The term Jihad, in my opinion, has been loosely translated and greatly misunderstood - by Muslims and non-Muslims. And, I think this misapprehension can be somewhat excused. In today’s confused state, we cannot blame ourselves for falling into the pitfall of politics. Terms ascribed to religious beliefs are manipulated to spur emotions. Sadly, such attempts result in 90% success leaving the world in impairment.
In my view, Jihad has been really skewed. There is a lot to that term and most of it has been conveniently neglected to stress the militant connotations. So, people now mostly identify Jihad with “holy war”. Sad, sad and very sad indeed.
I am not a scholar or a ‘certified’ authority to make corrections to this distorted version of Jihad. It is the efforts to do so that has resulted in the misinterpretation and I wish not to contribute to that. But I wish to share a thought that has been walking around my head for sometime.
From what I know, Jihad, in Arabic, means, “struggle”. And, I guess one does not need to be a brainy to figure out that it simply means ‘struggle for Islam’. In that aspect, I being a Muslim believe in and support Jihad. But why go extremes to struggle for Islam when there are pending matters near us to take care of?
I live in a country, in which, 15% of the population are Muslims. But, the convention centers, airports, shopping malls and other recreational areas do not have facilities to perform daily obligatory prayers (some of them are starting to have these to accommodate to tourist from Middle East. Thank you so much Arab brothers and sisters). As a female, I find it even more inconvenient. And, when there is inconvenience it is difficult to keep it up.
A room that can fit about 3 people is sufficient and not too much to ask for. And, maybe if we try (in peaceful ways of course!), such arrangements can be made. Why not divert the energy of Jihad within us towards such efforts? Yes I am aware that there are generous amounts of Masjids (mosques) in my country and it does not take maximum 10-15 minutes to reach one. But, that is not the gist of my argument here.
Jihad means ‘to struggle for Islam and right now it is more important to pave ways for Muslims to practice Islam by performing basic duties. So here is my proposal for current and future ‘jihadists’. Why not write a letter to whom-it-may-concern requesting assistance to secure a small room in hospitals/airports (for a start) so we can fulfill our obligatory duties. :)
May Allah guide us towards the straight path and bless us in success in our PEACEFUL efforts.
1 comments:
Well written Fahee, As per my limited knowledge Jihad also means "Patience" and "sacrifice". Like, sacrifice something which prevents one from practising Islam, Not getting provoked when you see something that is against Islam or that insults Islam. Patience is the greatest weapon of a Muslim and most of us do lack it.
And offer your prayers in time(in this busy life), another Jihad like you said.
But media and some guilty Muslims are responsible to create such a situation that people think about AK-47 whenever they hear the word "Jihad"
Faheem.
Post a Comment