A leader of the Ahl-i Hadith sect in India in the late nineteenth century, he wrote:

"Some of our Muslim brothers believe that the present misfortunes of the followers of Islam cannot be removed without the sword. It is no use acquiring worldly education. However, looking at the present condition of the Muslims, this belief appears improbable. Brethren! the age of the sword is no more. Now instead of the sword it is necessary to wield the pen. How can the sword come into the hands of the Muslims when they have no hands. They have no national identity or existence…In such a useless and weak condition, to consider them as a nation is to exceed the imagination of Shaikh Chilli [a proverbial, comical figure in Urdu fiction].''

(Isha`at as-Sunna, vol. vi, no. 12, December 1883, p. 364)

Maulavi Sana-ullah

It is noted about Maulavi Sana-ullah of Amritsar:

"As at that time our ulama had declared jihad with the sword to be rebellion and insurrection, and to be haram [prohibited according to the religion], and the opponents of Islam were waging war by the pen, the need then was for jihad with the pen.''

(Magazine Iman, 1948)

Sayyid Abul Ala Maudoodi:

"To change people's views by means of the pen and the tongue, and to bring about a revolution in their minds, is also jihad. And to spend money for this end, and to exert oneself physically, is jihad too."

(Tafhimat --- I, p. 69)

Dr Sir Muhammad Iqbal (d. 1938)

In a speech by this famous Muslim philosopher, as recorded in a weekly paper, the following exchange took place:

"[Dr Iqbal said:] Islam shall never be overcome, but shall triumph.

"Someone objected at this to ask how it could triumph while in the slavery of the British.

"Dr Iqbal replied: Don't you know that the parallel of the Tartars is being revived today? The very nation under whose rule we live shall become Muslim. A living proof of this is that Lord Headley is among us. The powers of Islam are not limited. There was an age of the sword. Today it is the age of the pen. It attacks from within and without, and compels you from every angle to accept it."

(Paigham Sulh, 4 January 1928)

Maulavi Ahmad Saeed

He was a leader of the Jami`at al-`Ulama Hind (Council of Indian Ulama). In a speech, he said:

"Excuse me, brother, all that these maulavis know is either to do jihad or to sit doing nothing. I say that, although this spirit is praise-worthy, experience is against it. You have seen the result of the jihad which you undertook in 1857. If you did not succeed then, what is the chance now. If you are keen on jihad, do it and see what happens. I have no objection against this belief of yours, but you shall not be successful. I do not understand the attitude that one either conducts jihad or else one does not do anything at all. Sir, the jihad of every age is different. At Makka, there was one type of defence [used by the Holy Prophet Muhammad], and at Madina it was a different type. You could engage in civil disobedience with the intent of jihad. God will reward you for that."

(Al-Jami`at, 28 January 1931, p. 2, col. 1)

Maulavi Zafar Ali Khan

This well-known Muslim leader, and editor of a famous Muslim daily newspaper, wrote in his paper:

"Just as jihad is not simply that one should pick up a sword and dash into a battle-field, but it also includes struggle by speech and writing, journey and travel, similarly shahadat [martyrdom] is not that one should turn the earth red with blood by having one's throat cut. It is also to sacrifice one's comfort and pleasure, rest and ease, life and property, and honour and reputation, for some good and noble cause in the way of God, as taught by Islam."

(Daily Zamindar, Lahore, 14 June 1936)

Maulavi Habib-ur-Rahman of Ludhiana:

"It is a religious duty to keep political parties alive. In India, jihad cannot be conducted by means of armies and weapons. Jihad here is to speak the truth without fear, and to bear with pleasure any hardship in this path. I believe that the help of a volunteer to organise a political party is the real jihad in India."

(Paigham Sulh, 11 April 1934)

Maulana Abul Kalam Azad

He was a famous Indian Muslim scholar and a leader of the Indian National Congress before independence, later becoming federal education minister in India. He writes:

"There are serious misconceptions regarding what is jihad. Many people think that jihad means only to fight. The critics of Islam too labour under this misunderstanding, whereas to think thus is to utterly narrow the practical scope of this sacred commandment. Jihad means to strive to the utmost. In the Quran and Sunna terminology, this utmost exertion, which is undertaken for the sake of truth rather than personal ends, is indicated by the word jihad. This effort could be with one's life, or property, or expenditure of time, or by bearing labour and hardship, or fighting the enemy and shedding blood."

(Mas'ala Khilafat, p. 47)

Weekly Sunni organ Da`wat:

"In world religions, it is only in Islam that the characteristic is found that, under no circumstances or condition, does it coerce other faiths. It does not allow its missionary activities to exceed the instruction: `Call to the path of God with wisdom and goodly exhortation'…Jihad is derived from jahd, meaning literally effort and striving. In the technical sense, it is used for proclaiming the word of God, and the supremacy and success of Islam."

(Weekly Da`wat, 13 November 1964)

Lahore Urdu daily Imroz:

"Human history is the greatest witness of the fact that the use of force in the propagation of any ideology does not lead to good results. If in some instance an attempt to do this by means of force and power had success, its effect was not long-lasting. The sages who tried to capture the hearts of people, and showed by their example that the teachings which they followed led to the salvation of man, had great success in meeting their objectives. In the Indian sub-continent, the Sufis and the Shaikhs [spiritual leaders] did the most to light the lamp of Islam and illuminate people's hearts with the light of Islam. These sages neither used coercion to implement the laws of Islam, nor did they have the resources. The life of the Holy Prophet itself shows that for the reform of a degenerate society, he exercised patience, humility and lowliness, and revolutionised it."

(Daily Imroz, Lahore, Pakistan, 9 November 1964)

Late King Faisal of Saudi Arabia

This internationally famous figure declared:

"Honoured brethren! You all have been called to raise the banner of jihad in the way of God. Jihad is not just taking up the gun or raising the sword. Jihad is to invite to the Book of God and the Example of the Prophet, to hold fast to them, and to stick to them despite difficulties, distresses and afflictions of all kinds."

(Umm al-Qura, Makka, 24 April 1965)

Maulavi Zahid al-Husaini:

"This is the age of jihad by the pen. Today, the pen has spread much trouble. The person who does jihad by the pen is the greatest mujahid today."

(Monthly Khuddum-ud-Din, Lahore, 1 October 1965)

Allama Abdul Haqq Haqqani

In his commentary of the Quran, he writes:

"In this age, to debate and argue with heretics is also jihad."

(Tafsir Haqqani, vol. iv, p. 112)

Al-Shaikh Muhammad Amin:

"It is generally known that the mujahid should enjoin all good things and forbid evil ones."

(Rad al-Mukhtar, vol. iii, p. 236)

Allama al-Qastalani

It is recorded about this classical scholar:

"He considered the jihad against one's desires and against the devil to be the greatest jihad."

(Irshad as-Sari fi Sharh al-Bukhari, vol. v, p. 37)

Maulavi Haidar Zaman Siddiqi

"Similarly, in Hadith the speaking of truth to a tyrant is called the greatest jihad…Hence the propagation of religious knowledge, the establishment of religious schools, and every other task done for the support of the faith, is included in jihad."

(Islam Ka Nazariyya Jihad, p. 128)

Ghulam Ahmad Pervez

In his commentary of the Quran, this religious thinker of Lahore writes:

"Jihad means labour and struggle. The Quran has made its true meaning clear by using the word qu`ood (sitting) to mean the opposite: `Those who sit back from among the Muslims'…Hence it means action…

"The jihad of the true believer includes the smallest action, going up to the highest deed of sacrifice. The last stage of this exertion is that where man risks his precious life to join the battle against falsehood."

(Mu`arif al-Quran, vol. iv, p. 481)

Professor Khurshid Ahmad of the Islamic Foundation

At a Christian-Muslim dialogue conference held in 1976, Khurshid Ahmad, at that time Director-General of the Islamic Foundation, Leicester, England, made the following comments about jihad:

"Jihad represents to Muslims an effort to strive seriously and ceaselessly to fulfil the divine will in human life. Now Jihad takes many forms. The first form is the fight against one's own self in order to subdue the nafs al-ammarah, [man's lower self] and subordinate it to the divine will. Jihad also means striving to spread the word of God, to share it with others, and here in the juridic formulations jihad has an important place in the relations between the Islamic state and the non-Muslim world. Jihad is not merely war, for it involves firstly peaceful pursuits, but war definitely has its place within the total spectrum of jihad...

"The war of aggression Islam rules out because Islam has come to bring the end of aggression and establish peace. But the defensive and just war are accepted principles of international law and international relations, and Islam fully acknowledges them."

(International Review of Mission, October 1976, vol. lxv, no. 260, pp. 451,--,452. See also the Islamic Foundation's own publication of these proceedings as the book Christian Mission and Islamic Da`wah, 1982, pp. 93--94)

Dr T. B. Irving

Islamic Perspectives --- Studies in honour of Maulana Maudoodi, edited by Khurshid Ahmad and Zafar Ishaq Ansari, and published by the Islamic Foundation, England, is a collection of articles by various Muslim religious scholars, compiled as a tribute to Maulana Maudoodi. The article by Dr T. B. Irving mentions the five pillars of Islam and then adds:

"One more point might be mentioned: Jihad or the spiritual `struggle' or `striving' is not one of the Five Pillars of Islam. In proper translation it does not mean `holy war' except by extension, but it has been debased by this meaning, which is a journalistic usage."

(Islamic Perspectives, published by the Islamic Foundation, England, 1979, p. 132)

(Note: The last two References above have been quoted in the original English.)

JIHAD AND WAR NOT SYNONYMOUS

The Quran uses the words jihad and qital (fighting or war) to mean different things. "Jihad in the way of God" and "fighting (qital) in the way of God" do not have the same meaning. We quote below from Muslim theologians to prove this:

Maulavi Muhammad Hasan of Rampur

A leading follower of the famous Maulavi Muhammad Ismail Shaheed, he wrote:

"War is not jihad. War is called qital, and it only arises now and then. Jihad is to strive to proclaim the word of God, and this goes on for a long period. It is only your misconception that you term qital as jihad."

(Sawanih Ahmadi, p. 108)

Maulavi Charagh Ali (d. 1895)}

In his great English work on jihad published in 1884, the famous rationalist religious scholar, Maulavi Charagh Ali, wrote:

"Jihad does not mean the waging of war… I do not mean to contend that the Quran does not contain injunctions to fight or wage war. There are many verses enjoining the Prophet's followers to prosecute a defensive war, but not one of aggression. The words qatal and qital distinctly indicate this."

(Jihad, edition published by Karimsons, Karachi, 1977, Appendix A, p. 192; extract is quoted from original English.)

Sayyid Sulaiman Nadawi

This theologian who compiled the well-known Sirat an-Nabi (Life of the Holy Prophet) by Shibli, wrote:

"Jihad is generally taken to mean qital and fighting, but this limitation of significance is entirely wrong…It means striving and effort. Its technical meaning is also close to this, i.e. to undertake all kinds of struggle and exertion for the supremacy, propagation and defence of the truth, to make sacrifices, to employ in the way of God all the physical, material and mental resources which He has given to His servants, so much so as to sacrifice one's own life and that of one's family and nation. To oppose the efforts of the opponents of truth, to foil their plans, to counter their attacks, and to be ready to fight them in the field of battle is also jihad. Regrettably, our opponents have reduced the scope of this important and broad significance, without which no movement in the world has or can succeed, to merely war with the enemies of the faith. It is necessary here to dispel the misconception, namely, that most people think that jihad and qital are synonymous. This is not so…One is general and the other is particular, i.e. every jihad is not qital, but among the various kinds of jihad one is qital or fighting the enemy."

(Sirat an-Nabi, vol. v., pp. 199--201)

Maulavi Zafar Ali Khan:

"If the Muslims, during their period of government and rule, ever raised the sword to extend their territory and to make other peoples slaves, this has nothing to do with jihad."

(Zamindar, Lahore, 14 June 1936)

Ghulam Ahmad Pervez:

"Qital is also included in jihad. One can say that it is the last stage of jihad. It is clear from this that jihad does not always mean qital. The whole life of a true believer is jihad."

(Mu`arif al-Quran, vol. iv, p. 488)

Sayyid Abul Ala Maudoodi

He expressed his opinion as follows:

[i.]"In the terminology of the Shari`ah, qital and jihad were two different things. Qital is applied to the military venture undertaken against the armies of the enemy. Jihad is applied to the total effort mounted by the whole nation for the success of the objective for which the war began. During this struggle, qital may stop at times, and may also be suspended. But jihad continues till the time when that aim is achieved for which it began."

(Newspaper Mashriq, Lahore, 12 October 1965)

[ii.]"Jihad means not only fighting with weapons, but is applied collectively to the whole struggle made for success in war. The field of battle is only one of the many fronts of this struggle."

(Newspaper Kohistan, Lahore, 18 September 1965)