Jihad: Examining the Concept within the Context of Islamic Principles

This essay provides a comprehensive analysis of the concept of Jihad in Islam. It begins by defining Jihad and relating it to the five pillars of Islam, emphasizing its roots in struggle and effort. The essay then differentiates between Greater (internal) Jihad, focusing on personal and spiritual development, and Lesser Jihad, which involves external defense under specific conditions. It addresses the common misinterpretations of Jihad, particularly the association with terrorism, and clarifies its true meaning within Islamic teachings. The essay explores the historical context, including the Kharijites' view of Jihad, and examines the rules and regulations governing its practice. Ultimately, it emphasizes Jihad's role in promoting peace and harmony, and its contrast with violent interpretations. The essay concludes by reiterating the importance of understanding Jihad as a concept of internal struggle and the need to separate it from the actions of modern terrorist groups.

Reading Head: JIHAD 0
Jihad
January 15
2020
In this abstract it is discussed that why Jihad is related to the five
pillars of Islam.

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Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................2
Pillars of Islam...........................................................................................................................2
Jihad...........................................................................................................................................3
Greater/Internal Jihad.............................................................................................................3
Lesser Jihad............................................................................................................................4
Jihad Misunderstood..................................................................................................................4
Reason why Jihad is related to Islam.........................................................................................4
Rules of Jihad.........................................................................................................................5
Conclusion..................................................................................................................................6
References..................................................................................................................................7

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Introduction
The world is full of geographical differentiations and with these differentiations comes the
adoption of varied religions. Every religion has its rules, mythological stories, beliefs and
concepts. The underlining concept behind every religion is the same. However the
implications of each belief are different. This discussion is focused on highlighting one of the
principles of Islam i.e. Jihad. Jihad is deemed as one of the five pillars of Islam, which has
been elucidated in the following parts
Pillars of Islam
“Jihad” means struggle or effort but it is an Arabic word and it belongs to Islamic
community. This concept guides a person in doing the right thing and also stops them from
moving towards the wrong part. Jihad also encompasses efforts and struggle; therefore Jihad
is referred to as holy war (BBC, 2009).
There are five pillars of Islam which means that every Muslim has to follow these five things
mentioned in the Quran. The first pillar is Shahadah; second pillar is the five daily prayers;
the third pillar is zakah (aims tax); fourth pillar is fasting during the month of Ramadan and
fifth pillar is performance of hajj ( Kamal-Ud-Din, 2018).
Every pillar has its own importance as suggested by the Muhammad’s prophethood . This is
the reason because of which every Muslim follows these principles. Each of these principles
acts as guidance for life and presents an important learning. The first pillar indicates that
“There is no god but god” and “Muhammad is the messenger of god”. The second pillar
signifies that prayers would be offered 5 times a day with pure soul. The third pillar signifies
that there is a tax of 2.5% which has to be paid by believer of all liquid assets they own. The
fourth pillar states that fast of Ramadan should be kept by every Muslim because that pain

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and suffering will remind believer the pain and suffering God has faced. The fifth pillar states
that to perform the hajj in first 10 days of the month of Dhu-al-Hijjah (The Oxford Dictionary
of Islam, 2020). The concepts highlighted in these pillars ensure devotion towards god and
inherence to a strict lifestyle. Despite the bifurcation in types of Muslims i.e. Sunnis and
Shi’is, the principles are same for both of them.
Jihad
As stated earlier, Jihad is considered as the “Holy war” which means the struggle. The reason
for this stems from the need of defending with force, if necessary. Jihad is an old concept
however recently it has been misunderstood; this is because it is now considered as
“globalized” terrorism. This understanding is entirely incorrect because Jihad is a religious
concept and is associated with heart, tongue, hand, or sword. Each of these symbolise a
different concept life love, soul, work and defence. There are two types of Jihad i.e. Greater
or Internal Jihad and Lesser Jihad. These are retained below.
Greater/Internal Jihad
The internal Jihad is known as greater Jihad. The internal Jihad was brought forth by Prophet
Muhammad. Internal Jihad resonates the need for internal peace and helps a person in
winning over their shortcomings. This form of Jihad is focused on winning over the evils of
heart and also promotes the standards set by God allowing the people to live the manner as
God did (Cook, 2015). The internal Jihad also requires adherence to certain principles
including
a) Learning Quran (Holy Book) by heart.
b) Overcoming of all negative things.
c) Giving up Smoking.
d) Cleaning the Mosque floor.

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e) Active in Muslim Community.
f) Working for justice.
g) Adopting Forgiving nature.
The main aim of greater jihad is fighting with one’s self. This is because fighting with outer
enemy is easy but fighting with own is the biggest battle. Thereby attaining peace and
happiness in life.
Lesser Jihad
Jihad which is done by sword is known as Lesser Jihad. Opposite to greater Jihad, Lesser
Jihad is considered to be the war against open enemy. But this open enemy does not include
government, people of other religion or other citizens. Lesser Jihad is only acceptable in
some situations. This include instances of Self-defence; when believers are accused based on
of reasons associated with their faith; they have fled away from their home to some other
country for peace; Killed because of their faith; and to protect their religious freedom
( Rashid , 2017 ). These conditions are mentioned so that believers do not misuse their
powers in the name of religion at wrong places.
Jihad Misunderstood
As discussed earlier, Jihad is taken as the wrong manner nowadays and resonates as a scary
term across the globe. Doe to the incorrect translation and misuse of this term, terrorists are
killing innocent people and terming this as Jihad which is inappropriate and a deeming usage
of this term. These terrorists are ignorant of humanity and they are only serving their motives.
Jihad is not about forcing and hurting innocent people or to conquer other nations just to be
powerful. Furthermore it is also not about settling disputes and showing powers of leader
(Ekinci, 2015).

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Reason why Jihad is related to Islam
The Kharijites were the first ones to declare Jihad as the sixth pillar of Islam. This naming
can be traced in the history of Kharijites. The Kharijites were the earliest sect of Muslims
during mid-seventh century. They had certain issues regarding elections with Caliphs. At that
time Kharijites thought that caliphs should be elected through the election process. So they
decided to stand opposite to Ali. Kharijites were known to be very strict people who believed
in war. They took Quran so literally that they thought if the life of their God was involved in
war, then the followers of Islam should treat the other religions as being against them, and
should fight them. They also believed that if any Muslim was not pure or dedicated to their
religion, then they should be killed and that no one should be exempted from this. This type
of “Jihad” was seen from beginning of Kharijites movement. This is the reason why
Kharijites were known to practice the jihad as the sixth pillar of Islam (Melton, 2008).
Historically, in eighth century Jihad was considered to be the collective responsibility of all
legal and political Muslim community. This is another reason for Jihad being deemed as the
sixth pillar of Islam ( Ahmad, 2017, p. 97).
There are different types of Jihad as mentioned in Hadith. There is a messenger of Allah and
until and without his command no one can be a part of Jihad. Till the time this happens the
believers were required to stand in mosque do prayers and keep fast. Muslims had to follow
only one god and if they failed in doing so, they would have to bear the consequences for
their sins. There was a time when a woman died in the battle and then Prophet Muhammad
forbad the killing of women and children. It was also mentioned that whosoever was killed in
the name of Allah, world be deemed as martyr. And Ibn Umar reported that people would be
killed until they did not agree to the notation that there is only one god Allah. Further he also
stated that People had to pray and pay zakat to remain safe (Nasr).

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There is another way of looking at Jihad. This concept is one which involves fighting from
within and with their enemies. It is a concept which provokes devotion towards God. This
concept needs to be separated from the thinking of modern Jihadi terrorist who propagate
violence as being the real meaning of jihad. The wave of terror is in Iraq, Turkey, Saudi
Arabia, Yemen and Bangladesh is an example of this. Apart from this ISIS is suing a name of
Jihad to further their wrong doings. ( Roy, 2017).
Rules of Jihad
Jihad is based on certain rules which include the need for opponent to start the fight; to not
perform Jihad for personal benefits; to be launched by the religious leader; to bring the good
in the society; to be the last option to solve a problem; to ensure that no unjustness is
attempted with women; and to also ensure that no pain is caused to women, children or old
people ( Ahmad, 2017).
Jihad which is done by terrorists in the name of religion is serving nobody but themselves.
These terrorist belongs to the radical organisations. Jihad is the concept which can be used by
the government to ensure that a peaceful environment is created. But Jihad should not aim to
hurt innocent public. It is not always necessary to fight something, particularly when it can be
resolved by the judgement of Judge or qadi ( Kendall & Stein, 2015). According to Muslim
community Jihad is “by word” not “by sword”. Sufi’s use greater Jihad as the struggling path
to get harmony and internal Jihad is used to kill all the evil thoughts of a person. Sufis
mentioned that Jihad can be done either by pen or heart and Hanafi jurists mentioned Jihad
can be done by pen and the mouth ( Rothman, 2018). Thus Jihad actually promotes peace and
harmony.

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Conclusion
“Jihad” is not the term which can be used for violence because the meaning of Jihad is totally
different from what it has been practiced. Jihad is based on Islam because there are some
rules and regulations which need to be followed. Jihad is not one of the five pillars of Islam;
but it is actually the sixth pillar of Islam as was traced through the historical discussion
undertaken in previous parts. Jihad does not mean to kill; though when it is used in harming
the innocent people, the terrorists take improper advantage of Jihad. It is to be noted that
sword part of Jihad is to be taken as the last option to resolve violence. Jihad should not hurt
women, children and old people. Jihad needs to be taken from the principle of heart and
needs to be used towards promoting peace.

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References
Ahmad, M. (2017). Jihad, Jihadi Organizations and Liberation Struggle. Hazara Islamicus,
15-31.
Kamal-Ud-Din, K. (2018). Five Pillars of Islam. Creative Media Partners.
Kendall, E., & Stein, E. (2015). Twenty-First Century Jihad: Law, Society and Military
Action. London and New York: Bloomsbury Publishing.
Qureshi, N. (2016). Answering Jihad: A Better Way Forward. New York: Zondervan.
Rashid , Q. (2017 , 07 09). ‘Jihad’ is not a dirty word. Retrieved 01 15, 2020, from Global
Opinions: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/global-opinions/wp/2017/07/08/
jihad-is-not-a-dirty-word/
Rothman, N. C. (2018). Jihad: Peaceful Applications for Society and the. Comparative
Civilization Review, 79, 106.
Roy, O. ( 2017). Jihad and Death: The Global Appeal of Islamic State. London: Oxford
University Press.
BBC. (2009). Religions. Jihad.
Cook, D. (2015). Understanding Jihad. California: Univ of California Press.
Ekinci, E. B. (2015, 03 20). Jihad: A misunderstood Islamic term. Retrieved 01 16, 2020,
from Daily Sabah Religion: https://www.dailysabah.com/religion/2015/03/20/jihad-a-
misunderstood-islamic-term
Melton, K. (2008, 09 05). Our Encyclopaedia. Retrieved 01 15, 2020, from Jihad: The
Arguable Sixth Pillar of Islam:

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http://courses.washington.edu/disisme/Our_Encyclopaedia/Entries/2008/9/5_Jihad__
The_Arguable_Sixth_Pillar_of_Islam.html
Nasr, S. H. (n.d.). The Spiritual Significance of Jihad. Retrieved 01 23, 2020, from Al-
Islam.org: https://www.al-islam.org/al-serat/vol-9-no-1/spiritual-significance-jihad-
seyyed-hossein-nasr/spiritual-significance-jihad
The Oxford Dictionary of Islam. (2020). Oxford Islamic Studies Online . Pillars of Islam.