Every War is not Jihad!

The intellectual onslaught against Muslims started long before 9/11, it was not a reaction. Huntington wrote about a clash of civilisations seven years before 9/11. It was a time when almost every Muslim nation had supported America in the wars for the liberation of Afghanistan and Kuwait. To blame the neocons is not enough. We have to answer them.

Judging by some of the reporting in the West, one would imagine that suicide was invented by Muslims. Suicide missions have always been an element of war tactics, with the highest honours being reserved for those who risk their lives to the maximum.Such has been the distortion of world opinion that the average person today believes that "terrorism" is something created by the doctrines of Islam. This is calumny of the most perfidious kind.

Like so many other Muslims, I too have been taunted and told that my religion is nothing but "Jihad". I am not defensive about the basic tenets of my faith. Islam is a religion of peace, but it recognises that in certain conditions, war may be forced upon you. It defines a legitimate war vis a vis an illegitimate one. Jihad is a war against injustice. The Prophet (PBUH) never took up arms during the long years of oppression and tyranny in Makkah; the war verses of the Quran were revealed only when persecution began to try and destroy the faith, and the Prophet was forced to take up arms against injustice. Jihad has clear rules: it has been stressed that you cannot kill women, children and innocents in a Jihad; you cannot even destroy palm trees. And hence my proposition: Every Jihad is a war fought by Muslims, but every war fought by Muslims is not a Jihad.
- How Green is My Valley?