With claims by the Boko Haram sect that it is waging a holy war (or jihad ) to establish an Islamic state, BISI ALABI WILLIAMS, CHRIS IREKAMBA, ISAAC TAIWO and OLUWAKEMI AJANI sought the opinion of some clerics on the meaning of the concept.'If They Are Fighting Against Corruption, They Are Right'(Is-haq Akintola, Associate Professor of Islamic Studies, Lagos State University, Ojo, Lagos and Director, Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC)LITERALLY, jihad means 'striving' or 'effort'. Etymologically, the word 'Jihad' was used in the early days of Islam to refer to battles waged by the followers of Prophet Muhammad to protect themselves from invasions from the unbelievers from Makkah who were bent on annihilating the Muslims. The latter were a minority at the time and under constant threat of elimination.As time went on, the word took on a wider meaning. It was extended to puritanism, charity, social reform and self-appraisal when the prophet began using it in his well-documented speeches to refer to the need for self- discipline. For example, the Prophet said in one of his speeches (hadith), 'Khayr al-jihad, jihad an-nafs', meaning, 'The best form of jihad is self-discipline'. Jihad from this perspective means self-control and high level of morality.The Glorious Qur'an also used the word 'jihad' to refer to charitable deeds. Exempli gratia, Qur'an 9:41 exhorts Muslims to engage in jihad with their wealth as well as their persons (wa jahidu fi sabili Llahi bi amwalikum wa anfusikum), i.e. they should spend their money and property in support of Islam while they should also attend religious meetings, seminars, lectures, etc.When you consider these ramifications, you find that the word 'jihad' has social, moral and spiritual contexts. It is not necessarily about war or fighting. When a Muslim scholar goes out to deliver a lecture at an Islamic programme, he is doing jihad. When a Muslim abstains from drinking alcohol while others are reveling in it, he is doing jihad. When a Muslim customs officer or policeman rejects bribe and insists that the law must take its due course, he is doing jihad. When a Muslim ignores the temptations of an erotic woman, it is jihad.I can't fault that claim that they are fighting jihad in order to cleanse the system of corruption. I don't think anybody can. There is systemic decay in this country. The rich get richer. The poor get poorer. Our leaders are simply recycled tyrants and oppressors. If they were Allah, they would not allow rain to fall on the roofs of the poor. Look at the criminal neglect in the power sector. Take a look at education. The only primary schools worth their salt are the private ones. Private universities are the only higher institutions where the students hold their heads with pride. WAEC and GCE certificates are no longer credit worthy. Parents pay mercenaries to sit for examinations for their children. Even our policemen are not properly equipped. A whole navy ship disappeared into thin air in Nigerian waters and nothing happened. Our air force has no single jet fighter that can fly. Successive Nigerian governments explored oil in the Niger Delta for decades without paying any attention to environmental factors. For hanging Ken Saro Wiwa extrajudicially, Nigeria should pay a heavy amount of money (like $1 billion) to his family. It is this type of decadence that causes revolution. Minus the bombing of churches and killing of Christians in the North, the Boko Haram phenomenon may, therefore, be a revolution of sort.The difference between the early jihad of the Sokoto Caliphate and now, lies in the Christian factor, otherwise there are similarities. Shaykh Uthman bin Fudi was forced to embark on jihad in self-defence after the authorities began persecuting him and his followers. Boko Haram was a quiet and law-abiding group until the police took its headquarters by storm and killed its leader in a most criminal manner.'Killing Is Not Jihad'(Sheik Abdul Razaak Bolaji, Chief Imam, Jamuyat Riskat Faedot Tijaniyat Islamic society of Nigeria)THE meaning of jihad is total submission to Allah and doing the right thing with each other in respect of any religion.Boko Haram is not doing jihad. It is a radical religious sect, because killing and bombing of a fellow human being is not allowed in Islam.Our leaders are not doing what God asked them to do and that is why we are facing a lot of problems in the country. There are a lot of things that government needs to correct. Making announcements alone cannot solve the problem of Boko Haram unless the government does the will of Allah. Religion has nothing to do with the issue of Boko Haram because lslam does not teach us to kill. I think there are some political leaders that are backing these set of people.Nigeria leaders are running the government as they like. Government should be blamed for all these crises. Boko Haram is a sin. The only thing that can solve the problem of Boko Haram is that government at all levels should go back to Allah and do the will of God.'NSCIA Unequivocally Dissociates Itself from Boko Haram's Unholy Saga'(Dr. Abdulateef Adegbite, CON, Seriki Egba and Baba Adinni of Egbaland. Secretary General, NSCIA)WE recall with great sorrow the heinous killings of innocent citizens and wanton destruction of property, which occurred in Kano last week. The incident was on a scale that has not been seen before in this country. When added to the previous occurrences in other parts of the North in recent times, the magnitude of the loss to the nation has become most worrisome.We lament the unabated threats to the security of the nation posed by these mindless elements parading themselves as Boko Haram and whose menace continues to instill deep fear in Nigerians. Their destructive activities have also dented the image of Nigeria internationally and adversely affected the inflow of foreign investment into the country.It is now crystal clear that these hard-faced rebels have declared war on all Nigerians. This is why it is misguided for some Christian leaders to call for reprisal against Muslims just because Boko Haram targeted a church near Abuja on Christmas Day last year, irresponsibly killing many worshippers.Is it not now evident that with the sad massacre in Kano, and killings elsewhere in the North, Boko Haram has wasted an overwhelming number of Muslims' The same group had also attacked a foreign establishment with the bombing of the UN Building in Abuja.It is necessary to reiterate emphatically that the claims of the killer group that they are acting in the interests of Muslims and Islam are patently false. As His Eminence, The Sultan, Alhaji Saad Abubakar, CFR, President General NSCIA has observed, Boko Haram's actions are inhuman, and unacceptable to the Muslims.NSCIA hereby unequivocally dissociates itself from Boko Haram's unholy saga. Whatever the group's grievances may be, it was wrong to espouse them violently.The position of Islam is that Muslims must, at all times, conduct their affairs peacefully. As its name implies, Islam is a religion of peace. An objective analysis of the faith clearly attests to this. It is therefore, a gross misrepresentation to say that the faith was spread by the sword.When Islam took off in Mecca, the pagan Quraish tribe unleashed violence on the pioneer Muslim faithful. The bloody confrontation became increasingly unbearable. However, rather than retaliate, Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) ordered the emigration of the nascent Muslim group, first to Abyssinia (now Ethiopia) and secondly to Yathrib (now Medina).It is pertinent to explain that the wars of conquest, which Islam engaged in, were more for political expansion than for religious conversion. Strict instructions were given to Muslim fighters that inhabitants of conquered territories should never be coerced into adopting Islam as their faith, in compliance with the Quranic injunction that there is no compulsion in religion (Q 256). Usually, separate settlements were created for those who preferred to retain their faith to enable them worship freely in their own way. Here is the precursor of present day Sabo Towns as we have all over Northern Nigeria today.Islam forbids the use of force by individual Muslims, except in self-defense; even so the responding force must be commensurate with the initial force of attack. Force is also permitted to resist oppression or against expulsion from one's home, or for forcible denial of a person's right to practice his/ her faith (Q 2: 190-191 and 5- 33). The Quran also declares that if any person kills another person without lawful authority, it is as if he has destroyed the whole humanity (Q5:32).'The Heart Cannot Be Forced To Believe'(Moshood Aderenle Fashola, Amir of Alhamadiyya)IT is impossible and unacceptable for a small group to be fighting a Jihad. How can a small group be fighting against the nation and its people in the name of jihad'If it is that easy, then Christians can also say they want to Christianise Nigeria. And this is not realistic or feasible. What Boko Haram is demanding is a separate state. That is why I agree with those calling for a Sovereign National Conference.There is no compulsion in religion. Islam does not tech violence. Those who preach or teach violence are not true Muslims and I can prove it to you from the Holy Quaran Q2: 256/256, which says, 'There is no compulsion in religion'. Q 6: 107/108 says God can enforce his will on mankind but rather he has given them the freewill to choose what is right. You cannot control other people's lives. It is wrong and I know that the Bible also teaches same.I believe that it is those who want to destabilise Nigeria that are sponsoring these fanatical elements who are destroying innocent lives. As Nigerians, we have equal fundamental rights, which include freedom of worship. And those who say they want a pure Islamic culture or state must respect this right. Jihad or no jihad, you cannot force the heart to believe.Muslims should be taught love, for Christians and unbelievers. They should be taught hatred against evil, stealing, cheating and killing. Religion is not fanaticism. It is helping humanity. Religious leaders who are teaching hatred and fanaticism will pay for it. No Ahmadiyya Muslim will raise his hand against a Christian because Christians are our brothers. It is against the Quran.'Islam Does Not Permit Killing Of Innocent Citizens'(Ibrahim Zikirullahi, Executive Director of the Kano-based Resource Centre for Human Rights & Civic Education (CHRICED)IN our estimation, no true Muslim has ever believed that Islam should be spread by the sword. Islam has always been propagated through its inherent qualities. Those who, calling themselves Muslims, seek to spread Islam by means of the sword are not aware of its inherent qualities and their conduct resembles the conduct of wild beasts.According to the Holy Quran, 'Permission to fight is given to those against whom war is made, because they have been wronged'and Allah indeed has power to help them - Those who have been driven out from their homes unjustly only because they said, 'Our Lord is Allah''And if Allah has not repelled some men by means of others, there would surely have been pulled down cloisters and churches and synagogues and mosques, wherein the name of Allah is oft commemorated. And Allah will surely help one who helps Him. Allah is indeed Powerful, Mighty'' (al-Hajj, 22:40'41)In view of the above, it should be remembered that Islam permits the taking up of arms only in opposition to people who themselves take it up first. It was to fight in self-defense and to save Islam from extermination and to establish freedom of conscience and liberty of thought. It was to defend places of worship belonging to other religions'the churches, the synagogues, the temples, the cloisters etc.It does not say that Muslims in a society that deals with them with justice and equity should take up arms against the society as rebels. According to the Holy Quran this is the way of the wicked and not of the righteous.The doctrine of Jihad as understood and propagated by the Muslim divines of this age is utterly incorrect. It can lead to nothing except that by their forceful preaching they would convert common people into wild beasts and would deprive them of all the good qualities of human beings; and so it has happened in this case of murderous violence against innocent Muslims and Christians.
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