| Quote: |
The word Jihad stems from the Arabic root word J-H-D, which means "strive." Other words derived from this root include "effort," "labor," and "fatigue." Essentially Jihad is an effort to practice religion in the face of oppression and persecution. The effort may come in fighting the evil in your own heart, or in standing up to a dictator. Military effort is included as an option, but as a last resort.
Hence, in its literal sense Jihad in Arabic simply means struggle - striving to one's utmost to further a worthy cause. As we say in English, "We must struggle against hardships".
It is a common human trait to work very hard in order to achieve some goal. There are words in every language including Arabic, to express this human quality. The word Jihad conveys this same sense of striving, that is, a great striving.
Noble Qur'an says: "And strive hard in (the way of) Allah, (such) a striving a is due to Him..." (22:7
So, why Islam is so emphatically linked with the idea of struggle? What has the one to do with the other? Cannot a person become a good Muslim without involving himself in a struggle that necessarily requires sacrifices? The answer is: No. And for very obvious reasons.
Islam is not merely the confession of a faith which is made once in a lifetime. The faith is of cosmic dimensions. It requires a radical reorientation of entire life and the world. The confession is not merely verbal; it is an act of witnessing which must transform life into a living and continuing testimony of faith. You enter Islam by saying shahadah (bearing witness). But you can live in Islam only by constantly doing shahadah (al-Baqarah 2:143, al-Hajj 22:2. Doing shahadah will bring you in ceaseless confrontation with false gods inside you, and with those outside you. It will also require a ceaseless striving to reshape self and society so as to attest to your witnessing |
| gh0stface wrote: |
| Please use the quote tags when copy and pasting an article. Also give credit to where you get the article. If you haven't done so, I advise you to read the rules and FAQs of these boards |
Thank you for your explanation of the meaning of the word Jihad. Unfortunately, for a substantial number of Muslims and probably the majority of non-Muslims, the word has been understood as violent struggle and confrontation, often without regard to making an effort to find a peaceful solution.
I want to freely acknowledge that Christians, too, have terms that relate to struggling for the right, and in many cases these have been misused to encourage violence. While I accept the possibility of a war that needs to be fought, I recognize that my Messiah, the Prince of Peace, never encouraged the use of violence as a way to achieve the goals of the Kingdom.
I hope that in the future, all the religions that honor the one God who created the heavens and the Earth can respect each other enough to work out their conflicts of interest in a peaceful way.
Why is the subject heading called "story"? It has nothing to do with what you actually posted about...
@amirpaki
did you read the bit that said "Also give credit to where you get the article"
and i'm sure there is a rule somewhere stating that you can't make up a topic or even a post of pure quotes.
if your going to bring up an issue you should start it of with your own opinion
So that I can post an intelligent and useful reply to the discussion could you tell me what the discussion is?
Amirpaki's post is a useful one, and his message is clear enough, even though he failed to state his own opinion and broke some rules. I hope he will respond to the gentle correction, otherwise he probably won't be here long.
Amirpaki, I would encourage you to edit your post to include your source. The text you posted is available on islam.about.com, I believe, although you may have seen it elsewhere. We are looking forward to hearing some of your personal opinions, which I hope you will share with us in a future post on this thread.
Welcome to Frihost. If your English is limited, please post the best you can anyway. We recognize that we are an international community, and very few of us will be rude if you make a mistake.
@SonLight
sorry to bust your bubble but his second post (see 2 post beside his name) was like exactly the same (same long article and no personal comment)
it seems to be deleted now
Like the user yes.
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