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The Doctrine of Jihad: An Introduction

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 September 2015

Noor Mohammad
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Extract

There is a great deal of confusion in the West regarding the meaning of Jihad and the role it is playing in shaping the Muslim world. Indeed, it has acquired a pejorative connotation in the minds of many Westerners. The purpose of this discussion is to present an accurate understanding of the concept of Jihad.

Islam emerged in the seventh century in Arabia. It grew rapidly and in less than a hundred years established the early Islamic state—an empire stretching from Spain across North Africa, and from the Middle East to the borders of China. It was a state greater in size than the Roman Empire at its zenith.

The historical importance assigned to Islam has been controversially assessed. Some have denied that it is a significant world force, others have “grudgingly” recognized its importance while others have seen it as a pivotal event in world history. We take this latter view: Islam should be recognized as a major force of revolutionary change in the world order. Harold Berman, a contemporary commentator on law and revolution in the west, gives a list of six revolutions which changed the Western world. He provides a helpful list of patterns which emerged from those revolutions which he identifies as fundamental change, rapid change, violent change, lasting change, and change in the whole social system. Each revolution sought a legitimacy in fundamental law, a remote past, and an apocalyptic future. Each took more than one generation to establish its roots. Each eventually produced a new system of law which embodied some of the major purposes of the revolution and which changed the Western legal tradition, without destroying it. The appearance of Islam in the seventh century meets these criteria. Using Berman's framwork Islam can be viewed as truly revolutionary.

Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Law and Religion , Volume 3 , Issue 2 , 1985 , pp. 381 - 397
Copyright
Copyright © Center for the Study of Law and Religion at Emory University 1985

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References

1. Readers unfamiliar with Islam would find useful a chapter by the author An Introduction to Islamic Law, V Modern Legal Systems Cyclopedia 681–92 (Redden, ed. 1985)Google Scholar. See also Esposito, J. L., Islam & Politics 10 (1984)Google Scholar. See Watt, W. M., The Majesty That Was Islam (1984)Google Scholar.

2. Donner, F. M., The Early Islamic Conquests 1–7 (1981)Google Scholar.

3. Berman, H. J., Law & Revolution 18–19 (1983)Google Scholar. His six revolutions are: 1) Russian Revolution, 2) French Revolution, 3) American Revolution, 4) English Revolution, 5) Protestant Reformation, and 6) Papal Revolution of 1075-1122.

4. The name Muhammad is also spelled in Anglicized form as Mohammad, Mohammed, Mehemet, or Mohamad, etc.

5. According to biographers, Muhammad would retire for meditation during the months of Ramadan in the nearby hill known as the Mountain of Light. In the fifth year of retreat an angel came and announced to him that God (Allah) had chosen him as God's Messenger to all humanity. See Haykal, M. H., Life of Muhammad (1976)Google Scholar; Lings, M., Mohammad, His Life Based on the Earliest Sources (1983)Google Scholar; Hamidullah, M., Introduction to Islam (1977)Google Scholar.

6. M. Hamidullah, supra note 5, at 9.

7. Assad, M., Islam at the Crossroads 19–20 (1982)Google Scholar. He explains this point with clarity by citing from the Quran, “I have not created the invisible being and mankind to any end other than that they may (know and) worship me” (Surah 51:56Google Scholar).

Thus, the conception of “worship ”in Islam is not restricted to the purely devotional practices, for example, prayers or fasting, but extends over the whole of man's practical life as well. If the object of our life as a whole is to be the worship of God, we must necessarily regard this life, in the totality of all its aspects, as one complex moral responsibility. Thus, all our actions, even the seemingly trivial ones must be performed as acts of worship; that is, performed consciously as constituting a part of God's universal plan. For the person of average capability this is a distant ideal; but nevertheless one to be sought.

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9. Shariati, A., On Sociology of Islam 82–87 (1979)Google Scholar. A compilation of lectures by a contemporary Shiite revolutionary thinker who is held in high esteem by both Sunni and Shiite alike.

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12. Esposito, supra note 1, at 17.

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14. Khadduri, M., War & Peace in Islam 69–71 (1955)Google Scholar. This book deals broadly with the subject of Jihad.

15. Assad, M., The Principles of State and Government in Islam 70 (1980)Google Scholar.

16. Ali, Y., The Holy Quran, note 2861 (1977)Google Scholar.

17. Id. at note 1270.

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19. Y. Ali, supra note 16, footnote 205.

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21. As previously stated, Sunna is a component of Sharia, the Law of Muslim society.

22. 4 Sahih-al-Bukhari 34–204Google Scholar. There are other collections of Hadith by distinguished Imams, chief among them being Muslim. See also Taymia, I., Public Duties in Islam 72–133 (1982)Google Scholar.

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Acceptance by the People of the Book to remain in Muslim polity placed them in the category known as Dhimmis. The term originates from Dhimmat Allah (God's custody). In today's context of constitutional government the term Dhimmis may have a ring of second class citizenship but if we turn the clock back and look at the concept, we will find that Dhimmi was given both legal and political protection. The relations between Muslim and non-Muslim communities were regulated by the special agreement between the parties under which the non-Muslims were permitted to worship and be governed by their own religious laws and leaders and were protected by the State both from internal and external attack.

Because of the Dhimmas' special status, they were exempt from the obligations of Jihad and also from the payment of Zahat (poor tax), both of which were applied to Muslims. In a sense Jizia (poll tax) was in lieu of obligations of Zakat (poor tax) and Jihad which Muslims had to bear. There is a belief among some scholars that the exemption from Zakat (poor tax) and also from Islamic Law against usury together worked to the advantage of Dhimmis and kept their comparative tax burden lighter than that of Muslims. Despite the historical virtues of the concept of Dhimmi, it is believed that in a modern Muslim polity the concept will disappear and a11 citizens will be equal to each other in view of the basic concept of human equality regardless of color or sex.

27. Rahman, supra note 8, at 26-28. The author gives an admirable treatment of Jews and Christians and Quranic references about both these religions; see also J. Williams, supra note 23, at 301-02 (1979). See generally on Jewish and Muslim relations, Ahmad, B., Muhammad & The Jews: A re-examination (1979)Google Scholar; Rodinson, M., Mohammad (1974)Google Scholar.

28. Hamidullah, M., Muslim Conduct of State 162 (1953)Google Scholar. This is a treatise of Muslim public international law, consisting of the laws of peace, war, and neutrality, together with precedents from orthodox practice. See also Justice, supra note 26, at 164-65.

29. M. Hamidullah, supra note 28, at 162.

30. M. Hamidullah, supra note 28, at 299. See also M. Khadduri, supra note 14, at 103-08.

31. M. Hamidullah, supra note 28, at 301.

32. Id. at 302.

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34. J. Williams, supra note 23, at 237-75; see also M. Khadduri, supra note 14, at 74.

35. J. Esposito, supra note 1, at 5-9.

36. Hitti, P., History of The Arabs 189–98 (10th ed. 1970)CrossRefGoogle Scholar; J. Esposito, supra note 1, at 9-15 has a concise account of this period.

37. J. Esposito supra note 1, at 15-23. See generally P. Hitti, supra note 36, at 288-428.

38. M. Khadduri, supra note 14, at 64-66.

39. Sivan, E., Radical Islam, Medieval Theology and Modern Politics 90–92 (1985)Google Scholar.

40. Id. at 94.

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42. Mortimer, E., Faith & Power: The Politics of Islam 64–68 (1982)Google Scholar; Metcalf, B., Islamic Revival in British India, 1860-1900 (1982)Google Scholar. The author deals admirably with the background of Shah Waliullah and his movement including his successors. A further coverage in this valuable work is the Jihad by Sayyid Ahmad Barelwi against the Sikhs.

43. Keddie, N., S. Jamaladdin Afghani (1972)Google Scholar.

44. Maududi, S., The Meaning of the Quran (Muhammad, Ch. Akbar trans. 1975)Google Scholar. See also S. Maududi, The Sick Nations of the World. See generally E. Sivan, supra note 39.

45. Abd-Allah, U., The Islamic Struggle in Syria (1983)Google Scholar; see also Bill, , Resurgent Islam, 63 Foreign Affairs 108 (1985)CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

46. Supra note 41, Chapter 24, deals with the Muslim resilience in Soviet Russia and puts the number of Muslims in China at approximately 115 million. The traditional Muslim lands of Indonesia, Malaysia, Southern Thailand, and Southern Philippines are in the forefront of Islamic spiritual and political concerns.

For a study of Muslim struggles in the Soviet Russia see Bennigsen, A. & Wimbush, S., Muslim National Communism in the Soviet Union: A Strategy for the Colonial World (1979)Google Scholar.

47. Khomeini, I., Islam and Revolution: (Alger, H. trans. 1980)Google Scholar; Keddie, N., Scholars, Saints & Sufis: Muslim Religious Institutions in the Middle East Since 1500 230–55 (1983)Google Scholar; Siddique, K., Khomeini's Iran: An Islamic Perspective (1980)Google Scholar.

48. Pipes, D., In The Path of God: Islam and Political Power 277 (1983)Google Scholar. The author informs us of the newest Muslim community in South Korea. It developed as a result of the stationing of Turkish soldiers there in the 1950's. The soldiers' contact with the natives started Islam there. The present number of Muslims has already reached 50,000 and they have their own college in Pusan. Similarly there is a small but growing community of Muslims in Japan.

49. W. Dietl, supra note 41, at 340.

50. See Wright, R., Sacred Rage (1985)Google Scholar. The author displays conceptual clarity as well as intellectual integrity in this remarkable book.