Religious Studies Anthology

Pearson Edexcel Level 3 Advanced GCE in Religious Studies – Anthology

216

The believers are those who believe in God and His Messenger, then have

not doubted, and have struggled with their possessions^12 and their selves

in the way of God; those – they are the truthful ones. (Qur'ān, 49:15)

One may read this formulation in the stric t sense and in that it only addresses
the question of armed struggle, and that this armed st ruggle imposes it self
whenever there exists aggression. However, it would be reductionist to draw just
that instruc tion. In a broader sense, a sense which is confirmed by the entire
Qur'ānic message and that of the traditions, "fighting in the path of Go d ” me a n s
mobilising all our human forc es, direc t ing all our effort s and giving of our propert ies
and of our own persons in order to overcome all adversities whether they be
injust ic es, povert y, illit erac y, delinquenc y or exc lusion.

The Qur'ān offers suc h latitude in the interpretation of the word jihād, and this
in it s first revelat ion:

So obey not the unbelievers, but struggle with them thereby mightily.

(Qur'ān, 25:52)^13

There is here mention of a struggle (jāhid and jihādan), whic h is of a learned
and scientific nature, one that relies on dialogue, disc ussion and debate. The
Qur’ān, in its c ontent and form, appears as an arm in the hands of Muslims. On
another level, it is the Prophet (peace be upon him) who presents an extensive
interpretation of the word when he asserts, for example, “Pilgrimage is a jihād"^14.
One realises that the troubles, efforts and suffering endured by the faithful during a
few days in Makka, in order to give strength to their faith and answer the c all of the
Creat or, are a jihād in the path of God...

We will not deny that there are struggles wherein circumstances lead us to
direc t c onfrontation, in order to oppose a purge here, a military oc c upation there,
or another type of aggression suc h as the one we have witnessed in Bosnia and
Chec hnia. However, it c annot simply be a question of foc using our attention on
these events alone and forgetting the broader type of fight whic h oc c urs daily and
is, therefore, so muc h more urgent. Nowadays, our enemies, in the path of God,
are hunger, unemploy ment, exploitation, delinquenc y and drug addic tion. They
require intense efforts, a c ontinuous fight and a c omplete jihād whic h needs eac h
and everyone's part ic ipat ion.

How many are those Muslims who want to fight beyond their own doorsteps,
who want to offer, in the most sinc ere fashion their own persons for the c ause of
Islam. But, filled with this intention, they forget and remain blind to the fight that
must be c arried out here in their own loc ality, to the c ause that ought to be
defended in their own neighbourhoods, c ities and in every c ountry. To those who
sought t o assist Palest ine in it s fight against Zionist c olonisat ion in t he 1940s, and
who perceived this expedition as representing the fulfilment of their ideal, Hasan al-
Banna said: "Dying in the way of God is diffic ult , but living in t he way of God is st ill
more diffic ult ." T his jihād is a jihād for life, in order that every human being is
given the rights which are his. The entire message of Islam carries this requirement
as well as its necessary achievement...

(^12) From the verbal form Jahada, the same root as the masdar (verbal noun) jihad.
(^13) The pronoun “hi” of “bhi” refers here, according to the majority of commentators, to the
Qur’an (cf., inter alia, Tabari, Qurtubi and Ibn Kathir).
(^14) There exists a great number of traditions which point to the broader sense of this te rm.