2:21 The concept of “jihad” is arguably the most misunderstood and misused of all Islamic concepts. In the run-up to the Akwatia bye-election, my friend Baba Jamal is reported to have declared a jihad in Akwatia. This sent shivers down the spine of people. Two weeks ago, the Minister for Communication, Haruna Iddrisu was on Metro television’s “Good Morning Ghana” programme with Kwabena Bomfeh the CPP’s National Youth Organizer.
Bomfeh sought to blame the incidents of violence in the Akwatia bye-election to the alleged declaration of jihad by Baba Jamal. Unfortunately, my friend Haruna could not defend that allegation against his party’s Deputy General Secretary in my view, because of his own lack of a proper understanding of the concept.
Two days later I received this message from a face book friend of mine called Worlanyo Aidam: “Hi bro, can you please explain what jihad means in the Holy Qur’an?” I responded that I will. This article is an attempt at answering that question. It will come in three parts. Read on.
I must state quickly, that the word “jihad” does not mean war. In part three of this article, I shall explain how the word became associated with war, to the extent that today when the word “jihad” is mentioned, it is immediately associated with “holy war”.
Arabic, like other Semitic languages, is made up largely of trilateral consonantal roots from which a bewilderingly large variety of verbs, nouns and the like derive. The trilateral root of the word “jihad” is J-H- D pronounced in Arabic as “Jawu”, “Hawu” and “Dial”. It takes its root from Qur’an chapter 22 Verse 78. I shall do a transliteration of the verse before I do a translation. “Wa Jaahidu fee Lahi Haqa Jihaadi hi…” This means, “And strive in the cause of Allah as it behoves you to strive for it…” Thus “jihad” means striving in the cause of Allah.
According to Islamic teaching, humankind was created with the sole purpose of worshipping the creator (God). “And I have not created the Jinn and the men but that they may worship me”. (Q:51:56) In Islam, worship is a broad concept that includes every striving to please God. Thus an act of kindness to a friend or neighbor or even a stranger is considered an act of worship in Islam. Therefore every act of the Muslim ought to be a “jihad” (striving) to please God.
From J-H-D, we derive other forms like “ijtihad” and “ijma”. “Ijtihad” is associated with the Muslim intellectual striving to elaborate independent judgments on legal or theological questions. “Ijtihad” is the third source of law in Islam after the Qur’an and the hadith (the sayings of the Prophet Muhammad). “Ijtihad” is the legal ruling that is given by a “mujtahid”(someone who engages in the act of deciphering and interpreting God’s word).
“Ijma” on the other hand is the consensus of opinion, arrived at by a group of “mujtahids” in a given period of time or even within a geographical area.
This far, I have tried to establish the meaning of the word “jihad”, using its etymological derivation. Indeed the verbal noun “jihad” as a derivative of J-H-D only occurs four times in the Qur’an while active verbs and participles related to it come up more frequently.
Now let us turn to the concept of war in Islam. If we were to translate “holy war” into Arabic literally, we would get the following rendition. “Al-harb al-qudsiyya” or “al-harb al-mugaddasah”. Indeed the Arabic word for war is “al-harb”. The thought that “al-harb” (war) could be described as holy is probably out of sorts.
“Dar al-harb”, (the sphere of war) refers to anti-Muslim territory where people live, who have shown themselves hostile to God’s plan for humankind. In other words, territory where the people do not permit the practice of Islam or where people are fought for no other reason than that they are Muslims.
“Harb” in a religious context (like kufr) refers to warfare against God, refusing to acknowledge the divine sovereignty. The opposite of such “harb” or war is “salaam” or peace. Thus Dar Es Salaam, the capital of Tanzania, was once a sphere of peace in a hostile environment for the Arab Muslim slave traders who sailed along the East African coast.
Jihad then is neither “holy war” nor a frenzied campaign to spread the faith by force of arms, at least in its original canonical intent. It simply means a striving in the cause of God or according to God’s standard or a striving to please God. In that sense therefore, if war is fought as a striving in the cause of God, it can be termed jihad. That is why a distinction is made between “jihad al-akbar” (the greater jihad) and jihad al-asghar (the lesser jihad).
Central to the teaching of Islam is the concept of the “sirat al-mustaqeem” (the straight path). Everyday, in the five daily prayers, a Muslim is required to recite the first chapter of the Qur’an, verses six and seven of which reads, “guide us unto the straight path; the path of those on whom who have bestowed your favour, not of those who go astray, nor of those who earn thy anger”.
Thus life is a journey whose end is the judgment. The path thereof is straight or at least every human being is born unto the straight path. That is why in Islam there is no concept of original sin. Every human being is born sinless and upon the straight path. But we have to strive (jihad) in order to remain on the straight path. The striving to remain on the straight path, which is jihad, has two main types: “jihad al-akbar” and “jihad al-asghar” which means the greater jihad and the lesser jihad.
“Jihad al-akbar”, the greater jihad is basically internal. To explain internal or greater jihad, I shall quote Yusuf Ibish, a Lebanese academic. According to him, “the greater jihad is fighting one’s animal tendencies. It is internal rather than external: striving in the path of God to overcome one’s animal side. Man shares with animals, certain characteristics, which, if let loose, make him a very dangerous beast. To bring these passions under control, that is what jihad means”.
“Jihad al-asghar” or the external jihad has come to be associated with war and indeed has become the modern day meaning of jihad to the average person, both Muslim and non-Muslim. Indeed war or for that matter, fighting as jihad or a striving in the way of God has conditions. I shall quote Qur’an chapter 2 Verse 190 to illustrate this point. But again, I shall do a transliteration first.
“Qaatiluu fee sabillilahi lazina yuqaatiluu nakum walaa ta’taduu; Inallaha Laayuhibul mu’tadeen”. This means “And fight (qaatiluu) in the cause of Allah against those who fight you, (yuqaatiluu) but do not transgress. Surely, Allah loves not the transgressors”. Note that this verse talks about “fighting in the cause of Allah” without the use of the word “jihad” at all. But when does fighting qualify to be categorized as a jihad or striving in the cause of Allah?
Fighting an oppressor or oppressive regime in order to end the torture and humiliation of the weak can be termed jihad. “And what is the matter with you that you fight not in the cause of Allah and of the weak-men, women and children, who say, “our lord, take us out of this town, whose people are oppressors, and make for us some friend from thyself and make for us from thyself a helper”. (Q:4:75).
“Permission to fight is given to those against whom war is made, because they have been wronged-and Allah indeed has power to help them. Those who have been driven out of their homes unjustly only because they said, “Our lord is Allah”-And if Allah did not repel some men by means of others, there would surely have been pulled down cloisters and churches and synagogues and mosques, wherein the name of Allah is oft commemorated. And Allah will surely help one who helps him. Allah is indeed powerful, mighty”. (Q: 22:39-40).
But as I stated earlier, I will come to the subject of war as striving in the cause of Allah in part three of this article. For now, I want to finish off this article with a further exposition of “jihad al-Akbar” or the greater jihad or the jihad against one’s soul or internal baser instincts as it is variously known.
Humankind, according to the Qur’an has to strive (jihad) through three stages of soul perfection in order to reach a good end. At the first stage of the journey of soul development, the soul is called “Nafs Ammara” or the soul prone to evil. “And I do not hold myself to be free from weakness; for the soul is surely prone to enjoin evil…” (Q:12:53)
It is the characteristic of the “nafs ammara” that it inclines humankind towards evil and turns to lead him into immoral acts and stands in the way of attainment of perfection and moral excellence. In other words, humankind’s nature is prone to evil and transgression at a certain stage in its development and so long as it is devoid of high moral quality, this evil nature is predominant in him. Humankind is subject to this state so long as he does not walk in the light of true wisdom and knowledge but acts in obedience to natural inclination like the lower animals.
Thus through striving in the cause of Allah, one purifies his soul and then moves it towards the second stage of soul development. The second stage is attained when one is able to free himself from the control of animal passions and guided by reasoning and knowledge and he is able to put a check on his natural desires and governs them instead of being governed by them. In other words, when a transformation takes place in his soul from grossness to virtue, he passes out of the physical state and becomes a moral being and this is what the Qur’an terms as “nafs lawwama” or the self accusing soul. (See Q:75:2).
Though the “nafs lawwama” accuses itself for its faults and frailties, yet it is not completely free of its tendencies nor is it powerful enough to practice virtue exclusively. The weakness of the flesh gets the upper hand sometimes, and it stumbles and falls. But as often as it falls, so shall it rise and continue to strive (jihad) in the cause of Allah for a time when it shall be free of all infirmities.
Continuous striving in the cause of Allah (jihad) will bring humankind to the last stage of soul development called “nafs mutma-inah” or the serene soul or the soul at peace. (See Q:89: 27-30).
Thus our entire purpose on earth is to worship God. That worship is a striving in the cause (jihad) of Allah. There are two forms of the striving. The internal one and the external one. The internal one involves striving to control one’s baser instincts and to purify one’s soul and move it from being the “nafs ammara” or self accusing soul to being the “nafs mutma-inah” or the soul at peace. This internal striving (jihad) is also called “jihad al-akbar”, the greater jihad. The Qur’an outlines what humans must do or how they must strive in order to purify the soul and get it to the last stage of soul development. We shall examine these prescriptions in part two of this article when we return.