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THE CONCEPT OF JIHAD IN ISLAM

Jihad is a fundamental ideology in Islam that means a holy struggle to protect the Islamic

faith and faithful and conform with God's holy requirements (Bakircioglu 425-430; Karipek

212). Any entity that threatens the aforementioned are regarded as enemies of the Quran.

However, the concept has had varied interpretations depending on the context in which it is

utilized. Most notably, orientalists, western media, and religious extremists have often added

military connotations to the concept of Jihad without adhering to the foundations spelled out in

the Quran (Silverman and Sommer 2-6). Ideally, Jihad seeks to root believers into striving to

protect the tenets of the Islamic faith through the practice of fighting evil. This essay, therefore,

seeks to bring out the true concept of Jihad as a core foundation of the Islamic faith regarding the

fight against evil.

The concept of Jihad can only be truly elaborated in the view of the Quranic teachings.

Muslims universally accept the Quran as a true ultimate guide to the Islamic faith. The main idea

is to inspire virtuous living, which demands a serious commitment to fight against evil. This

implies that forms of injustice and oppression are also fought. Therefore, it can be claimed that

Jihad promotes a form of the Islamic revolution that advocates for all humanity to conform to the

virtues of the Islamic faith. This has always raised a debate about whether Jihad is a holy or

unholy war since it opens the concept to myriad interpretations that are often biased. The
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Western media takes advantage of this conceptual gap to associate Jihad with extreme violence

and inhuman acts (Karipek 211). Therefore, to accurately understand Jihad, any form of

interpretation must be restricted to a specific context, as is true for all religious concepts.

Furthermore, due to its link to extremism and terrorism, Jihad has always suffered bias in

interpretation (Silverman and Sommer 20-24). Classical jihadist interpretation does not confine

to such limits as the bearers have no limitation on the principles of warfare spelled out in the

Quran. The Quran specifically spells out when and on whom to wage war. According to Islamic

teachings, the true principles of jihadist warfare are founded on proportionality and peace

(Bakircioglu 413-415). Therefore, there is a need to ensure that any analysis of jihadist concepts

is properly contextualized.

The original ideology of Jihad pursues hard work and exertion to overcome evil and

pursue justice and peace. These concepts are well established in Islamic international law-

asiyar- and the Hadith. Therefore, according to Muhammad's teachings, it is intended to birth a

peaceful revolution rather than a violent one. Jihad spurs the ability to challenge oppression and

speak out in one's defense up to certain restricted levels (Sulaiman 116). However, divergent

opinions within the Islamic quotas have arisen on the limits of extremism, such as suicide

bombing. The arguments span to whether non-muslims are automatically infidels or whether the

struggle should be restricted to acts of aggression towards the faith (Silverman and Sommer 23).

The proponents of this ideology view Jihad as the supreme religious law; hence non-muslims

should be inducted into the Muslim community. Some sections of Islamic international law

advocate for an expansion of the faith, which indirectly wages war against other forms of

religion. This thought pursues the eradication of disbelief, which has long been regarded as a

form of Jihad.
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In general, the concept of Jihad in Islam requires careful and well-constructed limitations

to avoid misinterpretation. The limit is to ensure that the ever-bulging element of religious

conflict does not infringe on the right to freedom of religion. The concept of Jihad should be

founded on the observance of the teachings of Mohammad in the context of domestic and

international laws.
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References

Bakircioglu, Onder. "A socio-legal analysis of the concept of jihad." International &

Comparative Law Quarterly 59.2 (2010): 413-440. Doi:10.1017/S0020589310000060.

Karipek, Asena. "Portrayals of Jihad: A Cause of Islamophobia." Islamophobia Studies Journal

5.2 (2020), 210-255. Doi:10.13169/islastudj.5.2.0210

Silverman, Gahl, and Udi Sommer. "Prevalent sentiments of the concept of jihad in the public

commentsphere." Studies in Conflict & Terrorism 45.7 (2019): 1-29.

Doi.org/10.1080/1057610X.2019.1686854

Sulaiman, Kamaldeen Olawale. "The concept of Jihad in Islam: An historical perspective."

TAWARIKH: International Journal for Historical Studies 7.1 (2015). Bandung,

Indonesia: Minda Masagi Press, ISSN 2085-0980