Twisting Quranic terms to suit their political ambitions is the pastime of Islamophobists in India and elsewhere. The term Jehad or Jihad is being given a totally twisted meaning by those who suffer from Islamophobia. There is no doubt that some scholars and preachers within Islam have also given new dimensions to the word, but that this is their domain and a non-Muslim has no business to question or reinterpret the meanings of the religious doctrine of Islam, even if one feels uncomfortable about it. In the last four days, the term ‘Love Jihad’ has come to be used so loosely as to question its real and truthful meaning as contained in the holy book Quran. WSN editor Jagmohan Singh explores the meaning of the term Jihad to put it in proper perspective and categorically debunks the “Love Jihad” campaign.

JIHAD IS A STRUGGLE OF RIGHT VERSUS WRONG. The trouble starts with the interpretation of the Holy War against what takes a twist to suit one’s preconceived notions or political approach towards an issue or a community.

Asma Afsaruddin, Professor, Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures, Indiana University, whose publications include Striving in the Path of God: Jihad and Martyrdom in Islamic Thought (2013) and The First Muslims: History and Memory (2008), writing in the Encyclopaedia Britannica, says, “Jihad, (Arabic: “struggle” or “effort”) also spelled jehad, in Islam, a meritorious struggle or effort. Jihad, particularly in the religious and ethical realm, primarily refers to the human struggle to promote what is right and to prevent what is wrong.”

She adds that it has often been erroneously translated in the West as “holy war.” 

She focuses on jihad as primarily an ethical and moral concept and studies Qurʾānic exegeses, early and late Hadith literature, literary treatises on the merits of jihad, and modern treatments of jihad to retrieve a broad spectrum of primarily nonlegal perspectives. 

She has pointed out that in later literature -Hadith, the record of the sayings and actions of the Prophet; mystical commentaries on the Qurʾān; and more general mystical and edifying writings—these two main dimensions of jihad, ṣabr and qitāl, were renamed jihād al-nafs (the internal, spiritual struggle against the lower self) and jihād al-sayf (the physical combat with the sword), respectively. They were also respectively called al-jihād al-akbar (the greater jihad) and al-jihād al-aṣghar (the lesser jihad). 

“In these kinds of extra-Qurʾānic literature, the different ways of promoting what is good and preventing what is wrong are included under the broad rubric of al-jihād fī sabīl Allāh, “striving in the path of God.” 

Asma Afsaruddin, Professor, Indiana University

The learned author says that “In these kinds of extra-Qurʾānic literature, the different ways of promoting what is good and preventing what is wrong are included under the broad rubric of al-jihād fī sabīl Allāh, “striving in the path of God.” 

Twisting the whole meaning of Jihad on its head by giving it a political colour, the right-wing BJP has added the new dimension of ‘Love Jihad’ to malign the Muslim community and to spread Islamophobia, which is destroying the social fabric of societies and instilling a fear psychosis leading to riots, lynchings and killings.

There is no census or social data by any government body or social or academic body to suit the allegations of ‘Love Jihad.’

University of Delhi History teacher Charu Gupta, in her pathbreaking article in The Economic and Political Weekly, states that “The fake claim by the Hindu right that there is a “Love Jihad” organisation which is forcing Hindu women to convert to Islam through false expressions of love is similar to a campaign in the 1920s in north India against alleged “abductions”. Whether 1920 or 2009, Hindu patriarchal notions appear deeply entrenched in such campaigns: images of passive victimised Hindu women at the hands of inscrutable Muslims abound, and any possibility of women exercising their legitimate right to love and their right to choice is ignored.”

Charu Gupta rightly observes that “Inter-religious love and marriage are a tricky terrain.”

Charu Gupta rightly observes that “Inter-religious love and marriage are a tricky terrain.”

In Kashmir today, it will be interesting to watch whether the politicians of all hues and shades would be more concerned about surviving the onslaught of the security forces or accepting to participate in the delimitation of constituencies or stick to their demand for restoration or full statehood to J & K or will they first stand up for a new law on the lines of the Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and “Uttar Pradesh Vidhi Virudh Dharma Samparivartan Pratishedh Adhyadesh 2020″ (prohibition of unlawful religious conversion), infamously known as the ‘Love Jihad’ law?

With elections around the corner in Uttar Pradesh and possible elections in Jammu and Kashmir within a year, “Jihad” will have different shades of meaning.  The resultant tragedy can be averted by not falling into the trap.