Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
jihad meaning and types and essay
elaborate on the concept and nature of jihad
jihad meaning and types and essay
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: jihad meaning and types and essay
The beauty of Jihad is hidden behind the supposed meaning which is “holy war” in actuality there is so much more to jihad, it is a way in which Muslims can struggle and strive for our creator Allah (swt). What makes me sad is the misinterpretation of the word; the media has made it look like a militaristic concept when in reality it is to struggle in the name of Allah (swt) and Islam. Hopefully reading this will help us better understand the word Jihad.
The types of Jihad maybe the key to actually understanding what Jihad is, there are four types of Jihads. The first type of Jihad is to struggle against one’s self and desire, the second is to struggle against the temptations of Shaitan (Satan), the third is to struggle against the disbelievers and the fourth is to struggle against the hypocrites. Struggling against one's self desires means forcing yourself to follow the orders of God (Allah) and to stay away from what God (Allah) has ordered to stay away from. This includes performing the obligatory and the voluntary, and to abandon all acts that are Haram (unlawful) or Makrooh (disliked). This type of jihad also includes forcing oneself to behave with the best manners, the best morals, and to stay away from bad behavior at a time when our desires tell us the opposite. Struggling against Satan means to defend you from his evil whisperings, his doubtful matters, his temptations, and his lustfulness. This type of jihad is an obligation for all individuals and no one can do it on another ones behalf. Understand that Satan's whisperings will never go away, and therefore, struggling throughout life. The struggle against the disbelievers and the hypocrites has four levels, which are: In the heart, the tongue, wealth and soul. When struggling with the disbelievers, more than likely, there will be use of hands or physical strength. On the other hand, when struggling against the hypocrites, Jihad will be used through speech to preach to them. These two types of Jihad are called Fard Kifayah, which basically means if some Muslims successfully perform these two types of jihad, then it will no longer be obligatory for other Muslims to perform it. Otherwise, it remains obligatory upon all Muslims until the goal of Jihad is achieved. Another form of Jihad is Dawah or spreading the word this type of jihad is getting the message of Islam out to the non-believers this is not an obligatory act since Islam does not preach forcing your religion on others.
While there is no precise definition of the term, the meaning of Jihad is far more complex. In fact, the term Jihad generally refers to the struggle one must undertake as one “strive[s] in the path of God” (Church 110). That struggle is defined both externally and internally. As so, they are classified in terms of an external struggle with enemies or non believers, or an internal struggle with oneself to reject greed and temptation. While popular opinion has been misconstrued to see Jihad as a malevolent, violent action; a serious investigation of the term’s historical and religious background reveals a multi-defined word.
Many terrorists believe that their religion is the only true religion, and they use it to justify violence (“Islamic Terrorism”). Most Muslim terrorists follow Jihad. Jihad is an Islamic perception that the way to integrate their religion is by massive force (“Of True Muslims and Terrorists”). Jihad is considered the “sixth pillar” of faith in Islam because it is the constant fight towards good. It is the idea of focusing on God and turning away from those that oppose God (David E. Long, 91). The terrorists believe that their religion is what everyone should follow, so they would naturally require personnel in power in Muslim states to either convert to their religion or resign from their terms. They will first threaten a leader that if they do not change, the terrorists will use violence. Sometimes, violent acts come about without any warning or previous threats (“Of True Muslims and Terrorists”). Islam is a proselytizing religion, which means it uses violence to convert people to its faith. This is because, in the ...
...behalf of Islam as a religious duty. This is as obvious of a situation of religious hypocrisy as you will see. Over 270 million people are estimated to have been killed by Jihads since the birth of Islam (Tears of Jihad). Islams are supposed to practice values of peace, yet have no issues waging war and killing other human beings.
231). Jihad is an ideology that consists of using violence whenever the religion of Islam is being threatened or targeted by others, and it proposes that it is the obligation of the followers of such religion to commit those violent acts (Locicero & Sinclair, 2008, pg. 231). Through the use of Jihad, Osama Bin Laden was able to use religion as his primary tool to not only convince others to be willing to risk their lives when conducting terrorists acts on behalf of Islam, but it also allowed the organization to inspire and recruit new members (Locicero & Sinclair, 2008, pg. 231).
Christianity has been in America since the Colonial Era (1600’s - 1700’s), and for over three centuries has dominated and deeply engrained itself into American Society . Islam, however, has only been introduced recently, and this has caused Islamic Believers (or Muslims) residing in America to be misinterpreted. After the September 11 bombings in 2001, there was a huge hatred for Muslims as they were interpreted as a religion that promotes destruction in the name of ‘Jihad’, or as it is often mistranslated as ‘Holy war’ . Although, the meaning of ‘Jihad’ is much wider than just ‘Holy war’, it is an internal struggle, within each Muslim, “…to be a good Muslim as well as advance the cause of Islam.” The Western understanding of ‘jihad’ however has been twisted to become related to terrorism. Whereas, Christians claim to promote the qualities of hard-work, honesty and moderation, and are therefore highly thought of in American Society, not only because of their supposed all encompassing teachings, but also because of their dominance as a religion in the Western World.
One of the major misconceptions regarding American Muslims is that they are terrorists but the FBI database clearly states that 6% terrorist acts in the U.S. are due to Islamic groups. Many people assume that Islam teaches its followers to practice terrorism. In actuality, Islam does not teach terrorism but rather the literal meaning of Islam is “peace”. As USA article mentions, "Islam does not support terrorism under any circumstances. Terrorism goes against every principle in Islam. If a Muslim engages in terrorism, he is not following Islam. He may be wrongly using the name of Islam for political or financial gain” (USA Today). From here we see that terrorism is not a teaching of Islam, but, rather prohibited. Islam is an encompassing religion which covers all aspects of one’s life from financial well-being to diet and to marriage. In a s...
The period from the 8th – 13th century CE was a period in which we saw the emergence of a super empire known as The Muslim empire. The prophet Muhammad around 622 CE founded the Muslim empire. His writings were documented in a holy book called the Qur’an, which is the basis of Islam. During the time between the 8th-13th centuries the Muslim empire had expanded all the way from Spain to India. The empire, headed at the time by the Abbasid caliphate, was one of the largest and most influential empires of its time until its defeat by the Mongols. This time period is known by many as the “Golden Age” of Islam. Using its geographical position, foundations laid down by the prophet Muhammad, and the introduction of new technologies such as paper
Through the years the idea that Islam is an aggressive religion has been developed. This is mainly due to the fact that the word "jihad" -- a very important concept in Islamic faith -- is often misunderstood or its initial meaning is intentionally misrepresented. From the very beginning of Islamic invasion in Europe a sense of devotion to the religion was instilled in the Muslim soldiers and believers. Religion was a really important part of their lives. The soldiers were taught to die for Allah in their holy war against unbelievers -- this was the so-called jihad. However, if one examines thoroughly the Quran, the saint book for Muslims, he/she will find that jihad carries a completely different meaning -- this is an internal struggle with oneself for achievements in a certain filed or, simply, for self-improvement. Even though most Islamic believers know what jihad really is, there are zealots that still look for excuse for their appalling and inhumane deeds in the abovementioned word. Nowadays, this is still a major problem, especially concerning the...
While the Quran acknowledges the need to protect and defend the religion, it does not specify which approach should be used (Asad 25). However, the use of force also termed, as Jihad is common reference used by the extremists. In spite of challenge, it is evident that the religion also preaches peace within and with the neighbors. Quran only gives Muslims a general advice, but not specific enough. Therefore, it can be interpreted that Jihad should only be used when peaceful coexistence is threatened. This argument does not hold water for Islamic extremists because their fanaticism is for an Islamic country and rebellion against countries thought to support secularism.
Todays Muslims are branded as terrorists or fudamentalist. But their religion is a gentle religion. On the Arabian Penninsula, home of the Arabs, was isolated and they were able to develop their civilization without outside influences. It is about 1 million miles square, that is located between the Red sea and the Persian Gulf. There are two distinctive regions.
Religion is as natural to man as social intercourse. The aim common to the religions of the world is that they undertake to bestow upon mankind the highest blessings, and the special way in which they seek to accomplish this is by establishing friendly relations with a Power which is stronger than the ordinary course of nature. Every religion which has counted for anything has had ready answers to three questions: What does it promise to do for the good of man? What is the nature of the higher Power on whose succor it relies? And, what is required of man as the condition of receiving the expected benefits? A further working test of its value is what it makes of morality.
A lot of people believe that Muslims, Islam, and/or the Holy Quran encourages killing, fighting, and terrorism. Events such as the 9/11 attack in the United States, the Boston Marathon Bombing, and conflicts in the Middle East causes the media to label Muslims as terrorists. When a specific group of people cause violence to another group it is categorized as ‘hate crime’, but if a Muslim does the same act, the media immediately labels it as ‘terrorism’ (Frater, 2009). As a matter of fact, regarding to the attacks of the mosques in Israel, the media did not use the acts to victimize or stereotype Judaism. Moreover, some extremist groups use Islam as a tactic to gain followers even though a lot of their practices go against the teachings of the Quran. A person would not be considered a Muslim if they spread fear or terrorize others. The Quran clearly states, “You shall not take life, which God has made sacred, except by way of justice and law.” (Quran, 6:151). Islam is against any force or violence towards another person. Often the word ‘Jihad’ is taken out of context by violent militants; it means to strive or struggle for the sake of ones’ self improvement with respect to their spirituality. Religious and political groups use Jihad to justify ...
Significant historical processes shape the world and society. The contemporary world is what we make it. Each action by our country, culture, society results in change. According to Benjamin Barber, there are two major forces shaping humans socially, and spiritually; the McWorld and Jihad. McWorld is a term for the commercial collective of the world, and Jihad, an Arab word for "crusade", is used to symbolize all of nationalist, fundamentalist, ethnocentric, and tribal rejections of McWorld .
Jihad means struggle, and is seen as the religious duty of all Muslims, it is used a lot in a military way and is seen a lot as a sixth pillar. Jihad appears in the Qur’an 41 times. There is even a sect of Islam named after the notion of jihad, the people that follow this sect are called jihadist, and their religious goal is world domination. Muslims believe that when you die in a state of jihad, you are guaranteed into paradise after you die, and this is why many...
Islam, the religion of peace and harmony has unfortunately been corrupted by the deadly terrorist acts which have taken place around the world during these past couple of years. Today the people in this world view Islam as a threatening and terrorist religion. Often, the killing of innocent people, suicidal bombings and terrorist attacks are carried out people who tend to claim themselves as Muslims, though in reality, the dissident actions of these so called named Muslims have nothing to do with Islam. Among all the attributes of God, the Holy Book (Quran) mentions that: he is the source of peace and bestower of security (59:23) people must establish peace in their life. Terrorism what a complete disgrace, however people forget one thing that terrorism is not only found in Islam yet also continued in other religions and countries. But then why Islam? Is it because terrorism has been related to Islam just like peace is to war. The terrorist that claim they are Muslim with pride are oblivious, ignorant and it shows their lack of knowledge. The Holy Quran clearly states that: