This paper examines the concept of jihad in Islamic tradition and theology, the study unveils the logical and hermeneutical presuppositions of Islam in upholding the doctrine of jihad in the 21st century. As a universalistic religion with the ultimate aim of converting the entire world and eliminating other religions, Islam uses jihad as the last option either in self- defence, or territorial expansion. Jihad may mean self-purification in theory, but for political Islam, it is a strategy to defeat the enemies of Islam through full armed confrontation. While some people are defending Islam as a religion of peace, global political Islam has adopted jihad as a platform for military confrontation with the enemies of Islam. The international …show more content…
The international community is facing a tough time in combating the militant agenda of political Islam.
Keywords: jihad, religion, Islam, territorial expansion, political Islam, warfare in Islam
1 Introduction
'Islam ' is derived from the Arabic word aslam, which means submission, surrender, resignation and committing of oneself to the cause of Allah (Cowan, 1968: 424, 426). Another Arabic word that is the root word of aslam is salam, which is interpreted as safety, immunity, freedom, soundness, well being, peacefulness, salutation or imperfection (Lane, 1978: 1415). The social and spiritual goal of Islam involves the attainment of peace through absolute submission to the will of Allah. A. R. I. Doi writes: "Islam means absolute submission to the creator and Lord. A Muslim is a believer whose faith (Iman) is firm in him and believes in the absolute unity of God who watches all his activities. The entire message of Islam, therefore, is based on two fundamentals; faith (Iman) and right doing (Ihsan) " (1981: 44).
A Muslim is not an ordinary citizen in any society. As a bearer and reservoir of peace, a faithful Muslim is called khalifat Allah (vice-gerent of Allah). As ambassador of Allah on earth, Muslims have a duty to promote peaceful co-existence in all human societies. Abul 'ala Maududi writes: "The moral
The Islamic religion is a Middle Eastern, Arabic Peninsula, based religion that originated right around the 7th c. and is based on the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad. The definition of the word Islam means "submission" in Arabic, and connotes the notion of a total surrender of oneself to God, Allah in the Arabic language. Individuals who practice Islam are known as Muslims, which, again in Arabic, means "one who submits to God"
Not the least of my problems is that I can hardly even imagine what kind of an experience a genuine, self-authenticating religious experience would be. Without somehow destroying me in the process, how could God reveal himself in a way that would leave no room for doubt? If there were no room for doubt, there would be no room for me.-
Pearl Harbor, the beginning of the war between Japan and the United States, was the start of dreadful war organized by Japanese aircraft. The attack was a withheld, destructive attack against the United State's naval base in Hawaii. This attack on December 7, 1941 was originally a plan to conquer the Dutch East Indies without being interrupted by the U.S. Pacific fleet. The Japanese were tired of negotiations with the United States, they wanted to continue their expansion, but the United States had placed an extremely restrictive embargo on Japan in the hopes of curbing Japan's aggression. This terrible ambush resulted in the United State's entry into World War II. The aerial attacks were sent in two waves, this resulted in the sinking of multiple U.S. Battleships, Destroyers, Cruisers, and Auxiliaries, which led to thousands of U.S. personnel casualties and many wounded army, marines, and navy soldiers including many citizens.
Every great historical moment, leader and religion is focused around a uniting influence. Saladin, a great Kurdish Muslim warrior during the time of the Crusades, and the Muslim armies employed the lesser, or violent jihad to fortify support and power in the Holy Lands. Throughout the eleventh and twelfth centuries the term “jihad” was used in several different contexts with varying meanings and intentions. Saladin used a favorable definition and interpretation of Jihad in order to unite the Muslims and create a massive army to defend Islam from the Christian Crusaders. In order to completely understand the word, its origins, and
Islam means 'submission to one God'. Muslims believe that Mohammad is the last prophet of Allah and everyone should worship him.
Islam means submission; it is the one who has submitted himself to Allah. Islamic is a religion that was proclaimed by the prophet Muhammad around 570 and 632. Also the Quran remains the divine book of Islam.
Jihad – a dispute or war between followers of Islam faith and those who do not follow the Islam faith; a struggle within a Muslim between good and evil (Dictionary)
Many authors usually do not have the antagonist, or in other words a crazy deranged person who finds satisfaction in the suffering of others be the main character, but that is not the case for Edgar Allan Poe. Edgar Allan Poe is a well known author for his deadly suspenseful stories, one being “The Cask of Amontillado”, a story revolving around the main character seeking revenge, to a so called friend in an extreme manner. He decides to create a mood of darkness and suspense throughout the story using time, location, and narration.
Islam, meaning submission or submitting oneself fully to God, is one of the world’s largely practiced religions. Those that participate and practice the Islamic religion
The concept of Jihad was not widely known in the western world before the terrorist attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001. Since then, the word has been woven into what our media and government feed us along with notions of Terrorism, Suicide Bombings, Hamas, Al-Qaeda, Osama Bin Laden, and now, Jihad. Our society hears exhortations resounding from the Middle East calling the people to rise up in Jihad and beat back the imperialist Americans. Yet, if we try to peel back all of these complex layers of information we can we attempt to find out what Jihad really means. Webster’s Dictionary defines Jihad as “a holy war waged on behalf of Islam as a religious duty or a crusade for a principle or belief” (1). Often, media depicts
The word Islam means "surrender" or "submission," submission to the will of Allah, the one God. Muslims are those who have submitted themselves. The basic creed of Islam is brief: There is no God but Allah, and Muhammad is the Prophet of Allah. Islam teaches
The first thing that one should know and clearly understand about Islam is what the word "Islam" itself means. The religion of Islam is not named after a person as in the case of Christianity which was named after Jesus Christ, Buddhism after Gotama Buddha, Confucianism after Confucius, and Marxism after Karl Marx. Nor was it named after a tribe like Judaism after the tribe of Judah and Hinduism after the Hindus. Islam is the true religion of "Allah" and as such, its name represents the central principle of Allah's "God's" religion; the total submission to the will of Allah "God". The Arabic word "Islam" means the submission or surrender of one's will to the only true god worthy of worship "Allah" and anyone who does so is termed a
As a religion, Islam is based on the teachings of Muhammad, embodying a sound belief in one God (Allah). Islam is an Arabic word meaning submission, surrender, and obedience (Maududi, 1). It also stands for peace. Its followers are known as Muslims or Moslems. Islam emerged in Arabia, specifically in the city of Mecca, in the seventh century C.E. (Matthews, 386). With the evolution of Islam in Mecca, Mecca is known as the center of Islam. Islam is the youngest of the major world religions with the exception of Sikhism, which is a derivative of Hindu and Muslim beliefs that appeared in India. Islam is a universal religion of monotheism. The goal of Islam is to
This can be very confusing for a westerner at first. Instead of being just part of life, as many people view religion in the west, Islamic followers believe it is everything to them. Based on its linguistic origin, the Arabic word 'Islam' means to achieve peace--peace with God, peace within oneself, and peace with the creations of God through submission to God and commitment to His guidance.
Islam is an Arabic word meaning submission and therefore Islam religion is believed to be an Abrahamic religion which believes in submission to the almighty God Allah and Muhammad as the prophet. Quran is the holy book believed to be the guideline of the Muslims who are the followers of the Islamic religion. It is believed that Allah repeatedly revealed to Muhammad verbally through angel Gabriel and recited in the Quran (Hadith of Revelation, Volume 1, Book 1, Number 3). Over time particular aspects arose from the Quranic teachings and Muslims began to have questions about the teachings and translation of The Quran, thus, narrations were developed in Hadiths.