ARTICLE AND COPY SHOWCASE

Within world of Islam the word Jihad is heard again and again as extremist groups seek the blessing of god to attain that which they believe to be just and right such as when Muslims feel their world and beliefs are under threat. Jihad is in fact a last resort tool to be used only in extreme and very special circumstances. For this reason there is a pre-requisite condition to Jihad.

Jihad is a right given to man directly from god at the time it is requested. To ensure that this right is not misused a person who requests the right of Jihad must first purify himself by ridding himself of the Nafs (or ego) that accumulate during the course of our lives and which act in a way that gives us the impression that we are victims of everything that happens around us, among other things.

Nafs cancel out our ability look inward so as to be to be able to see the dense condition of our spirit. (i.e. To which level our spirit is covered over by worldly interests). This denseness is caused by the spirit being covered by layers of ego which are beliefs that we adopt as we are jostled and buffeted through life.

Also, we often fall prey to manipulating individuals who convince us that their situation is identical to our own and by proclaiming a joint cruisade with them we delude ourselves into thinking that we are bettering our cause. In this way we we collect more false beliefs from others.

Because we are the victims of our own ego we are innocent to the fact that we were used and believe that what we were told affects ourselves as much as if affects the other.

This causes us to act rashly and is as true for leaders of countries as it is for the man in the street. We are all as vulnerable as each other concerning matters of the ego.

The battle against the nafs is the pre condition to all other initiatives that may come later. This is the first battle of Jihad, The battle that must be fought within ourselves. Without this, god will give no blessing. (Self defense does not come under the definition of Jihad).

Only when we have cleared all of our adopted beliefs (nafs or ego) are we able to see the truth. Until this happens it is forbidden to proclaim a state of Jihad against any person, group of people or other nations. To do so is a grave sin. We must remember that sins against God’s law will be answered before God alone and one cannot claim falsely to God that one is free of Nafs if that is not the case. God Knows All). Jihad must be based upon truth and until we undo our ego we simply do not know what truth is because we see only the prejudice of our own ego which is considerate only of outward forms.