JIHAD, A PEACEFUL ACTIVITY

Mulla Ali Qari was a famous Islamic scholar and jurisprudent. He was born in Herat, which is now in Afghanistan, and died in Makkah in 1606. He was the author of a number of books on various Islamic subjects. One of these books is Mirqat ul-Masabih, which is a commentary on a Hadith collection.

In the chapter on jihad in this book, Mulla Ali Qari writes that the word ‘jihad’ literally denotes struggle and effort. He then goes on to add that at a later time, which is to say after the Prophet’s demise, ‘jihad’ began being used to refer to war against the disbelievers. (Mulla Ali al Qari, Mirqat al-Mafatih sharh Mishkat, Vol. 6, p. 2452)

Every word has both a literal as well as a conventional meaning, one that relates to how the word is normally used and understood. This is the case with the word ‘jihad’, too. The word ‘jihad’ comes from the root juhd or jahd. The literal connotation of this is exertion with much effort. The word ‘jihad’ is conventionally used for various sorts of exertion or struggle, one of which is war. However, it is used only for a particular and exceptional sort of war, one which is fought in the cause of God (fi sabil Allah). A war that is pursued for wealth and power will not be called a jihad.

The Quran uses two different words in this regard: jihad and qital. Where the reference is to peaceful struggle or exertion, the Quran uses the word jihad. For instance, in 25:52, the Quran refers to a peaceful jihad through the Quran, meaning the peaceful effort to introduce Islam to others. And when the reference is to physical war the Quran uses the word qital, as for instance, in verse 121 of the third chapter of the Quran. But in the later period, after the demise of the Prophet, the word ‘jihad’ began to be used often as synonymous with qital, or war. However, even if this usage of the term ‘jihad’ is regarded as proper, still it would be only an expanded usage of the term. In terms of the actual or essential meaning of the word, jihad is a term for a peaceful action, not a violent one. It is undertaken to transform people intellectually and spiritually, not to kill them.