Waging Jihad against Violence

The word jihad does not signify “war” (qital) alone, but can also mean to strive mightily to defeat one’s own ego, so as to become humble and at peace with oneself, with God, and His varied creation. As many others have stated, the Prophet himself explicitly made this point, upon returning from the “lesser jihad” at the battle of Badr to the “greater jihad,” through which he exhorted his Muslim followers to overcome their egotistical nature and desires. Violence is generally born of egotism and arrogance, even when veiled in the sanctity of religious justification. The wave of suicide bombings we have witnessed in recent years is no exception. True jihad consists of opposing such violence, in the name of God and His religion. For only God Himself has any right or claim to absolute possession of the Truth.

The question confronting us – whose answer will be pivotal in determining the future of humanity – is whether the Muslim ummah (community) in the 21st century is willing to reinterpret the Qur’an, rather than remain stuck with an outmoded understanding of the sacred text inherited from Muslim clerics who lived and wrote their Qur’anic interpretations a thousand years ago, at a time of great wars and chaos.

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