The True Jihad
Jihad involves discovering God, attaining God-realisation, and searching for ways to develop closeness with God.
To better understand what jihad is, one must first know that whatever the Muslims are doing today in the name of jihad is not jihad. These are all wars unleashed by communal sentiments wrongly named jihad.
Jihad means peaceful struggle. It is not synonymous with war. However, the word jihad is sometimes used in an extended sense to refer to war. However, in the literal sense, jihad and war, or what is called qital in Arabic, are not synonymous terms.
Consider the following Quranic verses and Hadith, sayings of the Prophet of Islam, to appreciate some usages of the term ‘jihad’:
- The Quran says:
“We will surely guide in Our ways those who strive hard for Our cause.” (29:69)
In this verse, the search for the truth has been called jihad—that is to say, making efforts to discover God, attain God-realisation, and search for ways to develop closeness with God. This jihad has no relation with war or confrontation.
- In the same way, the Quran speaks of true believers as those who strive with their wealth for the cause of God. It says: “The believers are only those who have faith in God and His Messenger and then doubt not, but strive, hard with their wealth and their persons for the cause of God. Such are the truthful ones.” (49:15)
According to this verse, to spend one’s wealth in God’s path is an act of jihad.
- Likewise, the Quran says: “…do not yield to those who deny the truth, but strive with the utmost strenuousness using this [Quran, to convey its message to them].” (25:52)
In other words, this is an instruction to engage in peaceful struggle or efforts to spread the teachings of the Quran.
- Similarly, the Prophet is reported to have said: Al-mujahidu man jahada nafsahu fi ta’atillah. (Musnad Ahmad, Hadith No. 23967) It means that a mujahid is one who strives against himself for the sake of obeying God.
From this, we learn that fighting against the promptings of oneself and persevering on the path of truth is a jihad. This struggle takes place inside oneself, in the realm of one’s psyche, and not on a battlefield in the external world.
- The Prophet is reported to have said: Ni’m al-Jihadu al-Hajj. That is, “The best jihad is Hajj.” (Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith No. 2876) Thus we learn that undertaking the Hajj pilgrimage is an act of jihad. The haji or the Hajj pilgrim has to make great efforts in performing the Hajj as desired.
- According to a tradition, the Prophet of Islam is reported to have said about serving one’s parents: fafihima fajahid. (Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith No. 3004) It means, ‘Do jihad concerning your parents.’ Thus we learn that serving one’s parents is an act of jihad.
