Outer jihad then is the lesser jihad since at the root of Islam is peace. And thus he who has conquered himself conducts himself accordingly.
Indeed, jihad has nothing to do with conflict and war - its use with regard to violence in the Middle East is like ad hominem attacks on mostly harmless homeless people.
It is hyperbole.
According to Fiqh Made Easy, the four types of jihad are:
- Jihad against the soul: Struggling against the soul to yearn for the Religion, act upon those teachings, and call others to them. (Paraphrased)
- Jihad against Shaytan: Struggling against Satan without doubts or desires.
- Jihad against the disbelievers and hypocrites: this is done with the tongue, hand, heart and wealth.
- Jihad against heretics, liars, and evilfolk: This is best done with the hand, if not the hand then the tongue, if that's not possible then the heart.
- Fiqh Akbar / Fiqh Awwal - consists of Aqaid (faith and belief)
- Fiqh Ausath / Fiqh Duwwam - consists of all mundane as well as spiritual acts.
- Fiqh Asghar / al-Akhir - consists of worship (Ibadat) and other devotional practices
3 comments:
Wikipedia lists what Muslims consider jihad to mean:
"A commitment to hard work" and "achieving one's goals in life"
"Struggling to achieve a noble cause"
"Promoting peace, harmony or cooperation, and assisting others"
"Living the principles of Islam"
from:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jihad
fiqh (Arabic: فقه [fiqh]) is an Arabic term meaning "deep understanding" or "full comprehension". — http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiqh
Inner jihad is the greater jihad; it is a matter of the heart embraced by God, with we the lovers of God contemplating the Beloved.
Outer jihad is the less jihad, also called armed jihad when violence is used to conquer others.
Yet the true warrior is not the soldier who conquers a thousand unseen enemies but the pious man who practices inner jihad by moderating his behavior, speech and thoughts.
Let the wise see the truth in this, though it is folly to interpret what I write, lest its true message be distorted by the vagarious views of a thousand men.
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