Posted on January 1, 2011
By: Marwan Arikat
http://mrarikat.blog.com/2011/01/01/what-does-jihad-really-means/
Jihad is usually translated into “Holy War” although this term was invented by the fighting monks(the Templars) during the crusades back in the middle ages, in Islam “war” has negative connotation. The Prophet of Islam, did not hide his displeasure with people who name their kids “Harb” which is Arabic for war and which is still common amongst Arabs, so if He(peace be upon him) hated the name because it means war and bloodshed and he asked Muslims no matter how strong they are and how well-prepared they are, not to wish to fight, so the Prophet despised the act of war and considered it when Muslims had to engage in it a necessary evil, so how on earth would he( peace be upon him) glorify it or make it sacred. In reality, he did not glamorize fighting and bloodshed, and the word “Jihad” has nothing to do with the word “war”, Jihad mean “striving in cause of Allah (Glorified and Honored.)”. Being a Criminal Justice major, my favorite example is people living in a bad neighborhood, where there is a crack house or a liquor store on every corner, I heard that some members of the African-American Muslims community in the Bay Area used all types of social, legal and religious measures, including intimidating drug dealers and liquor store owners into shutting down their dirty business, this kind of effort is striving to eliminate evil, like Drugs and Alcohol, and when the person strives to eliminate evil or implement good, it can be called, striving in the cause of Allah(Glorified and honored.). Jihad literally means “exerting effort,” if someone is fighting a chronic terminal disease, it could be said the he/she is making Jihad against his/her illness, I hope people in the US will understand the real meaning of Jihad, and start applying the act of Jihad to make our country better and on the righteous path.
Location:San Diego, CA,USA
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