Living The Quran
From Issue: 659 [Read full issue]
Social Jihad
Al Hujurat (The Chambers) - Chapter 49: Verse 15
"The believers are those who believe in God and His Messenger, then have not doubted, and have struggled with their possessions and their selves in the way of God; those - they are the truthful ones."
One may read this verse in the strict sense and maintain that it only addresses the question of armed struggle, and that this armed struggle imposes itself whenever there exists aggression. However, it would be reductionist to draw just that instruction. In a broader sense, a sense which is confirmed by the entire Quranic message and that of the traditions of the Prophet, peace be upon him, "fighting in the path of God" (jihad) means mobilising all our human forces, directing all our efforts and giving of our properties and our own persons in order to overcome all adversities whether they be injustices, poverty, illiteracy, delinquency or exclusion.
The Quran offers such latitude in the interpretation of the word jihad, which is of a learned and scientific nature, one which relies on dialogue, discussion and debate. On another level, it is the Prophet who presents an extensive interpretation of the word when he asserts, for example, that "Pilgrimage is a jihad". One realises that the troubles, efforts and suffering endured by the faithful during a few days in Makka, in order to give strength to their faith and answer the call of the Creator, are a jihad in the path of God.
We will not deny that there are struggles wherein circumstances lead us to direct confrontation, in order to oppose a purge here, a military occupation there, or other type of aggression such as the one we have witnessed in Bosnia and Chechnya. However, it cannot simply be a question of focusing our attention on these events alone and forgetting the broader type of fight which occurs daily and is, therefore, so much more urgent. Nowadays, our enemies, in the path of God, are hunger, unemployment, exploitation, delinquency and drug addiction. They require intense efforts, a continuous fight and a complete jihad which needs each and everyone's participation.
How many are those Muslims who want to fight beyond their own doorsteps, who want to offer, in the most sincere fashion their own persons for the cause of Islam. But, filled with this intention, they forget and remain blind to the fight that must be carried out here in their own locality, to the cause that ought to be defended in their own neighbourhoods, cities and in every country. To those who sought to assist Palestine in its fight against Zionist colonisation in the 1940s, and who perceived this expedition as representing the fulfilment of their ideal, Hassan al-Banna said: "Dying in the way of God is difficult, but living in the way of God is still more difficult." This jihad is a jihad for life, in order that every human being is given the rights which are his. The entire message of Islam carries this requirement as well as its necessary achievement.
Compiled From:
"Islam, The West and the Challenges of Modernity" - Tariq Ramadan, pp. 66-69