Islam is primarily a religion of peace. Its name “Islãm” comes from “silm” which means two things: one is “submitting to God” and the second is “peace”. Both meanings are inter-twinned.
Whenever Muslims meet one another, they use the greeting of peace: “as-salãmu ‘alaykum — peace be upon you”, and the other person responds by saying “‘alaykumus salãm — upon you be peace.”
ISLÃM
SILM
1. submission (to God)
2. peace (towards fellow humans)
The daily prayers begin with praising God as “Mercy and Beneficent” and ends with the greeting of peace for all.
The Concept of Jihãd
The concept of “jihad” needs to be understood clearly. Many people in the media take Qur’ãnic text out of context. And so let us see: what is the meaning of jihãd?
The word “jihãd” does not mean “holy war”. This is a Western rending of a broader concept in Islamic teaching. Ask any expert of Arabic language and he will tell you that “jihãd” does not mean “holy war”. The term “holy war” has come from the Christian concept of “just war,” and has been used loosely as an Islamic term since the days of the Crusades.
So what does “jihãd” mean?
In Arabic language, the word jihãd literally means striving and working hard for something. In Islamic terminology, it retains the literal meaning in two different dimensions, which are expressed by “major jihãd” and “minor jihãd”.
The major jihãd is known as the spiritual struggle, a struggle between two powers within ourselves: the soul and the body. The conscience is in conflict with the bodily desires. This spiritual conflict is an ongoing jihãd within each one of us. Islam expects its followers to give preference to the soul and the conscience over the body and its desires.
The fasting in the month of Ramadhãn is an example of the annual training for this major jihãd.
The minor jihãd is the armed struggle. However, that does not automatically mean unjustified use of violence. The minor jihãd may be divided into two: aggression and defense. Aggression against any people is not permitted in Islam; however, defense is an absolute right of every individual and nation.
JIHÃD
(struggle)
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MAJOR MINOR
(spiritual) (armed struggle)
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defense aggression
ü Ñ
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Islam has allowed the minor jihad only to defend the Muslim people and their land, and to maintain peace in Muslim societies.
source : Peace and Jihad in Islam /by Sayyid Muhammad Rizvi
