Jihad(Struggle)

=Jihad (Struggle) =

Virginia Hardy
=toc __Background of Jihad__= In the ancient world, the Prophet Muhammad saw the differences in religious beliefs between the Christians, the Jews, and the pagan Arabs. These religious groups had different views on who God was and what Gods morals were,including the Holy Bible and the Qur'an. So Muhammad introduced the term Jihad. Jihad has been misinterpreted as "holy war", but in Qur'anic terms it means to exert effort, in the term of struggle against or resisting to something, in the sake of Allah. Many Muslims also mistake Jihad for the term "Armed Jihad" because in order to please Allah, war may have to get involved but war getting involved to please Allah is not Jihad. There are two terms to Jihad,the Lesser Jihad and the Greater Jihad which will be explained below.

=__The Lesser and The Greater Jihad__= According to Jihad, there is a lesser Jihad and a greater Jihad. The greater Jihad is the fight with ones self against personal struggle of acknowledging the evil and critical eye that we all have and taming it. But on the other hand, the lesser Jihad is the complete opposite. The lesser Jihad is not fighting personal struggle, but instead fighting with others about personal opinions. For example, on September 11th, <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">al-Qaeda(a militant Islamic group) crashed two airlines into the Twin Towers of <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">the World Trade Center in New York City. This act accompanies the meaning of the lesser <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Jihad because Muslim men did not agree with American views and decided to come and kill <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">thousands of people, instead of honoring their outward perspective and killing there own self hatred.



=__Ahmadiyya View of Jihad__= <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Ahmadiyya is a peaceful community and believes that violence is the last resort to protect ones religion and only used to protect ones life and the true message of Islam should only be spread by the pen.

For example- **<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement for the Propagation of Islam, Compiled by Imam Kalamazad Mohammed ** <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">jihad to satisfy their base egoistic desires. Further, as in keeping with the teachings of Islam, jihad is in no way permissible without the decree of the King - and the common people know this - therefore, the danger exists that those people who are ignorant of the truth may, in their hearts, very well blame the Amir Sahib himself for conniving at all these happenings."
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">"Islam has never taught Muslims to become like thieves and robbers and under the guise of

[|][]

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">

=__The Misconception of Jihad in America__= <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">In America, Jihad has been viewed as a violent subject. Jihad is NOT terrorism. <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Muslims themselves misconstrue the meaning of Jihad, or there for the greater Jihad <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">and act out a strength of violence because they cannot control their hatred against other <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">political/religious views. America's view of Jihad is extremely negative which reflects the <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">views of Islam as well. For instance, Islamophobia has occured in today's society as a <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">viewpoint of Islam being:


 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Religion of violence and terrorism <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">[[image:http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Nbymci0xUFE/TDiS0bIcHGI/AAAAAAAABSA/s9-BJiy2rok/s640/nyc+mosque+5.jpg width="300" height="292" align="right" caption="Protestor against Mosque near Ground Zero"]]


 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Does not share common values with other faiths


 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Is archaic, barbaric, and irrational


 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Cannot adapt to new realities


 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Violent poltical views







media type="custom" key="8158160"

Works Cited

"Ahmadiyya Muslim Community | Ask.com Encyclopedia." __Ask.com - What's Your Question?__ 23 Jan. 2011 <http://www.ask.com/wiki/Ahmadiyya_Muslim_Community>.

"The Greater Jihad." __Liberation Community Home Page__. 23 Jan. 2011 <http://www.liberation.org/jihad.htm>.

"Jihad : Views Of Different Muslim Groups." __1000s of Museums Online : MuseumStuff.com__. 23 Jan. 2011 <http://www.museumstuff.com/learn/topics/jihad::sub::Views_Of_Different_Muslim_Groups>.

"The Meaning of Jihad." __Qur'anic Studies__. 23 Jan. 2011 <http://www.quranicstudies.com/louay-fatoohi/jihad/the-meaning-of-jihad.html>.

"The Origin of Islamic Jihad and Its Significance." __Free Reprint Articles - ArticlesGratuits.com, your source of Free Articles and Content. Get Free publicity for your Business and more__. 23 Jan. 2011 <http://en.articlesgratuits.com/article.php?id_article=1036>.

Simon, Steven. "Why We Should Put Jihad on Trial." __Council on Foreign Relations__. 23 Jan. 2011 <http://www.cfr.org/publication/20794/why_we_should_put_jihad_on_trial.html>.