non Muslims:
Well of course self defense is a kind of Jihad would we let others come to our lands in aggression and war and let them be ... no we will fight back until the last man ..... That is obvious but let’s looks at the big picture..... Islam started in Medina, how did it reach Morocco, Afghanistan and Albania for example ... in self defense? No... Through Jihad…. so we begin to understand the meaning….. Muslims believe that they hold the true and complete religion and way of life that brings peace to mankind but again like I said you will never believe or understand that unless you really get into it ....study it ... and feel it ... but as Muslims believe that Allah has ordered them to spread that truth ... the belief in one and only one worthy of worshiped God ; ALLAH and that Mohammad peace be upon him is his prophet and the best and most complete man who ever lived and that he is their role model in all the aspect of life for he ALLAH preserved both the Koran and the Sunna for us to learn his religion through and gave us many many proofs that this is the only true path amongst which are scientific facts that have only been discovered recently like that the sees have different waters for example and that these waters do not mix because there a sort of barrier between them , something that was very clearly stated in the Koran along with many such miracles that prophet Mohammad would never have know for himself because they were completely unknown at that time 1425 years ago but it was Allah who told him because it was Allah who created it all and thus his religion is really from him and it is the truth ...knowing and believing this and all the rest of the Islamic teachings , Muslims have to spread this truth that illuminate and guide the way for humanity in all the aspects of life from birth to the very important issue of manners and ethics to economics and trade and ending with the aspect of politics and rule ... they have to spread this buy peaceful means first which means tell the adjacent non Muslim nation this is Islam these are the teachings , everybody has to know them let us rule in peace for you will not be hated or mistreated or oppressed in any way we will spread Islam in your country and it will be farer than anything you can ever come up with , if they won't let them they have two other options ,either to pay a sum of money to the Muslims every year to prevent war or second : to go to war to try and prevent Muslims from doing all this .

This is all in the Koran in many suras like Bara’a for example and also in Sunna so it is not just self defense but still it all has many rules and regulations concerning the strength of Muslims and the way to do war like not to kill civilians or anybody who is not participating in the war especially men of religion and not to tear down places of worship and that it has to be done by an Islamic nation under a Muslim leader not individually by any person or group who kill and destroy non Muslims thinking it is Jihad like on the 11th of September for example if it was Muslims who did it .

THIS IS JIHAD , THINK OF IT AS TERRORISM , THINK OF IT WHATEVER YOU WANT TO THINK , IF YOU KNOW ISLAM YOU WILL KNOW IT IS FOR THE GOOD OF MANKIND .IF YOU DON’T THAN YOU DON’T HAVE ENOUGH INFORMATION TO FORM AN OPINION .

 

[croak]

Actually, you cannot classify it into a self-struggle and a military struggle. War is a last resort. If you try to stop the enemy without actually fighting, it can be a form of Jihad, as you are struggling, although not through force.

 

[_salam_]

To TamerAhmad,

Do you think you could elaborate on the "offensive form of jihad", for lack of a better term?

 

[Dr. Nosophoros]

I admit I did not read every line of every post, but I thought the true meaning of "Jihad" to a Muslim was "spiritual struggle", I think that the U.S. media has ingrained the word "Jihjad" in general American brains as synonymous with "terrorism", but truth has never been the strongpoint of U.S. Media. From what I see, the word "Jihad" is as benign as WWJD (What Would Jesus Do? ) Doing what your belief dictates instead of what your worldly desires demand or you feel they demand.

Then you would have to look at the definition of the word "terrorism", to the Native Americans, the U.S. government were "terrorists", to the many nations of Muslims that were negatively affected by the policies of the U.S. and other powerful countries, they (the U.S. and other powerful countries) would have been the "terrorists", it's all a matter of perspective. "terrorist" groups that claimed Islam as their religion was/is one of the few third world factions that had the balls to fight back in the only way that they could- then we claim them as the "bad guys" even when we may very well be, they didn't come to us first-can we swallow that? There are no whites and blacks, only shades of grey.

 

[_salam_]

I admit I did not read every line of every post, but I thought the true meaning of "Jihad" to a Muslim was "spiritual struggle",

Right, jihad can be merely a spiritual struggle but it also can be ment in a military sense as well.