Pearson Edexcel Level 3 Advanced GCE in Religious Studies – Anthology
211
Extract 2: Tariq Ramadan ‘The Call to Jihād’ (2001)
Taken from: Islam, The West and the Challenges of Modernity, Tariq Ramadan
(Kube publishing, 2001), Part T wo, Chapt er 1.6, pp. 59-69.
How often has one heard apropos the expressions "the holy war”, the fanatic
mobilisat ion of "God's madmen" and t his "new flow of rampant fundament alis m".
T he world of Islam, whic h is lately haunted by the gangrene of jihād, scares and
t errorises minds.
How is it, then, that one of the most fundamental notions of Islam has itself
come to express one of the most somber traits? How c an a c onc ept, whic h is loaded
with the most in tense spirituality, become the most negative symbol of religious
expression? The reading of events of recent history certainly has its share of the
blame, but the distortion goes back to an advanced date of the Middle Ages. The
understanding of c ertain Islamic notions was from very early on c onfined to an
exercise of pure comparison. There were the crusades as there were also Muslim
expansions; there were holy c rusades and, thus, there were also "holy wars", the
f a mo u s jihād. Even if t he West has happily gone beyond init ial st age of religious
war and c rusade, the spec tator is indeed forc ed to notic e that the Muslim world is
still today lagging behind. This because we see everywhere groups, movements,
parties and governments t hat c all for jihad, armed st ruggle and polit ic al violenc e.
The symbolical arsenal seems medieval and obscurantist, to say the least. Here
also t hen t he quest ion arises, will Islam evolve?
This question seems legitimate and its expression brings up, nonetheless,
another misunderstanding whic h is nowadays undoubtedly upheld voluntarily. But,
one must go bac k to the sourc e of this notion and try to better understand its
spirit ual and dynamic sc ope. Jihād is t he most fulfilled expression of a fait h, whic h
seeks to express balanc e and harmony. One must say a word here about its
individual sc ope and it ’s lit erally "int ernat ional" dimension, and finally, sinc e it is
the subjec t whic h interests us here, about it s soc ial ac t ualisat ion.
a. Peace of heart
Can any human being assert, from the depth of his heart, that he has never been
su bjec t to violenc e, aggression, hat red, anger and even the excitement of a
destructive inst inc t? Mast ery over self, serenity, respect of ot hers and
gentleness are not natural,^ but are ac quired by me a n s of a permanent, personal^
effort. Suc h is the lot of men. They board the shores of their humanity by means of
a long, thoughtful and measured work on the self. Everyone knows this and eac h
heart feels it.
All t he world's lit erat ure, from t he dawn of t ime, is plain in it s represent at ion of
this tension. A tension which is sometimes appeased, sometimes agitated and at
other times tears apart men's inward focus. From the Baghavad Gita to the Torah