The Jihad in international relations

Abstract

The actual essence of Islam lies in the full realisation of God and the surrendering to his will. Throughout his life, a Muslim is to lead a restrained rather than a permissive life. The holy revelations of Islam, the Quran, represent the message of Allah and are therefore not subject to interpretation but are rather a literal reading. The holy texts contain particulars about family life, ethical teachings, legal orders, the life of the prophet Mohammad and fundamental beliefs such as fasting, pilgrimages prayer and others. Besides these duties, Muslims are also commanded to Jihad. There are two types of Jihad: The smaller Jihad, which can be called the Jihad of the sword and the greater Jihad which employ's peaceful forms. Today, the word Jihad is most commonly translated as "Holy War", although the term itself does not suggest if this is to be carried out by forceful or other means. With reference to Jihad, there are those who follow the interpretations of the classical books on Islamic law, who wage a struggle with themselves and only in defensive terms: 'And fight in the way of Allah against those who fight against you but be not aggressive'. 'Truly, Allah likes not the transgressors. ' Then there are also those radical groups who call for Jihad as a means of spreading Islam. The radical Islamic groups often resort to the use of violence in order to achieve their goals and often use force as a tool to overturn established governments. Pushing for an armed revolution against Muslim leaders leaves no choice for these groups but to accuse the leaders of having abandoned their beliefs. Radical factions therefore turn to the abandonment of belief or even heresy in order to obtain legitimacy for their use of arms against established Muslim leaders. The use of such a justification in an attempt to legitimise the call for Jihad, represents the worst possible accusation for a Muslim leader and is also a clear demonstration of the lengths to which radical, frustrated and politically impotent individuals go in order to evoke a positive reaction to their calling. An example of this is visible in a publication by the Jihad Organisation, whose members assassinated President Sadat of Egypt in 1981. Common Muslim slogans, belonging to such radical groups, include: 'Jihad is our way', 'Jihad, is the only solution to our problems'. In Palestine the youths can be heard chanting, 'Lets make war for war is the way to success'. Such slogans may induce the belief that radical factions trust that they have exhausted all other possible, non-violent means, and that Jihad really is the only option left for them to obtain justice and regain their stolen land.