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TABLE OF CONTENTS

aa#1a - The Islamic Doctrine of Jihad, According To The Qur'an and The Hadiths, by Dr. Robert Morey

bb#1 - An Open Letter to Muslims, by Dr. Robert Morey

cc#2 - Is The "Allah" of the Qur'an the true universal God? by Dr. Robert Morey

dd#3 - Is The Qur'an The Word of God? by Dr. Robert Morey

ee#4 - Is The Qur'an 100% The Words of God? by Dr. Robert Morey

ff#5 - Scientific Errors In The Qur'an, by Dr. Robert Morey

gg#6 - The Debates With Shabir Alli and Jamal Badawi by Dr. Robert Morey

hh#7 - Common Logical Fallacies Made By Muslims by Dr. Robert Morey

ii#8 - How The Qur'an Came to Be, by Dr. Robert Morey

jj#9 - The Truth About The Nation Of Islam by Dr. Robert A. Morey

ll#9b - Are The Arabs The Descendants of Ishmael? by Dr. Robert Morey

mm#10 - How to refute the Liberal Media's claim that the religion of Islam is not to blame

nn#11 - Abraham and the Child of Sacrifice- Isaac or Ishmael?

oo#12 - The Ahmaddiyya Sect of Islam was founded in 1882

pp#13 - THE CHALLENGE OF ISLAM SEMINAR, Quotes from the Hadith

qq#14 - The Compilation of The Quran

rr#15 - Contradictions and Inconsistencies of the Quran and Hadith

ss#16 - 1996 debate between Muslim Mr. Shabir Ally & Christian Dr. Robert A. Morey.

tt#17 - Answering Dr. Jamal Badawi: - Muhammad in The Bible,

uu#18 - DR. JAMAL BADAWI’S, TRACT, JESUS IN THE KORAN AND THE BIBLE

kk#19 - Dr. Morey's Response To Abdul-Rahman Lomax

 

 

 

 

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http://web.archive.org/web/19980125003016/www.cultbusters.com/jihad.htm

 

The Islamic Doctrine of Jihad

According To The Qur'an and The Hadiths

by Dr. Robert Morey

(C) Copyright 1997 REF

Introduction

When seeking to understand what a particular organized religion teaches, it is important to distinguish between the official teachings of a religion from the personal opinions of someone who claims to follow that religion.

The Catholic View of Abortion

For example, what is the teaching of Roman Catholicism on the issue of abortion? The only way you can find out what it teaches on abortion is to examine general reference works and the official publications of the church to see what it has stated. Once you check out dictionaries, encyclopedias, theology books, etc., it is clear that abortion is condemned by the Catholic Church.

But what if you have a neighbor who is a Roman Catholic who believes in abortion? What if she says, "Catholicism does not deny abortion. I ought to know because I am a Catholic and I believe in abortion."

The only rational response you can give to this person is that her personal opinion on the issue does not alter the official teaching of her religion. She may disagree with her church's doctrine but the fact that she does not believe in it does not alter what the Catholic Church teaches.

The Same For Jihad

The same distinction must be made when discussing whether the religion of Islam teaches Jihad. The only way to find out if it teaches Jihad and what that word means is to examine reference works and official statements made by its representatives.

But what if you meet a Muslim who denies that Islam teaches Jihad or who gives a novel interpretation of it? His personal opinion has no logical or legal bearing on what the religion of Islam officially teaches concerning Jihad. He may disagree with what Islam teaches but this cannot alter the fact that Islam teaches it.

The First Step

Let us take a trip to the local library to do some research on the subject of Jihad. The first step in doing research on any topic is to establish the meaning of the key word. Thus you must go to the dictionaries to see how they define the word "Jihad." You first consult general dictionaries and then religious dictionaries which have an entry on the subject. What will you find?

I. The Dictionaries

Webster's Third New International Dictionary, p. 1216

style="border: 0pt none black; padding: 0px; ">A holy war waged on behalf of Islam as a religious duty; a bitter strife or crusade undertaken in the spirit of a holy war.

Webster's New Twentieth Century Dictionary, p. 985.

style="border: 0pt none black; padding: 0px; ">A Moslem holy war; campaign against unbelievers or enemies of Islam.

Webster's New International Dictionary, p. 1336.

style="border: 0pt none black; padding: 0px; ">A religious war against infidels or Muhammedan heretics.

The Random House Dictionary of the English Language, p. 1029.

style="border: 0pt none black; padding: 0px; ">A holy war undertaken as a sacred duty to Muslims.

The Universal Dictionary of the English Language, p. 631.

style="border: 0pt none black; padding: 0px; ">"Contest, war". A Mohammedan war against unbelievers, campaign against the enemies of Islam.

The American College Dictionary, p. 657.

style="border: 0pt none black; padding: 0px; ">A war of Muhammedans upon others, with a religious object.

Britannica World Language Dictionary, p. 686.

style="border: 0pt none black; padding: 0px; ">A religious war of Moslems against the enemies of their faith.

The Oxford Dictionary, vol. V, p. 583.

style="border: 0pt none black; padding: 0px; ">[struggle, contest, spec. one for the propagation of Islam.] A religious war of Mohammedans against unbelievers in Islam, inculcated as a duty by the Koran and traditions.

Collins Cobuild English Language Dictionary, p. 781.

style="border: 0pt none black; padding: 0px; ">A jihad is a holy war which Islam allows merely to fight against those who reject its teachings.

The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, p. 704.

style="border: 0pt none black; padding: 0px; ">A Moslem holy war against infidels.

Longman Dictionary of the English Language, p. 849.

style="border: 0pt none black; padding: 0px; ">A holy war waged on behalf of Islam as a religious duty.

The Harper Dictionary of Modern Thought, p. 327.

style="border: 0pt none black; padding: 0px; ">Jihad ('Holy War'). A fundamental tenet of traditional ISLAM obliging the believer to fight the unbeliever until the latter embraces either Islam or the protected status accorded only to those whose religions are based on written scriptures (i.e., Jews, Christians, Sabaeans), the 'peoples of the Book'. A Jihad must be officially proclaimed, by a recognized spiritual leader.

II. The Encyclopedias

Once you have consulted the dictionaries, the second step in research is to examine what the encyclopedias say on the subject. What will you find?

The New Encyclopedia Britannica, vol 6

style="border: 0pt none black; margin-bottom: 0px; padding: 0px; ">jihad, also spelled jehad, Arabic jiohad ("fight," or "battle") a religious duty imposed on Muslims to spread Islam by waging war; jihad has come to denote any conflict waged for principle or belief and is often translated to mean "holy war."

style="border: 0pt none black; margin-top: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style-type: none; ">Islam distinguishes four ways by which the duty of jihad can be fulfilled: by the heart, the tongue, the hand, and the sword. The first consists in a spiritual purification of one's own heart by doing battle with the devil and overcoming his inducements to evil. The propagation of Islam through the tongue and hand is accomplished in large measure by supporting which is right and correcting what is wrong. The fourth way to fulfill one's duty is to wage war physically against unbelievers and enemies of the Islamic faith. Those who professed belief in a divine revelation--Christians and Jews in particular--were given special consideration. They could either embrace Islam or at least submit themselves to Islamic rule and pay a poll and land tax. If both options were rejected, jihad was declared.

Collier's Encyclopedia, vol. 13, p. 587

style="border: 0pt none black; padding: 0px; ">Jihad, from an Arabic verb meaning to struggle and persevere, denotes, in the history of Islamic civilization, religious war waged against heretics, unbelievers, and the enemies of the state or the community of Muslims. In early Islamic history "jihad" meant holy war, and, as a strictly Islamic phenomenon, it bears a strict relation to the spread of the faith by Muslims arms...among the descendants of the Kharijits...it was ranked as a sixth pillar of religion.

The Encyclopedia Americana International Edition, vol 16, pgs. 91-92

style="border: 0pt none black; padding: 0px; ">Jihad, an Arabic word meaning "struggle." As a religious duty theoretically laid upon all followers of Mohammed, jihad is based on the concept that the Islamic faith, since it is of universal validity, must be spread to all mankind, by force of arms if necessary. In classical Islam, jihad was to be directed against "people of the Book" (that is, possessors of authoritative sacred writings, above all Jews and Christians) until they submitted to the political authority of Islam, and against idolaters until they became Muslims. Sufi mystics, however, often considered jihad as a spiritual struggle against the evil within the self.

The Cambridge Encyclopedia, p. 637

style="border: 0pt none black; padding: 0px; ">jihad - The term used in Islam for 'holy war'. According to the Koran, Muslims have a duty to oppose those who reject Islam, by armed struggled if necessary, and jihad has been invoked to justify both the expansion and defense of Islam. Islamic states pledged a jihad against Israel in the Mecca declaration of 1981, though not necessarily by military attack.

Academic American Encyclopedia, p. 418

style="border: 0pt none black; padding: 0px; ">In Islam, the duty of each Muslim to spread his religious beliefs is termed "jihad". Although the word is widely understood to mean a "holy war" against nonbelievers, jihad may also be fulfilled by a personal battle against evil inclinations, the righting of wrongs, and the supporting of what is good.

The Concise Encyclopedia of Islam, p, 209

style="border: 0pt none black; margin-bottom: 0px; padding: 0px; ">Jihad "Holy war", a Divine institution of warfare to extend Islam into the dar al-harb (the non-Islamic territories which are described as the "abode of struggle", or of disbelief) or to defend Islam from danger. Adult males must participate if the need arises, but not all of them, provided that "a sufficient number" (fard al-kifayah) take it up.

style="border: 0pt none black; margin-top: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style-type: none; ">An important precondition of jihad is a reasonable prospect of success, failing which a jihad should not be undertaken. According to the Sunnah, a jihad is not lawful unless it involves the summoning of unbelievers to belief, and the jihad must end when order is restored, that is, when the unbelievers have accepted either Islam or a protected status within Islam, or when Islam is no longer under threat.

The Cyclopedia Of Biblical, Theological, And Ecclesiastical Literature, by McClintock and Strong, vol. VI, p. 417

style="border: 0pt none black; padding: 0px; ">War on Infidels.--The Koran abounds in contradictions respecting the right and duty of the faithful to make war on infidels; for Mohammed, while he was the weaker party, showed himself very tolerant, and commanded to convert only by the power of the word; but later, when he became more potent, he issued severer ordinances against those who would not submit to his faith. His successors, therefore, have established the following doctrines, and declared null and void the passages of the Koran adverse to them. Every major Moslem fit for military service is in duty bound to participate in holy wars against infidels who will not submit to the dominion of Moslems, and against the faithful who refuse obedience to the legitimate prince, or adhere to dogmas contrary to the faith. In a war against Moslemite rebels or heretics it is not allowed to kill prisoners of war, nor to attack the wounded or pillage property. As for infidel prisoners of war, who do not adopt the Islam before their capture, women and children are made slaves; men can, according to the pleasure of the prince or political exigency, either be killed, ransomed, or exchanged for Moslem prisoners; or even, as circumstances may dictate, be released or be made slaves. Children of infidels will be educated as Moslems, if their father or mother have been converted to Islam, if they have been captured without parents, or if they are found on Islamic territory.

III. Historical and Theological Works

Now that you have consulted the dictionaries and the encyclopedias, you look in the card catalog to see if there are any specific books which deal with the issue of Jihad. What do you find? There are books written by Muslims and non-Muslims on the subject of Jihad.

ISLAMIC INVASION by Robert Morey

style="border: 0pt none black; margin-bottom: 0px; padding: 0px; ">Allah's apostle was asked, "What is the best deed?" He

style="border: 0pt none black; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style-type: none; ">replied, "To believe in Allah and his Apostle." The
style="border: 0pt none black; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style-type: none; ">questioner then asked, "What is the next [in goodness]?"
style="border: 0pt none black; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style-type: none; ">He replied, "To participate in Jihad (religious fighting]
style="border: 0pt none black; margin-top: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style-type: none; ">in Allah's cause" (vol. 1, no. 25).

Ana bin Malik recorded that,

style="border: 0pt none black; margin-bottom: 0px; padding: 0px; ">Allah's Apostle vanquished them by force and their

style="border: 0pt none black; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style-type: none; ">warriors were killed; their children and women were taken
style="border: 0pt none black; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style-type: none; ">as captives. Safiya was taken by Dihya Al-Kalbi and later
style="border: 0pt none black; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style-type: none; ">she belonged to the Allah's Apostle who married her (vol. 2,
style="border: 0pt none black; margin-top: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style-type: none; ">no. 68).

A brief summary on Muhammad's teachings on Jihad should be informative to Westerners. The translator of the Hadith, Dr. Muhammad Muhsin Khan, wrote an introduction to the Hadith which included a discourse on the subject of Jihad by Sheik Abdullah bin Muhammad bin Hamid, Sacred Mosque of Mecca, Saudi Arabia (vol. 1, pgs. xxii-xl). This is the most frank Muslim discussion of Jihad we have ever read. It does not deny or play down Muhammad's demand that Muslims must force Jews, Christians, and pagans to either embrace Islam or submit to political and financial suppression. Indeed, it tries to stimulate and motivate Muslims to engage in Jihad today. According to Sheik Abdullah bin Muhammad bin Hamid, Muhammad,

style="border: 0pt none black; margin-bottom: 0px; padding: 0px; ">commanded the Muslims to fight against all the pagans as

style="border: 0pt none black; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style-type: none; ">well as against the people of the scriptures [Jews and
style="border: 0pt none black; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style-type: none; ">Christians] if they do not embrace Islam, until they pay the
style="border: 0pt none black; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style-type: none; ">Jizya [a tax levied on the Jews and the Christians who do
style="border: 0pt none black; margin-top: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style-type: none; ">not embrace Islam] (p. xxiv).

There is the Jihad of the sword. People are to be either converted or subdued through the violence of military force (vol. 1, p. xxii). Chapter 19 of the Hadith speaks of those who convert to Islam, by compulsion or for fear of being killed (vol. 1, p. 27). Muhammad said,

style="border: 0pt none black; margin-bottom: 0px; padding: 0px; ">I have been ordered to fight against the people until they

style="border: 0pt none black; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style-type: none; ">testify that none has the right to be worshipped but Allah
style=&