A MISUNDERSTOOD WORD IN ISLAM AND EVERYONE WILL BE SHOCKED BY THE REAL MEANING

A man was coming home one evening drunk. Dangerous for him, he was walking on a busy road while a car was horning but did not hear the sound and the car manage to pass without hitting him. After a short while, when he walked to a point where some Muslims were shouting “Jihad! Jihad! Jihad!” Same man who could not hear the sound of a car gained his consciousness and ran away!—I fabricated this joke not real.
Exactly, this is the response of many other people like this man whenever they hear the word Jihad from the Muslims. It sounds like something greater than the death itself. This emotional response to this innocent word has made it easy for people to be easily brainwashed about it and therefore develop misconception upon it. If you are such gentleman, who likes to talk or know more about Islam or Jihad, you are at the right platform.
I will be doing some works from time to time posting once in a while about the general misconceptions about Islam and the Muslims.
WHAT IS JIHAD
The Arabic word ‘jihad’ is always translated by the media and none Arabic speakers to mean ‘holy war’ but in the real sense the word ‘Jihad’ simply means to struggle or to strive’. The real word in Arabic to mean war is ‘al harb’.
According to the explanation of the word ‘Jihad’ in the Qur’an and the sunnah (the teachings of the Prophet, peace be upon) it has many meanings which we are expected to carefully observe in this article. It could stand for internal or external effort within you to become a true believer or Muslim and not neglecting the effort to call people to the fold of Islam through peaceful and none violent means.
Jihad is manifested in different ways depending on what the situation demands, for instance in a military requirement, it is important to use jihad to protect the faith against the enemies and such protection can be carried through many ways as far as it is legal, diplomatic, economic or political. However, if there is no peaceful means to protect the faith, Islam permits the use of force but governed by strict rules engagement. Some of the rules are that these set of people must not be harmed during the war: women, children, places of worship, monks, and peaceful overtures from the enemies, innocents or invalids.
The military means of carrying out Jihad is rare and it is only one means. Let me emphasize on this point by sighting one of the sayings of the Prophet Muhammad (p) to his companions while returning from a military campaign. He said “This day, we have returned from the minor Jihad to the major Jihad” This statement means—they are back from the armed battle to a peaceful battle which involves self-control and betterment.
In a situation whereby military action becomes necessary in Jihad, it is a ruling that it is not everyone that can declare Jihad. This means that religious military campaign must not be declared by an individual but by authority that has sought advice from jurists or scholars of such religion. Mostly, Jihad is approved by scholars if the state of wellbeing of the nation, properties and life are in danger. They must be protected and this calls for ‘Just War’. This can be translated as fighting for the right of the people against their enemy.
Unfortunately, the concept of Jihad has been misinterpreted over the age by many political and religious groups just to justify several forms of violence and inhuman actions. Sometimes, a sect establishes Jihad against another sect. This is an abusive way to use Jihad.
MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT JIHAD

1. Jihad is not built upon violence
2. Jihad is not built upon killing people unjustly. If fact the Qur’an refer to Christians and Jews as the people of the book who should be protected.
3. Military actions in the name of Islam is not often in the history of Islam; according to scholars, most calls for violent Jihad are not allowed by Islam.
4. Warfare in the name of God is not common in the real sense of Islam. Though some religions allow that.
   In conclusion: Jihad is not established upon fighting unnecessarily. Just like the above explanations, the word does not mean ‘holy war’ and it should never be abused.
   Note: I chose this topic as I discovered no one has ever written about Islam and Muslims on this platform. I specialized on relationship blogging.