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Written by Mehmet Ozalp
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Tuesday, 13 February 2007 |
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Page 9 of 9 Summary - The word jihad means to 'struggle' or 'strive' and applies to any effort exerted by anyone.
- In the religious context, the word jihad, as used in the Qur'an, refers to a spiritual struggle against evil in one's self and in various forms outside the self.
- There is no concept of 'holy war' in Islam.
- There are greater and lesser aspects of jihad. The greater jihad comprises fighting superstition, wrong convictions, carnal desires and evil inclinations of the self in the pursuit of intellectual and spiritual enlightenment.
- The concept of jihad has a very wide scope in Islam and includes personal struggle, intellectual endeavour, social construction and, when necessary, military defence.
- There are strict limits to observe when a military campaign becomes unavoidable.
- By the definition of the word 'Muslim', a Muslim can only be an advocate of peace, not terrorism.
- The words 'Muslim' and 'terrorist' have diametrically opposite meanings. Hence, a true Muslim cannot be a terrorist nor a terrorist can be a Muslim. The words 'Muslim' and 'terrorist' cannot be used together in the same phrase. It is extremely offensive to innocent Muslims when these two words are used together.
- Terrorism is a complex phenomenon and has multiple causes other than religion.
- The Prophet Muhammad was a political and religious moderate.
- As a testament to the tolerance of the Prophet Muhammad, Islamic history has had no forced conversions, Holocausts, Inquisitions, bloody Crusades or other large scale tragedies.
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