An intellectual historical study of Islamic Jihad during the life of Muhammad and in the twentieth century
The purpose of the study was to clarify the definition and to determine the proper application of Islamic jihad. Jihad, a primary facet of the religion of Islam, has often been translated as "holy war". In the study, jihad was translated as "struggle in the cause of Allah".To obt...
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| Format: | Others |
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2011
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| Online Access: | http://cardinalscholar.bsu.edu/handle/handle/177063 http://liblink.bsu.edu/uhtbin/catkey/440946 |
| Summary: | The purpose of the study was to clarify the definition and to determine the proper application of Islamic jihad. Jihad, a primary facet of the religion of Islam, has often been translated as "holy war". In the study, jihad was translated as "struggle in the cause of Allah".To obtain a clarification regarding the original definition of Islamic Jihad, the fundamental sources of Islamic belief, the Qur'an and the Sunnah, were examined. Study of the Qur'an and the Sunnah provided a fundamental outline of the basic rules and regulations regarding the concept of jihad.To obtain a further understanding of the implementation of proper practices in jihad, instances of jihad during the life of Muhammad were examined. Included were the Meccan period, when military jihad had not yet been instituted, and the Medinan period. Military campaigns and diplomatic missions under the leadership of Muhammad were examined. From specific examples of personal, military and diplomatic jihad, general principles were derived.Examination of twentieth-century Islamic thought regarding Jihad indicated that the contemporary manifestation of Islamic Jihad has been rooted in the philosophy of Islamic revivalism. According to twentieth-century Islamic revivalism, the religion of Islam should be regarded as a timeless body of principles which pertain to the daily concerns of government and society. Jihad has been indicated as the tool for achieving the implementation of basic Islamic principles. The arena for Islamic struggle, i.e. jihad, may be the battlefield, the legislature or the printed page.Specific examples of jihad in the twentieth-century were examined. Examples included in the study were: the establishment of Pakistan; the establishment of the Islamic Republic of Iran; the Islamic revivalist movement in Egypt; and the Islamic rebellion against the Soviet presence in Afghanistan. The Islamic struggle in Pakistan was found to be the least successful, and the Islamic struggle in Afghanistan was found to be the most successful, of the examples of contemporary jihad.The study will be significant in providing a comprehensive model of the proper conduct of Islamic jihad. The study will also clarify misconceptions regarding the concept and practice of Islamic jihad. |
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