slayhy: All you are saying is that the 'lesser' jihad is meant to conquer and terrify non-Muslims

Submitted by Plato (India), Dec 17, 2011 at 09:49

Slayhy you write:

"When the Muslims came back to Madinah from a battle against the Jews and The tribe of Quraysh, Muhammad said

"We come from the lesser Jihad to the Greater Jihad", and when they asked him what he meant by that he said "the greater Jihad is self striving for the better"

All this tells us is that 'lesser jihad'means going to war. Calling it 'lesser jihad' does not make the pain and suffering caused any less for the victims of this Islamic jihad.

"Jihad in Arabic means struggle, strive, fight, and it can be external or internal, there are different types of Jihad in Islam"

"…it can be external or internal". What the non-Muslims experience is the external type of jihad as the Jews of Quraish of Arabia knew to their cost in life and property.

"Enemy Struggle – This is the lowest (lesser) form of Jihad that is to defend oneself against aggressors by going into war and fight the aggressors. This type of Jihad is associated with external and internal agony. Ethics play a big part in this type of Jihad."

The so-called highest form of jihad is invisible to the rest of the world as it is fought in the minds of Muslims. But this lesser jihad is what is inflicted on non-Muslims under various pretexts of self-defence. Or 'making mischief in the land', which can be almost anything Muslims do not like and becomes an excuse for the 'lesser jihad'.

Bukhari: Volume 3, Book 46, Number 717: Narrated Ibn Aun: I wrote a letter to Nafi and Nafi wrote in reply to my letter that the Prophet had suddenly attacked Bani Mustaliq without warning while they were heedless and their cattle were being watered at the places of water. Their fighting men were killed and their women and children were taken as captives; the Prophet got Juwairiya on that day. Nafi said that Ibn 'Umar had told him the above narration and that Ibn 'Umar was in that army.

Is this act of your prophet an act of lesser jihad and do you approve of attacking without warning and stealing the Mustaliq's women and property?

"All are described "for the Cause of God", "for the way of God" any kind of Jihad is to attain approval from God to reach heavens and to be accepted by God This last part does not mean fighting for the sake of killing or occupying more land.

By attacking the Banu Muslaliq without warning was prophet Muhammad acting in the way of Allah?

"Through out Islamic period, fighting the enemy, are those who aggress, threaten to kill and obliterate Islam or make mischief in the land. It is never the case that Muslims make war to conquer more land. However God supported them and made them victorious especially during Muhammad time."

Let me quote from the Biography of Abu Bakr by Dr. Ali Muhammad As Sallabee (Maktaba Darussala, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia) which in turn quotes Safahat min Taarikh, by ibn Taymiyya, page 552: "….the peoples to whom the prophet sent out armies were given three choices: either they could embrace Islam and become brothers unto all other Muslims; or they could remain upon their disbelief but pay a small jiziya to Muslims; or they could refuse the first two options, at which point they would be left one final choice: to use swords to resolve the matters between them and muslims."

The prophet of Islam conducted many raids and wars (around 80) almost all of them unprovoked like the attack on the Banu Mustaliq.

Khalid bin Walid was a bloodthirsty commander of the Muslim armies of the time and like his prophet gave three choices to Jews and Christians: convert to Islam, pay a protection tax or be attacked and killed. He had no hesitation in slitting throats of a defeated enemy to make a river run red because of an oath he had taken (read about the conquest of Iraq during Abu Bakr's time).

These are the actions of aggressors and not of those resisting aggression.

Regards

Plato

---

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".