Dear Friend, The Islamic doctrine of jihad has for long been a source of much debate and controversy. An enormous number of books have been written on the subject, by Muslims and non-Muslims alike. Jihad remains at the heart of contemporary discussions about Islam and its place in the modern world and about Islamic teachings with regard to people of other faiths.
Some months ago, I chanced upon an Urdu book titled al-Jihad written by a Lucknow-based Islamic scholar, Maulana Yahya Nomani. In his early 40s, Maulana Yahya is the grandson of the well-known Sunni Muslim scholar, the late Maulana Manzoor Nomani. His father, Maulana Muhammad Zakariya, taught Hadith (traditions attributed to or about the Prophet Muhammad) at Lucknow's renowned Nadwat ul-Ulema madrasa. Having completed the fazil or advanced-level course from the Nadwat ul-Ulema in 1993, Maulana Yahya did a Bachelor's course in Islamic History at Medina University, after which he joined the monthly al-Furqan, an Urdu religious magazine based in Lucknow founded by his grand-father. Besides working as the Associate Editor of this magazine, he holds regular Quranic classes in mosques and Islamic camps for youth. Recently, he set up the Al-Mahad al-Ali lil Dirasat al-Islamiya ('Institute for Higher Islamic Studies') in Lucknow, which provides a two-year course to madrasa graduates to, as he puts it, 'make them aware of modern issues, concerns and challenges'.
So fascinating did I find Maulana Yahya's book that, once I began reading it, I could not put it down till I had finished it. Although I had read several books, in English and Urdu, before on the issue of jihad, this book struck me as quite distinct. Written by a young scholar trained in a traditional Indian madrasa, it seemed to appeal to Muslims as well as non-Muslims alike. It was equally critical of portrayals of jihad by Islamophobic scholars as being allegedly akin to terrorism as it was of radical self-styled Islamists, who believe it to be a license for indiscriminate slaughter of non-Muslims as well as Muslims who do not subscribe to their vision of Islam. While I did not agree with everything that the author had to say, I felt that, on the whole, the book made a valuable contribution to longstanding, and still on-going, debates about the doctrine of jihad. I believed that the book definitely deserved a much larger audience, and that is why I decided to translate it into English after seeking permission from the author.
Some of the salient issues that this book raises are the concept and purposes of jihad, the limits and rules governing jihad, the conditions under which armed jihad may be resorted to, various non-violent forms of jihad, the treatment of non-Muslim combatants and non-combatants or civilians during armed jihad, the need for the contextual revision of certain rules related to jihad that are contained in the medieval corpus of fiqh or Muslim jurisprudence, the impermissibility of proxy war and communal conflict in the name of jihad, the duties and responsibilities of Muslim citizens or residents of non-Muslim states, and Islamic teachings about relations between Muslims and followers of other faiths.
My translation of the book is available on www.jihadforourtimes.blogspot.
-- Allah, Farid, juhdi hamesha Au Shaikh Farid, juhdi Allah Allah. Acquiring Allah's grace is the aim of my jihad, 0 Farid! Come Shaikh Farid! Allah, Allah's grace alone is ever the aim of my jihad (Baba Guru Nanak Sahib to Baba Shaikh Farid Sahib) Check out my blogs: www.madrasareforms.blogspot.com www.islampeaceandjustice.blogspot.com |
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