Jihad - The Meaning

Leii wrote: Thank you Peacemaker

You are welcome.

Leii wrote: Peacemaker: Sorry if I'm going off on a little tangent here but what are the differences between Sunni Islam and Shi'ite Islam? Where can I learn more?

No major diff, both follow sunnah and quran.

JIHAD EXAMPLE

"Robert Redeker ... south-west France, is receiving ... police protection ... after publishing an article describing the Koran as a "book of extraordinary violence" and Islam as "a religion which ... exalts violence and hate".

"There is a very clear map of how to get to my home, with the words: �This pig must have his head cut off�," he said. Another e-mail says: "You will never again be safe on this earth. One billion, 300 million Muslims are ready to kill you."

This man does not agree "Islam is a Peaceful religion". As a result, One billion, 300 million Muslims are ready to kill him? I believe the number is less then that.

http://jihadwatch.org/

If we are all mujahidin how do we determine when we are to engage in fighting as a military struggle for religious reasons?

Many wars that are not Religious wars, often still include elements of religion. Also differences in religion can further inflame a war being fought for other reasons. Historically temples have been military targets that are destroyed to weaken the morale of the opponent, even when the war itself is not being waged over religious ideals.

 

To Help Answer Leii:

There are two main classifications of jihad; lesser jihad and greater jihad. There has come some dispute to the previous comment, whether the "greater" or "lesser" form of jihad refers to physical combat or an inner struggle. The debate comes from a hadith, or narration from the Prophet Muhammad, where he was quoted as saying, after returning from combat, "We have returned from the lesser jihad (jihad al-asghar) to the greater jihad (jihad al-akbar)" This hadith is considered fabricated by the scholars of hadith as it has no chain which can be traced directly to the Prophet.

Some view the greater jihad to be that of "the sword," or physical combat, using multiple references to the importance of fighting (al-qital) in the Qur'an and narrations from the hadith as evidence. Beside all of this, both sides of the debate agree that the physical fight requires an initial overcoming of spiritual dismay, which is itself an inner struggle; thus, intellectually, one could derive that both struggles, the physical and the spiritual, are encompassing one of the other. Likewise, the spiritual success supposedly leads one to yearn to fight for the sake of God, whether in pure defense or preemptive strikes, so the actual fulfilment of such inner struggle is requisite to the purity of the outward struggle.

Muslim scholars explained there are five kinds of jihad fi sabilillah (struggle in the cause of God):^[1]

• Jihad of the heart/soul (jihad bin nafs/qalb) is an inner struggle of good against evil in the mind, through concepts such as tawhid.
• Jihad by the tongue (jihad bil lisan) is a struggle of good against evil waged by writing and speech, such as in the form of dawah (proselytizing), Khutbas (sermons), et al.
• Jihad by the pen and knowledge (jihad bil qalam/ilm) is a struggle for good against evil through scholarly study of Islam, ijtihad (legal reasoning), and through sciences (such as medical sciences).
• Jihad by the hand (jihad bil yad) refers to a struggle of good against evil waged by actions or with one's wealth, such as going on the Hajj pilgrimage (seen as the best jihad for women), taking care of elderly parents, providing funding for jihad, political activity for furthering the cause of Islam, stopping evil by force, or espionage.
• Jihad by the sword (jihad bis saif) refers to qital fi sabilillah (armed fighting in the way of God, or holy war).