The Prophet Muhammad A simple Guide to his Life
The Power of Peace
~ 237 ~
Both the Qur’an and
Hadith
speak of
jihad
as a very
superior act. What is
jihad? Jihad
means ‘struggle.’
This word is used for non-violent activism as
compared to violent activism. One clear proof of this
is provided by the verse of the Qur’an which says:
“Do not yield to the unbelievers, but struggle with
them by means of it (the Qur’an) most
strenuously.” (25:52).
The Qur’an is no gun or weapon of war. It is a book
of ideology. In such a situation asking people to
struggle by means of the Qur’an signifies to strive
by means of ideology. That is to say, to work hard
to conquer people’s hearts and minds by the
superior ideology of Islam.
In the light of this Qur’anic explanation, it would be
true to say that
jihad,
in fact, is another name for
peaceful activism or non-violent activism, that is to say,
if
qital
is violent activism,
jihad
is non-violent activism.
PEACEFUL BEGINNING
When the Qur’an began to be revealed, the first
word of the first verse was
iqra,
‘read.’ (96:1) When
