Pearson Edexcel Level 3 Advanced GCE in Religious Studies – Anthology
212and Gospel, from Dostoevsky to Baudelaire, the human horizon remains. The
Qur'ān, too, confirms the most daily of experiences:
By the soul, and That whic h shaped it and inspired it to lewdness and
godfearing! Prosperous is he who purifies it, and failed has he who
seduces it.(Qur'ān, 91:7-10)The two paths are explicit, at one and the same time, apprehended in the most
vivid and moral fashion c oupled wit h rememb ranc e of t he life t o c ome. Life is t his
test of balanc e for men who are c apable of induc ing both the best and the worst
from themselves.
Here, we are in proximity of the notion of jihād whic h c annot be understood
exc ept in regard to the c onc eption of man whic h implies it. Tension is natural and
t he c onflic t of t he inward is properly human. Moreover, man proceeds and realises
himself in and by the effort that he furnishes in order to give force and presence to
t he inc linat ion of his least violent , irasc ible and aggressive being. He st ruggles daily
against the most negative forc es of his being, as he knows that his humanity will be
the pric e of their mastery. This inward effort and this struggle against the
"post ulat ions" of int eriorit y is t he most appropriat e (lit eral and figurat ive)
translation of the word "jihād”.
It is not a question here of reduc ing jihād t o a personal dimension (jihād'l-
nafs), but rather returning to its most immediate reality. Jihād is to man's humanity
what instinc t is to an animal's behaviour. To be, for man, is to be responsible and
suc h responsibilit y is linked t o a c hoic e, whic h always seeks t o express goodness
and respec t of oneself and others. Choosing, in the reality of inward c onflic t, is to
have a resolve for peace of heart.
We know the words of the Prophet (peac e be upon him) in a hadīth whose
c hain of t ransmission is ac knowledged as weak (da’īf) but from whic h we c an draw
an instruc tion, sinc e its meaning and sc ope are c onfirmed by other traditions.
Coming bac k from an expedition against the Muslims’ enemies, the Prophet (peace
be upon him) is reported to have described war as "a lesser jihād" in comparison to
''the greater jihād" whic h is the effort of inward purific ation and of a human being's
spirit ualisat ion before his Creat or. More t han t he simple c omparison, what should
be retained here is the association of faith with the experience of effort in order to
at t ain harmony and serenit y. Life c onsist s of t his t rial, as spirit ual forc e is signified
by the choice of good as well as good action as also oneself and for others.
... [He] who c reated death and life, that He might try you whic h of you is
fairest in works. (Qur'ān, 67:2)T he real meaning of Islamic spirit ualit y lies in reforming t he spac e of one's
interiority, appeasing one’s heart at the level of acknowledgement of the Creator
and within a generous human ac tion; it is loving in transparenc y and living in the
lig ht. T his spirit ualit y joins t he horizons of all ot her spirit ualt ies, whic h require man
to be equipped with a force of being rather than being subjected to the despotic
fierc eness of a life whic h is reduc ed to instinc t. This tension towards the mastery of