Figure 1.--. |
|
Many in the West find the most difficult to grasp aspect of Islam is the importance of martyrdom and jihad. we have noted some authors insisting that these terms are misunderstood in the West. This may be true, but it is also true that there seem to be many in the Islamic world who take both martyrdom anf jihad very seriously and in literal terms. Some moderate Islamic spokesmen maintain that these terms are embraced by only a fringe element of fundamentalists. Again this may br true, but Islam is a major religion and even a small portion constitutes a potentially substantial number of individuals. Another concern is the extent to which more moderate Muslims are willing to tolerate the excesses of those persuing martardom and jihad. All to often we find that Muslims may criticise horrific incident like Beslan or the killing of Iraqi children accepting candy from american trrops with a range of political justifications. The failure of mainstream Islam to repudiate attrocities in the name of martyrdom and jihad is a very dangerous development. Major issues of concern in the West and among Muslims are resolvable. There is no great anthipathy in the West toward Islam. In fact Muslim communities in the west usually find a greater degree of religious and political freedom than in most Islamic countries. The commitment to martardom anf jihad, however, may well be a deal breaker in the West with efforts to reach accomodation. [Harris]
We have received numerous eMails from Muslim readers assuring us that Islam is a religin of peace. We are sure that they contact us in all sincerity. They point out that peace is mentioned in many Koranic verses. The problem is that violence is mentioned in many other Koranic verses. And manof those verses are very trobling. We also note that Jihad is mentioned in more than 40 Koranic verses.
Many in the West find the most difficult to grasp aspect of Islam is the importance of martyrdom and jihad. First it is important to know just what jihad means. Martydom is obvious, but jihad has different meanings.
Some Muslim readers assure us that Jihad does not mean war, but the primary mening is personal struggle and not violence and fighting against other people. Fightong we are told is the last resort. A Pakistani reader writes, "You have desired to know about Jihad in your essay on Islam on your website. The following definition might actually throw you out of your seat in complete stonishment, so do hold tight. Jihad literally means to "struggle, or to strive." The fact that I am writing this long email to you and making clear so many unclear points for you is nothing but "Jihad" i.e. I am striving and making an effort to type these words for you in the way of God. This is an important point: Jihad in Islam means "struggling or striving in the way of Allah." Not everything that I do for any other reason can be considered Jihad. Yes, Jihad a very important tennant of Islam, simply because it expects its followers to strive and struggle to remove oppression and tyranny from the
world for the sake of Allah, even if that means fighting. You should always remember the teaching of Holy Quran when you think of Jihad as wrongly portrayed by the media: If you kill a human being (whether he be a non-muslim) it is like as if you have killed the whole humanity. And If you save a human being (whether he be a non-muslim) it is as if you have saved the entire humanity. The only two allowed reasons to kill a human being is that if that certain human being has either murdered someone or if he is making mischief in the land. Consider this argument as follows. Do the policemen not try to first catch the robber? But what if that robber resorts to gun fighting? Do the
policmen not fight back and what if that robber is killed during the gun fight? Will you call that policemen a terrorist? The fact that the policeman was protecting the society from a robber is like the role of Jihad in Islam for Muslims. So instead of West be afraid of "Jihad" they should instead
provoke Muslims to return to their teachings and do their duty! But of course this not necessarily have to be fighting. Fighting in ISlam is--the last resort--and there is no misunderstanding on this matter." I am sure that there is misunderstanding about the term "jihad". I think that since 9-11 many of us have read jornalistic accounts and books about Islam as well as listened to both Muslim and non-Muslim commentators explain that the proper translatiin of jihad is struggle and not war. we have noted authors and TV spokesmen insisting that these terms are misunderstood in the West.
We wonder if the question has not become if the term is becoming misunderstood in the Islamic world. There seem to be many in the Islamic world who take both martydom and jihad very seriously and in literal terms. The Saudis who flew into the World Trade Center saw themselves as waging Jihad. And the Jihadists in Iraq who set off bombs in croweded maket places, lob mortar shells into schools, or blow up mosques are the ones who do not seem to understand, it seems to me, the concept of Jihad. And what is generally misunderstood, is that the body count of these Jihadists is not lasrgely Jews and Christians, but mostly fellow Muslims. The people killed by Jihadists in Muslim countries (especially Algeria, Iraq, Pakistan, and Sudan) are quite sizeable. We do not doubt that many Muslims that assure us that jihad means personal non-violent personal struggle are sincere in their belieds. What we question is their failure to accept that a substantial number of Muslims see the Koranic verses on Jihad as justigying violence, in many cases againsr innocent civilians of both other faits as well as fellow Muslims. Beliefs and interpretations are one thinf, but facts are very different. And it is simoly undeniavle that an unknown number of Muslims fervently believe that Allah in the Koran has authorized them to kill.
We received the following E-mail: "The Muslim religion in the fastest growing religion per capita in the United States, especially in the minority races!!!
Allah or Jesus? by Rick Mathes
Last month I attended my annual training session
that's required for maintaining my state prison
security clearance. During the training session there
was a presentation by three speakers representing the
Roman Catholic, Protestant and Muslim faiths, who
explained each of their belief systems.
I was particularly interested in what the Islamic
Imam had to say. The Imam gave a great presentation of
the basics of Islam, complete with a video.
After the presentations, time was provided for questions and answers.
When it was my turn, I directed my question to the
Imam and asked: "Please, correct me if I'm wrong, but
I understand that most Imams and clerics of Islam
have declared a holy jihad [Holy war] against the
infidels of the world. And, that by killing an
infidel, which is a command to all Muslims, they are
assured of a place in heaven. If that's the case,
can you give me the definition of an infidel?"
There was no disagreement with my statements and,
without hesitation, he replied, "Non-believers!"
I responded, "So, let me make sure I have this
straight. All followers of Allah have been commanded
to kill everyone who is not of your faith so they can
go to Heaven. Is that correct?"
The expression on his face changed from one of
authority and command to that of a little boy who had
just gotten caught with his hand in the cookie jar. He
sheepishly replied, "Yes."
I then stated, "Well, sir, I have a real problem
trying to imagine Pope John Paul commanding all
Catholics to kill those of your faith or Dr.Stanley
ordering Protestants to do the same in order to go to
Heaven!"
The Imam was speechless.
I continued, "I also have problem with being your
friend when you and your brother clerics are telling
your followers to kill me. Let me ask you a question.
Would you rather have your Allah who tells you to kill
me in order to go to Heaven or my Jesus who tells me
to love you because I am going to Heaven and He wants
you to be with me?"
You could have heard a pin drop as the Imam hung his
head in shame.
Needless to say, the organizers and/or promoters of
the 'Diversification' training seminar were not happy
with Rick's way of dealing with the Islamic Imam and
exposing the truth about the Muslim's beliefs.
I think everyone in the US should be required to read
this, but with the liberal justice system, liberal
media, and the ACLU, there is no way this will be
widely publicized. Please pass this on to all your
e-mail contacts.
This is a true story and the author, Rick Mathes, is
a well known leader in prison ministry."
For a variety of reasons we believe that this E-mail is fictitious. The way the term "minority races" is used, for example, suggest a person with a hidden, highly racist agenda. We also do not believe that most Muslim Imams believe that it is acceptable to kill non-believers or that a trained Imam would not be able to coherently defend his point of view. We present this message here for a variety of reasons. It is representaive of a great deal of inflamatory information circulating on the internet. In this case it is attacking Islam. It is, however, mild compared to the information circulating in the Moslem world about other religions--especially about Judaism. While we do not believe that most Imams propigate such views, there are some that do. There are even more that hold the vuew that it is intolerable to kill other Muslims, but not quite as morally offensuve to kill non believers. Even more tragically, Islamic scholars seem unwilling ti condemn Imams who hold such views. Christian Churches would not tolerate clerics who held such views. One has to ask, whu do Islamic scholars seem unwilling to condemn these views.
We are struck with in Islamic literature how the term marardom is often used with jihad. Marardom is not something that woukld seem to be associated with personal struggle. It makes much more sence if jihad is taken to be war or attacks. This should be born in mind when assessing Koranic verses.
We vsuggest that readers actually read the Koranic verses that deal with jihad and decided for themselbes how the term is being used.
Some moderate Islamic spokesmen maintain that these terms are embraced by only a fringe element of fundamentalists. We do not know just how extensively these views are held. Perhaps readers know of an informed assessment as to the extent these views are held in the Islamic world. Even if it is true that sucgh views are held by only a minority, there are still major concerns. First, while it may be true that the embrace of jihad is a minority view Islam is a major religion consituting about a quarter of the world population. Even a small portion constitutes a potentially substantial number of individuals.
Another concern is the extent to which more moderate Muslims are willing to tolerate the excesses of those persuing martardom and jihad. All to often we find that Muslims may criticise horrific incident like Beslan or the killing of Iraqi children accepting candy from American trrops with a range of political justifications. The failure of mainstream Islam to repudiate attrocities in the name of martadom and jihad is a very dangerous development. We do not see a condemnation of these views by major Islamic schoolars. There is a difference between disagreeing and condemning. Christian religious authorities would not just disagree with comparable satements, but would condemn such statements and take steps to excommuincate or remove clerics endorsing such thoughts from religious offices.
Major issues of concern in the West and among Muslims are resolvable. There is no great anthipathy in the West toward Islam. Western countries have developed a deeply intrenched tradition of religios freedom and toleration. Thus Muslim communities in the west usually find a greater degree of religious and political freedom than in most mahority Muslim countries. The commitment to martyrdom anf jihad, however, may well be a deal breaker in the West with efforts to reach accomodation. [Harris]
Harris, Sam. The End of Faith (2004).
Navigate the Historic Boys' Clothing Web Site:
[Return to the Main Islam page]
[Return to the Middle Eastern chronologies]
[Introduction]
[Activities]
[Art chronologies]
[Biographies]
[Chronologies]
[Clothing styles]
[Countries]
[Bibliographies]
[Contributions]
[FAQs]
[Glossaries]
[Images]
[Links]
[Registration]
[Tools]
[Boys' Clothing Home]