Islamic concept of Jihad totally misunderstood in the world today: Shaykh-ul-Islam Dr Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri

English dictionaries have translated word ‘Jihad’ as the ‘holy war’, which is wrong. Jihad has five categories namely educational, political, spiritual, welfare and defensive. Jihad represents an extreme effort undertaken to save humanity and not to kill it. Every action taken to achieve welfare of humanity is called Jihad including the struggle to eliminate ill-commanding self and base desires, greed and avarice.

Shaykh-ul-Islam Dr Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri expressed these views while delivering his keynote telephonic speech to a seminar organized on the subject of Jihad under the aegis of Pakistan Awami Tehreek. Faiz-ur-Rehman Durrani, Raja Jamil Ajmal, Anwar Akhtar Advocate, Anwar Akhtar Advocate, Jawad Hamid, G.M. Malik and Qazi Faiz-ul-Islam were also present on the occasion.

Dr Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri said that there are 35 Quranic verses that mention the word ‘Jihad’ or its equivalents, but words ‘Jihad’ and ‘killing’ have not been mentioned together in a single verse. There are only four verses of Sura Tawba that talk of defensive war. Not a single verse, he emphasized, was revealed on the Holy Prophet (SAW) during the Makki period and all verses were revealed in Madina after migration. No permission was given to launch an armed defensive war in Makkah.

Dr Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri said that all people irrespective of their religion, colour, creed and region should know that Islam is another name of peace, tolerance, understanding and offers the way of dialogue to settle disputes. It strongly discourages militancy, terrorism and extremism and recommends the employment of peaceful means for resolution of intractable issues based on shared human values of love, peace, harmony and interfaith dialogue. Dr Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri said that the concept of Jihad has got disfigured in the present-day world. The westerners equate Jihad with merciless killing and violent fights. “This limited understanding of this humane concept is misplaced and totally wrong. The reality is other way round. The literal meaning of word Jihad does not have even a faint acquaintance with fight and violence according to the teachings of the Holy Quran and Sunna,” he explained.

Dr Muhammmad Tahir-ul-Qadri said that we would have to work hard to clarify the difference between perception and reality and let the world know about it. “The leading Muslims including politicians, religious scholars, thinkers, intellectuals, and opinion leaders need to come forward and play their part in allaying these misconceptions,” he concluded.