Jihad Revisited

This post is a follow up to a six part series on Jihad which was posted at Freedom Ain't Free, Snooper's Word Press blog. Part one of the series is here. The series has been republished in Windows Help File (chm) format and can be downloaded from the New Extended Library at Crusader's Armory. A similar six part series on Islamic Terror is also available. (This post is not included in the compilation.)

The quotes from Reliance of the Traveller are documented in EgregiousAyat.chm, also available from the library linked above. There is no more authoritative source than the handbook of Sharia. I have linked to the text file used as my source.

The quote from the Noble Qur'an footnote to 2:190 is OCR'd from the pdf file linked below. Note that the syntax & vocabulary match that of Sahih Bukhari, which was also translated by Hilali.

I have added emphasis to make the most critical clauses stand out. With a careful reading, you will discover the congruent pattern formed by the Qur'an, hadith & Sharia which is derived from them.

Lets take another look at the definition of Jihad. First, as defined by Sharia.

The Reliance of the Traveller

Chapter O-9.0: Jihad
(O: Jihad means to war against non-Muslims, and is etymologically derived from the word mujahada signifying warfare to establish the religion. And it is the lesser jihad. As for the greater jihad, it is spiritual warfare against the lower self (nafs), which is why the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said as he was returning from jihad.
"We have returned from the lesser jihad to the greater jihad.''
The scriptural basis for jihad, prior to scholarly consensus (def: b-7) is such Koranic verses as:
1- "Fighting is prescribed for you'' (Koran 2:216);
2- "Slay them wherever you find them'' (Koran 4:89);
3- "Fight the idolators utterly'' (Koran 9:36);
and such hadiths as the one related by Bukhari and Muslim that the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said:
"I have been commanded to fight people until they testify that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, and perform the prayer, and pay zakat. If they say it, they have saved their blood and possessions from me, except for the rights of Islam over them. And their final reckoning is with Allah'';
and the hadith reported by Muslim,
"To go forth in the morning or evening to fight in the path of Allah is better than the whole world and everything in it.''Details concerning jihad are found in the accounts of the military expeditions of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace), including his own martial forays and those on which he dispatched others. The former consist of the ones he personally attended, some twenty-seven (others say twenty-nine) of them. He fought in eight of them, and killed only one person with his noble hand, Ubayy ibn Khalaf, at the battle of Uhud. On the latter expeditions he sent others to fight, himself remaining at Medina, and these were forty-seven in number.)

• Jihad means to war against non-Muslims. And Moe proved it at least 74 times. What more do we need to know?

Second, we'll examine the translator's commentary from The Noble Qur'an 2:190.[2:190; English translation not shown.]

V. 2:190) Al-Jihad (holy fighting) ln AlIah's Cause (with full force of numbers
and weaponry) is given the utmost importance in Islam and is one of its pillars (on
which it stands). By Jihad Islam is established, Allah's Word is made superior, (His
Word belng La Haha illallah which means none has the right to be worshipped but
Allah), and His Religion (Islam) is propagated. By abandoning Jihad (may Allah
protect us from that) Islam is destroyed and the Muslims fall into an inferior
position; their honour is lost, their lands are stolen, their rule and authority vanish.
Jihad is an obligatory duty In Islam on every Muslim, and he who tries to escape
from this duty, or does not in his innermost heart wish to fulfil this duty, dies with
one of the qualities of a hypocrite.
Narrated Abdullah bin Masud I asked Allah's Messenger, 'O Allah's Messenger!
what is th e best deed?' He replied, "To offer the Salat (prayers) at their early fixed
stated times.' I asked, 'What is next ln goodness?" He replied, 'To be good and
dutlful to your parents." I further asked, 'What is next in goodness?' He replied,
'To participate in Jihad in Allaha's Cause.' I did not ask AIIAh's Messenger anymore
and if l had asked him more. he would have told me more. (Sahi Al-Bukhari VoI.4. Hadith N¤.41).[Translation of the meanings of The Nobl Qur’an , in the English Language - By Dr. Muhammad Taqiuddeen al-Hilaalee, Ph.D. and Dr. Muhammad Muhsin Khan .
King Fahd Complex for the Printing of The Holy Quran, Madina, K.S.A - 978p[PDF] {scanned image}]

• Al-Jihad (holy fighting) ln AlIah's Cause (with full force of numbers and weaponry) is given the utmost importance in Islam and is one of its pillars (on which it stands).

We have two definitions:

• Jihad:
• means to war against non-Muslims
• signifying warfare to establish the religion
• (holy fighting) ln AlIah's Cause.
• By Jihad Islam is established

Clearly those definitions tend toward aggression: "warfare to establish"; Islam is propagated.
But Abdullah Yusuf Ali disagrees:

• v.190 : War is only permissible in self-defence,...

Likewise Muhammad Assad.

• v.190 : This and the following verses lay down unequivocally that only self-defence (in the widest sense of the word) makes war permissible for Muslims. ...

What did Allah say?

• 2:190. And fight in the Way of Allâh those who fight you, but transgress not the limits. Truly, Allâh likes not the transgressors. [This Verse is the first one that was revealed in connection with Jihâd, but it was supplemented by another (V.9:36)].
  

  • Permission for defense does not rule out aggression.
• 22:39. Permission to fight is given to those (i.e. believers against disbelievers), who are fighting them, (and) because they (believers) have been wronged, and surely, Allâh is Able to give them (believers) victory.
• Once again, defense is permitted but offense is not barred.
• 9:123. O you who believe! Fight those of the disbelievers who are close to you, and let them find harshness in you, and know that Allâh is with those who are the Al-Muttaqûn (the pious - see V.2:2).
• Obvious authorization for aggression!

What did Moe say?

Sahih Bukhari Volume 1, Book 8, Number 387:
Narrated Anas bin Malik:
Allah's Apostle said, "I have been ordered to fight the people till they say: 'None has the right to be worshipped but Allah.' And if they say so, pray like our prayers, face our Qibla and slaughter as we slaughter, then their blood and property will be sacred to us and we will not interfere with them except legally and their reckoning will be with Allah." Narrated Maimun ibn Siyah that he asked Anas bin Malik, "O Abu Hamza! What makes the life and property of a person sacred?" He replied, "Whoever says, 'None has the right to be worshipped but Allah', faces our Qibla during the prayers, prays like us and eats our slaughtered animal, then he is a Muslim, and has got the same rights and obligations as other Muslims have."

Bukhari Volume 4, Book 52, Number 196:
Narrated Abu Huraira:
Allah 's Apostle said, " I have been ordered to fight with the people till they say, 'None has the right to be worshipped but Allah,' and whoever says, 'None has the right to be worshipped but Allah,' his life and property will be saved by me except for Islamic law, and his accounts will be with Allah, (either to punish him or to forgive him.)"

Abu Dawud 14.2635
Narrated Anas ibn Malik:

The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) said: I am commanded to fight with men till they testify that there is no god but Allah, and that Muhammad is His servant and His Apostle, face our qiblah (direction of prayer), eat what we slaughter, and pray like us. When they do that, their life and property are unlawful for us except what is due to them. They will have the same rights as the Muslims have, and have the same responsibilities as the Muslims have.

Where the Hell did he get that idea: commanded/ordered to fight?

• 8:39. And fight them until there is no more Fitnah (disbelief and polytheism: i.e. worshipping others besides Allâh) and the religion (worship) will all be for Allâh Alone [in the whole of the world ]. But if they cease (worshipping others besides Allâh), then certainly, Allâh is All-Seer of what they do.
• 9:29. Fight against those who (1) believe not in Allâh, (2) nor in the Last Day, (3) nor forbid that which has been forbidden by Allâh and His Messenger (4) and those who acknowledge not the religion of truth (i.e. Islâm) among the people of the Scripture (Jews and Christians), until they pay the Jizyah with willing submission, and feel themselves subdued.

No mention of defense in those commands; they are imperatives of aggressive conquest. Ibn Kathir confirms it.

• Allah commanded His Messenger to strive hard against the disbelievers and the hypocrites and to be harsh against them. ... Ibn `Abbas said, "Allah commanded the Prophet to fight the disbelievers with the sword, to strive against the hypocrites with the tongue and annulled lenient treatment of them.'' Ad-Dahhak commented, "Perform Jihad against the disbelievers with the sword and be harsh with the hypocrites with words, and this is the Jihad performed against them.'' ...The Order for Jihad against the Disbelievers and Hypocrites
• ...Allah commanded His Messenger to fight the People of the Scriptures, Jews and Christians, on the ninth year of Hijrah, and he prepared his army to fight the Romans and called the people to Jihad announcing his intent and destination....The Order to fight People of the Scriptures until They give the Jizyah
• Allah then commanded fighting the disbelievers when He said:..(...until there is no more Fitnah) meaning, Shirk. ...Allah's statement: (...and the religion (all and every kind of worship) is for Allah (Alone).) means, `So that the religion of Allah becomes dominant above all other religions.' ....The Order to fight until there is no more Fitnah
• Allah said, (And fight them until there is no more Fitnah, and the religion will all be for Allah alone.)...

  (I was commanded to fight against the people until they proclaim, `There is no deity worthy of worship except Allah.' If and when they say it, they will preserve their blood and wealth from me, except for its right (Islamic penal code), and their reckoning is with Allah, the Exalted and Most Honored.) ... The Order to fight to eradicate Shirk and Kufr

Jihad means war, Allah commanded Moe to make war against Pagans, Jews & Christians. What does Islamic law say about this?We turn once more to Reliance of the Traveller.

O9.1: The Obligatory Character of Jihad

Jihad is a communal obligation (def: c3.2). When enough people perform it to successfully accomplish it, it is no longer obligatory upon others (O: the evidence for which is the Prophet's saying (Allah bless him and give him peace),

"He who provides the equipment for a soldier in jihad has himself performed jihad,"

and Allah Most High having said:

"Those of the believers who are unhurt but sit behind are not equal to those who fight in Allah's path with their property and lives. Allah has preferred those who fight with their property and lives a whole degree above those who sit behind. And to each, Allah has promised great good" (Koran 4:95).

If none of those concerned perform jihad, and it does not happen at all, then everyone who is aware that it is obligatory is guilty of sin, if there was a possibility of having performed it. In the time of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) jihad was a communal obligation after his emigration (hijra) to Medina. As for subsequent times, there are two possible states in respect to non-Muslims.

The first is when they are in their own countries, in which case jihad (def: o9.8) is a communal obligation, and this is what our author is speaking of when he says, "Jihad is a communal obligation," meaning upon the Muslims each year.

The second state is when non-Muslims invade a Muslim country or near to one, in which case jihad is personally obligatory (def: c3.2) upon the inhabitants of that country, who must repel the non-Muslims with whatever they can).

Jihad is a communal obligation which must be performed each year, against us in our own countries. What???

O-9.8: The Objectives of Jihad
The caliph (o-25) makes war upon Jews, Christians, and Zoroastrians (N: provided he has first invited them to enter Islam in faith and practice, and if they will not, then invited them to enter the social order of Islam by paying the non-Muslim poll tax (jizya, def: o-11.4) -which is the significance of their paying it, not the money itself-while remaining in their ancestral religions) (O: and the war continues) until they become Muslim or else pay the non-Muslim poll tax (O: in accordance with the word of Allah Most High,
"Fight those who do not believe in Allah and the Last Day and who forbid not what Allah and His messenger have forbidden-who do not practice the religion of truth, being of those who have been given the Book-until they pay the poll tax out of hand and are humbled" (Koran 9.29),
the time and place for which is before the final descent of Jesus (upon whom be peace). After his final coming, nothing but Islam will be accepted from them, for taking the poll tax is only effective until Jesus' descent (upon him and our Prophet be peace), which is the divinely revealed law of Muhammad. The coming of Jesus does not entail a separate divinely revealed law, for he will rule by the law of Muhammad. As for the Prophet's saying (Allah bless him and give him peace),
"I am the last, there will be no prophet after me,"
this does not contradict the final coming of Jesus (upon whom be peace), since he will not rule according to the Evangel, but as a follower of our Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) ).

O-9.9
The caliph fights all other peoples until they become Muslim (O: because they are not a people with a Book, nor honored as such, and are not permitted to settle with paying the poll tax (jizya) ) (n: though according to the Hanafi school, peoples of all other religions, even idol worshippers, are permitted to live under the protection of the Islamic state if they either become Muslim or agree to pay the poll tax, the sole exceptions to which are apostates from Islam and idol worshippers who are Arabs, neither of whom has any choice but becoming Muslim (al-Hidaya sharh Bidaya al-mubtadi' (y-21), 6.48-49) ).

So much for the defensive war theory. It is aggressive, must be performed in every year, and continues until the whole world is subjugated.

Abu Dawud Book 14, Number 2526


Narrated Anas ibn Malik:

The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) said: Three things are the roots of faith: to refrain from (killing) a person who utters, "There is no god but Allah" and not to declare him unbeliever whatever sin he commits, and not to excommunicate him from Islam for his any action; and jihad will be performed continuously since the day Allah sent me as a prophet until the day the last member of my community will fight with the Dajjal (Antichrist). The tyranny of any tyrant and the justice of any just (ruler) will not invalidate it. One must have faith in Divine decree.

Observe this list of accursed deceptions:

• Islam forbids violence in all its forms. OIC Statement by Ambassador Masood Khan on “Incitement to Racial and Religious Hatred and the Promotion of Tolerance” at The Human Rights Council, Geneva, 21 September 2006
• Many world leaders, leading media organizations, television and radio stations told their own people that true Islam forbids violence, and commands peace between people and nations. The Western circles that have come to a full grasp of the religion of Islam and are well-informed about the true Islam commanded by God in the Koran noted clearly that the words of Islam and terror cannot stand side by side, and divine religions by no means permit violence. Harun Yahya, Religious Tolerance
• In a letter delivered to every mosque across Britain the Muslim Council reminds its members that Islam forbids violence. http://www.abc.net.au/am/content/2004/s1078512.htm
• Islam forbids violence, since Islam mean peace. KH. Khodamul Quddus
• Islam forbids violence for defending the faith; violence against women and children even in war, and violence against oneself (suicide). Bashir Khanbhai, Member of European Parliament
• Islam forbids violence and the shedding of human blood. War can not be used to win over non-Muslims to Islam. Muhammad Haniff Hassan.
• “Being a religion of peace and harmony, Islam forbids violence and is against all acts that bring any harm to the innocent people. It preaches tolerance, mutual accommodation and co - existence, “ Saudi Ambassador Ali Awadh Asseri
• The word Jihad does not mean "Holy War". Jihad means effort or endeavors against man’s own self. Jihad is to work hard to do right things. Islam ask his followers to recognize their duty towards themselves, and that duty is Jihad, striving for good against evil, beginning with the conquest of a man’s own lusts. Shazia Mirza
• Literally, jihad means doing one’s utmost to realize a goal. It is not the equivalent of war, for which Arabic and the Qur’an use qital. http://islambyquestions.net/jihad/meaning.htm
• In a religious sense, as described by the Koran and teachings of the Prophet Mohammed, Jihad means striving for the benefit of the community or the restraint of personal sins. ...Jihad is not a violent concept....Jihad is not a declaration of war against other religions. It is worth noting that the Koran specifically refers to Jews and Christians as "people of the book" who should be protected and respected. From a Reuters article.
• The essential meaning of Jihad is the spiritual, psychological, and physical effort we
  exert to be close to God and thus achieve a just and harmonious society. ...A third level of Jihad is popularly known as "holy war." The classic passage is found in the Qur'an:
  Fight in the way of Allah those who fight against you, but transgress not the limits.
  Truly Allah likes not the transgressors (Qur'an 2:190). It is crucial to note here that what is condoned is defensive warfare; Islam cannot justify aggressive war. Adapted from Ira 6. Zepp, Jr., A Muslim Primer
• Jihad means life, and not war or murder. Mufti of the Arab Republic of Syria Sheikh Ahmad Badr Al-Din
  Hasun.
• Jihad means "struggle" and "strive" against evil thoughts, evil action and aggression against a person, family, society or country. Jihad may be a "justifiable war", borrowing the Christian term. M. Amir Ali, Ph.D.
• ...That jihad means a perpetual war against non-Muslims is supported neither by the Qur’an nor the hadith... Hesham A. Hassaballa and Kabir Helminski

Henceforth you know, and should have no doubt that whenever you see or hear a statement to the effect that Islam is a religion of peace, tolerance & non-violence, that you are coming under the influence of a damned liar who can not be trusted.