^Its a mixed interpretation by sides.
My 2 cents :
Going back to the crusades , when westerners pilgrimmed through the Muslim lands, especially through the Ottoman empire.
This often led to conflict and 'The Holy War" had erupted. Its called Crusades by the westerners and Jihad by the muslims.
Today Westerners have invaded Muslim land again and Jihad re-occurs
Originally posted by GCG
^Its a mixed interpretation by sides.My 2 cents :
Going back to the crusades , when westerners pilgrimmed through the Muslim lands, especially through the Ottoman empire.
This often led to conflict and 'The Holy War" had erupted. Its called Crusades by the westerners and Jihad by the muslims.
Today Westerners have invaded Muslim land again and Jihad re-occurs
No....the Muslims conquered the "Holy land" first....the crusades just wanted it back...It was only one of the steps to conquer the known world as it was known.......
well the crusaders invaded and had control and use barbaric tactics to do so. The Muslims attacked by declaring Jihad but Saladin was to much of a nice guy and the crusaders were able to come back and then the Muslims took back the land use barbaric tactics like the crusaders did the first time. Thats the short story of the crusades.
however Jihad was started by the prophet Mohammad when he went around Saudi Arabia trying to set the religion however it had very very strict rules.
The Holy War we see today among the extremists was born in Iran. As the Arabs swept thru Africa and Persia, they encountered language barriers with most peoples, esp. the ancient Iranians (Persians) and the Arabs expected them to be able to have one language\one faith w\o realizing the Iranians had corrupted the meaning. This was told to me by a Pakistani man as we discussed religion one time. And a lady I once worked with, who was from Lebanon, also said the same thing. That cultural\linguistic barrier is what is partially to blame for the misinterpretation of the word Jihad.
Re: The Term Jihad
Originally posted by RedAlertv2
All the time nowadays we here the word "Jihad", and the supposed meaning is "Holy War". But in history I saw a video that said it meant "personal struggle," as in the personal struggles faught by every Muslim. I was wondering which meaning is true, or if both are.
A jihad originally was a act trying to get back lost Muslim lands. But now, it's incredibly twisted from what it meant before.
Although technically it wasn't a war of expansion to begin with. It was aimed directly at retaking land that has been taken by over other powers (thus it was relevant after the first couple of successful Crusades.)
Although certain historians have drawn parallels to early Muslim expansion with the rise of Mohammad. In this way a popular way of seeing it is "warfare with a religious significance." Despite this however it should not be viewed that Ancient Jihad is similar to the twisted versions preached about today. In the greater scheme of things Ancient Muslims were actually quite tolerant and would happily incorporate other religions and cultures. This is compared to Christianity which, at the same time, was very intolerant.
So yes, there is the aspect of personal struggle and the was with religious significance (but vastly different from a Crusade, both philosophically and thematically) and so forth.
Re: Re: The Term Jihad
Originally posted by HimoKun
A jihad originally was a act trying to get back lost Muslim lands. But now, it's incredibly twisted from what it meant before.
yes, extremists use it to their advantage and distort its meaning, i'll quote from a website what jihad really is
What is Jihad?
The word Jihad does not mean “Holy War”. It means “struggle” or “striving”. The word for war in the Qur’an is “Harb” or “Qital”. Jihad means serious and sincere struggle on the personal as well as on the social level. It is a struggle to do good and to remove injustice, oppression and evil from the society. This struggle should be spiritual as well as social, economic and political. Jihad is to work hard to do right things. In the Qur’an this word is used in its different forms 33 times. It often comes with other Qur’anic concepts such as faith, repentance, righteous deeds and migration.
Jihad is to protect one’s faith and one’s human rights. Jihad is not a war always although it can take the form of war. Islam is the religion of peace, but it does not mean that Islam accepts oppression. Islam teaches that one should do one’s utmost to eliminate tension and conflict. Islam promotes non-violent means to bring change and reform. Actually, Islam urges that one should eliminate evil through peaceful means without the use of force as much as possible. In Islamic history from the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) until now, Muslims most of the time resisted oppression and struggled for liberation in non-violent and peaceful manners.
Islam teaches proper ethics in the situation of war also. The war is permissible in Islam, but only when other peaceful means such as dialogue, negotiations and treaties fail. It is a last resort and should be avoided as much as possible. Its purpose is not to convert people by force, or to colonize people or to acquire land or wealth or for self-glory. Its purpose is basically: defense of life, property, land, honor and freedom for oneself as well as defense of others from injustice and oppression.
The basic rules of war in Islam are:
1. Be strong so that your enemy fear you and should not attack you.
2. Do not begin the hostilities. Work for peace as much as possible.
3. Fight only those who fight, no collective punishment; non-combatants should not be harmed. Weapons of mass destruction should not be used.
4. Stop hostilities as soon as the other party is inclined to peace.
5. Observe the treaties and agreements as long as the enemy observes them.
Allah says very clearly: "Fight in the cause of Allah those who fight you, but do not do aggression, for Allah loves not the aggressors." (Al-Baqarah: 190)
"The prohibited month, for the prohibited month, and so for all things prohibited, there is the law of equality. If then any one transgresses the prohibition against you, transgress ye likewise against him. But fear Allah, and know that Allah is with those who restrain themselves." (al-Baqarah: 194)
Jihad is not terrorism:
It is to be emphasized that terrorism against the innocent civilians, whether through aggression or suicidal means, is under no circumstances permissible in Islam. Islam encourages the oppressed people to struggle for their liberation and it commands other Muslims to help those who are oppressed and suffering, but Islam does not allow, under any circumstance, terrorism against non-combatants and innocent people. Terrorism is not Jihad, it is Fasad (mischief). It is against the teachings of Islam. There are some people who use their twisted arguments to justify terrorism for their causes, but it has no justification: Allah says:
"When it is said to them: 'Make not mischief on the earth,' they say: 'Why, we only want to correct things.' Indeed they are the mischief doers, but they realize (it) not." (Al-Baqarah: 11-12)
Islam wants to establish a world order where all human beings - Muslims and non-Muslims - can live with justice in peace, harmony and good will. It gives its followers full guidelines to find peace in their personal and social lives, but it also tells them how to extend the good will on the basis of human relations towards others. Muslims worked under these principles for centuries. People of many faiths lived with them and among them. Islamic societies were known for their tolerance, generosity and humanity.
In our modern society where we are living in a global village, where non-Muslims are living with Muslims in the Muslim countries and Muslims are living with non-Muslims in countries where non-Muslims constitute a majority, it is our duty to bring better understanding among ourselves, work for peace and justice for all people and cooperate with each other in matters of goodness and virtue in order to stop all terrorism, aggression and violence against the innocent people. This is our Jihad today."