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For many years, I have been perplexed by the role of the Islamic faith in the world and what drives its followers to do the things they do. Most religion in the world usually have a lot in common. Most urge their benefactors to seek harmony, to conduct themselves civilly and to help all people unite and work towards a greater goal, to build an ideal society . In the pursuit of such goals, most religions endorse peace and love. The Islamic faith clearly strives for all the aforementioned goals, yet one can not help but notice that throughout history and even today in current events, the religious fervor of Muslim believers has often led to war and violence and horrible acts of terrorism. These people would certainly not be the first to misinterpret the words of their holy men or wrongly exploit their faith for less than benevolent reasons. Christianity has had its share of users and abusers but western media seems to believe that the Islamic faith is, in itself, fundamentally responsible for the violence and strife that our historians and newsmen report. These individuals often refer to the word Jihad, which they define as meaning, literally, "holy war." They use this word to explain the actions of violent Muslims, but they never seem to take the time to explain this concept further. Therefore my question remains, why is a faith, meant to unite the world in tranquil harmony, so bent on war and destruction? Christians have had their own holy wars such as the Crusades. Christians have set before others the ultimatum of "convert or die" such as the missionaries did to the native peoples of the Americas some five hundred years ago. Again these instances were often contrary to the true tenets of Christian scripture and done more out of greed than faith. All of these things eventually came to an end, but in Islam, violence has been consistent and continues even today. That is why I have felt compelled to research this topic and discover why Muslims really behave the way they do. Must the violence continue? What is this thing they call the Jihad?
In order to understand Muslims, we must start with their most fundamental belief and how Islam came to be in the first place. Islam is an Arabic word meaning literally, "submission." Muslims are defined as those who submit to God or "Allah." They believe in the teachings of Mohammed, the last of God’s prophets whose predecessors had been Jesus Christ and the prophets of the old Testament. It is believed that around 610 AD the prophet was visited by an angel, perhaps Gabriel, while meditating in a cave near Mecca. The angel told him to preach the revelations that God would send him. Mohammed then spent his life preaching the good word and his speeches were haphazardly jotted down on anything that could be written on. These documents were then collected and organized in 651 AD into the sacred book of the Muslim people, the Qur’an.
The Qur’an prescribes a code of conduct for the people, again, a clear attempt to make society a better place. This code of conduct appeals to people on both a physical and spiritual level. It lists appropriate punishment for many specific crimes. It also urges people to live by God’s law, for those who do not repent and do not follow the Qur’anic precepts will suffer horrible tortures in the depths of hell, when the day of the last judgment comes. Those who enter heaven shall know blissful joy. All Muslims must practice the Five Pillars of Faith. These are all important to Muslims. They must recite the oath, "there is no God but God, and Mohammed is his Prophet." They must pray, facing Mecca five times a day, they must fast during the sacred month of Ramadan, they must make a holy pilgrimage, if possible, at least once in their lifetimes and finally, they must give alms to poor Muslims. Other rules are many but are beyond the Five Pillars of Faith. One of the most important of these is the observance of the Jihad.
Contrary to the western definition, Jihad does not translate to "holy war," but means "to strive." Mohammed called the Jihad ‘bil nafs’ (striving within the self), the greatest Jihad. It is the struggle within one’s self that begins when one first becomes conscious of right and wrong. However, the Jihad that has caused so much controversy is the Jihad fi Sabeel Allah (striving in the path of God). Like so much else in the Islamic faith, I have found in my research that this concept is also open to fairly wide interpretation. It appears that the Qur’an actually specifies that all people regardless of race, religion or nationality are entitled to their own basic rights. In fact, the Qur’an states its policy quite explicitly, "let there be no compulsion in religion". Bib-Muslims living in a Muslim state are free to practice the rights of their own respective religion for each man must find his own faith and conscience and no one can force another to believe something which he simply does not believe. Non-Muslims are guaranteed such rights as protection of person, property and honor, equal justice before the law, the pursuit of higher education and fair business, the right to travel, to choose one’s marriage partner, to own private property and to do lawful work of their own choosing. They are even entitled to governmental representation and free to hold positions of importance in society
So why have Muslims so adamantly waged war on non-Muslims? Why do they seek to destroy the infidels? Surely a people who were such devout worshippers, who prayed five times a day and lived their lives by the Five Pillars of Faith and have observed such a strict code of conduct and were obliged to memorize as much of the Qur’an as possible, would not simply ignore the clearly defined decrees of their own sacred book.
In 622, Mohammed and his followers were forced to flee from Mecca by individuals unfavorable to his message. Their trek to the city of Medina was known as the hijra, point in history from which Muslims date their calendar. In Medina, Mohammed grew stronger and destroyed the pagan temples there. The worship of idols and images was against the will of God. When he was strong enough, he returned to Mecca and again conquered the pagans. Muslims saw this as a precedent without understanding why this "holy war" had really taken place. It was not because the pagans were intolerable to God, it was because they sought to oppress Mohammed and prevent the people from hearing the word of the one true God. According to Mohammed, this was justification for killing if need be.
This is where the interpretation becomes a factor. The Qur’an teaches its people to be tolerant and always to avoid aggression but it also teaches Muslims that they have an obligation to stand up against injustice and to combat evil through any means necessary. Physical action is always the last resort, but Muslims have a responsibility to kill those who would oppress the people of Islam and commit acts strictly prohibited by the word of God. In other words, Muslims tolerate other religions, but if an individual commits a crime, then he is subject to punishment by the law of the Qur’an. The words in which these rules are stated, are very strong and can be manipulated to justify serious action.
Not all Muslims agree with the interpretation of "holy war." They accuse others of being misled and ignorant. Because Islam is so open to interpretation, many divisions exist between the Muslims themselves. Shi’ite Muslims tend to be much more radical then their relatively conservative Sunni brothers.
Islam was never supposed to become a breeding ground for the violence it sees today. Mohammed intended for his followers to be tolerant, reasonable and upstanding citizens, not terrorists. He wanted his faith to be spread to those who would hear it and wanted people to behave in a way that he or Allah deemed righteous.