Title: Some Questions regarding Jihad ... Question: Please answer the following questions: Jihad - There are two meanings - Linguistic meaning and Shari`ah (Legal) meaning. Some people would argue that linguistically Jihaad implies 'striving' or ' Muqayyid ', striving to follow Allah's path, however, in Shari`ah terms ( legal definition) it implies 'Al-Qitaal' or 'fighting'. Is this a correct? This is the view of one quoted Islamic jurist " Al-Hanbaliyah: "To Fight the kuffaar " see Mataalib Uliyan-Nahi 2/497. " al-Jihaad is al-Qitaal (fighting) and to sacrifice all strength in it to raise the Word of Allah", the author also quotes " Ibn Rushd said in his Muqadamaat 1/369: "...and Jihaad of the Sword: to fight the Mushrikeen for the Deen . So whoever tires himself for the sake of Allah, he strove in the way of Allah. Except that when Jihad Feesabeelillah is spoken, then it cannot be applied (to everything) in general except striving against the kuffaar with the sword until they enter Islam, or pay the Jizya with willing submission and they are under humiliation" . The author goes onto argue that it is the duty of Muslims to spread Islam by first word of mouth and then by the sword. Is this view correct? Is there an Islamic consensus that you cannot spread Islam by the Sword? If there is a consensus that you cannot then why do many organizations (like Hizb Al-Tehrir ) argue that this is the case? Thank you very much for your time and energy. Zahir Ahmed United Kingdom Answer: Answers to your questions follow: It would not be very accurate to say that the word Jihad has two meanings. On the contrary, a more accurate presentation, in my opinion, would be that the word Jihad , which literally means to strive hard, as a term of Islamic literature, is generally used for fighting in the way of God; Most of what has been written in this point seems to be correct. However, it should be remembered that fighting the rejecters and forcing them into humiliation by imposing Jizyah upon them was specifically a part of the Divine punishment implemented upon those people, who had rejected the call of the Messenger (pbuh) and his companions (ra). The position of the Messenger (pbuh) and his companions, according to the Qur'an, is separate from that of the later Muslims [1] . After the companions of the Prophet (pbuh), Muslims can only fight against persecution and oppression and that too only after fulfilling all the conditions under which the Shari`ah allows fighting another nation [2] ; No. There is no such consensus of the Muslim scholars. Nevertheless, seen in the light of the directives of the Qur'an, the referred opinion seems to be correct, even though it does not enjoy the consensus of the Muslim scholars. Those organizations, which hold that Muslims must fight to spread the word of God, have generally neither fully understood the specific position of the Messenger of God and his companions and nor have they studied the Jihaad of the Messenger of God and his companions in the light of the Qur'an. Had they studied the Jihaad of the Messenger (pbuh) and his companions in the light of the Qur'an and had fully appreciated the specific position of the companions of the Prophet (pbuh), they would not have made this mistake. I hope this helps. Regards, Moiz Amjad January 2, 2002 [1] For details, please refer to a few of my earlier responses, which you may find posted under the section titled " Jihaad Specific to the Companions of the Prophet" ( http://www.understanding-islam.com/related/references.jsp?subsubcat=316&subcat=94&cat=18&display=on ) and also a discussion on one of my earlier responses "Determining the Addressees of the Qur'anic Verses" ( http://www.understanding-islam.com/related/discshow.jsp?point=3&id=345&dis_id=112 ). [2] For details, please refer to one of my earlier responses titled: "Regarding Jihaad ", posted at: http://www.understanding-islam.com/related/questions.jsp?point=3&id=224 .