Muslims and Jihad

'Islam is such a religion, that one prays next to people whom one wouldn't sit in the same room with otherwise' a saying of numerous ulema

Regardless of slogans about friendship and brotherhood, I have been reminded several times over the last year that there are Khawarij and arab nationalist people (as well as other sects/deviants / unfriendly people) who resent all westerners, even muslims. (think of Frank Gardner, the BBC reporter shot in Riyadh while he was shouting 'stop! don't kill me! I'm a muslim'... or the numerous, uncountable dead in Iraq & elsewhere who fell to bombs planted by those who believe themselves to be 'muslims, sunni, arab, purifying the arab peninsula' or whatever mixture of the above.

As Imam Ali (karam Allahu wajahu) said of the khawarij before waging war with them: 'they are our brothers, who accepted misguidance after being guided'. On the other hand, if they believe that too (that I and the majority of the muslim Ummah) are misguided, merely because the consensus opinion:
i) regards Imam al-Asha'ri, Imam Maturidi, Imam Tahawi (radhi Allahu anhum) and the Imams of the ahl-ul-Bait http://www.geocities.com/~abdulwahid/ahlibayt/ (rahimuLlah) as legitimate in Aqidah (as opposed to the anthropomorphic teachings of some amongst the Najd);
ii) regards the madhahibs of Imam abu Hanifa, Malik, Shafi'i, and Ahmad ibn Hanbal (radhi Allahu anhum) ~ (al-Azhar would add the Jafa'ari school (radhi Allahu anhum) ~ as sound and agreed upon - as opposed to ghayr-madhabi and anti-fiqh positions;
iii) accepts ilm-i-Tassawuf (also known as irfan or Tazkiyyat-un-nafs) as a legitimate Islamic science. well...
Imam Ghazali understood the Prophet hadith: 'stay with the Jama'at, for verily the wolves attack the sheep that leave the flock' as meaning one accepted what the muslims regarded as halal and haram, not that one united on opinions or physical location (either of which would be impossible, one can only unite on Haq, not on batil - unity is possible only on Truth, not on Falsehood)

May Allah shower Peace and Blessings upon you all;
His Peace upon those who follow guidance:

An internet discussion was prompted the other day by a comment that 'sufis avoid the j-word', meaning jihad: this prompted me to the following reflections on jihad:

Peace (and al-Salaam) is opposed to the idea of slaughter, indiscriminate killing, or murder - not self-defense.

i) what does 'jihad' mean, besides struggle?
ii) if you know the Qur'anic sequence of revelation before the 'ayat us-Sayf' (the 'verse of the sword', which legalized self-defense after the Hijra to Madinah) - can you find one verse in the Qur'an where 'jihad' is used in SOLELY a military context?
iii) can you name one successful (read carefully) mujahidin leader who wasn't a 'sufi' - let's take the last 1000 years from Ak Shamsudin, Salahudin al-Ayyubi, Mehmet Fatih (Osman), abdul-Qadir al-Jaza'ir, Imam Shamyl Basayev (the first one, who was actually born in Chechnya), abdul-Ghaffur Khan, Osman dan Fodio (may Allah bless and reward all of them) - I'm having trouble thinking of one that wasn't - and I've been told by Madinah university 'students of knowledge' that all the leaders of mujahid movements were 'grave-worshiping soofies' (sic)
iv) can you think of one member of the modern 'salafi' (not the salaf-us-Salih, but the movement which names itself as following them/'wahabi' (the ideological and doctrinal adherents of the Najdi daw'ah of Muhammed bin abdul-Wahab, rahimuLlah) who has led a successful jihad, as opposed to say:
a) murdering civilians, abusing the fatwas by Shaykh Ibn Taymiyya, rahimuLlah, on the permissibility of war wtih non-armed and non-aggressive communities, which may contain muslims?
b) murdering other muslims outright, as has been done by both ibn abdul-Wahab (his own Saudi biographers note that he allowed the slaughter of Hajj pilgrims who followed the Shafi'i madhab and were 'visiting the Prophet', which was to some of his followers abhorrent and deviant?
c) not factionalistic, ideologically warped, or self-destructive (literally, when one considers suicide bombing)?
d) successful, as opposed to say drawing war upon the civilian populations of Palestine, Chechnya, Afghanistan, Iraq, Darfur, Kashmir, Mindanao, and too many other places to mention them - may Allah bless and strengthen those who are truly fighting for His Word.

http://www.rayhawk.com/classics/matusa/faq.html

http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/reference/searchquran.html
MSA-USC Qur'an Database
Warning (especially for Muslims)Today, technology is helping bring Islam into the homes of millions of people, Muslim and otherwise. There is a blessing in all this of course, but there is a real danger that Muslims will fall under the impression that owning a book or having a database is equivalent to being a scholar of Islam. This is a great fallacy. Therefore, we would like to warn you that this database is merely a tool, and not a substitute for learning, much less scholarship in Islam.

http://www.mpfweb.org/mpf_purpose.html

from the Qur'an: "God forbids you not from dealing justly and lovingly with those who have not fought you on account of your religion or expelled you from your homes. He prohibits you from taking as patrons only those who waged war against you on account of your religion, expelled you from your homes, and aided one another to expel you. Whosoever takes them as patrons are certainly wrongdoers." Al-Mumtahina, 60:8-9

from the Qur'an (Surah Ha Mim, 34 -36) : http://jerrahi.org/911/
bismiLlahir Rahmanir Rahim: 'The good deed and the evil deed are not alike. Repel the evil deed with one which is better, then he, between whom and thee there was enmity (will become) as though he was a bosom friend. And no one will be granted such goodness except those who exercise patience and self-restraint,- none but persons of the greatest good fortune. And if (at any time) an incitement to discord is made to thee by the Evil One, seek refuge in Allah. He is the One Who hears and knows all things.' (Surah Ha Mim, 34 -36)

from the Hadith: 'Don't harm and don't be harmed'

some references:

http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/reference/searchquran.html
MSA-USC Qur'an Database Warning (especially for Muslims)Today, technology is helping bring Islam into the homes of millions of people, Muslim and otherwise. There is a blessing in all this of course, but there is a real danger that Muslims will fall under the impression that owning a book or having a database is equivalent to being a scholar of Islam. This is a great fallacy. Therefore, we would like to warn you that this database is merely a tool, and not a substitute for learning, much less scholarship in Islam.

http://jerrahi.org/911/jihad.htm
Jihad
This explanation of the term jihad is from The Vision of Islam by Murata and Chittick:The first thing one needs to understand about the term jihad is that "holy war" is a highly misleading and usually inaccurate translation. In Islamic history, the label has been applied to any war by "our side." Until very recently in the West, the situation was similar; every war was considered holy, because God was on our side. By employing the term, Muslims condemned the other side as anti-God. In short, the world has played the role of patriotic slogans everywhere. To undertake a jihad is, in contemporary terms, "to fight for the preservation of democracy and freedom" It is to do what the good people do.
The Koranic usage of the term jihad is far broader than the political use of the term might imply. The basic meaning of the term is "struggle." Most commonly, the Koran uses the verb along with the expression "in the path of God." The "path of God" is of course the path for right conduct that God has set down in the Koran and the example of the Prophet. (pp. 20-21)
In order to make sense of the following eight theses, it is necessary to realize that the term "jihad" broadly means "struggle" and is used in the Islamic texts to refer to the struggle to establish justice at every level, from the individual to the societal. The struggle for justice may involve both violent and non-violent methods. Militant groups insist that "jihad" is synomous with "war" and therefore they focus entirely on armed struggle; indeed many of them argue that it is the only legitimate form of jihad.
Muslim non-violence groups agree with the importance of jihad but argue that non-violence is not only an acceptable method of struggle but in fact the best method of struggle. As the author points out, "As a technique, nonviolent action is not passive: 'It is not inaction. It is action that is nonviolent.' Hence, by definition, nonviolent action cannot occur except by the replacement of passivity and submissiveness with activity, challenge, and struggle."
This is a point that I made in the article on Palestine. Muslims need to view non-violence as a tactic or method in a legitmate struggle not as defeatism or an admission that the struggle is not legitimate. The eight theses are:
1. For Islam, the problem of violence is an integral part of the Islamic moral sphere.
2. Violence, if any,against infidels, used by Muslims must be governed by rules prescribed in the Qur'an and Hadith.
3. If violence used cannot discriminate between combatants and noncombatants, then it is unacceptable in Islam.
4. Modern technology of destruction renders discrimination virtually impossible at present.
5. In the modern world, Muslims shall not use violence without guidence from leaders.
6. Islam teaches Muslims to fight for justice with the understanding that Islamic lives — parts of God's creation — are purposive and sacred.
7. In order to be true to Islam, Muslims must utilize nonviolent action as a new mode of struggle, unless prescribed by Jihad.
8. Islam itself is fertile soil for nonviolence because of its potential for disobedience, strong discipline, sharing and social responsibility, perseverance and self-sacrifice, and the belief in the unity of the Muslim community."


and may Allah bring Peace and Mercy to all of us