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The word Jihad is derived from the verb jahada which
means:" he exerted himself". Thus literally, Jihad
means exertion, striving; but in juridico-religious sense, it
signifies the exertion of one's power to the utmost of one's
capacity in the cause of Allah. This is why the word Jihad has
been used as the antonym to the word Qu, ud (sitting) in the
Holy Qur'an (iv. 95). Thus Jihad in Islam is not an act of
violence directed indiscriminately against the non-Muslims; it
is the name given to an all-round struggle which a Muslim
should launch against evil in whatever form or shape it
appears. Qital fi sabilillah (fighting in the way of Allah) is
only one aspect of Jihad. Even this qital in Islam is not an
act of mad brutality. It has its material and moral functions,
i. e. self-preservation and the preservation of the moral
order in the world. The verdict of all religious and ethical
philosophies-ancient and modern-justify war on moral grounds.
When one nation is assailted by the ambitions and cupidity of
another, the doctrine of non-resistance is anti-social, as it
involves non-assertion, not only of one's own rights, but of
those of others who need protection against the forces of
tyranny and oppression. A Muslim is saddled with the
responsibilities to protect himself and all those who seek his
protection. He cannot afford to abandon the defenceless
people, old man, women and children to privation, suffering
and moral peril. Fighting in Islam, therefore, represents in
Islamic Law what is known among Western jurists as" just
war".
The very first revelation in which the permission to wage
war against the forces of evil sums up the aims and objects of
qital in Islam:
" Permitted'are those who are fought against, because
they have been oppressed. and verily God is more Powerful for
their aid. Those who have been driven from their homes
unjustly only because they said: 'Our Lord is Allah, ' for had
it not been for 'Allah's repelling someone by means of others,
cloisters and churches and mosques, wherein the name of Allah
is oft-mentioned, would assuredly have been pulled down.
Verily Allah helps one who helps Him. Lo! Allah is Strong.
Almighty" (xxii. 39. 41).
These verses eloquently speak of 'the fact that it is
neither for the acquisition of territory nor for the love of
power and distinction that the Muslims have been permitted to
raise arms against the enemy. They were allowed to do so
because their very existence had been made difficult by the
high-handedness of the Meccans. The Holy Qur'an has elucidated
this point in the following verse:
" And what reason have you not to fight in the way of
Allah and for the oppressed among men and women and children
who say: Our Lord! take us forth from the town whereof the
people are oppressors and grant us from Thee a friend and
grant us from Thee a helper" (iv. 75).
The war in Islam is waged with a view to securing liberty
and freedom for those who are groaning under the oppression of
heartless tyrants. It is the bounden duty of the Muslims to
alleviate their sufferings and create for them an atmosphere
of peace and security.
Then in the succeeding verse a distinction is also drawn
between two types of war: one which is fought for the sake of
Allah and the other which is waged for evil ends:
" Those who believe fight in the way of Allah and
those who disbelieve fight in the way of devil. So fight
against the friends of Satan; verily weak indeed is the
strategy of the devil" (iv. 76).
It has been made clear that those people who fight for
self-glorification or for the exploitation of the weak are in
fact friends of the devil; wheres those who raise arms to curb
tyranny and aggression, to eradicate evil from the human
society, fight in the way of Allah. Mere fighting is not,
therefore, Jihad in Islam; it is the noble objective alone
which makes it a sacred pursuit like devotion and prayer. It
is narrated on the authority of Abu Musa Ash'ari that once a
man went to the Holy Prophet (may peace be upon him) and said:
One man fights for the sake of spoils of war, the second one
fights for fame and glory and the third to display his courage
and skill; which among them is the fighter for the cause of
Allah? Upon this the Holy Prophet (may peace be upon him)
replied: He who fights with the sole objective that the word
of Allah should become supreme is a Mujahid in the cause of
the Lord.
A Mujahid is thus a noble person who offers his life for
the achievement of lofty ends. He is actuated by human
considerations lifts arms not under the impulse of fury and
revenge, but with will, fore-thought, tenacity and
fellow-feeling, and his conduct bears the imprint of human
intellect, human sympathy and sense of justice.
The Holy Qur'an has explained this point in Sura Anfal in
these words:
" O you who believe, when you meet an enemy, be firm,
and remember Allah much, that you may be successful. And obey
Allah and His Apostle. And fall with no disputes, lest ye
falter and your strength fail; but be steadfast! For Allah is
with those who patiently persevere. Be not as those who came
forth from their dwellings boastfully. And to be seen of men
and debar (men) from the way of Allah. And Allah encompasses
what they do" (viii. 45-46).
Here the Muslims have been exhorted to observe five
principles of war:
Be steadfast in the face of the enemy.
Have full reliance on the help of Allah and remember Him
much.
Have the unity of purpose and solidarity of corporate life
always before your eyes.
Be fully aware of the lofty purpose before you in fighting.
Don't be proud and boastful in your attitude and behaviour.
Islam has purified even war of all its cruelty and horrors
and has made it a" reformative process" to deal with
evil. The Holy Qur'an bserves:
" And fight in the way of Allah against those who
fight against you and transgress not the limits. Verily Allah
loves not the transgressors" (ii. 190).
The Holy Prophet (may peace be upon him) has given clear
instructions about the behaviour of the Muslim army. He
observed:
" Set out for Jibad in the name of Allah and for the
sake of Allah. Do not lay hands on the old verging on death,
on women, children and babes. Do not steal anything from the
booty and collect together all that falls to your lot in the
battlefield and do good, for Allah loves the virtuous and the
pious."
So great is the respect for humanly feelings in Islam that
even the wanton destruction of enemy's crops or property is
strictly forbidden. The righteous Caliphs followed closely the
teachings of Allah and those of His Apostle in letter and
spirit the celebrated address which the first Caliph Abu Bakr
(Allah be pleased with him) gave to his army while sending her
on the expedition to the Syrian borders is permeated with the
noble spirit with which the war in Islam is permitted. He
said:
" Stop, O people, that I may give you ten rules for
your guidance in the battlefield. Do not commit treachery or
deviate from the right path. You must not mutilate dead
bodies. Neither kill a child, nor a woman. nor an aged man.
Bring no harm to the trees, nor burn them with fire,
especially those which are fruitful. Slay not ary of the
enemy's flock. save for your food. You are likely to pass by
people who have devoted their lives to monast ic services;
leave them alone"
It is said that once at the time of conquest, a singing
girl was brought to al-Muhajir b. Abu Umayya who had been
publicly singing satirical poems about Hadrat Abu Bakr.
Muhajir got her hand amputated. When the Caliph heard this
news, he was shocked and wrote a letter to Muhajir in the
following words:
" I have learnt that you laid hands on a woman who had
hurled abuses on me, and, therefore, got her hand amputated.
God has not sought vengeance even in the case of polytheism,
which is a great crime. He has not permitted mutilation even
with regard to manifest infidelity. Try to be considerate and
sympathetic in your attitude towards others in future. Never
mutilate, because it is a grave offence. God purified Islam
and the Muslims from rashness and excessive wrath. You are
well aware of the fact that those enemies fell into the hands
of the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) who had been
recklessly abusing him; who had turned him out of his home;
and who fought against him, but he never permitted their
mutilation."
Another letter written by hadrat 'Umar the Second Caliph,
which is addressed to sa'd b. Abu Waqqas, speaks eloquently of
the noble spirit with which the Muslims have bear exhorted to
take up arms:
" Always search your minds and hearts and stress upon
your men the need of perfect integrity and sincerity in the
cause of Allah. There should be no material end before them in
laying down their lives. but they abould deem it a means
whereby they can please their Lord and entitle them. selves to
His favour: such a spirit of selflessness should be inculcated
in the minds of those who unfortunately lack it. Be firm in
the thick of the battle as Allah helps man according to the
perseverance that he shows in the cause of His faith and he
would be rewarded in accordance with the spirit of sacrifice
which he displays for the sake of the Lord. Be careful that
those who have been entrusted to your care receive no harm at
your hands and are never deprived of any of their legitimate
rights.
Such in fact is the humane and noble attitude which Islam
exhorts its followers to adopt on the battlefield where
passions are generally let loose. It is an attitude the like
of which is not to be found in the history of any other
nation. Has the world any code of military ethics more noble
and compassionate than this?" The moral tone adopted by
the Caliph Abu Bakr in his instructions to the Syrian army
was," says a Christian historian," so unlike the
principles of the Roman government that it must have commanded
profound attention from the subject people-such a proclamation
announced to Jews and Christians sentiments of justice and
principles of toleration which neither Roman emperors nor
orthodox bishops had ever adopted as the rule of
conduct."
Western scholars have indulged in a good deal of
mud-slinging on the question of the use of the sword in Islam.
But if one were to reflect calmly on this point one would be
convinced that the sword has not been used recklessly by the
Muslims; it has been wielded purely with humane feelings in
the wider interest of humanity. Utmost regard was always shown
to human life, honour and property even on the battlefield.
That is why in all the eighty-two encounters between the
Muslims and the non-Muslims during the life of the Holy
Prophet (may peace he upon him), only 1018 persons lost their
lives on both sides. Out of this 259 were Muslims, whereas the
remaining 759 belonged to the opposite camp. One wonders at
the audacity of these writers only when one compares the
religious wars of Charles the Great, in which 4300 pagan
Saxons were killed in cold blood, when one recalls the"
famous answer by which the Papal Legate, in the Albigensian
war, quieted the scruples of a too conscientious general,
'Kill all, God will know His own'.... When we recall the
Spanish Inquisition, the conquest of Mexico and Peru, the
massacre of St. Bartholomew, and the sack of Magdeburg by
Tilly."
It is indeed strange that the criticism on the use of sword
by Muslims emanates from those whose hands are soiled in the
blood of countless innocent human beings, by those who exult
in the techniques of homicide, who have depersonalised warfare
to such an extent that millions of innocent men and women are
put to death and numberless are thrown into concentration
camps and flogged with steel rods and ox-hide whips, and all
this is done without any qualm of conscience. As human beings.
we hang our heads down in shame when we think of the
horrifying atrocities which have been perpetrated by the
modern civilised men. It is estimated that. in the First World
War, ten million soldiers were killed and an equal number of
civilians lost their lives, and twenty million died on account
of widespread epidemics and famines throughout the world as an
aftermath of this war. Economic costs are estimated at $
338,000,000,000 of which $ 186,000,000,000 were direct costs.
The losses in the Second World War were staggeringly
greater as compared to those in the first one. Twenty-two
million persons were killed and thirty-four million were
wounded. The estimated cost of the war was $ 1, 348.
000,000,000 of which $ 1, 167,000,000,000 consisted of direct
military costs.
It is significant that in the Korean War, the first
instance in which an international organisation for
establishing peace utilised military force to suppress
aggression, more than one million persons were killed which
added to the civilian deaths in Korea and totalled about five
millions.
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