Question of the Week:
What is Jihad?
On
Tuesday, April 1, 2003, Iraqi Information Minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf
read the following statement, which he said came from Saddam Hussein:
"The aggression that the aggressors are
carrying out against the stronghold of faith is an aggression on the
religion, the wealth, the honor and the soul and an aggression on the
land of Islam.
"Therefore, jihad is a duty in
confronting them… those who are martyred will be rewarded in heaven.
Seize the opportunity, my brothers.
"Strike at them, fight them. They are
aggressors, evil, accursed by God. You shall be victorious and they
shall be vanquished.
"Fight them everywhere the way you are
fighting them today. And don't give them a chance to catch their breath
until they declare it and withdraw from the lands of the Muslims,
defeated and cursed in this life and the afterlife."
Two questions arise: What is
jihad?, and Why would devout Muslims heed such a call? To
answer those questions we turn to brothers Ergun and Emir Caner. Born in
Turkey, they were raised as Muslims, but are now followers of Jesus
Christ. They explain the benefits promised to those who die in battle
defending Islam:
Jihad and Eternal Security
And if you are slain or die in
the way of Allah, forgiveness and mercy from Allah are far better than
all they could amass. (surah 3:157)
The Prophet said, "The person who
participates in [holy battles] in Allah's cause and nothing compels him
to do so except belief in Allah and His Apostles, will be recompensed by
Allah either with a reward, or booty [if he survives] or will be
admitted to Paradise [if he is killed in the battle as a martyr]. (hadith
1.35)
Talking heads on television continually
pass along the politically correct notion that jihad means "internal
struggle for piety" and not military engagement. Yet it does not require
a cleric's teaching to see that the Qur'an promises Paradise to those
who die in battle for Islam more certainly than it promises salvation to
anyone else.
The Hadith makes it transparent that
jihad has as its primary characteristic a bloody struggle involving
military battles. Allah's apostle said, "There is no Hijra [i.e.
migration from Mecca to Medina] after the Conquest [of Mecca], but jihad
and good intention remain; and if you are called [by the Muslim ruler]
for fighting, go forth immediately" (52.42).
The promise of eternal security is the
ultimate motive behind the passion for Allah in the eager young Muslim
warrior. He follows the footsteps of the messenger Muhammad, who fought
for the cause of Allah. He is obeying the noble words of the Qur'an and
Hadith, which legitimize his use of the sword. And if he is killed in
battle, he achieves the desire of his heart—Allah's guarantee of a spot
at the highest level of Paradise.
In their book Unveiling Islam,
the Caners quote a declaration signed in 1998 by leaders of five Islamic
factions, “to call the Muslim world to common cause against the
perceived enemy of Islam.” The declaration reads in part:
Praise be to Allah, who revealed the
Book, controls the clouds, defeats factionalism, and says in His Book
“But when the forbidden months are past, then fight and slay the pagans
wherever you find them, seize them, beleaguer them, and lie in wait for
them in every stratagem (of war)”;…
…in compliance with Allah’s order, we
issue the following fatwa [a call to take up violent jihad] to all
Muslims
The ruling to kill the Americans and
their allies—civilians and military—is an individual duty for every
Muslim who can do it in any country in which it is possible to do it,
in order to liberate the al-Aqsa Mosque and the holy mosque from their
grip, and in order for their armies to move out of all the lands of
Islam, defeated and unable to threaten any Muslim. This is in accordance
with the words of Almighty Allah, "and fight the pagans all together as
they fight you all together," and "fight them until there is no more
tumult or oppression, and there prevail justice and faith in Allah."…
Almighty Allah said "O you who believe,
give your response to Allah and His Apostle, when He calls you to that
which will give you life. And know that Allah comes between a man and
his heart, and that it is He to whom you shall all be gathered."
Almighty Allah also says "O you who
believe, what is the matter with you, that when you are asked to go
forth in the cause of Allah, you cling so heavily to the earth? Do you
prefer the life of this world to the hereafter? But little is the
comfort of this life, as compared with the hereafter. Unless you go
forth, He will punish you with a grievous penalty, and put others in
your place; but Him you would not harm in the least. For Allah hath
power over all things."
Almighty Allah also says "So lose no
heart, nor fall into despair. For you must gain mastery if you are true
in faith."
The Caners explain:
Were the men who flew planes into the
towers and into the Pentagon acting out the wild ranting of a cultic
leader who has bastardized the peaceful religion of Islam? Or did
they offer their lives because they believed orthodox Islamic doctrine?
The authors of this book assert that Islam does in fact have an
essential and indispensable tenet of militaristic conquest. The
terrorists were not some fringe group that changed the Qur'an to suit
political ends. They understood the Qur'an quite well and followed the
teachings of jihad to the letter.
In both the Qur’an and the Hadith, the
infidel (kafir) must be converted or conquered. Muslims who die in the
struggle against infidels (jihad) will immediately be translated to the
highest level of paradise. Much of this doctrine draws on admonitions
and injunctions in the Hadith, but strong Qur'anic foundations exist for
holy war.
High Jihad Is Warfare
The Qur'an, supposedly from the very
mouth of Allah, takes a dim view of the nonbeliever. Strictly speaking,
jihad means a continuing warfare against them. Despite the
explanations of Islamic apologists after the terrorist attacks, jihad
does not primarily refer to a "struggle of personal piety." Jihad is
combat on the fronts of politics, warfare, and culture. Muhammad
exemplified this principle when he authorized the slaughter of thousands
of men throughout the Arabian Peninsula in the name of Allah. If jihad
is only a personal internal struggle, the Prophet misled the people
through his actions and words as recorded in the Hadith. In the end, he
was the personification of a militaristic theologian, which the Hadith
accurately illustrates. In surah 2:190, Allah says, "Fight [jihad] in
the cause of Allah those who fight [ajihad] you." The definition of this
struggle includes the possibility of violence:
And slay them wherever you catch
them, and turn them out from where they have turned you out, for tumult
and oppression are worse than slaughter. (surah 2:191)
Finally, the Caners comment on the
rewards promised to those who engage in jihad:
The reward for jihadic endeavor has been
a topic of debate. Were the suicide pilots and hijackers [of 9/11]
indeed expecting forgiveness of sin and a certain degree of honor in
paradise for their horrific deeds? Both the Qur’an and the Hadith
illustrate exacting and precise protocols that were clearly enunciated
by Shaikh Usamah Bin-Muhammad Bin-Ladin, and explicitly followed by the
terrorists. The Qur’an is clean in the policy of atoning martyrdom:
Let those who fight in the cause
of Allah who sell the life of this world for the Hereafter. To him who
fights in the cause of Allah,—whether he is slain or gets victory—soon
shall We give him a reward of great value.” (surah 4:74)
The Promised Victory
The Hadith explicitly states that the
Muslim is promised eternal victory in the act of holy war. Victory
includes both the success of battle, the promise of eternal forgiveness,
and translation to the highest level of paradise. Here, the authors of
this book note the most stark contrast of Islam to Western culture and
life: The terrorists who died in the bombing sincerely believed that
they would be forgiven of all sin by Allah. They followed a route
completely antithetical to the Christian mind, since Muslim beliefs are
antipathetic to the Christian faith. Since Allah is completely removed
from his people and is in no way incarnational or personal, the
terrorists followed the route imposed upon them by the only sources they
trusted and that guaranteed them paradise: the literal rendering of the
Hadith and Qur'an.
First, Allah promises victory in the
conquest of land. In reference to the capture of Mecca, it is recorded,
'Ubaid bin 'Umar Al-Laithi and I
visited Aisha and asked her about the Hijra (i.e. migration), and she
said, "Today there is no [Hijra] emigration. A believer used to run away
with his religion to Allah and His Apostle lest he should be put to
trial because of his religion. Today Allah has made Islam triumphant,
and today a believer can worship his Lord wherever he likes." (hadith
5.58.240; see also 4.42. This verse is repeated in 5.59.602)
Second, and most important to the
Muslim, Allah promises to jihad martyrs eternal forgiveness and blessing
in Paradise. For the Muslim who fears that the scales may be weighted
toward his eternal damnation, jihad provides the only true eternal
security. For the Muslim in fear or without hope, death in jihad is not
only a viable option—it may be the only option. Twice Allah guarantees
entrance into paradise for the Muslim who dies in jihad:
Narrated Abu Huraira: Allah's
Apostle said, "Allah guarantees to the person who carries out Jihad for
His Cause and nothing compelled him to go out but the Jihad in His
Cause, and belief in His Words, that He will either admit him into
Paradise or return him with his reward or the booty he has earned to his
residence from where he went out." (hadith 9.93.549)
Narrated Abu Huraira: Allah's
Apostle said, "Allah guarantees [to the person who carries out Jihad in
His Cause and nothing compelled him to go out but Jihad in His Cause and
the belief in His Word] that He will either admit him into Paradise
[martyrdom] or return him with reward or booty he has earned to his
residence from where he went out." (hadith 9.93.555)
The nature of the heavenly abode is
detailed explicitly in Hadith volume 9, book 93. A literal exposition
demonstrates that militaristic jihad gives the greatest of rewards to
the Muslim striving to serve Allah with all his heart. The devout Muslim
is, therefore, compelled into militaristic service. The term "Muslim
fundamentalist" is correct insofar as it refers to someone who desires
to follow Allah wholeheartedly and with an honest, simple devotion to
the Islamic scriptures. Muhammed is cited as saying in the chapter,
Narrated Abu Huraira: The Prophet
said, "... There are one-hundred degrees in Paradise which Allah has
prepared for those who carry on Jihad in His Cause. The distance between
every two degrees is like the distance between the sky and the Earth, so
if you ask Allah for anything, ask Him for the Firdaus, for it is the
last part of Paradise and the highest part of Paradise, and at its top
there is the Throne of Beneficent, and from it gush forth the rivers of
Paradise." (hadith 9.93.519)
It is therefore clear to even the most
casual reader that jihad is more than just an intellectual exercise of
struggle, but rather a struggle and warfare, with death as the hoped-for
conclusion. Muhammed echoed this conclusion in hadith 4.73: "Mohammed
said: Know that paradise is under the shades of the sword."
(All quotes from Unveiling Islam
used by permission of the authors and Kregel Publishers.)
If you would like to learn more
about Islamic beliefs concerning Allah, salvation and jihad, please look
for the following resources:
Ergun Mehmet Caner and Emir Fethi
Caner, Unveiling Islam (Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publishers,
2002).
Ergun Mehmet Caner and Emir Fethi
Caner, More Than A Prophet (Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publishers,
2003).
John Ankerberg and John Weldon,
Fast Facts on Islam (Eugene, OR: Harvest House Publishers, 2001).
[Available in our catalog]
Islam vs. Christianity
(VHS debate) featuring Hussein Morsi, Jamal Badawi, Anis Shorrosh and
Gleason Archer, moderated by Dr. John Ankerberg [Available in our
catalog.]
Or consult the articles in the ISLAM
section of the ATRI Journal online.
