Date: 8/27/2004
Summary:
Meanings of jihad
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DK Mittal
Efforts are being made to confuse Hin-dus, a jihad has two sharp divisions-(a) jihad Akbar (greater) and (b) jihad asgar (lesser). The former means jihad against one's own desires and is therefore for Muslims, while the latter is against the unbelievers. However, what affects the unbelievers is jihad asgar, which the Hindus had faced during the long spell of Islamic rule.
The institution of jihad was started by the Prophet himself at Medina. His first victim was the Medina poetess Asma Bint Marwan who was assassinated by Umayr in January 624. Asma had both spoken and written despairingly of the Prophet. Another assassination was committed in February 624, at Medina. This time the victim was a centenarian poet, Abu Afak, who had composed some disloyal verses which annoyed the Muslims. Yet, another victim, Ka'b, son of AI- Ashraf, was killed in July 624 (Paul Fregosi in Jihad in the West).
Jihad, as it is known to Hindus, is nothing but bloodshed, destruction of temples, rape, plunder and captives. Paul Pregosi states that the prime motive of fighting and waging jihad to early Arabs were plunder, slaves, women, and eagerness for death in fighting for Islam, which meant immediate entry into paradise for those who died in battle.
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Article:
....................Meanings of jihad
................Date: Tue, August 24, 2004
Ms Sandhya Jain in her article, "Jihad vs the politically correct" (July 13), has mentioned about the All India Muslim Personal Law Board's claims that jihad has nothing to do with terror. Subsequently, Mr KV Paliwal in his letter, "Jihad and terror" (July 15), summarised that Islamic terrorism and jihad are synonymous. Jihad has deliberately been made to remain a controversial word, mainly by the Muslim intellectuals of the Aligarh school of thought.
Efforts are being made to confuse Hin-dus, a jihad has two sharp divisions-(a) jihad Akbar (greater) and (b) jihad asgar (lesser). The former means jihad against one's own desires and is therefore for Muslims, while the latter is against the unbelievers. However, what affects the unbelievers is jihad asgar, which the Hindus had faced during the long spell of Islamic rule.
The institution of jihad was started by the Prophet himself at Medina. His first victim was the Medina poetess Asma Bint Marwan who was assassinated by Umayr in January 624. Asma had both spoken and written despairingly of the Prophet. Another assassination was committed in February 624, at Medina. This time the victim was a centenarian poet, Abu Afak, who had composed some disloyal verses which annoyed the Muslims. Yet, another victim, Ka'b, son of AI- Ashraf, was killed in July 624 (Paul Fregosi in Jihad in the West).
Since then, assassination has remained a powerful mode of vengance in Islam. Recently, Ejaz ul Haq, son of Gen Zia-ul Haq, who is currently the Minister of Religious Affair in Pakistan went on record saying, "One who does not believe in jihad is neither a Muslim nor a Pakistani." Many may not be aware of the mass execution of 600 to 800 men of the Jewish Beni Qureiga tribe of Medina. The carnage had started in the morning at a market place which continued till late evening. Since the institution of jihad was started by the Prophet himself, it cannot be separated from Islam.
India has produced eminent Islamic scholars and the greatest among them was the 18th century Hakim-ul-lslam Shah Waliullah. His writings are widely accepted by Muslims the world over. While explaining the role of Caliph and his duties, he wrote: "...Organisation of jihad and making necessary arrangements for the same as, for example, marshalling an army, remunerating the combatants and distributing the booty among them..." The meaning of jihad becomes amply clear from Shah Waliullah's writings as far as non-believers are concerned.
Ms Jain gives the example of Syed Ahmad Saheed who waged jihad in the early 19th century and other jihads in India. The fundamental question is, who imparted training to them? It is significant that both of them were brought up in Shah Waliullah's school of thought.
In fact, Abdul Aziz had issued a Fatawa-i-Aziziah, in which he had declared India under an alien rule as the Dar-ul-harab (Saviours of Islamic). Conse quently, jihad was waged by Syed Ahmad and Shah Ismail and a hundred mullahs and maulvis from Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Delhi, and Bihar had joined them by tracking 2400 km against the army of Maharaja Ranjit Singh in Punjab.
Naturally, therefore, jihad, as it is known to Hindus, is nothing but bloodshed, destruction of temples, rape, plunder and captives. Paul Pregosi states that the prime motive of fighting and waging jihad to early Arabs were plunder, slaves, women, and eagerness for death in fighting for Islam, which meant immediate entry into paradise for those who died in battle.
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