Jihad
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Jihad is widely misunderstood throughout
the western world.
Non-Muslims fearfully regard jihad as an
Islamic practice that aims to wage 'Holy
War' against all disbelievers, to convert
them to Islam or to kill them.
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"Jihad in Islam is
STRIVING IN THE WAY OF ALLAH
by:
pen, tongue, hand, media and, if inevitable, with arms.
However, jihad in Islam does not include striving for
individual or national power, dominance, glory, wealth,
prestige or pride."
By M. Amir Ali, Ph.D. :
Jihad explained: http://www.islam101.com/dawah/jihad_explained.html
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Jihad literally means:
to strive or to struggle.
This is a constant struggle to preserve one's faith
and defend the rights to freedom of worship.
The Qur’an says:
Do great jihad with the help of the Qur’an. (25:52)
This implies that Muslims strive to do great things
with the ideological power of the Qur’an.
In other words: peaceful activism.
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Jihad means striving to the utmost extent of
one's ability and power by:


exerting oneself spiritually in the way of
Allah
and doing one's best to preach the
message of Islam to others.
This is the jihad for which a Muslim strives
throughout his or her life.
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When used in the narrower sense
of fighting against a visible enemy,
jihad means fighting only in selfdefence, when the initiative of
attack is taken by the other party.
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Internal Struggle
The prophet Muhammad called this the greater Jihad.
Muslims strive to live their lives as Allah has instructedwhich requires believers to fight their own selfish
desires.
Some ways in which Muslims engage in the ‘greater
jihad’:
• Learning the Qur'an by heart, or engaging in other
religious study.
• Overcoming things such as anger, greed, hatred,
pride, or malice.
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Lesser Jihad
On his return from a battle, the Prophet said:
"We are finished with the lesser jihad; now we are
starting the greater jihad."
He explained to his followers that fighting against an
outer enemy is the lesser jihad and fighting against
one's self is the greater jihad (holy war).
War is seen as the lesser jihad.
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References:
The True Spirit of Islam: http://www.muslim.org/islam/jihad.htm
Jihad:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/islam/beliefs/jihad_1.shtml
Jihad is a Peaceful Struggle:
http://islam101.net/peace-in-islam/277-jihad-is-a-peaceful-struggle.html
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