Understanding Jihad:-
After 9/11 the world was united to root out terrorism from the globe. In this regard USA took the charge and invaded Afghanistan. From that day till now this war is on and we are not sure when it will come to an end.
Islam came under sever media attacks for its role in terrorism. It was presented in the media as if Islam and terrorism are one and same. This misconception resulted in the hatred against Islam and Muslims. This trend also encouraged laws discriminatory to the Muslim community.
Two most debated issues on media were Veil and Jihad. Veil is worn by Muslim females in order to cover their head and face. European countries were so obsessed with Islam that they banned Veil. All the claims of freedom, liberty and individual' s rights were set aside. Switzerland even took a further step and it stopped construction of Mosques, worship place for the Muslims.
Jihad was discussed more and more in the media. Many scholars with little knowledge came and talked about this concept. In reality majority of them were least aware of this concept. The reason is very simple even Muslim community is not fully conversant with this concept.
Jihad literary means " To struggle". It is an Arabic word. In Islam it has different stages and Western media is presenting only one stage, the last one. Before commenting on this, I will just give a quick look at the different stages of Jihad.
First and the most important stage of Jihad is Self Purification. It is control on one will and emotions. It is the state which any Muslim will keep on doing all his life. The reason for this struggle is very simple because as long as the person is living, he will have emotions and feelings. Controlling them is a difficult task but the first stage of Jihad says that it should be done and without it everything is meaningless.
Second stage or kind of Jihad is struggle against evil with Wealth. If a person is wealthy he should contribute to the society by spending money in different sectors in order to keep the people away from crimes and sins. This is the responsibility of the State as well as individual.
Third kind of Jihad is struggle with Pen. If a person is literate and Allah has gifted the person with talent of good writing he should propagate against sins and wrong doings of the society. It is the responsibility of each literate person to struggle against evil doings by writing or speaking against it.
If a person is speaking against evil doings or evil doer he is also performing Jihad. In fact the best Jihad after Self Purification is saying Truth in front of tyrant. Person should have courage to face hardships in the face of his outspoken sayings against bad but powerful people.
From the above lines it is obvious that Jihad has nothing to do with violence and the misconception spread by the Western media is based on bias and lack of knowledge. It is amazing that a concept which is for the betterment of individuals and society is treated as an equivalent to terrorism.
The reason for this misconception is the misuse of the word Jihad. For this misuse Western media is not responsible. In reality all this misconception about Jihad has been spread by the Muslims themselves. They have confined Jihad to the last kind only.
In the last phase or kind of Jihad, it is the duty of the state to declare war against evil. Now this is very important. State and only state can declare war. No person or group individually can declare Jihad.
It is very tragic that the world is unaware of the term Jihad and it is misused. It is duty of Muslims to educate and spread the real meaning of Islam.
Islam came under sever media attacks for its role in terrorism. It was presented in the media as if Islam and terrorism are one and same. This misconception resulted in the hatred against Islam and Muslims. This trend also encouraged laws discriminatory to the Muslim community.
Two most debated issues on media were Veil and Jihad. Veil is worn by Muslim females in order to cover their head and face. European countries were so obsessed with Islam that they banned Veil. All the claims of freedom, liberty and individual' s rights were set aside. Switzerland even took a further step and it stopped construction of Mosques, worship place for the Muslims.
Jihad was discussed more and more in the media. Many scholars with little knowledge came and talked about this concept. In reality majority of them were least aware of this concept. The reason is very simple even Muslim community is not fully conversant with this concept.
Jihad literary means " To struggle". It is an Arabic word. In Islam it has different stages and Western media is presenting only one stage, the last one. Before commenting on this, I will just give a quick look at the different stages of Jihad.
First and the most important stage of Jihad is Self Purification. It is control on one will and emotions. It is the state which any Muslim will keep on doing all his life. The reason for this struggle is very simple because as long as the person is living, he will have emotions and feelings. Controlling them is a difficult task but the first stage of Jihad says that it should be done and without it everything is meaningless.
Second stage or kind of Jihad is struggle against evil with Wealth. If a person is wealthy he should contribute to the society by spending money in different sectors in order to keep the people away from crimes and sins. This is the responsibility of the State as well as individual.
Third kind of Jihad is struggle with Pen. If a person is literate and Allah has gifted the person with talent of good writing he should propagate against sins and wrong doings of the society. It is the responsibility of each literate person to struggle against evil doings by writing or speaking against it.
If a person is speaking against evil doings or evil doer he is also performing Jihad. In fact the best Jihad after Self Purification is saying Truth in front of tyrant. Person should have courage to face hardships in the face of his outspoken sayings against bad but powerful people.
From the above lines it is obvious that Jihad has nothing to do with violence and the misconception spread by the Western media is based on bias and lack of knowledge. It is amazing that a concept which is for the betterment of individuals and society is treated as an equivalent to terrorism.
The reason for this misconception is the misuse of the word Jihad. For this misuse Western media is not responsible. In reality all this misconception about Jihad has been spread by the Muslims themselves. They have confined Jihad to the last kind only.
In the last phase or kind of Jihad, it is the duty of the state to declare war against evil. Now this is very important. State and only state can declare war. No person or group individually can declare Jihad.
It is very tragic that the world is unaware of the term Jihad and it is misused. It is duty of Muslims to educate and spread the real meaning of Islam.
I like to write about different subjects. Personally I like history, politics and international relations. I spend my weekend watching football matches and normally my family members complain that I give too much time to TV. |
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