Challenging the Rhetoric of Extremism
Following the events of 9/11, the
word ‘jihad’ was thrust into Western discourse with polemicists flagrantly
misusing and abusing it, defining it as ‘holy war.’ But is this jihad? In the
West’s haste to assimilate this word into its dialogue, attempting to reassure
its people of their renewed safety and their leaders’ knowledge of this new
enemy, it did not take the time to establish a full understanding or question
the source of its exposure. Translating jihad as ‘holy war’ does not reflect an
acquaintance with Islam but instead the rhetoric of terrorists who have
hijacked this ancillary of faith. Muslim extremists cloak their uninhibited
acts of violence and terrorism with the cloth of jihad, having distorted and
debased it to justify their blatant disregard for the sanctity of human life
and the spirit of Islam. The Quran defines acceptable conduct and motivation
for Muslims to wage war but this supposed “jihad” rarely abides by few if any
of these rules. It’s not the jihad or the righteous warfare defending Islam of
Muhammad and the Rashidun’s time. It’s nothing more than wanton murder and
bedlam, a crime already known to Islamic jurisprudence as hirabah.
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| al-Aqsa, Jerusalem, Asim Bharwani |
This corruption of jihad coupled
with the silence and tacit consent of the Muslim majority, and the West’s blind
adherence to the terrorists’ language -intrinsically condoning their crimes
against humanity as a noble struggle in the name of Allah - insults and
vilifies Islam and its nation. Furthermore it drives the stake between the West
and dar al-Islam deeper, hindering any potential cooperation and escalating the
injustices and conflicts of the past, ultimately allowing once marginalized
extremism to flourish in this system of needless mutual antagonism. This needs
to change, and that begins with enlightenment, honesty, and mutual
understanding. This essay pursues that goal through two means. First, it seeks
to establish a more complete understanding of jihad, its sanctity, and an array
of its interpretations, dispelling both the belligerent operationalization of
jihad by Muslim extremists, permitting the slaughter of innocent women and
children and misrepresenting the spirit of Islam, and the pacification and
oversimplification of jihad endorsed by both Muslim and Western apologists.
Secondly it proposes a solution for the West’s flawed use of “jihad,” which
inherently alienates the peaceful Muslim majority, advocating for its
replacement with “hirabah,” which properly defines and maligns the extremists’
conduct as the crime against humanity and the sin before Allah it is. Ideally
this reeducation and redefining will not only break down the extremists’
support base but barrier they’ve built between Islam and the West as well.
In Modern Standard Arabic the word
jihad (جهاد) can function
grammatically as a noun or as the verb, jahada (جهد), and translates to a “struggle”
or the act of “exerting oneself for a purpose,” religious or secular.
Secularly, it’s used to describe movements for women’s rights, such as that of
Egyptian feminist Huda Sha’arawi, as well as Mahatma Gandhi’s struggle for
Indian independence, [1] both of which exemplify nonviolence. To truly
comprehend the nature of religious Jihad however, one must first acknowledge
the 14 centuries of Islamic scholarship, which has birthed a vast multiplicity
of thought and interpretations, colored by historical conditions and sectarian
and legal adherences. In short, the spirit of jihad has evolved over time and
adapted to the diversity of the Muslims and Islamic thought.[2] Ultimately
however the noble Quran and the hadiths, namely the revelations of the Prophet
Muhammad, are the only true religious authority to be recognized in Islam and
subsequently, our discussion begins there.
Within the Quran, jihad is often
being found in the expression, al-jihad fii sabilillah (الجهاد في سبيل الله) which means, “striving or struggling in
the way of Allah.” But what does it mean to struggle in god’s way? The
spiritual nature of jihad is defined by the Quran’s enunciations of the
Muslims’ religious duties, as within the surat al-Hajj, or the Chapter of
Pilgrimage.
“And strive for Allah with
the striving due to Him. He has chosen you and has not placed upon you in the
religion any hardship. [It is] the religion of your father, Abraham. Allah
named you "Muslims" before [in former scriptures] and in this
[revelation] that the Messenger may be a witness over you and you may be
witnesses over the people. So establish prayer and give zakah and hold fast to
Allah. He is your protector; and excellent is the protector, and excellent is
the helper.” (22:78)
In this passage jihad is translated as striving for Allah
expressly by being a good Muslim and adhering to Islam’s five pillars of faith;
this verse specifically references bearing witness or shahada, prayer "salat",
fasting "sawm", and tithing "zakat", with the sura as a
whole discussing the fifth pillar, hajj or pilgrimage. One can then understand
jihad to be the continued affirmation of faith, the constant inner, spiritual
struggle for righteousness, always endeavoring to fulfill one’s duties to Allah
and one's community. Islamic scholar Mahmoud Ayoub describes "The goal of
true jihad is to attain a harmony between Islam (submission), Iman (faith), and
Ihsan (righteous living).” For a Muslim, jihad is the act of endeavoring to
fulfill God's will, recognizing both man's imperfection and his divine ability
to strive in the way of Allah despite himself.
 |
| Salat, Old Dubai, David Lisbona |
Jihad does not
intrinsically imply violence and certainly not “holy war.” However in application, “striving
in the way of Allah” as revealed within the Quran and the hadith, can
constitute warfare in the defense and extension of Islam. To clarify, the Quran
never uses “jihad” to specifically describe combat or violence, instead
employing “qital” (قتال) and “harb” (حرب) as fighting and war respectively. However
based upon the understanding of jihad established in this discussion, the
Quran’s revelations relating to warfare may be included within the duty of
jihad. Consequently despite the best intentions on the part of Western scholars
seeking to promote interfaith dialogue and Muslim apologists attempting to
depict jihad in a flat, pacified light, no discussion of jihad is complete
without an acknowledgement of fiats and principles of Islamic warfare.[3] By
no means is this grounds for the immediate arraignment of this ancillary of
faith, which symbolizes much more than simply armed struggle, or arraignment of
Islam, as Islamic Scholar, Robert D. Crane notes, “The resort to physical force
is justified in every religion to defend the human rights of oneself and
others.” [4] Islam reserves the same right as the other Abrahamic traditions to
defend itself, and this right is asserted within its holy text.
Among the most frequently cited
Quranic revelations, defining Islamic rationale for warfare are verses 190-193
of surat al-Baqarah, the Chapter of the Cow,
“Fight in the way of Allah those
who fight you but do not aggress and initiate the fight. Indeed. Allah does not
like aggressors.” (2:190)
“And kill them (those who would fight you) wherever you overtake them and expel
them from wherever they have expelled you, and fitnah is worse than killing.
And do not fight them at al-Masjid al-Haram (the Kaaba, literally the Sacred Mosque) until they fight you there. But if
they fight you, then kill them. Such is the recompense of the disbelievers.”
(2:191)
“And if they cease, then indeed, Allah is Forgiving and Merciful.”
(2:192)
“Fight them until there is no fitnah and worship is for Allah. But if
they cease, then there is to be no aggression except against the oppressors.”
(2:193)
Foremost, these passages support only defensive warfare, making a point
against initiating conflict in 2:190, noting Allah’s disdain for aggressors (معتدين). In these passages
fitnah (فتنة) is understood as
persecution and oppression of the Muslims. And as 2:191 posits that the
aggressors’ fitnah is only a worse offense than the Muslims’ retaliatory
killing; murder is still an offense and is certainly not sanctified or
open endedly justified, solely in the instance of defending Islam is it
forgiven, after which the same principle of forgiveness is iterated for the
aggressors, should their belligerency, persecution, and ignorance of monotheism
cease. Historically such a defense became necessary for the Umma (the Muslim community) with the passing of Muhammad’s
uncle, Abu-Talib, after which the first Muslims no longer enjoyed the Hashemite
clan’s protection in Mecca. The Meccan Quraysh, were fearful of the threat Islam posed to the Mecca’s economy which was
built on pilgrimage to the still pagan Kaaba. In turn, Qurayshi persecution forced the Muslims to emigrate to Medina (the hijra), where the Quraysh continued to dog them.[5] Jihad only acquired a military dimension in
response the oppressive practices and continued assaults of the Meccan Quraysh
against Muslims, attempting to stem their faith.[6]
This verse found in the surat
at-Tawbah or the chapter of repentance is likewise considered a defining revelation for
Islamic warfare,
“Fight those who do not believe in Allah or in the Last Day
and who do not consider unlawful what Allah and His Messenger have made
unlawful and who do not adopt the religion of truth from those who were given
the scripture until they give the jizyah willingly while they are humbled.”
(9:29)
This passage vindicates war against pagans on the basis of their polytheism,
rather than requiring the Umma’s defense as a casus belli. Depending upon one’s
interpretation it may be an early appearance of Islam’s tolerance for the other
faiths of the Abrahamic tradition or it may however sanction Muslim conflict
with the other monotheistic faiths as well. [5] The word translated as
“scripture” in this instance is literally “books” and it may very well refer to the scriptures
of Judaism and Christianity, suggesting that all monotheisms fall under the
same God and are different paths to same end. This tolerance for the other
monotheistic faiths is exemplified by the dhimmi system established under the
Islamic Caliphate, in which Jews, Christians, and Sabians lived peacefully
under Islamic rule with relative equality, humbly accepting to pay the jizyah
or tax. The Dhimmi status would come to include Buddhists, Hindus, and numerous smaller faiths such as the Baha'i faith and the Druze. For some extremists however, justification for Christians and Jews being redefined
as infidels is articulated within this sura however, as it acknowledges an
enemy to be found among those who permit that which Islam forbids.
Christianity’s triumph of Jesus’ divinity and Judaism’s of Ezra’s and both
their hierarchical structures are strictly considered idol worship in Islam as
evidenced in these sura,
“The Jews say, "Ezra is the son of Allah ";
and the Christians say, "The Messiah is the son of Allah ." That is
their statement from their mouths; they imitate the saying of those who disbelieved
[before them]. May Allah destroy them; how are they deluded?” (9:30)
“They have
taken their scholars and monks as lords besides Allah, and [also] the Messiah,
the son of Mary. And they were not commanded except to worship one God; there
is no deity except Him. Exalted is He above whatever they associate with Him.”
(9:31)
It is crucial to note however that the reiteration of Allah’s command to
fight later in the sura,
“… And fight against the disbelievers one and one as
they fight against you…” (9:36) refers
to the other adherents to the other Abrahamic traditions, mistaken in their
idolatry, as disbelievers, (المشركين) rather than
polytheists or infidels (الذين كفروا), marking a
significant distinction between the two. The clause, “as they
fight against you” is in effect for the disbelievers, evoking only defensive
warfare against other monotheists, ultimately leaving their judgment to Allah should they be peaceful. Only amongst pagans, for whom dhimmi status was not extended, is warfare unrestricted. The question of Islam’s need for defense would be raised in 20th century
however with colonialism, globalization, the rise of Israel, and the subsequent
bloodshed.
Returning to the nature of jihad,
the aforementioned Quranic verses and others, suggest that striving in the way
of Allah, consists not only of continued affirmation of one’s faith but coming
to its defense as well. But is there a ranking to this? In a well-known, albeit
oft contested hadith, in which the companion of Muhammad, Jabir ibn Abd-Allah,
reports that "The Prophet returned from one of his battles, and thereupon
told us, 'You have arrived with an excellent arrival, you have come from the
Lesser Jihad to the Greater Jihad—the striving of a servant against his
desires." Muhammad refers to the physical struggle for Islam’s defense as
the lesser jihad in this hadith with the internal struggle, namely the lust of these warriors returning from battle, being deemed a greater trial. The
11th century, Islamic Scholar, al-Khatib al-Baghdadi’s reference to this hadith
in his work, The History of Bagdad established the scholarly precedent for the
ranking of jihad in this manner. If one is to give this hadith any credence,
the spirit of jihad as a whole is certainly not the solely violent, armed
struggle extremists have reduced it to. As Middle Eastern historians
Goldschmidt and Davidson note, “To protect the Umma, Muslims must first cleanse
their souls of error, pride, and forgetfulness. Islam is a religion of
community every Muslim is a brother or a sister to every other Muslim. If some
err, or forget their duties to God or to other Muslims, the others… must
correct them.”[5] Islam’s defense or jihad begins with the spiritual not the
physical. This interpretation also evokes jihad on the communal level, which is
supported by in the surat Ali Imran as well,
“And let there be [arising] from
you a nation inviting to it [all that is] good, enjoining what is right and
forbidding what is wrong, and they will be successful,” (3:104) suggesting
that a Muslim is not only responsible for his or her personal affirmation of
faith, but their community’s as well.[7] It is not enough for a Muslim to
strive in the way of Allah; they must enjoin others to as well, whether within
their community or by extending the invitation to the dar al da’wah, or the
house of those still to learn of Allah.[4] The da’wah¸ or the extension of
Islam’s invitation and the corresponding education is another facet of jihad,
which comprised thirteen years of the Prophet's 23-year mission to spread
Islam.[7]
Islamic jurisprudence and
scholarship on the nature of jihad is incredibly vast and consequently this
discussion will only briefly overview a few select scholars and is by no means
a complete study. It does however convey that this notion of jihad as a
spiritual struggle and continued affirmation of faith as well as Islam’s
physical defense is not limited to this interpretation. In his Muqaddimaat, the
Sunni Andalusian philosopher Ibn Rushd, divides Jihad into four types: jihad of
the heart or one’s self, jihad by the tongue, jihad by the hand, and jihad by
the sword. Jihad of the heart and by the sword can be understood as the greater
and lesser jihads respectively. He
clarifies "Jihad by the tongue" as "to commend good conduct and
forbid the wrong, drawing on the surat at-Tawbah,
“Oh Prophet! Strive hard
against the unbelievers and the hypocrites.” (9:73) As such his jihad of the
tongue echoes the aforementioned principles of the communal level of jihad and
the da’wah. Finally the jihad by the hand, emphasizes the choice to strive in
the way of Allah and taking action against injustice.[7] Sunni, Hanbali
scholar Ibn Qayyim offers a similar separation, citing three jihads: the jihad
of one’s self, the jihad against Satan, and the jihad against the hypocrites
and disbelievers. The first two both fall under the banner of inner struggle or
greater jihad, whereas hypocrites are reprimanded by the jihad by tongue, and
disbelievers are called to Islam.[8] Shi’i interpretation of jihad is substantively
akin to that of Sunni scholars, albeit with a greater emphasis upon the social
justice, as triumphed in the Shi’a tenet of Ashoura.[9]
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| Black Standard of 'Jihad,' bearing the shahada, used by the Taliban 1997-2001, still in use by some mujahideen groups |
Undeniably, there is a considerable
amount of Islamic scholarship disagreeing with the nature of the greater jihad,
vehemently championing the physical defense of Islam above all else.[3] One
can however notice a correlation between the prevalence of this opinion and the
historical conditions facing the Caliphate. Ibn Rushd and Ibn Qayyim were
writing during the heights of Fatimid and Abbasid dynasties respectively, times
when the Islamic World was flourishing. The Crusades had a slight effect on
Muslim sentiment and interpretation but it was minimal when compared to the
effect of the modern era. The true escalation of jihad was in response to the
subjugation of the Islamic Caliphate’s Ottoman successor to the imperatives of
Imperial Europe, the Allies’ betrayal of Arab aspirations after the First World
War and colonization of the region, the rise of Israel, and the continued
interference of the Cold War hegemons, breeding conflict after conflict in the
region. Founded in 1928, the Islamic
fundamentalist, Muslim Brotherhood exemplified this escalation, concisely
summarized in their motto, “Allah is our purpose, the Prophet our leader, the
Quran our constitution, jihad our way and dying for God our supreme objective.”
Extremists extended the label of infidel to Jews and Christians and this idea
prevailed in the region after the Arabs devastating in loss in the 1967 War.
Modern history confirms the increased prevalence of violent jihad in response
to apparent assaults on Islam. But Islam was challenged in the times of
Muhammad and the Rashidun as well - the true spirit of greater jihad was not
sacrificed for the sake of militancy, and the Umma not only survived but
flourished in the light of spiritual jihad.
What is crucial to understand from
this microcosm of scholarship and jurisprudence is the depth and diversity of
thought in Islamic scholarship and the reason inherent in Islam, almost all of
which Muslim extremists have diluted and denied. Instead they promote only the
idea of militant jihad [2] relying upon both Muslim and Western ignorance,
their recruitment dependent upon the lacking knowledge of Muslim youth, and
aided by the latter’s unenlightened mirroring of their rhetoric, vindicating
them. Education is the enemy of extremism and their crime, hirabah, is already
known to Islamic jurisprudence and the Sharia’ they, the extremists, claim to
represent.
Hirabah (حِرابة)is an Arabic word connoting illegal [4] or
sinful warfare that has fallen out of daily usage but the crime is forever
enshrined in the fiqh of Sharia’ and the surat al-Ma’ida,
“The punishments of
those who wage war against Allah and His Prophet and strive to spread disorder
in the land are to execute them in an exemplary way or to crucify them or to
amputate their hands and feet from opposite sides or to banish them from the
land. Such is their disgrace in this world, and in the Hereafter theirs will be
an awful doom save those who repent before you overpower them; you should know
that Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Ever Merciful.” (5:33-34)
Modern jurists Javed
Ahmad Ghamidi and Shehzad Saleem interpret the crime of hirabah from this
passage as defying justice, taking the law into one’s own hands, and spreading
disorder in society, “by becoming a source of terror and intimidation for
people, by committing mass murder, plunder, decoity [banditry or marauding] or
robbery, by indulging in hijacking and terrorism and by committing other
similar crimes,” the punishments for which are most severe. [10] Extremists’
deliberate mass murder of innocent women, children, and more often than not
other Muslims, epitomizes hirabah, disregarding the right to life promised in
Islam,
“Because of that, We decreed upon the Children of Israel that whoever
kills a soul unless for a soul or for corruption in the land - it is as if he
had slain mankind entirely. And whoever saves one - it is as if he had saved
mankind entirely. And our messengers had certainly come to them with clear
proofs. Then indeed many of them, [even] after that, throughout the land, were
transgressors.” (5:32) Ultimately hirabah flies in the face of all that jihad
stands for.
 |
| Washing fountain in al-Aqsa, Jerusalem, October 2013, DeRue |
There is a sect of contemporary historians
and scholars of Islam[2][4][10][11] leading a jihad of the tongue, to
correctly redefine acts of terrorism as hirabah and those committing them as
hirabis or hirabists. To characterize jihad, the internal struggle every Muslim
confronts to strive in the way of Allah, as “holy war,” is to indict the
entirety of Islam with a wrongful accusation of savage belligerency. Likewise
in referring to terrorists as jihadis and jihadists, “we are calling them
meritorious Muslims — then we are implying that we are fighting Islam."
Abu al-Fadl, well known for his ardent discourse accosting Muslim extremists,
believes this change of language would be well received in the dar al-Islam,
with Muslims finding the West for once respecting their faith and legal tradition.[2] And one can only imagine the difficulty extremists would face recruiting
young Muslims for suicidal terrorism, when their crime of hirabah is
recognized.[11] Thus far Muslim extremists have succeeded in created a symbol
with their corruption of “jihad,” convincing the West of Islam's relentless
hatred for it, and garnering tacit support or at least silence from a majority
of the Muslim population. [4] But this is not jihad. And it’s the
responsibility of both the West to educate itself and respect Islam and of
Muslims to defend their faith from the subjugation of hirabah.
The importance of this issue enough
cannot be stressed enough. Hirabah and jihad are more than words, they’re
perspectives. And if peace is our ambition then we need to recognize our true
enemies and turn the fight upon them. I will not deny the injustices of history
done upon so many. We must live with the sins of our fathers, but we need not
repeat them. A war was declared upon peace and the virtue of Islam. The time to
lead our own jihad of the tongue, hand, and heart, and perhaps sword as well has come.
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| al-jihad fii sabilillah, Vincent Kessler - Reuters |
[1] Brustad, Kristen, Mahmoud. Baṭal, and Abbas Tūnisī.
Al-kitāb Fī Taʻallum Al-ʻarabīya: = a Textbook for Arabic Part Two. 2nd ed.
Washington, DC: Georgetown Univ. Press, 2007. Print.
[2] Abu El Fadl, Khalid, Reza Aslan, and Douglas Streusand.
"The War on the Word 'Jihad' : NPR." NPR.org. NPR, 30 Oct. 2006. Web.
<http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6392989>.
[3] Cook, David. Understanding Jihad. Berkeley, CA:
University of California Press, 2005. Print.
[4] Crane, Robert D. "Hirabah versus Jihad." IRFI
- Islamic Research Foundation International, Inc. Irfi.org, 2012. Web.
<http://www.irfi.org/articles/articles_301_350/hirabah_versus_jihad.htm>.
[5] Goldschmidt, Arthur, and Lawrence Davidson. A Concise
History of the Middle East. 10th ed. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 2013. Print.
[6] Aboul-Enein, Youssef H., and Sherifa Zuhur.
"Islamic Rulings on Warfare." Strategic Studies Institute (2004): n.
pag. U.S. Army War College . Web.
<http://books.google.jo/books/about/Islamic_Rulings_on_Warfare.html?id=HlZRRPXvEsAC&redir_esc=>
[7] Hendricks, Seraj, Ahmad Hendricks, and Hisham Kabbani.
"Jihad: A Judicial Ruling." As-Sunnah Foundation of America — Unity,
Knowledge and Understanding for the Muslim Community. The Muslim Magazine. Web.
<http://www.sunnah.org/fiqh/jihad_judicial_ruling.htm>.
[8] Al-Munaajiid, Muhammad Saleh. "Jihad: Not Only
Fighting." Living Shari'ah. 12 May 2003. Print.
[9] Moghadam, Assaf. "The Shi'i Perception of
Jihad." al Naklah (2003): Web.
[10] Ghamidi, Javed Ahmad, and Shezad Saleem. "The
Penal Law of Islam." Monthly Renaissance - Home. 51-K Model Town Lahore
Pakistan, Nov. 2013. <http://www.renaissance.com.pk/septfeart2y2.html>.
[11] Guirard, Jim, and Robert D. Crane. "Hirabah versus
Jihad: Rescuing Jihad from The al Qaeda Blasphemy." The American Muslim
(TAM). The American Muslim (TAM), 6 July 2003. Web.
<http://theamericanmuslim.org/tam.php/features/articles/terrorism_hirabah_versus_jihad_rescuing_jihad_from_the_al_qaeda_blasphemy>.
