War and Peace in Islam: The Uses and Abuses of Jihad

by H. R. H. Prince Ghazi bin Muhammad (Editor), Professor Ibrahim Kalin (Editor), Professor Mohammad Hashim Kamali (Editor)

Overview

War and Peace in Islam: The Uses and Abuses of Jihad aims to change this. Written by a number of Islamic religious authorities and Muslim scholars, this work presents the views and teachings of mainstream Sunni and Shi'i Islam on the subject of jihad. It authoritatively presents jihad as it is understood by the majority of the world's 1.7 billion Muslims today, and supports this understanding with extensive detail and scholarship. Though jihad is the central concern of War and Peace in Islam: The Uses and Abuses of Jihad, the range of the essays is not confined exclusively to the study of jihad. The work is divided into three parts: War and Its Practice, Peace and Its Practice, and Beyond Peace: The Practice of Forbearance, Mercy, Compassion and Love. War and Peace in Islam: The Uses and Abuses of Jihad aims to reveal the real meaning of jihad and to rectify many of the misunderstandings that surround both it and Islam's relation with the 'Other'.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781903682838
Publisher:	Islamic Texts Society
Publication date:	12/01/2013
Pages:	554
Product dimensions:	6.25(w) x 9.25(h) x 1.30(d)

About the Author

Love in the Holy Qur'an.

Read an Excerpt

Jihad derives from the root word jahada, which means to strive or to exert effort. Its translation in the Western media as 'holy war' would in Arabic be equivalent to al-harb al-muqaddasah, which is totally unfamiliar and unknown to Arabic speakers. Jihad consists of the effort one makes to do something good and to prevent or oppose evil. The effort may be directed towards oneself or the outside world. The struggle to control and refine one's ego, to conquer ignorance, to discipline one's own base desires, to excel in the work undertaken to the best of one's ability are the jihad of the self (jihad al-nafs). In a similar vein, the Sufi contemplation used to combat the distractions of the soul is called mujahadah. To combat poverty and disease, to build housing for the poor, or to fight corruption and abuse would all qualify as jihad that serves a social purpose of great benefit. We are cast into a world in which there is disequilibrium and disorder both externally and within ourselves. To create a life of equilibrium based on surrender to God and following His injunctions involves constant jihad. For ordinary Muslims, praying five times a day throughout their lives, or fasting from dawn to dusk during the month of Ramadan are certainly not possible without great effort, or jihad. A Muslim who works to earn a living and support his family is also engaged in jihad. It is now common to hear Muslim intellectuals speak of jihad in business, jihad in the acquisition of knowledge, and jihad against social ills afflicting young people, drug abuse and AIDS. Understood in its comprehensive sense, jihad is an inherent aspect of the human condition in facing the imperfections of this world. The Prophet Muhammad has said that 'the mujahid is one who wages a struggle against himself'. The effort to facilitate a just system of rule is underscored in another hadith: 'the best form of jihad is to tell a word of truth to an unjust ruler.' In a hadith al-Bukhari and Muslim have recorded, a young man asked the Prophet: 'Should I join the jihad?' that was apparently in progress at the time. In response, the Prophet asked him a question: 'Do you have parents?', and when the man said 'Yes', the Prophet told him, 'Then strive by serving them.'
   The Qur'an refers to jihad in twenty-four verses, most of which emphasise the spiritual and non-violent manifestations of jihad, such as being steadfast in the faith and sacrifice in its cause, migration from Mecca to Medina, and peaceful propagation of the faith. The reader will find comprehensive coverage of the Qur'an in the various chapters of this book. It is worth mentioning, however, that jihad as armed struggle against the aggressor occurs only in the Medinan verses of the Qur'an. During the first thirteen years of his campaign in Mecca, the Prophet was not permitted to use force even for self-defence. Islam was propagated only through peaceful methods. The idolaters of Mecca persecuted and forced a number of the Prophet's companions to migrate, initially to Abyssinia, and later to Medina. The Meccans not only continued but stepped up their hostility and attacked the Muslims, some 270km away, in the battles of Badr (624 CE) and Uhud (625 CE), with superior forces, inflicting heavy casualties on them. Only then was permission granted to: Fight in the way of God those who fight you, but begin not hostilities. Verily God loves not the aggressors (Al-Baqarah, 2:190).
   When a legitimate jihad is waged, it must not be based on anger and hatred. The Qur'an thus warns: Let not your hatred of a people cause you to be unjust. You must do justice (Al-Ma'idah, 5:8). The believers were also directed to repel the evil deed with one that is better, then verily he, between whom and thee there was enmity (will become) as though he were a protective friend (Fussilat, 41:34).
   Islamic law provides a clear set of rules that regulate military engagement, which have not, however, been consistently followed. The Prophet instructed the warriors to avoid harming women and children, the aged, monks and priests, the blind and the insane, and refrain from acts of brutality and maiming. Destruction of livestock, trees and crops was also forbidden unless it was for the purpose of sustaining life. Innocent human life should be immune from all forms of unlawful aggression, as the Qur'an proclaims: Whosoever kills a human being for other than manslaughter or corruption in the earth, it shall be as if he had killed all humanity (Al-Ma'idah, 5:32).

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements vii

A Note on the Translation of the Qur'an viii

Foreword by HE the Sultan of Sokoto ix

Introduction Professor Mohammad Hashim Kamali xi

About the Contributors xviii

Part I War and Its Practice

Chapter 1 The Qur'an and Combat HE Grand Imam Mahmoud Shaltut (Translation: Lamya Al-Khraisha) 1

Chapter 2 Warfare in the Qur'an Professor Joel Hayward 28

Chapter 3 Jihad and the Islamic Law of War¹ Dr Caner Dagli 56

Chapter 4 The Myth of a Militant Islam² Dr David Dakake 99

Chapter 5 The Spirit of Jihad³ Dr Reza Shah-Kazemi 132

Chapter 6 A Fatwa on Jihad HE Shaykh Ali Gomaa 153

Chapter 7 Body Count: A Comparative Quantitative Study of Mass Killings in History⁴ Dr Naveed Sheikh 165

Part II Peace and Its Practice

Chapter 8 Islam and Peace: A Survey of the Sources of Peace in the Islamic Tradition Professor Ibrahim Kalin 217

Chapter 9 The Concept of Peace/Security (Salm) in Islam Dr Karim Douglas Crow 250

Chapter 10 Human Dignity from an Islamic Perspective Professor Mohammad Hashim Kamali 269

Chapter 11 'The People of the Book (AM al-Kitab) in the Qur'an Professor Ismail Albayrak 282

Chapter 12 Dhimmi and Musta'min: A Juristic and Historical Perspective Professor Mohammad Hashim Kamali 304

Part III Beyond Peace: Forbearance, Mercy, Compassion and Love

Chapter 13 The Uncommonahty of CA Common Word' Dr Joseph Lumbard 317

Chapter 14 Divine Mercy and Love in the Qur'an⁵ HRH Prince Ghazi bin Muhammad 348

Chapter 15 Love of Others in the Qur'an⁶ HRH Prince Ghazi bin Muhammad 378

Chapter 16 Mercy in the Hadith⁷ Shaykh Sayyid Hassan Saqqaf HRH Prince Ghazi bin Muhammad 392

Appendix The Conditions Necessary for Just War in the Holy Qur'an HRH Prince Ghazi bin Muhammad 409

Notes 427

Qur'anic Index 491

General Index 501

Editorial Reviews

'This is the best book on the subject in English. It will be of inestimable value.'

Shaykh Mustafa Ceric

'A dynamic myth-busting clarification of the real position of mainstream orthodox Islam on the whole question of violence and jihad.'

T. J. Winter

"This is the best book on the subject in English. It will be of inestimable value."  —Shaykh Mustafa Ceric, Grand Mufti Emeritus of Bosnia

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