السَّلامُ عَلَيْكُمْ!
الجهاد مصطلح إسلامي ساء فهمه كثير من الناس حتى المسلمين منهم٠ أكثر الناس يضيقون معناه و يحصرونه على معنى القتال في سبيل االله بينما كثير من آيات االله في القرآن و عديد من أحاديث الرسول صلى االله عليه و سلم توحي بمحتوى و مضمون أشمل من ذلك و أعم٠
Jihad is an Islamic term that many people tend to misunderstand including amongst Muslims themselves. The majority of people tend to confine and restrict its meaning to the concept of fighting in the cause of Allah (SWT) while in fact many of the verses of Qur'an and a variety of Ahaadeeth (Sayings) of the Prophet Mohammed (SAW) clearly point to a more general and quite varied and rich concept.
Jihad, literally, means to strive/struggle to establish something or to achieve a specific goal. And, in that sense, the idea of restricting the term Jihad to only mean fighting in the cause of Allah (SWT) does the concept a great disservice and robs Islam and Muslims of a vital and rich concept that had many Muslims understood full well they would have reached levels of Ihsan that would make their lives more prosperous and full of achievements and great advancements. In this Khotba (Friday speech), I will try to address this vital Islamic concept within the context of this community of Midland, Michigan and if time allows address it in the conctext of individuals, groups, societies, and the Muslim Umma in general.
Before I give a speech, I like to know my audience. So, I went online to learn about you. I was very pleased to learn good things about your thriving community but I also was able to glean a few things that I hope you would not consider as harsh criticisms but rather as brotherly and friendly set of suggestions that would allow this community to continue to prosper and succeed.
Let's start with verses 77-78 of Surat Al-Haj (22).
Jihad, literally, means to strive/struggle to establish something or to achieve a specific goal. And, in that sense, the idea of restricting the term Jihad to only mean fighting in the cause of Allah (SWT) does the concept a great disservice and robs Islam and Muslims of a vital and rich concept that had many Muslims understood full well they would have reached levels of Ihsan that would make their lives more prosperous and full of achievements and great advancements. In this Khotba (Friday speech), I will try to address this vital Islamic concept within the context of this community of Midland, Michigan and if time allows address it in the conctext of individuals, groups, societies, and the Muslim Umma in general.
Before I give a speech, I like to know my audience. So, I went online to learn about you. I was very pleased to learn good things about your thriving community but I also was able to glean a few things that I hope you would not consider as harsh criticisms but rather as brotherly and friendly set of suggestions that would allow this community to continue to prosper and succeed.
Let's start with verses 77-78 of Surat Al-Haj (22).
(Source: http://quran.com/22/77-78)
Is there any mention of fighting in the cause of Allah (SWT) in these verses? No!
The preceding verse orders believers to bow, to prostrate, to worship their care-taker [Allah (SWT)], and to perform acts of goodness so that they may succeed. Then, Allah (SWT) commends these very same believer to strive the true (حق) striving of His (جهاده). But, what comes after this phrase are items that continue and expand upon the terms mentioned in the previous verse, namely the choosing of Muslims as a select group of mankind (not for who they are in the Christian nor the Jewish sense despite their kinship with them via Ibrahim (AS) but for the awesome responsibility of their being witnesses to mankind as their Prophet (SAW) was their witness chosen witness. It is as if Allah (SWT) is saying to Muslims, it is not who you are that makes you special or a select group of mankind; rather it is the good that you do that establishes your true status amongst them. The commends address acts of worship that benefit the individual (salat), helps the community (zaket), and holds the Umma at large together with Allah (SWT)'s protection and guidance toward success.
So, through the building of this excellent Masjid you have succeeded in your Jihad (striving) of establishment as members of this Midland community but you have to transition to a different Jihad (striving), that of genuine involvement with your community in Midland. It is not enough to be present within a community; it is equally if not more important to be an active member of such a community.
I visited your web site, which is your window to your Midland community and the world at large, and I visited web sites of your "competition", churches and synagogues, in the tri-city area to see how you fare and compare to them in terms of your involvement with your community and how you present yourselves in general. I am not in a position to tell you what are the specifics of what you need to do but I strongly urge you to visit the web sites just as I did to judge for yourselves how well you fare and to take the proper actions that would help you succeed in your Jihad (striving) of community involvement.
The sayings of the Prophet Mohammed (SAW) also support this multifaceted aspect of the concept of Jihad and following is such an example.
(Source: http://sunnah.com/search/ففيهما-فجاهد)
I wish I had the time to elaborate upon these examples that illustrate the generality and richness of the concept of Jihad and how the Muslim Umma at large may benefit from embracing the broader and more accurate understanding of this vital Islamic concept.
السَّلامُ عَلَيْكُمْ!
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