Jihad as an essential principle of human life an understanding from the Qur’anic perspective

Many a Qur’anic concept has been misunderstood and misinterpreted by both protagonists and antagonists. JihÉd is one such Qur’anic term. Today its meaning, purpose, and application appear confusing. The most popular import of this term is war against the enemies of Islam. D...

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Main Author:	Khan, Israr Ahmad
Format:	Article
Language:	English
Published:	International Islamic University Malaysia 2011
Subjects:	BP170.3 Missionary work of Islam
Online Access:	http://irep.iium.edu.my/22034/ http://irep.iium.edu.my/22034/ http://irep.iium.edu.my/22034/1/4-Jihad_as_an_Essential_Principle_of_Human_Life.pdf

id	iium-22034
recordtype	eprints
spelling	iium-220342012-03-06T02:37:41Z http://irep.iium.edu.my/22034/ Jihad as an essential principle of human life an understanding from the Qur’anic perspective Khan, Israr Ahmad BP170.3 Missionary work of Islam Many a Qur’anic concept has been misunderstood and misinterpreted by both protagonists and antagonists. JihÉd is one such Qur’anic term. Today its meaning, purpose, and application appear confusing. The most popular import of this term is war against the enemies of Islam. Does this meaning of jihÉd commensurate with its Qur’anic usage? Or have Muslim scholars and commentators of the Qur’an imposed their own idea of jihÉd in the minds of the people? To resolve this entangled and misunderstood Qur’anic usage of jihad in an objective manner is a big challenge to the Muslim scholars of the post-modern era. The word jihad has occurred in the Qur’an forty one times, eleven times in Makkan revelations and the remaining thirty times in Madinan revelations. It has been used in both noun and verb forms. In order to understand, and interpret the concept of jihad in the Qur’an, one has to read it within the contexts it has occurred. To read a statement in isolation of its context is in sheer contrast with universally established rule of justice. If the word jihad in the Qur’an is read and deliberated over within the given context, it may appear that jihad is not an act of Islamic life like solah, zakah, hajj, nikah etc but rather it is an underlying principle of life to be applied in every walk of life. It is like the other Qur’anic principles of life such as ihsan, taqwa, ‘adl etc. The word jihÉd denotes doing the best everywhere, whether in devotional matter, social life, economic undertaking, political struggle, cultural activity, educational endeavor, or military expedition. It is suggested here that all the forty one verses where the word jihad has occurred in the Qur’an should be interpreted by applying coherent methodology. The writer of this paper hereby proposes to do his part of jihad with intellectual honesty to interpret the word jihad as used in the Qur’an. For that purpose, he will, wherever it is possible, refer to scholars’ views and evaluate them critically so as to unfold the truth concerning jihad in the Qur’an. International Islamic University Malaysia 2011 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf en http://irep.iium.edu.my/22034/1/4-Jihad_as_an_Essential_Principle_of_Human_Life.pdf Khan, Israr Ahmad (2011) Jihad as an essential principle of human life an understanding from the Qur’anic perspective. Journal of Islam in Asia, Spcl (1). pp. 315-340. ISSN 1823-0970 http://www.iium.edu.my/jiasia/ojs-2.2/index.php/Islam
repository_type	Digital Repository
institution_category	Local University
institution	International Islamic University Malaysia
building	IIUM Repository
collection	Online Access
language	English
topic	BP170.3 Missionary work of Islam
spellingShingle	BP170.3 Missionary work of Islam Khan, Israr Ahmad Jihad as an essential principle of human life an understanding from the Qur’anic perspective
description	Many a Qur’anic concept has been misunderstood and misinterpreted by both protagonists and antagonists. JihÉd is one such Qur’anic term. Today its meaning, purpose, and application appear confusing. The most popular import of this term is war against the enemies of Islam. Does this meaning of jihÉd commensurate with its Qur’anic usage? Or have Muslim scholars and commentators of the Qur’an imposed their own idea of jihÉd in the minds of the people? To resolve this entangled and misunderstood Qur’anic usage of jihad in an objective manner is a big challenge to the Muslim scholars of the post-modern era. The word jihad has occurred in the Qur’an forty one times, eleven times in Makkan revelations and the remaining thirty times in Madinan revelations. It has been used in both noun and verb forms. In order to understand, and interpret the concept of jihad in the Qur’an, one has to read it within the contexts it has occurred. To read a statement in isolation of its context is in sheer contrast with universally established rule of justice. If the word jihad in the Qur’an is read and deliberated over within the given context, it may appear that jihad is not an act of Islamic life like solah, zakah, hajj, nikah etc but rather it is an underlying principle of life to be applied in every walk of life. It is like the other Qur’anic principles of life such as ihsan, taqwa, ‘adl etc. The word jihÉd denotes doing the best everywhere, whether in devotional matter, social life, economic undertaking, political struggle, cultural activity, educational endeavor, or military expedition. It is suggested here that all the forty one verses where the word jihad has occurred in the Qur’an should be interpreted by applying coherent methodology. The writer of this paper hereby proposes to do his part of jihad with intellectual honesty to interpret the word jihad as used in the Qur’an. For that purpose, he will, wherever it is possible, refer to scholars’ views and evaluate them critically so as to unfold the truth concerning jihad in the Qur’an.
format	Article
author	Khan, Israr Ahmad
author_facet	Khan, Israr Ahmad
author_sort	Khan, Israr Ahmad
title	Jihad as an essential principle of human life an understanding from the Qur’anic perspective
title_short	Jihad as an essential principle of human life an understanding from the Qur’anic perspective
title_full	Jihad as an essential principle of human life an understanding from the Qur’anic perspective
title_fullStr	Jihad as an essential principle of human life an understanding from the Qur’anic perspective
title_full_unstemmed	Jihad as an essential principle of human life an understanding from the Qur’anic perspective
title_sort	jihad as an essential principle of human life an understanding from the qur’anic perspective
publisher	International Islamic University Malaysia
publishDate	2011
url	http://irep.iium.edu.my/22034/ http://irep.iium.edu.my/22034/ http://irep.iium.edu.my/22034/1/4-Jihad_as_an_Essential_Principle_of_Human_Life.pdf
first_indexed	2023-09-18T20:33:42Z
last_indexed	2023-09-18T20:33:42Z
_version_	1777408904747024384

Jihad as an essential principle of human life an understanding from the Qur’anic perspective

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