Introduction
There seems to be a miscommunication on the meaning of Jihad between Muslims and non-Muslims, particularly the West. The west understands the word Jihad as a fight against enemies known to Muslims. They also consider it as a fight against the military occupier or infidel invaders (Abou El Fadl, 2017). However, according to Islam itself, considerable debate regarding the true meaning persists. While some communities consider jihad as a clash of civilizations, others among them the Islamic scholars view it as a representation of a wide range of activities. In this paper, we explore the meaning of Jihad in Islam and the distinct sects of Islam. It also examines how the role of Jihad has changed over the years concerning the sects of Islam.
The meaning of the word Jihad in Islam
While most people understand jihad from its literal meaning as a struggle or effort, its meaning surpasses that of holy war. According to the Muslim, Jihad describes three different kinds of struggle. These struggles are; the internal struggle by a believer to live out the Muslim faith, the struggle to establish a good Muslim society and the struggle to defend Muslims- commonly referred to as holy war (Mulyati, 2019). Over the years, the meaning of jihad has evolved making the internal spiritual struggle as the main meaning as commonly accepted by the Muslims. The meaning is, however, considered as a holy as referenced in many of the Islamic writings. Prophet Muhammad emphasized internal jihad as the main meaning which many scholars’ disputes. They term the quotation from the prophet as one from unreliable sources. Instead, the scholar considers holy war as the most important meaning of jihad.
According to the teachings of Prophet Muhammad, internal jihad is the effort Muslim believers require to live to their faith as much as possible. It is the only way that can help Muslims to live in ways that please Allah. Internal jihad, is, therefore, the effort Muslims put to live according to the instructions of Allah (Abou El Fadl, 2017). Muslims engage in the greater jihad by doing the following. Engaging in religious studies, overcoming anger, malice, greed, pride hatred, giving up smoking, cleaning mosque, forgiving, taking community activities among others. Despite the description of the internal jihad, a controversy arises on what the Prophet termed as greater jihad. The prophet is said to have reiterated that we are done with lesser jihad and now the focus on the greater jihad when he returned from a battle. Whereas Muslims terms the outer enemy as the lesser jihad and greater war as fighting one’s self, the scholars this interpretation as unreliable. They view Mohammed’s interpretation as one that meant holy war has it has been influential among Muslims as seen with the Sufis.
Two distinct sects of Islam
Shia and Sunni are the two main sects of Islam and feature many of the Arab world conflicts, becoming familiar to even non-Muslins even though their distinguishing characteristics remain unclear. Examining their historical backgrounds can help shed light on the origin of their differences and similarities if any. The Shia commonly referred to as the Shiite traces its origin after the death of the Prophet in 632AD and was anchored on politics (East, 2019). The founders of the sect were after the power to pass to the Prophet’s son-in-law and cousin after which it could then find its way to male successors. Differences erupted centuries later with non-Shia Muslims based on their initial political differences. They account for about 10% of the world’s Muslims. They acknowledge Ali has the divinely appointed ruler of the Islam nation. Ali’s successors are the Imams who are divinely appointed.
Before his death, Muhammad did not appoint a successor amongst the tribes of the Arabic community that had converted to Islam, leaving the religion to the edge of collapse. The followers of Muhammad resulted in the appointment of Caliph, making Abu Bakr as their successor. However, according to the Shia, Muhammad has appointed Ali, the husband of his daughter before his demise (Saraei, Dorakhshah, & Khastu, 2016). The differences in the appointment of the successor resulted in the creation and drifting of two sects namely the Shia and Sunni. The division crystalized further following the assassination of Ali’s son, Hussein in Iraq by the ruling Caliph’s troops. The tensions resulted in the seizure and consolidation of the political power by the Sunni, marginalizing Shia. Even to date, a boundary exists between the two sects, each casting an accusation on the other. The Sunnis disregard Shia as real Muslims. Shia, on the other hand, considers the rigidity and arrogance among the Sunnis as the fertile breeding ground for Islamic extremists.
Whereas both the Shia and Sunni share a commonplace of origin and their basis is on the teachings of the Holy Quran, they have differences in their religious practices. In addition to following the teachings of the Holy Quran, they also abide by the requirements of Sunnah as defined by both the Quran and the teachings of Mohammed. Shia Muslims also abides with the words of imams. There is a significant difference between the ideologies of the two sects. Shia acknowledges Imams to be divine (Saraei, Dorakhshah, & Khastu, 2016). They possess spiritual authority, mediates between Allah and believers. In addition to the Imam being a deputy of the Prophet, they are also acting as representatives on earth. They consider the dead Imams as saints and make pilgrims to their tombs in addition to Mecca. Contrary to this, the Sunni Muslims do not pay allegiance to the Imam and in their ideology, an Imam refers to a contemporary mosque or a community leader. The representation of the fiver pillars is also different between the Shia and Sunni.
The notion of Jihad among Shia traces back to the martyrdom of Imam Hussein. They view it as a resistance movement development anchored on the pervasive injustices of the past and present. It is a socio-economic resistance movement. According to Shia, permission from Allah is necessary when killing oneself or others (East, 2019). It is, however, a prohibition to kill oneself or others but it’s only allowed during a holy war –Jihad. They consider it’s as a defensive or preventive war and thus killing during a Jihad is accepted.
According to Sunni Islam, Jihad is a liberation movement that allows Islam to reign supreme as well as furnish justice. They believe that Islam deserves the entire earth and not just part of it. As a result, they press into service for the force aimed at bringing revolution and that kind of force is what they refer to as Jihad (East, 2019). Jihad is, therefore, an all-embracing world revolution
The role of Jihad to Shia and Sunni
The Shi conception of Jihad rests on the intimately suffering sustained upon the death of Muhammad. The martyrdom of Hussein was the ultimate prototype of every struggle for justice made by the Shiites. In addition to the martyrdom, the Occultation of the Twelfth Imam has a direct understanding of the role of Jihad. The perception of the Shia about their historical suffering is that Sunni needs to be battled. The resistance identified with the modern Shi is a resemblance of the role Jihad plays in their religious ideology. Jihad enables them to fight injustices of the past and present. Before embarking on a Jihad, Shia has to seek permission from Allah because of the probability of killing oneself or others. Jihad has been critical in defending its territory as well as preventing war.
According to the Sunni, the role of Jihad anchors on the teachings of Prophet Muhammad. The initial Muhammad’s message about jihad was on propagating Islam against practices of idolatry, paganism, and polytheism. However, the message changed by taking an activist sense to encompass the defense and expansion of the religion. Jihad meant conceptions of both inward and outward struggles. Even though the role of jihad clearly shown that it was all about fighting enemies, Muhammad disputed the universally accepted meaning to mean a struggle against one’s sinful activities. In later years, the role expanding to include the expansion of Islam territory.
Jihad continues to aid the liberation movement among the Sunni allowing Islam to reign supreme as well as furnish justice. The movements stem from the belief that Islam deserves the entire earth and not just part of it. Jihad presses into service for the force aimed at bringing a revolution, an all-embracing world revolution.
The changing role of Jihad from previous historical time
Over time, the meaning of Jihad seems to have changed following the increase in Islam extremists leading to the creation of Jihadism. Jihadists now regard violent struggle as the only way to eradicate obstacles in the restoration of God’s rule. It is also the only way to restore the Muslim community (Milla, Putra, & Umam, 2019). The modern jihadist movement goes beyond the struggle within oneself to include a struggle to overthrow other nations to establish Islamic states as it is the case with the Arab World. There is a significant shift in jihad from inner struggle to embrace the violent struggle.
According to the five Quran’s dimensions, jihad means to struggle or strive with the internal struggle receiving the most emphasis. The Quran also talks of jihad concerning charity, societal reform, defensive war, and academic achievement. With the rise of Muslim extremists in the name of terrorists is a clear indication of over-exploitation of the word jihad. They now create a false impression that the Quran supports their violent crimes from their interpretation of the Quran. Whereas the Quran instructs the Muslims to acquire arms to defend themselves against an aggressor, it does not allude to fighting either in the texts or context (Cherney & Murphy, 2019). The link made by the extremists with jihad creates an impression that Islam as a religion encourages violence.
In conclusion, most people understand jihad from its literal meaning as a struggle or effort. Despite the description of the internal jihad, a controversy arises on what the Prophet termed as greater jihad. The Shi conception of Jihad rests on the intimately historical suffering. The Shi conception of Jihad rests on the intimately suffering sustained. Over time, the meaning of Jihad seems to have changed following the increase in Islam extremists leading to the creation of Jihadism.