Author: Vinod Kumar
Publication: Kashmir Herald
Date: February 2003
URL: http://www.kashmirherald.com/featuredarticle/jihadinindia.html
Ever since the attacks on the World
Trade Center and the Pentagon by Islamic inspired Al- Qaeda "What is Jihad"
has become one of the hotly discussed topics. Even in India, where Jihad
has been going on for centuries it has generated new interest. The call
for Jihad in Kashmir is not a new phenomenon.
Writing recently in The Hindu, Brig.
(Retd.) Sarathy in his attempt to portray a balanced picture of Jihad missed
some key points.
http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/op/2003/01/14/stories/2003011400060200.htm
Quoting three verses (2 ;190, 191
and 193) of the Koran, Sarathy wrote "a reading of the above three verses
together, may be interpreted to mean that the underlying spirit is to curb
and eradicate "oppression."
These verses were from the Meccan
era , when the Prophet was weak and recommended soft solutions but after
migrating to Medina and having become strong (militarily and in the number
of followers), after a few victories, he took on a harder approach and
was not amenable to any compromise.
Sheikh Abdullah bin Muhammad bin
Hamid, of Sacred Mosque of Mecca explains in introductory essay in Sahih
al-Bukhari:
Then Allah revealed in Sura Bara'at
(Repentance, IX) to discard (all) the obligations (covenants, etc.) and
commanded the Muslims to fight against all the pagans as well as the people
of the scriptures (Jews and Christians) if they do not embrace Islam, till
they pay the Jizya (A tax levied on the Jews and Christians who do not
embrace Islam and are under the protection of an Islamic government) with
willing submission and feel themselves subdued (as is revealed in the verse
9:29)."
He goes on to say at first the fighting
was forbidden, then it was permitted and after that it was made obligatory.
Against whom? He explains.
1. Against those who start "the
fighting" against Muslims
2. And against all those who worship
others along with Allah as mentioned in Sura Al- Baqra(II), Al-Imran (III)
and Bara'at (IX) and other Suras.
Jihad is urged not only against
those who start "fighting" against the Muslims but anyone who worships
others along with Allah. and does not accept Muhammad as His prophet.
He repeats - Allah made "the fighting"
(jihad) obligatory for the Muslims and gave importance to the subject matter
of jihad in all the Suras which were revealed (at Medina) as it is in Allah's
statement:
"March forth whether you are light
(being healthy, young and wealthy), or heavy (being ill, old and poor)
and strive hard with your wealth and your lives in the cause of Allah.
That is better for you if but you knew." (9:41)
"Pakistan's efforts to project "Kashmir"
in a similar manner as a fit cause for fighting "oppression by Indian state"
have not drawn as much response" -- Sarathy went on to write. Firstly there
is no "oppression" by the Indian state in Kashmir. Kashmir is free democratic
society like any other in the Indian Union with more rights for its native
citizens than in any other state of the union. I don't know what more response
to Kashmir Jihad does he expect or want? Even by conservative estimate
more than 30,000 people have been killed in Kashmir since the current Jihad
started. Muslims not only from Pakistan or Kashmir, but from many other
Islamic countries also have participated in Jihad in Kashmir.
As far as Jihad being sustainable
in India is concerned, the Hindus, being not only idolaters and the polytheists,
but also infidels, are amenable to both, continuous jihad from the Muslims
and eternal damnation by Allah.
"They (the idolaters and polytheists)
are to be fought till they submit to and accept Islam. The Prophet says:
'I am commended to fight with the
polytheists till they testify there is god but Allah, and that Muhammad
is His servant and His apostle, face out qibla, eat what we slaughter,
and pray like us.'" (Sunnan Abu Dawud, vol II, pp. 729-30. Quoted from
The World of Fatwas by Arun Shourie, pp. 576)
"Idolatry is worse than carnage"
the Koran declares. (Koran 2:217)
Allah exhorts the believers "when
the sacred months are over slay the idolaters wherever you find them" (Koran
9:5) and "make war upon them until idolatry shall cease and God's religion
shall reign supreme." (Koran 2 ;193, 8:40). And what is God's religion?
Islam - "The only true faith in God's sight is Islam." (Koran 3:19) Allah
Himself is even harsher on the unbelievers. Those who deny His revelations
will burn in fire. No sooner will their skins be consumed than He will
give them other skins so that they may truly taste His scourge. (Koran
4:56) The Koran is replete with such proclamations.
There is no need for a government
or any other body to declare Jihad against the unbelievers. It is the duty
of every believer to fight in Allah's cause with everything at his disposal.
(Koran 9:41) Of course, when an Islamic government declares Jihad, then
it is the duty of every Muslim to respond to it. (Sahih Al-Bukhari, vol.
4, pp. 35)
The rewards that accrue from Jihad
are profound - the booty in this world if one survives and paradise in
the next if one becomes a martyr. (Bukhari, vol. 4, pp. 38)
We have all seen on television,
how parents (in Palestine and Pakistan), so joyously send their young children
to Jihad? Why? It is all about the rewards of Jihad. Not only a martyr's
sins will be forgiven and he gets to go to Paradise but he can also ask
for the forgiveness of the sins of seventy of his relatives. (Sahih Al-Bukhari,
vol. 1, pp. xxix)
A day spent in Jihad for Allah's
cause is better than the world and whatsoever is in it, such is the superiority
of Jihad. (Sahih Al-Bukhari, vol. 4, pp. 41) and there is no possible deed
that equals jihad (Sahih Al-Bukhari, vol. 4, pp. 36).
The condition for waging Jihad against
the unbelievers is to first invite them to accept Islam before declaring
war. (Sahih Al-Bukhari, vol. 4, pp. 116)
It is true that not every Muslim
is engaged in Jihad. It is true not only today; it was true during the
time of Prophet Muhammad also. Those who did not were called hypocrites
and their fidelity to Islam was in question.
And if Jihad, indeed, is "mental
struggle against passion" - it is welcome, I am sure, by all non-Muslims.
What a non-Muslim is primarily interested in is Jihad that affects his
(non- Muslim's) survival.
