23 September 2001, 12:07am IST
Jamal Ahmad Khan.
Jehad, generally translated as religious war, is perhaps one of the most abused and misused terms in the history of islam. in the past muslim kings indiscriminately used it while wreaking havoc on their adversaries, muslims and non-muslims alike. in recent times pakistan in its vain attempt to provide a cloak of legitimacy and religiosity to its ongoing proxy war in jammu and kashmir has termed it jehad . terrorists and militant organisations have been re-christened with religious symbols and terminologies. one of them is called hizbul mujahideen or the army of religious warriors. another one is called jaish-i-mohammad or the army of the prophet mohammad. al badr is operating under the false garb of a devoted group of the prophet's companions who sacrificed their lives at the battle of badrin several centuries ago. the so-called modern jehadis either do not understand the true meaning of jehad or are bent upon invoking this religious concept for realising their sinister unreligious designs. the inhuman dastardly acts perpetrated by these organisations are contrary to the very spirit of islam and jehad. the religious duties or ibadat of the muslims centre on the five pillars or arkan of islam. they are kalma or the recital of the creed, salat or five daily prayers and the friday prayer; roza or fasting during the holy month of ramzan; zakat or alms giving and lastly haj or pilgrimage to mecca. we, thus, see that jehad is not the obligatory function imposed upon muslims by the holy qur'an. the duty of jehad has been raised to the status of a sixth pillar by only one muslim sect namely the kharijites who are looked down upon by common muslims for killing hazrat ali, the fourth caliph, cousin and son-in-law of prophet mohammad. as per the holy qur'an the essence of jehad comprises a true and sincere faith, which so fixes its gaze on allah, that all selfish or worldly motives seem paltry and fade away, and an earnest and ceaseless activity, involving the sacrifice, if need be of life, person or property, in the service of allah is made. it may require fighting in allah's cause, as a form of self-sacrifice. mere brutal fighting is opposed to the whole spirit of jehad, while the sincere scholar's pen or preacher's voice or wealthy man's contributions may be the most valuable forms of it. an ordinary war may be for territory or trade, revenge or military glory -- all ``temporal goods of this world''. such a war is condemned by qur'an. a jehad is fought under strict conditions laid down by islam and solely for the cause of allah. it cannot be taken up for dispossessing some of his land, hearth and home or for the purpose of seeking vengeance and vendetta. it can be undertaken only to restore peace and freedom for the worship of allah. in any case strict limits must not be transgressed. women, children, old and infirm should not be molested, trees and crops should not be cut down. the principle involved was that of all worship, jewish or christian as well as muslim, and of all foundations built for pious uses. abu bakr the first caliph while sending his army for jehad gave strict instructions to his commanders that innocent, women, children, the old and the weak should not be touched or harmed, houses and crops should not be burnt and no place of worship of any religious persuasion be demolished. even the most fundamentalist of the muslim sects namely ahle-e-hadith believe that jehad should be resorted to only when restrictions are imposed upon the observance of the five pillars of islam. in jammu and kashmir as elsewhere in india, muslims have all the freedom to follow the dictates of their religion and as such it is the land of peace or darul aman and islam. it definitely is not a darul harb or war territory where islam or muslims are in any way in danger. the so-called mujahideens must stop their misguided jehad and the killing spree, if they have even an iota of belief in the qur'an because by no stretch of imagination or interpretation can terrorism or the massacre of innocents in kashmir in the name of islam be explained away as jehad.
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