Jihad

CheckPoint: Jihad in Islam

HUM/130 Religions of the World

August 19, 2011

Cynthia Stewart

CheckPoint: Jihad in Islam

The Five Pillars of Islam are belief and witness, daily prayers, zakat, fasting, and hajj. Another important injunction of the Five Pillars is jihad. Jihad is often mistranslated as “holy war,” which means, “striving.” Jihad is an effort to practice religion in the face of oppression and persecution. This may be fighting evil from your heart or standing up to a dictator. Muhammad, one of the as Greatest Jihad, was noted to say Jihad is the struggle against the lower self. It is the difference between right and wrong, truth and lies, embracing love and hardness of heart, along with selfishness and selflessness.

Person gain is something that is against what Jihad believes in. Permission is needed to fight back, and the circumstances are evaluated before permission is given. After the evaluation, the Qur’an puts restrictions on how to conduct war and how to treat their prisoners. This is to prevent cruel and violent actions. This is one of the common misperceptions. Another one is the poll tax. Non-Muslins pay a poll tax by contributing from the money that they earn to help with the wellbeing of the state. If the non-Muslim citizens do this, they can enjoy all of the rights as a local member of the state. Another example would be those that seek protection. “Among the principles of Islam which reveal tolerance toward the enemy in the time of war. Islam ensures the protection of such people and requires Muslims to protect them with all they can afford as long as they are in Muslim territories” (Arlandson, n.d.). This gives them privileges from some obligations that Muslims need to observe.

Muhammad is a model of mujahid. Muhammad is also known as the fighter in the Path of God. By that meaning one, He values God more than he values his life, along with how wealthy he is and he values his family. He does not need “worldly power, wealth or...