Levels and Types of Jihad 2

[bamalli]

Dr. Al-Qaradawi says,

Change by heart or, in other words, jihad by heart means that the heart grows wild with anger against evil, with antipathy toward injustice, and with rejection of corruption. When the heart is fully charged with such anger, antipathy, rejection, and inner revolt, this is a moral preparation for a vigorous revolution. This revolution is liable to uproot injustice and corruption when the believers witness the dominance of injustice, the prevalence of corruption, and the supremacy of evil but they cannot change any of them by hand or by tongue.
Jihad against corruption is mandatory and preferable to other types of jihad for the purpose of protecting the Ummah

Only then, the believers' hearts melt like salt in water and fret boils inside them very much as the water boils over fire. The pot of boiling water must have a vent; otherwise it will break or explode. This emotional charge in the hearts is an important benchmark for any expected change. Change does not normally happen on its own. It must have preludes and psychological motives that give temptation and momentum to it.

Change or jihad by heart is not a negative stand as some people may opine; if it were, the Prophet would not have called it change or jihad or assign it as one of the ranks of faith, regardless of the fact that it is the lowest rank of jihad beyond which not a grain of mustard could be added.

Consequently, jihad against corruption is mandatory and preferable to other types of jihad for the purpose of protecting the Ummah against the evils and consequences of corruption. It extinguishes the fire before the proliferation of its blazes, which can lead to more drastic dangers and common harms.   
Resisting Corruption and Decadence

There is another field of internal jihad; namely, resisting decadence, corruption, sinning, and obsession with lusts. These are serious aberrations that can thrust the Ummah into the abyss of dissolution. If the Ummah surrendered to them, then all its affairs would be chaotic, and corruption and imbalance would preponderate in its lands and seas because of the evil deeds and stray behavior. Almighty Allah says,

(Corruption does appear on land and sea because of (the evil) that men's hands have done, that He may make them taste a part of that which they have done, in order that they may return.) (Ar-Rum 30:41)

Resisting Heterodoxy and Intellectual Aberration

This is a third important type of local jihad; namely, jihad against religious heterodoxy, which is telling people what is not in their religion; adding to their religion what human nature does not accept as a creed, doctrine, ethical principle, or tradition; or propagating concepts that contradict the religion's doctrines, beliefs, and values.

Islam, in particular, is oversensitive to heterodoxy and innovation in religion, as well as intellectual paradoxes. That is why our noble Prophet  said, "Whoever innovates something in this matter of ours that is not of it will have it rejected" (unanimously agreed upon).

The phrase this matter of ours means the religion of Islam, and have it rejected means that act of innovation is refuted. The Prophet also said, "Every invented matter is an innovation, and every innovation is an act of going astray, and every act of going astray will be in Hellfire" (Muslim).
Well-versed scholars see that innovations are more dangerous than sins because the latter are overt and exposed to people, whereas innovations use religion as a disguise and promote their commodities among many people who do not know the real intentions behind these innovations.
Meanwhile, the innovators think that their innovating in religion is a means of getting closer to Almighty Allah. Therefore, some scholars say, "We often see people who regret their sins, repent them, and pray for Allah's forgiveness. On the other hand, innovators never repent their innovations or pray for Allah's forgiveness, because they use them to get closer to Allah, so how come they repent or ask for forgiveness? " Consequently, some scholars say, "Satan prefers an innovation to a sin. A sin corrupts man, but an innovation corrupts religion."
Resisting Apostasy and the Apostates

In Islam, jihad against corruption and evil within the Muslim society includes jihad against apostasy, which means relapsing into atheism after embracing Islam.

As stated earlier, Islam enjoins combating evil and resisting injustice and sins by hand, tongue, or heart. For the Muslim society, apostasy constitutes a danger that is more profound than all sins, even the major ones. Atheism is the greatest sin and the most grievous of all evils, yet apostasy, in particular, is the worst of all kinds of atheism.
Whosoever embraces Islam through conviction and insight must consult a trustworthy religious Muslim scholar when he or she has any doubts. This scholar would then discuss these doubts with this person and remove all reasons of doubt. Such doubts are temporary, Allah willing. Whoever wishes to attain the enlightenment of the truth should know that Islam provides beliefs that are adequate to the human instinct, concepts that appeal to the mind, doctrines that achieve justice, and values and ethics that refine the soul and ameliorate life.

If such a person is still not convinced or says that he or she has lost his or her conviction about the validity of Islam or the truthfulness of its Prophet — yet he or she keeps all that hushed and asks none to follow in his or her footsteps — then this case should be left to Allah, and this person will get his or her requital in the hereafter.

The real danger of such a person lies in his or her preaching atheism or apostasy within a Muslim society, as this constitutes a coup against the society and a breach of allegiance and affiliation to the Ummah, which amounts to high treason by any patriotic criterion. Just as the citizens are not allowed to shift their allegiance to another country or nation (especially if this other country occupies their own and reigns it), by the criterion of religion, Muslims should never shift their allegiance to any other nation or place. This is the case of the apostate. Apostasy is not a mere change of a mental stand; it is a change of identity and allegiance. It is an act of dissociation from the Muslim Ummah and association with another disparate and antagonistic one.
The Ruler's Apostasy
"There are three categories of people with regard to [the attitudes toward] local jihad: two extreme categories and a middle category."

The ruler's apostasy is the most serious type of all apostasies. The ruler is supposed to safeguard the Ummah's creed, resist apostasy, chase the apostates, and eliminate them from the Muslim community, so what if that ruler secretly or openly apostatizes? This ruler would then secretly or openly spread corruption and protect the apostates. He or she would open the doors and windows for them and would award them decorations and titles.


People's Attitudes Toward Local Jihad
Dr. Al-Qaradawi then talks about people's attitudes toward local jihad: "There are three categories of people with regard to [the attitudes toward] local jihad: two extreme categories and a middle category."
The Passive
The first party is the passive people. They tend to flee from the battlefield or never step into it in the first place. They allow the tyrants to practice what leads to the deterioration of a country and to the humiliation of its people. They also allow corruption to destroy people's manners and consciences, in the same way fire does to firewood. Mental invasion plays havoc with people's minds, deforms their vision, corrupts their culture, misrepresents their religion, and leads them off the path to their identity.
The passive are onlookers who neither take action nor help others to act. On the contrary, they impede people's actions under various pretexts that Allah has never ordained and the human mind has never accepted or proved to be valid.
The Assailants (Advocates of Armed Violence)
This is a counterparty that represents the opposite extreme. These people use violence and unwisely call for taking up arms, without preparing people for the consequences and without studying the effects: Would it work or not? Would it be useful or harmful?
This is what has been adopted in today's world by some groups of Jihadists that  emerged in many Muslim countries. They started in Egypt; then they moved to Algeria and to other Arab and Muslim countries.
The Moderate Category Between the Two Extremes
There is a moderate category between those who go to the extreme of succumbing to the injustices of the rulers and those who go to the extreme of taking up arms against the unjust without taking the consequences of such confrontation into account, which might lead to tragedies. These moderate people neither condone the evil that is pervading nor turn a blind eye to the corruption that is spreading or to the injustice that is aggravating. These latter are the reasons behind the devastation of a state and the annihilation of an entire nation, be it good or bad, unless the Muslims rise against the unjust as Allah Almighty commands:
(And fear an affliction that smites not in particular (only) those of you who are unjust, and know that Allah is severe in requiting (evil).) (Al-Anfal 8:25)

Dr. Al-Qaradawi then speaks about jihad of the tongue or jihad by speech (or, in other words, jihad by calling to the way of Allah or media jihad). He proceeds to explain the types of this rank of jihad, which is imposed on Muslims. Jihad of the tongue can be performed by
-  Calling others to Islam
-  Highlighting the merits of Islam
-  Preaching in the language spoken by the target audience
-  Using proper scientific logic to refute the rejecters' arguments, rebut the fallacies of the antagonists of Islam, and remove all suspicions others weave about Islam

Dr. Al-Qaradawi then talks about "civil Jihad" and its nature. He says, "There is the civil jihad, which is the crux of this talk. It means the jihad that satisfies the different needs of society; solves its various problems; responds to its material and spiritual demands; and leads it forward in all walks of life, so that the society would assume its appropriate place. This includes various areas, such as science, culture, social activities, economy, education, health care, environmental issues, and all fields of civilization in general."
This rank of jihad is not included in Imam Ibn Al-Qayyim's 13 ranks of jihad, but it is a rank of jihad that is based on evidence derived from the Qur'an and the Sunnah. It is also based on the objectives of Shari`ah.
Dr. Al-Qaradawi then concludes this chapter with the topic of military jihad, which is the main topic of the book. He explains that military jihad went through several stages:
1. The phase of individual da`wah and warning
2. The phase of collective jihad of da`wah in the Makkan era
3. The phase of jihad of bearing harm with patience and not fighting back
4. The phase of Allah's permission for Muslims to go to war
5. The phase of enjoining military jihad
6. The phase of disagreement over preemptive military jihad




Dr. Rajab Abu Maleeh was born in Bani Suef, Egypt, in 1966. He got MA in Fiqh and its Principles from the Faculty of Dar Al-`Ulum, Cairo University, and he obtained PH.D. in Shari`ah from the Faculty of Dar Al-`Ulum. He wrote some books and research on fiqh. He is a Shari`ah consultant at IslamOnline. net website. He can be reached at Ragab10@hotmail. com.