Don’t be alarmed by the headline. Though mainstream media may convince you otherwise, Jihad is not simply holy war. I am not some misguided lunatic hell-bent on destroying America with a radical view of Islam.
Instead, Jihad is at the heart of any practicing Muslim’s lifestyle. The word ‘Jihad’ means “effort”, “Struggle” or “strive”. In Islamic terminology, Jihad is to exert one’s efforts in establishing Faith in Allah within oneself, one’s society and the world as a whole. This effort is spiritual, psychological and physical. A secondary form of Jihad is striving to experience guidance from the Quran and Hadith (sayings of the prophet and his companions) and to apply it to daily life.
According to some scholars, “Jihad is the execution of effort against evil in the self and every manifestation of evil in society.” It is this message that is often misinterpreted by extremist Muslims. But, holy war is only a tertiary form of Jihad. Furthermore, there are limits to holy war. The holy Quran says, “fight in the way of Allah those who fight against you, but do not transgress the limits.” These “limits” are that all fighting may only be defensive and that holy war can only be waged by a true Islamic state (one that follows the Sharia’h completely). There are no true Islamic states in the world (not even Saudi Arabia) and there haven’t been any since the fall of the Ottoman Empire in 1923.
Today, I faced a form of greater Jihad: fighting the temptation to break my fast. My class and I went on a tour for the food magazine, Saveur, and we were served a pseudo-brunch. I sat in their test kitchen enviously watching my classmates eat snickerdoodles and drink lemonade from Whole Foods. But, I didn’t break my fast, despite the temptation. I hope Allah will reward me for my efforts.