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Militant Islam Monitor > Satire > "Jihad: Waging Peace and Justice" according to the Canadian Islamic Congress

"Jihad: Waging Peace and Justice" according to the Canadian Islamic Congress

"Many lives to avenge oh ye pagans" Islamiway website extols the joys of Jihad and shows Lady Liberty as a Muslimah
May 22, 2004

The President of the Canadian Islamic Congress Mohammed Elmasary : "Jihad :Waging Peace and Justice"

According to Elmasry's explanation below on the CIC website , Jihad is a peaceful humanitarian movement which only uses violence when expedient.

http://canadianislamiccongress.com/ar/ar_jihad.php

Jihad: Waging Peace and Justice

by Prof. Mohamed Elmasry

1. The word Jihad (from the Arabic root Ga-Ha-Da) is a verbal noun meaning exerting an effort, expounding an energy, striving, working to improve, struggling, doing one's best.

From the same Arabic root, there is Majhood (effort), Mojtahed (a person who does his/her best), Ijtehad (Islamic science of deducting Islamic laws from basic sources), Johid (potential or energy as in electrical potential or energy) and Jihad (persuasion as in (29:8), (31:15), (6:109)).

2. Jihad in Islam is waging peace and justice. Jihad is a war against unjust, oppression, exploitation, tyranny, fear, corruption and denying the masses basic human rights (4:75-76) and to establish justice, peace, freedom, especially freedom of religion, security, equity and social justice (2:193).

The tools for launching this exploitation, tyranny, fear, corruption and denying the masses basic human rights (4:75-76) and to establish justice, peace, freedom, especially freedom of religion, security, equity and social justice (2:193).

The tools for launching this war are knowledge, effort, resources, activism, awareness, praying, persuasion, combativeness, advocacy in addition to exercising social, political and military pressures (9:111), (8:60), (9:44-45).

The use of the military option is not ruled out and would be used if and only if it is the only option to stop a greater evil (2:216). The rules of engagement are so strenuous for a given military option to qualify as Jihad. Not every military campaign is a Jihad (2:244).

3. Jihad in Islam is not meant for domination, and not to achieve personal, territorial and/or economical gains and not to exercise power and control. Any type of aggression would make Jihad null and void (2:190-191).

4. One of the most important objectives of Jihad in Islam is to stand for those who are oppressed and/or forced out of their homes just because of their religion (22:39-40).

5. Those who are performing outward Jihad must also spiritually reform themselves by performing (al-jihad al-akbar), an inward personal and more difficult type of Jihad (29:69), (22:78).

This type of Jihad is the internal spiritual and moral struggle which should lead to the victory over the ego. This is an important, necessary, and meritorious type of Jihad. In effect, this type of Jihad is the one which we wage against our lower selves, according to the Prophetic traditions. This personal effort made to overcome the self is considered to be "the greatest Jihad", as mention in a Hadith narrated by Imam Ahmed.

6. It is impossible for Jihad to be performed by an oppressor, a tyrant, a transgressor or an exploiter; it does not matter what that person/government/group calls his/her/its actions. Nor there is Jihad for those who are after personal, tribal and national gains (9:24).

It is precisely in such a context that Jihad meant not to have a negative but a positive meaning both inwardly and outwardly and it is in this sense that Islam has stressed the positive aspect of combativeness; peace belongs to those who are inwardly at peace and outwardly at war with the forces of unjust.

7. Jihad is an unselfish and noble effort for the good of humanity (29:6), involving many sacrifices; money, time, effort, and the ultimate sacrifice of all, life itself. But the rewards of this unselfish and noble act are immense (29:69), (9:41), (4:74), (3:142), (9:16), (9:111), (49:15) and its negligence is costly for humanity (9:38-39), (9:24), (9:81).

8. For political and historical reasons, the word Jihad in the West connotes violence. It is most often translated into English not only as "a holy war," but also a war waged against non-Muslims, a kind of Crusade in reverse.

Today in the West the term Jihad leads people to believe that Muslims are supposedly encouraged to take up arms in order to impose their faith by force, annihilating those who reject it.

This is contrary to the Islamic teachings that it is not for man but for God alone to judge and punish disbelief and that compulsion in religious matters is formally forbidden (2:256). It is regrettable that in Western public opinion, Jihad seems to have retained only the misleading meaning of "holy war."

9. The Qur'an explicitly safeguards the clergy, declaring that God protects non-Muslim places of worship: "Did not God check one set of people by means of another, there would surely have been pulled down monasteries, churches, synagogues, and mosques, in which the name of God is commemorated in abundant measure."

This prohibition is corroborated and elucidated by the Prophetic tradition which forbids soldiers to do harm to any religious persons, whereas they could logically have been the primary targets if the motive of "holy war" had been religious.

Without putting Western civilization on trial, we should nevertheless mention by way of contrast that several centuries later, the founders of international law in Europe excluded the Muslim "infidels" from the benefits of the law of wars. Yet, the concept of "holy war" remains branded as the expression of the Muslims' religious fanaticism. How ineradicable are the prejudices!

10. Jihad was and still being invoked in Muslim protests against foreign occupation, oppression and exploitation during colonialism, post-colonialism, and neocolonialism, a cause perceived as both just and necessary.

However some Muslims must bear responsibility for the bad name given to Jihad. Today some contemporary governments and groups in Muslim countries make reference to Jihad only in its military meaning, through words and deeds, in order to hide their moral, social and political bankruptcy. In the process they kill the innocent, cause only death and destruction and do not advance the cause of peace and justice. But regrettably they are the ones who show up regularly in the newspapers and on television.

11. Today Muslim's outlook on Jihad are one of the following: a. All types of Jihad is irrelevant to Muslims today. b. All types of Jihad is justified except these types which involve the use of armed resistance. c. All types of Jihad is very much relevant and needed today, from the inward spiritual struggle against one's lower self, to activism for peace, justice, social justice,...etc, to armed resistance whenever armed resistance is justified; for example against foreign occupation, oppression, tyranny and unjust.

[Prof. Mohamed Elmasry is national president of the Canadian Islamic Congress.]

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Below: A poem extolling Jihad on the Islamiway website .

The Understanding Islam article on it's homepage stresses that" Muslims follow a religion of peace,mercy, and forgiveness,and the majority have nothing to do with the grave events which came to be associated with their faith".

Apparently the author of the Jihad poem missed this lesson.

http://johnw.host.sk/understandingislam/index.html

Understanding Islam!

What Is Islam?

Islam is not a new religion, but the same truth that God revealed through all His prophets to every people. For a fifth of the world's population, Islam is both a religion and a complete way of life. Muslims follow a religion of peace, mercy, and forgiveness, and the majority have nothing to do with the extremely grave events which have become associated with their faith .

MIM :The Islamiway webmaster converted because "Islam was termed a terrorist religion" and credits America and Israel for his conversion.

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"When Islam was termed as a terrorist religion....Brothers, Sisters, Mothers, Fathers being butchered by Israelis and ME !!! using Israelis drinks, Cokes, Sodas, T-shirts!!!!!

Innocent Afghan's bombed and ME!!!! American Jeans, American Cokes, Music , Movies!!! I just couldn't take that anymore...."

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The Islamiway webmaster is so desperate to "pimp for the Prophet" that he converted Lady Liberty into a Muslimah as well.

http://johnw.host.sk/articles/index.html

Touching. Must Reading and Miscellaneous

http://johnw.host.sk/articles/war_jihad_histroy/poem_on_jihad.htm

Poem on Jihad.....

Waa Ahl Gujarataah


Jihaad became hard upon us today.
It was unexpected, we were caught unaware
They are burning our children and raping our mothers.
But the world does not seem to care.

Oh fie, you Hindus, you cow urine drinkers.
May destruction prevail upon you, and die.
You lower than animals and brothers of Jews.
Do not worry you will see how much we care.
We will keep in mind, the act of burning alive.
You know it is fair, an eye for an eye.

Many lives we have to avenge, O ye pagans,
Start counting your days from now,
You should have remembered you savage people
We nurture our young ones on Jihaad.
They do not fear death and are willing martyrs,
Ready to sacrifice their lives right now.

Our tears do not fall in vain
Our Muslim identity is not lost.
Our freshly healed wounds, opened yet again,
Gave us new strength and new vigour.
You reminded us of our fathers and grandfathers
Of what you did to them.
Their sin was being Muslims,
And so is ours.

The rubble of stones strewn everywhere,
The only remaining identity of the mosques,
Cut our hearts more deeply,
Than the killing of our newborn child.

Let me stress again mosques,
For waAllah, it was not just one,
A hundred at least, were all razed to the floor.
And that but the least,
But those cursed pagans made it into their place of worship,
And have placed their idols, and are worshipping them right now,
O Muslims, where are you, the Houses of Allah are being destroyed.

The unheeding attitude of the Muslim world,
To their Muslim brethren in pain,
Puts shame any atrocity that al Hajjaj committed,
For he answered, when an oppressed Muslimah said,
Where are you O Hajjaj, to help the oppressed,
And instantly he sent his teenage son in law Ibn Qaasim,
For whom, had not even passed a day from marriage,
Oh, that there could be a helper for the oppressed today.

But, we do not lose hope,
This was just a reminder,
We Muslims are in a deep slumber,
When will we wake up.
To fulfil our duty to our oppressed brethren,
Nay, not our brethren, but it us,
For surely, the Rasul did say,
All the Muslims are but one body.
So we just fulfil the rights of our body,
And get rid of the pain,
By helping our brothers and sisters,
In the occupied plains.

We are all in the same boat,
Wherever we live,
Be it in Hind, Chechnya, Burma or Bosnia.
We still remember our family in,
Algeria, Afghanistan, Philippines and Somalia.
We are but one Ummah,
The special Ummah.
The Ummah for which Ghana'im was made halaal,
But forget yearning for this,
Even our own homes are not safe.
And nor will our children's be,
Until we revive the forgotten obligation.
The obligation of Jihaad.

Ha Moslimat Hodi

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Webmaster of Islamiway thanks America and Israel for his conversion to Islam.

http://johnw.host.sk/articles/touching_misc_mustreading/index.htm

About Me !
Before surfing Islamiway, I'd request you to read the Disclaimer at the bottom. It carries information that would answer most of your questions.

I got the idea of this site just after 9/11. Before 9/11 I used to be Bluish, doing nothing but listening Music, Parties, Shopping and Hanging out with friends...Palestine, Bosnia, Kosovo and Kashmir were topics I've never thought... Prayers, Obligations, Respect for Elderly; I've never imagined......Taliban, Osama....I didn't know even they exist.. Life was Perfect....I was a person deviated from his religion...From his Creator.....Who had his own principles....who followed his own rules regardless of what Islam says.. Who never wanted to know the Hereafter...But Alas! ..One day...I still remember that day....my life was changed....9/11..yeah it was 9/11...

When Islam was termed as a terrorist religion....Brothers, Sisters, Mothers, Fathers being butchered by Israelis and ME !!! using Israelis drinks, Cokes, Sodas, T-shirts!!!!!

Innocent Afghan's bombed and ME!!!! American Jeans, American Cokes, Music , Movies!!! I just couldn't take that anymore....Life began unbearable....Like a baby just born and found no one around....I wanted to know the truth....Slowly and Steadily I began learning Islam! yes Islam....To know One God and to believe on the Prophet hood.....And to finally call my self a true Muslim! Allahuakbar!

Since then my life changed.. The Peace I couldn't find in Music; I found in Prayers.. Love for people; text books couldn't teach me But Islam taught me. I liked this new world....being a webmaster I made what I could.....to find some like me....Allahuakbar!!! I give my credits to America and Israel for without them....I'd had never changed...Thank you America and Israel...Allahuakbar

Webmaster Islamiway
[email protected] (Works On MSn)


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