Thursday, 01 March 2018
Jihad
to understand the origins, influence and
significance of jihad.
I can clearly
I can explain the
I can describe explain the impact
importance of
the origins of of jihad on a
jihad to Muslims.
jihad. Muslim.
jihad: a struggle against evil, this may be an inward, personal
struggle or an outward, collective struggle.
greater jihad: the personal inward struggle of all Muslims to live
in line with the teaching of their faith.
lesser jihad: the outward struggle to defend one’s faith, family
and country from threat.
Holy war: fighting for a religious cause or God, probably
controlled by a religious leader.
What is Jihad?
Jihad is an important concept for Muslims. It refers to struggling against
evil, either as an individual or as the collective fellowship of Islam.
The origins of jihad go back as far as Jihad requires
Muhammad, as the concept appears many Muslims to strive to
times in the Qur’an and the Hadith: improve themselves
“This is My path, leading and the societies in
“But those who have
believed, migrated and straight, so follow it, and do which they life in a
striven for God’s cause, not follow other wats; they way which that God
it is they who can look will lead you away from it – would approve of.
forward to God’s mercy; ‘This is what He commands you
God is most forgiving to do, so that you may refrain
and merciful.” from wrongdoing.’”
Qur’an 2:218 Qur’an 6:153
Greater jihad
Greater jihad is a personal All of this is required as a part of greater jihad,
which for Muslims is a constant struggle to purify
inward struggle of all Muslims to ones heart from all evil traits, and to establish
live in line with the teachings of instead of types of virtues.
their faith. This means they
must observe the Five Pillars of Muslims must devote this lives to God by avoiding
Islam. temptations and distractions such as drugs, alcohol,
• Shahadah and salah – putting greed and jealousy. Anything that takes them away
God above everything else from their submission to God must be avoided.
• Zakah – care for others as a Some Muslims take their devotion further and
duty learn the Qur’an by heart.
• Sawm – putting God above
their needs for a whole month Other make great efforts to improve life for
• Hajj – leave behind worldly people in the community. They choose to give
Sadaqah. Others may give their time by working
concerns and dedicate with the poor and vulnerable, both locally and
themselves to God. globally.
Lesser jihad
As there term ‘lesser jihad’ suggests, it is considered to be less
important than greater jihad.
Lesser jihad is seen as the outward struggle
to defend Islam from threat. In the early
days of the faith, this was important when
Muslims were being persecuted and they
needed to protect their freedom to practise
their faith.
There ate several instances in the Qur’an that appear to allow extreme
violence in the name of lesser jihad, but it must be remembered that they
were written in the seventh century CE when the new faith of Islam was
under sever threat. Some might argue in the context of war, behaving in
such a violent way is justified but this does not mean that lesser jihad can
be used to justify terrorism that targets innocent civilians.
Holy war criteria
Fighting for religious cause is sometimes referred to as a holy war.
Some of the criteria for a holy war are:
• It must only be declared by a As the criteria suggests, neither lesser jihad nor holy
war should be used to justify terrorist acts, whether
fair religious leader
or not there is a perceived threat to the faith.
• It cannot be used to make
people to convert to Islam Lesser jihad is sometimes
• It must be in response to a misinterpreted in modern times.
threat to the faith Muslim extremists are often
called jihadists, but no Muslim
• It must not be used to gain for whom greater jihad is an
territory or wealth important element in their faith
would justify such violent acts
• It must be the last resort – by referring to terrorism as
all peaceful methods must struggling to live in the way that
have been tried first God intents.
Jihad
Key terms: The origins of jihad go back as far as Muhammad, as the concept appears many times in the
Qur’an and the Hadith:
jihad:
“But those who have believed, migrated and striven for God’s cause, it is they who can look
greater jihad: forward to God’s mercy; God is most forgiving and merciful.”
Qur’an 2:218
lesser jihad: “This is My path, leading straight, so follow it, and do not follow other ways; they will
lead you away from it – ‘This is what He commands you to do, so that you may refrain from
Holy war: wrongdoing.’”
Qur’an 6:153
Greater jihad Lesser jihad Holy war criteria
What are the main differences between greater Challenge: Which (if any) of the holy war criteria
and lesser jihad? do you think are acceptable? Explain your answer
with examples to support.
Describe different ways in which Muslims practise
greater jihad.
Learning Objective: to understand the origins, influence and significance of jihad.
Exam Question
Working in groups of 2, fill
‘Greater jihad is more in the sheet which break
important than lesser jihad.’ downs the 12 mark question.
Evaluate this statement. In your answer you
should:
Once you have completed
• refer to Muslim teachings the sheet, attempt the
• give developed arguments to support this answer in your book.
statement
• give developed arguments to support a
different point of view
• reach a justified conclusion.
