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68-426: Adamawa Fulfulde was originally brought to Cameroon in the early parts of the 19th century during a religious war ( Jihad ) that was launched by Usman dan Fodio from Northern Nigeria . It was originally used as a trade language, however since the arrival of Christian missionaries in the latter half of the 19th century in 1885 to the area in what is now Northern Cameroon and Northern Nigeria , Adamawa Fulfulde became

136-490: A Latin orthography for Hausa was adopted and the Ajami script declined in popularity. Some anti-colonial groups and movements continued to use Ajami. An Islamic revival in the 19th century led to a wave of Ajami written works. Ajami remains in widespread use among Islamic circles but exists in digraphia among the broader populace. Ajami is used ceremonially and for specific purposes, such as for local herbal preparations in

204-612: A digraph (combination of two consonants). The first letter of the digraph representing a prenasalized consonant cannot take any diacritic, including zero-vowel diacritic sukun ' ◌ْ ‎'. Like other languages that have historically been written within what's known as the Ajami tradition , there is a full relaince on diacritics for writing vowels. All vowels are written with diacritics. In Arabic there are only three diacritics, which represent [a] ' ◌َ ‎', [u] [i] ' ◌ُ ‎', and [i] ' ◌ِ ‎'. The general tradition

272-563: A good Muslim community ( ummah ), and struggle to defend Islam . In non-Muslim societies, the term is most often associated with warfare . Jihad is classified into inner ("greater") jihad , which involves a struggle against one's own passions and impulses, and outer ("lesser") jihad , which is further subdivided into jihad of the pen/tongue (debate or persuasion) and jihad of the sword (warfare). Much of Muslim opinion considers inner jihad to have primacy over outer jihad , although many Western scholars disagree. The analysis of

340-529: A good standard for writing the Fulfulde language with Arabic script. The alphabet consists of 33 basic letters, 28 plus hamaza from Arabic, and 4 are new letters created for use in Fulfulde. 10 of the Arabic letters are only used for writing Arabic loanwords, and have no use for writing indigenous Fulfulde words. In Adamawa Fulfulde, there are 4 prenasalized consonants. Prenasalized consonants are written as

408-662: A hardship for the Muslims, I would never idle behind from a raiding party going out to fight in the path of Allah.... I [would] love to raid in the path of Allah and be killed, to raid again and be killed, and to raid again and be killed”. Muhammad also said that "Lining up for battle in the path of Allah [jihad] is worthier than 60 years of worship". Muhammad claimed that any Muslim who refused to fight in jihad “will be tortured like no other sinful human” in hell with confirmation from Qur'an 8:15-16. In another hadith Muhammad said, “the sword wipes away all sins” and “being killed in

476-511: A language widely used in churches and is now used as a Language Of Wider Communication (LWC) in 3 regions of Cameroon. It is an Atlantic language that belongs to the Niger–Congo language family. The speakers of the language are the Fulani people . The language itself is divided into a number of sub-dialects: Maroua, Garoua, Ngaondéré, Kambariire, Mbororoore, and Bilkire. In Sudan, the language

544-452: A large survey from 2002 reveals considerable nuance in the conceptions of jihad held by Muslims around the world, ranging from righteous living and promoting peace to fighting against the opponents of Islam . The word jihad appears frequently in the Qur'an referring to both religious and spiritual struggle and to war and physical struggle, often in the idiomatic expression "striving in

612-517: A pacifist school, which maintained that jihad was only a defensive war. He stated that the jurists who held this position, among whom he refers to Hanafi jurists al-Awza‛i (d. 774) and Malik ibn Anas (d. 795), and other early jurists, "stressed that tolerance should be shown unbelievers, especially scripturaries and advised the Imam to prosecute war only when the inhabitants of the dar al-harb came into conflict with Islam." The duty of Jihad

680-549: A rule would make fighting impossible, as every city had civilians. Mutilating the enemy dead is prohibited. Two rulings on destruction of enemy property conflict. In one military battle, Prophet Muhammad ordered the destruction of an enemy's palm trees as a means of ending a siege without bloodshed. By contrast, Abu Bakr prohibited destruction of trees, buildings and livestock. Most jurists did not allow unnecessary destruction of enemy property, but allowed it in cases of military necessity, such as destroying buildings in which

748-456: A section called Book of Jihad , with rules governing the conduct of war covered at great length. Such rules include treatment of nonbelligerents, women, children (also cultivated or residential areas), and division of spoils. Such rules offered protection for civilians. Spoils include Ghanimah (spoils obtained by actual fighting), and fai (obtained without fighting i.e. when the enemy surrenders or flees). The first documentation of

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816-420: A superior jihad . Tradition distinguishes the "greater jihad " (inner struggle against sinful behavior) from the "lesser jihad " (military sense). Early Islamic thought considered non-violent interpretations of jihad , especially for those Muslims who could not partake in warfare in distant lands. Most classical writings use the term " jihad " in the military sense. The tradition differentiating between

884-502: A word. The word order for Adamawa Fulfulde is SOV ( subject–object–verb ). Adamawa Fulfulde is mostly written in a modified  Arabic script , in the tradition of Ajami script , that it shares with many other languages such as Hausa language , and many other languages in Sub-Sahara Africa. Writing Fulfulde with Arabic script has a long tradition and old manuscripts are found in all of West Africa. While traditionally,

952-482: Is a legitimate reaction to military aggression by unbelievers and not merely due to religious differences. Ibn Taymiyya wrote: "As for the transgressor who does not fight, there are no texts in which Allah commands him to be fought. Rather, the unbelievers are only fought on the condition that they wage war, as is practiced by the majority of scholars and is evident in the Book and Sunnah." As important as jihad was, it

1020-695: Is a lot more recent, only coming to existence with the arrival of European Christian. Still, in Cameroon, Arabic alphabet remains more popular for writing of Adamawa Fulfulde than Latin. The Adamawa Fulfulde Ajami alphabet is the result of many decades of efforts to standardize, starting from the 1960s. By the 1990s, the orthography was well established. In 1998, at the JCMWA/MICCAO conference in Ngaoundéré , Cameroon , over 100 representatives from 14 West African countries agreed that this orthography would be

1088-446: Is because, unlike property, animals feel pain. In pre-Islamic Arabia, Bedouins raided enemy tribes and settlements to collect spoils. According to some scholars (such as James Turner Johnson), while Islamic leaders "instilled into the hearts of the warriors the belief" in jihad "holy war" and ghaza (raids), the "fundamental structure" of this Bedouin warfare "remained, ... raiding to collect booty". According to Jonathan Berkey ,

1156-471: Is generally emphasized in pious and mystical circles. The Hans Wehr Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic defines the term as "fight, battle; jihad , holy war (against the infidels , as a religious duty)". However, given the range of meanings, it is incorrect to equate it simply with "holy war". The notion of jihad has its origins in the Islamic idea that the whole humankind will embrace Islam. In

1224-508: Is mentioned in four places in the Qur'an as a noun, while its derived verb is used in twenty-four places. Mujahid , the active participle meaning " jihadist ", is mentioned in two verses. In some of these mentions (see At-Tawbah 9/41, 44, 81, 86), it is understood that the word jihad directly refers to war, and in others, jihad is used in the sense of "the effort to live in accordance with Allah's will". Qur'anic exhortations to jihad have been interpreted by Islamic scholars both in

1292-537: Is no compulsion in religion". The primary aim of jihad as warfare is not the conversion of non-Muslims to Islam by force, but rather the expansion and defense of the Islamic state . There could be truces before this was achieved, but no permanent peace. One who died "on the path of God" was a martyr ( shahid ), whose sins were remitted and who secured "immediate entry to paradise". According with Bernard Lewis , "from an early date Muslim law laid down" jihad in

1360-629: Is not a justification for war. These jurists therefore maintain that only combatants are to be fought; noncombatants such as women, children, clergy, the aged, the insane, farmers, serfs, the blind, and so on are not to be killed in war. Thus, the Hanafī Ibn Najīm stated: "the reason for jihād in our [the Hanafīs] view is kawnuhum harbā ‛alaynā [literally, their being at war against us]." The Hanafī jurists al-Shaybānī state that "although unbelief in God

1428-481: Is not considered one of the " pillars of Islam ". According to one scholar ( Majid Khadduri , this is because the five pillars are individual obligations, but jihad is a "collective obligation" of the Muslim community meant to be carried out by the Islamic state. This was the belief of "all jurists, with almost no exception", but did not apply to defense of the Muslim community from a sudden attack, in which case jihad

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1496-646: Is one of the greatest sins, it is between the individual and his God the Almighty and the punishment for this sin is to be postponed to the dār al-jazā’ , (the abode of reckoning, the Hereafter)." Al-Sarakhsī says something similar. Offensive jihad involved forays into enemy territory either for conquest, thus enlarging the Muslim political order, or to dissuade the enemy from attacking Muslim lands. Shia and Sunni theories of jihad are similar, except that Shias consider offensive jihad to be valid only under

1564-404: Is only waged for the sake of God not for material wealth. On the contrary, jihad required man to put both his life and wealth at risk. Jihad is ranked as one of the highest good deeds; according to one hadith it is the third-best deed after prayer and being good to one's parents. One hadith exempts military jihad on men whose parents are alive, as serving one's parents is considered

1632-533: Is sometimes used without religious connotation, with a meaning similar to the English word " crusade " (as in "a crusade against drugs"). Jihad is used commonly in Arabic countries, in the neutral sense of "a struggle for a noble cause", as a unisex name given to children. Nonetheless, jihad is usually used in the religious sense and its beginnings trace to the Qur'an and the words and actions of Muhammad . Jihad

1700-784: Is spoken mainly in Blue Nile , Gedaref , and Sennar states with some communities of speakers also found in North Kordofan and South Kordofan states. In South Sudan, it is spoken in Western Bahr el Ghazal state by Ambororo cattle herders. In Chad, it is spoken in Lac Léré Department in the Mayo-Kebbi Ouest Region . In Nigeria, it is spoken in Adamawa and Taraba states. While in Cameroon

1768-504: Is that when there are vowels that don't exist in Arabic, new diacritics are created. In Adamawa Fulfulde these include the Quranic imāla ' ◌ٜ ‎' for vowel [e], and a special diacritic ' ◌ٛ ‎' for vowel [o]. Unlike Arabic orthography, or other Arabic-derived scripts, in Ajami tradition, all diacritics are written. Even letters that don't have any vowels, are written with a zero-vowel/sukun ' ◌ْ ‎' diacritic. Only in

1836-566: Is the struggle against one's passions." This passage was cited in The History of Baghdad by Al-Khatib al-Baghdadi , an 11th-century Islamic scholar. This reference gave rise to the practice of distinguishing "greater" and "lesser" jihad . Islamic scholars such as Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani consider the hadith to have a weak chain of transmission . The concept has had "enormous influence" in Islamic mysticism ( Sufism ). Ibn Hazm lists four kinds of jihad fi sabilillah (struggle in

1904-601: Is the word of Justice in front of the oppressive sultan. and The Messenger of Allah was asked about the best jihad . He said: "The best jihad is the one in which your horse is slain and your blood is spilled." Ibn Nuhaas cited a hadith from Musnad Ahmad ibn Hanbal , where Muhammad stated that the highest kind jihad is "The person who is killed whilst spilling the last of his blood" (Ahmed 4/144). Muhammad also said, “I cannot find anything” as meritorious as jihad ; he further likened jihad to “praying ceaselessly and fasting continuously”. Muhammad said that “if it were not

1972-457: The Arabic alphabet was used in its unmodified original 28-character state, and thus no distinction was made between similar sounds, such as [b]/[mb]/[ɓ], [d]/[nd], or [p]/[f], today, despite a lack of governmental endorsement in many instances, these letters and writing conventions have been standardized and agreed upon. Latin alphabet  is also used for writing of Adamawa. The usage of Latin

2040-635: The Jula language . There is no standard system of using Ajami, and different writers may use letters with different values. Short vowels are written regularly with the help of vowel marks (which are seldom used in Arabic texts other than the Quran). Many medieval Hausa manuscripts, similar to the Timbuktu Manuscripts written in the Ajami script, have been discovered recently. and some of them describe constellations and calendars . An example of

2108-463: The hadith , which suffers from "a general lack of knowledge", according to Akbar Ahmed . According to classical Islamic scholars like Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya , jihad is against four types of enemies: the lower self ( nafs ), Satan , the unbelievers, and the hypocrites. The first two types of jihad are purely peaceful spiritual struggles. According to Ibn Qayyim, "Jihad against the lower self precedes jihad against external enemies." Confirming

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2176-430: The "greater and lesser jihad " is not included in any of the authoritative compilations of Hadith. In consequence, some Islamists dismiss it as not authentic. The most commonly cited hadith for "greater jihad " is: A number of fighters came to Muhammad and he said "You have come from the 'lesser jihad ' to the 'greater jihad ' ." The fighters asked "what is the greater jihad ?" Muhammad replied, "It

2244-456: The Crusades. Ali ibn Tahir al-Sulami argued that all Muslims were responsible for waging wars of self-defense. Al-Sulami encouraged Muslim rulers from distant lands to assist Muslims who were under attack. Classical Shia doctrine maintained defensive jihad was always permissible, but offensive jihad required the presence of the Imam. An exception to this, during medieval times, was when

2312-475: The Islamic prophet Muhammad) about jihad , typically under the headings of kitab al-jihad (book of jihad ) or faza'il al-jihad (virtues of jihad ) in hadith collections or as the subject of independent works. Of the 199 hadith references to jihad in the Bukhari collection of hadith , all assume that jihad means warfare. Among reported sayings of Muhammad involving jihad are: The best Jihad

2380-435: The Qur'an and in later Muslim usage, jihad is commonly followed by the expression fi sabil illah , "in the path of God." Muhammad Abdel-Haleem stated that it indicates "the way of truth and justice, including all the teachings it gives on the justifications and the conditions for the conduct of war and peace." In Modern Standard Arabic , the term jihad is used for a struggle for causes, both religious and secular . It

2448-585: The Qur'an's statements in support of jihad may have originally been directed against Muhammad's local enemies, the pagans of Mecca or the Jews of Medina, but these same statements could be redirected once new enemies appeared. According to scholar Majid Khadduri, it was the shift in focus to the conquest and spoils collecting of non-Bedouin unbelievers and away from traditional inter-Bedouin tribal raids, that may have made it possible for Islam to expand and to avoid self-destruction. According to Al-Baqara 256 "there

2516-478: The age of puberty , elderly men, people with disabilities and those who are sick. Diplomats, merchants and peasants are similarly immune from being attacked. Monks are presumed to be non-combatants and thus have immunity; places of worship should not be attacked. Even if the enemy disregarded the immunity of noncombatants, Muslims could not respond in kind. However, these categories lose their immunity should they participate in fighting, planning, or supplying

2584-434: The case even if the Muslims were ruled by an unjust ruler. Ajami script Ajami ( Arabic : عجمي ‎ , ʿajamī ) or Ajamiyya ( Arabic : عجمية ‎ , ʿajamiyyah ), which comes from the Arabic root for 'foreign' or 'stranger', is an Arabic-derived script used for writing African languages , particularly Songhai , Mandé , Hausa and Swahili , although many other languages are also written using

2652-544: The cause of God): A related hadith tradition that has "found its way into popular Muslim literature", and which has been said to "embody the Muslim mindset" of the Islamic Golden Age (the period from the mid-8th century to mid-13th century following the relocation of the Abbasid capital from Damascus to Baghdad ), is: "The ink of the scholar is more holy than the blood of the martyr." The belief in

2720-405: The central importance of the spiritual aspect of jihad , Ibn Taymiyyah wrote: "Jihad against the lower self and whims is the foundation of jihad against the unbelievers and hypocrites, for a Muslim cannot wage jihad against them unless he has waged jihad against himself and his desires first, before he goes out against them." Engaging in the greater jihad does not preclude engaging in

2788-414: The combative and non-combative sense. Ahmed al-Dawoody wrote that there seventeen references to or derivatives of jihad occur altogether forty-one times in eleven Meccan texts and thirty Medinan ones, with 28 mentions related to religious belief or spiritual struggle and 13 mentions related to warfare or physical struggle. There are also many hadiths (records of the teachings, deeds and sayings of

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2856-630: The context of the Caucasus: " Gazavat was the jihad of its day. Gazavat meant putting yourself on the right path (what Muslims refer to as the lesser jihad ) as well as expelling the invader (what is referred to as greater jihad )." Classical scholars considered various justifications for jihad , including waging it defensively vs offensively. Scholarly opinions carried significant weight with Muslim leaders. Scholars paid more attention to conduct of war ( jus in bello ) than justification of war ( jus ad bellum ). The decision of when to wage war

2924-417: The enemy is taking shelter. Some jurists allowed destruction if it would weaken the enemy or win the war. Many jurists cautioned against "unnecessary devastation", not just out of humanitarian concerns, but practical ones: it is more useful to capture an enemy's property than to destroy it. Islamic scholars prohibited killing animals, unless due to military necessity (such as killing horses in battle). This

2992-473: The enemy. Some jurists argued that immunity was more related to noncombatant status than being in a certain demographic class. For example, Muhaqqiq al-Hilli opined that only old men are only immune from being killed if they neither fight, nor take a role in military decision making. Up until the Crusades , Muslim jurists disallowed the use of mangonels because the weapon killed indiscriminately with

3060-463: The first Fatimid caliph Abdallah al-Mahdi Billah claimed to be the representative of the Imam and claimed the right to launch offensive jihad . After the Mongol invasions , Shia scholar Muhaqqiq al-Hilli claimed that defensive war was not just permissible but praiseworthy, even obligatory. If a Muslim could not take part in the defense then he should, at least, send material support. This remained

3128-630: The following instances are letters written without a diacritic: Passage from the Bible , Book of Acts , Chapter 9, verses 4 and 5: Jihad Jihad ( / dʒ ɪ ˈ h ɑː d / ; Arabic : جِهَاد , romanized :  jihād [dʒiˈhaːd] ) is an Arabic word that means "exerting", "striving", or "struggling", particularly with a praiseworthy aim. In an Islamic context, it encompasses almost any effort to make personal and social life conform with God 's guidance, such as an internal struggle against evil in oneself, efforts to build

3196-577: The language is widespread across the Far North and Northern regions of the country. Adamawa Fulfulde has the Morphological imperative in which words are divided into second singular and second plural, and like many of the languages of the Fula dialect continuum and Niger–Congo language family , Adamawa Fulfulde has a system of noun classes and marks plurals by mutating the initial consonant of

3264-463: The law of jihad was written by 'Abd al-Rahman al-Awza'i and Muhammad ibn al-Hasan al-Shaybani . (It grew out of debates that surfaced following Muhammad's death. ) Although some Islamic scholars have differed on the implementation of Jihad , the consensus amongst them is that jihad always includes armed struggle against persecution and oppression. Both Ibn Taymiyya and Ibn Qayyim asserted that Muhammad never initiated hostilities and that all

3332-734: The leadership of the Mahdi , who is currently believed to be in occultation but will return. However, defensive jihad is permissible in Shia Islam before the Mahdi's return. In fact, Shia scholars emphasized it was a religious duty for Shia to defend all Muslims (including Sunni Muslims) from outside invaders. They might be our enemies but they are human beings. They consist of civil population comprising of women and children; how can one kill, loot and plunder them? Rules prohibit attacking or molesting non-combatants, including women, children under

3400-590: The lesser jihad . Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani recommended his followers to pursue both the greater and the lesser jihad s. At least one important contemporary Twelver Shia figure, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini , the leader of the Iranian Revolution and the founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran , wrote a treatise on the "Greater Jihad " (i.e., internal/personal struggle against sin). Robert W. Schaefer discussed jihad and gazavat in

3468-466: The military sense as "one of the principal obligations" of both "the head of the Muslim state", who declared jihad , and the Muslim community. According to legal historian Sadakat Kadri, Islamic jurists first developed classical doctrine of jihad "towards the end of the eighth century", using the doctrine of naskh (that God gradually improved His revelations over the course of Muhammed's mission). They subordinated Qur'anic verses emphasizing harmony to

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3536-471: The moral uplift of society or towards the spread of Islam" can be known as " jihad of the tongue" or " jihad of the pen", as opposed to " jihad of the sword". It is used as a term in fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence) mostly in the latter sense, while in Sufism mostly in the sense of fighting the nafs al-ammara , which is the psychological state of succumbing to one's own desires. Spiritual and moral jihad

3604-575: The more "confrontational" verses of Muhammad's later years and linked verses on exertion ( jihad ) to those of fighting ( qital ). Muslims jurists of the eighth century divided the world into three divisions, dar al-Islam / dar al-‛adl / dar al-salam (house of Islam/house of justice/house of peace), dar al-harb / dar al-jawr (house of war/house of injustice, oppression), and dar al-sulh / dar al-‛ahd/dār al-muwada‛ah (house of peace/house of covenant/house of reconciliation). The eighth century jurist Sufyan al-Thawri (d. 778) headed what Khadduri called

3672-468: The path of Allah washes away impurity”. According to another hadith , supporting one's parents is an example of jihad . It has been reported that Muhammad considered performing hajj well to be the best jihad for Muslim women. The hadith emphasize jihad as one of the means to Paradise . All sins (except debt) would be forgiven for the one who dies in it. Participation in jihad had to be voluntary and intention must be pure, for jihad

3740-449: The path of God (al-jihad fi sabil Allah ) ", conveying a sense of self-exertion. In the hadiths , jihad refers predominantly to warfare. Greater jihad refers to spiritual and moral struggle, and has traditionally been emphasized in Sufi and Ahmadiyya circles. The sense of jihad as armed resistance was first used in the context of persecution faced by Muslims when Muhammad

3808-507: The potential of harming noncombatants. During the Crusades this ruling was reversed out of military need. Jurists grappled with the question of attacking an enemy that used women, children or Muslims as human shields . Most jurists held that it was permissible to attack the enemy in cases of military necessity , but steps should be taken to direct the attack towards combatants to avoid the human shield. Abu Hanifa argued that if Muslims stopped combat for fear of killing noncombatants, then such

3876-465: The prohibition of killing them merely because of their unbelief). According to Ibn Taymiyya, human blood is inviolable by default, except "by right of justice". Although Ibn Taymiyya authorised offensive Jihad ( Jihad al-Talab ) against enemies who threaten Muslims or obstruct their citizens from freely accepting Islam, unbelief ( Kufr ) by itself is not a justification for violence, whether against individuals or stated. According to Ibn Taymīyah, jihad

3944-461: The script were likely old Taseelhit or medieval Amazigh , Kanuri , or Songhay . Later, Fulfulde, Hausa, Wolof, and Yoruba would use the script. By the 17th century, the script was being used to publish religious texts and poetry. Guinean Fulani poetry was written in Ajami from the middle of the 18th century. During the pre-colonial period, Qur'anic schools taught Muslim children Arabic and, by extension, Ajami. After Western colonization,

4012-587: The script, including Mooré , Pulaar , Wolof , and Yoruba . It is an adaptation of the Arabic script to write sounds not found in Standard Arabic . Rather than adding new letters, modifications usually consist of additional dots or lines added to pre-existing letters. The script was first used between the 10th and the 16th centuries. It was likely originally created with the intent of promoting Islam in West Africa . The first languages written in

4080-542: The twentieth century, the notion of jihad lost its jurisprudential relevance and instead gave rise to ideological and political discourse. While modernist Islamic scholars have emphasized the defensive and non-military aspects of jihad , some Islamists have advanced aggressive interpretations that go beyond the classical texts. The term has gained additional attention in recent decades through its use by various insurgent Islamic extremist , militant Islamist , and terrorist individuals and organizations. Today,

4148-572: The veracity of this hadith was a contributing factor in the efforts by successive caliphs to subsidize translations of " Greek , Hebrew and Syriac science and philosophy texts", and the saying continues to be heavily emphasised in certain Islamic traditions advocating intellectualism over violence, for example in Timbuktu , where it is central to one of two key lessons in the work Tuhfat al-fudala by 16th-century Berber scholar Ahmed Baba . In general, however, fewer people today are aware of

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4216-409: The wars he engaged in were primarily defensive. He never forced non-Muslims to Islam and upheld the truces with non-Muslims so long as they did not violate them. Ibn Taymiyya's views on Jihad are explained in his treatise titled Qāʿidah mukhtaṣarah fī qitāl al-kuffār wa muhādanatuhum wa taḥrīm qatlahum li mujarrad kufrihim . (An abridged rule on fighting the unbelievers and making truces with them, and

4284-431: The word jihad is often used without religious connotations, like the English crusade . The term jihad is derived from the Arabic root jahada , meaning "to exert strength and effort, to use all means in order to accomplish a task". In its expanded sense, it can be fighting the enemies of Islam , as well as adhering to religious teachings, enjoining good and forbidding evil. The peaceful sense of "efforts towards

4352-436: Was a collective one ( fard al-kifaya ). It was to be directed only by the caliph who might delay it when convenient, negotiating truces for up to ten years at a time. Within classical Islamic jurisprudence , during the first few centuries after the prophet's death, jihad consisted of wars against unbelievers, apostated , and was the only form of permissible warfare. Bernard Lewis stated that fighting rebels and bandits

4420-401: Was an "individual obligation" of all believers, including women and children. Scholars had previously claimed it was the responsibility of a centralized government to organize jihad . But this changed as the authority of the Abbasid caliph weakened. Al-Mawardi allowed local governors to wage jihad on the caliph's behalf. This decentralization of jihad became especially pressing after

4488-621: Was at Mecca , when the community had two choices: further emigration ( hijrah ) or war . The Qur'an justifies war in self-defense or in response to aggression towards other Muslims, however the sword verses have historically been interpreted to renounce other verses and justify offensive war against unbelievers, forcibly converting polytheistic pagans during the early Muslim conquests . A set of rules pertaining to jihad were developed, including prohibitions on harming those who are not engaged in combat, on killing animals such as horses, and on unnecessary destruction of enemy property. In

4556-452: Was legitimate, though not a form of jihad , and that while the classical perception and presentation of jihad was warfare in the field against a foreign enemy, internal jihad "against an infidel renegade, or otherwise illegitimate regime was not unknown." ) However, some argue martyrdom is never automatic, because it is God's province to judge who is worthy of that designation. Classical manuals of Islamic jurisprudence often contained

4624-473: Was often viewed as a political decision best left to political authorities. Two justifications for jihad were given: defensive war against external aggression, or an offensive or preemptive attack against an enemy state. According to the majority of jurists, the casus belli (justifications for war) are restricted to aggression against Muslims, and fitna — persecution of Muslims because of their religious belief. They hold that unbelief in itself

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