Jihad means struggle or effort to become a better person and is a personal battle for most Muslims. It can also refer to holy war on behalf of Islam, but this is not the only meaning. The debate over the validity of jihad through actual warfare continues among Islamic scholars and adherents. Most moderate Muslims believe that the time for religious wars should be over and that the daily personal struggle to submit to God’s will is more important.
Jihad is the Arabic word for struggle or effort, especially in relation to becoming a spiritually better person. Jihad is sometimes called the sixth pillar of Islam, as it is the responsibility of all members of the Muslim faith to master tendencies that would make them less worthy of Allah.
Jihad is also understood as a holy war on behalf of Islam. This has been the meaning closely associated with terrorism. According to extremist positions, sacrificing one’s life for Islam is considered a Jihad. Furthermore, Islam’s protection from invaders or threat through warfare is also termed Jihad.
The latter meaning arouses debate and sometimes fear in those who are not of Muslim background. For many Muslim people, Jihad is a personal battle to be more moral, in essence, to be a good person. One’s deeds and actions, especially when they are difficult to perform, are acts of Jihad.
A similar Christian concept to Jihad is the idea of warfare between flesh and spirit, which is often expressed in terms of “warriors.” People talk about the battle between the desires of the flesh that they try to deny. Things like lust, greed, greed, and the desire for power must be subdued to walk the path of Christ, according to many Christians.
Jihad in its most basic sense is this struggle itself. It’s a kind of war, and a holy one, never requiring you to set foot on a physical battlefield. Instead, it is the human struggle to curb the profane so as to be able to tend towards the sacred. Jihad, for most Muslims, takes place on a personal level and is not expressed in an outward way towards others.
Islam itself means peace through surrender or submission to God’s will. This implies that all members of Islam practice Jihad daily to achieve that peace. Submission means allowing God to be dominant and his will to be superior. This requires some effort.
There is intense debate among Islamic scholars and adherents about the validity of Jihad practiced through actual warfare. Some condemn all violence that is not directly self-defense. Still others find jihad by the sword, or jihad bis saif, to be an acceptable and honorable way to defend against threats to one’s religious practices or freedom.
Those who support the continuation of the war in the Middle East argue that invasions or threats from other countries undermine the strength of Islam and threaten the Islamic way of life. There may be some validity to this argument, since the westernization of a country can affect religious practice.
However, most of the arguments for sword jihad are exaggerated or specious. Most moderate Islamic scholars and religious leaders condemn Jihad that targets the innocent, as is common in acts of terrorism. Yet, Islam came to power through Jihad of the sword, in the form of battles, as well as through treaties.
The Golden Age of the Ottoman Empire would not have been reached without Sword Jihad, as it allowed Islam to control numerous countries. Most moderate Muslims, however, believe that the time for religious wars should long be over and that jihad by the sword is far less important than the daily personal struggle to submit to God’s will.
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