is jihad per se synonymous with any teaching in the qu'ran?

Answer 1

Jihad mean war for those who don't understand.
In Islam Peace is the rule.
WAR OR "JIHAD" IS THE EXCEPTION IN THESE SITUATIONS:
The FIRST is:
-To defend one's life, honor (used mostly to mean women), money and possessions, freedom to follow one's religion in one word "self-defense" (Human rights in Islam: apply for non Muslims as well as Muslims.)
The SECOND is:
-To defend others when they are oppressed and can't defend themselves. (Human rights in Islam)

DURING WAR TIME OR NOT:
-Muslims are not allowed to take their own lives. (Suicidal bombers are disobeying this clear order which is considered a GREAT SIN not MARTYRDOM!)
-Muslims are not allowed to take their own children's lives even if they fear poverty.
- Muslims are not allowed to kill the innocent. (Suicidal bombers are disobeying this clear order which is considered a GREAT SIN; you don't just go out and kill people and be considered a Mujahid!)

SIGNS FROM QURAN TO TELL MUSLIMS WHAT THE RULES ARE:
Surat Al Bakara (The cow) signs 190,191,192
-"And FIGHT in the way of Allah with THOSE WHO FIGHT WITH YOU, and DO NOT exceed the limits, surely Allah does not love those who exceed the limits". (Human rights: the first reason)
-"And kill them wherever you find them, and DRIVE them out from whence THEY DROVE you OUT, and persecution is severer than slaughter, and do not fight with them at the Sacred Mosque until they fight with you in it, but if they do fight you, then slay them; such is the recompense of the unbelievers" (human rights: first reason also)
-"But if they DESIST, then surely Allah IS Forgiving, Merciful".
(Human right's to non-Muslims: stop fighting them if they stop fighting Muslims, for transgressing or exceeding the limits in Islam is forbidden and that was pointed out in the sign 190 so that Muslims would keep that in mind even if they are at war time)

As you may notice, If you read only the sign number 191 and leave out the sign number 190 you will go "and kill them wherever you find them…the rest of the sign" and it will sound so brutal, but if you read the sign 190 first you will know that the sign 191 is to kill those who fight Muslims not to just kill the peaceful people. The sign number 192 is the clear evidence of how peaceful Islam is. If the other party calls the war off Muslims have to stop fighting. You understand now that Islam is about being peaceful but not by being weak? It's just to fight those who fight you.

Surat Annesa (The Women) sign 75
"And what reason have you that you should not fight in the way of Allah and of the weak among the men and the women and the children, (of) those who say: Our Lord! cause us to go forth from this town, WHOSE PEOPLE ARE OPPRESSORS, and give us from Thee a guardian and give us from Thee a helper" (human right's: defending the oppressed)
Surat Annesa , Sign 90
"Except those who reach a people between whom and you there is an alliance, or who come to you, their hearts shrinking from fighting you or fighting their own people; and if Allah had pleased, He would have given them power over you, so that they should have certainly fought you; therefore if they WITHDRAW from you and do NOT fight you and OFFER you PEACE, then Allah HAS NOT GIVEN YOU A WAY AGAINST THEM".
(Human rights for the non Muslims: to stop fighting those who stop fighting Muslims)

Surat Al Anfal (the spoils of war) 60, 61
"And prepare against them what force you can and horses tied at the frontier, to frighten thereby the enemy of Allah and your enemy and others besides them, whom you do not know (but) Allah knows them; and whatever thing you will spend in Allah's way, it will be paid back to you fully and you shall not be dealt with unjustly".
"And if they INCLINE to PEACE, then INCLINE to it and trust in Allah; surely He is the Hearing, the Knowing".
You know the sign of preparation for war, WHY didn't you read the following sign? It's about PEACE! That's exactly what others did too. Read the signs of war only.

All the wars (Jihad) of the messenger Mohammad and the Muslims back then were to defend themselves and obtain their human rights OTHERWISE it would be fasad on earth.

Surat Attawbah (The Repentance) signs 13,14
"What! Will you not fight a people who BROKE their OATHS and AIMED at the EXPULSION of the Apostle, and they ATTACKED you FIRST; do you fear them? But Allah is most deserving that you should fear Him, if you are believers".(Human rights: both reasons)
"Fight them, Allah will punish them by your hands and bring them to disgrace, and assist you against them and heal the hearts of a believing people".
If you read the sign 14 only Muslims would sound brutal, unlike if you read the 2 signs together so you would know the reason why they were ordered to "Fight them" and it's not because they were non-Muslims.

The reason Muslims fought was to obtain their rights not to force others to be Muslims.
Surat Al Bakara (The Cow) sign 256
"There is NO compulsion in religion"
Also the messenger never forced any of the prisoners of war to convert to Islam. (Unlike those ignorant people who claim to be Muslims then kidnap innocent people and force them to convert to Islam!)
WHEN calling people non believers, or infidels or anything else in Koran it was in reference to them as those people (an adjective), but not the reason why Muslims were ordered to fight them as I pointed out before.

Muslims are not prohibited from being kind to those who didn't fight Muslims because of their religion, and who didn't force them out of their homes. Those, Muslims should be kind to them no matter what faith they embrace.

Surat Al haj (The Pilgrimage) signs 39, 40
"PERMISSION (to fight) is given to those upon whom WAR is MADE because they are OPPRESSED, and most surely Allah is well able to assist them;
Those who have been EXPELLED FROM THEIR HOMES WITHOUT a JUST CAUSE EXCEPT that they say: Our Lord is Allah. And HAD THERE NOT been Allah's REPELLING some PEOPLE BY OTHERS, certainly there would have been pulled down CLOISTERS and CHURCHES and SYNAGOGUES and MOSQUES IN WHICH ALLAH'S NAME IS MUCH REMEMBERED; and surely Allah will help him who helps His cause; most surely Allah is Strong, Mighty" (Human rights: both the first and second reasons for Muslims and non-Muslims)

NOTICE that god mentioned Christians', Jews' and others' places of worship not just mosques, proves that Islam is about protecting those places. God is being worshipped, remembered and mentioned in those places. They are sacred places in Koran.

Muslims were ordered in the messenger Mohammad's speeches the following DURING WAR TIME (let alone peace time):
-not to betray others
-not to deform or disfigure a dead person (RESPECT EVEN THE DEAD)
-not to kill a child
-not to kill the elderly
-not to kill women (coz a woman was found dead in one of the wars)
-not to cut or burn plants and crops
-not to contaminate water and wells
-not to kill animals, unless to eat (also Muslims are not allowed to kill animals for sports in peace time!)
-And to leave the worshippers of god (in reference to monks) unharmed where they worship god.

Surat Al Maedah (The Table) sign 2
"….and let not HATRED of a people because they HINDERED you from the Sacred Masjid-- INCITE you to EXCEED the limits, and HELP one another IN goodness and piety, and DO NOT help one another IN sin and aggression; and be careful of (your duty to) Allah; surely Allah is severe in requiting (evil)".
(Muslims were ordered in Koran not to fight to get even and have their revenge but to get their rights back with no transgression).

-In Koran Muslims were told that the righteous give from the food they LOVE to the POOR, ORPHANS and the PRISONERS of WAR without asking in anything in return.
Surat Al Insan (The Man) signs 5-22 most important 8-10
8. And they give food they love to the poor and the orphan and the captive:
9. We only feed you for Allah's sake; we desire from you neither reward nor thanks:
(Not just any food, the food they love, Muslims are ordered to treat prisoners of wars justly and as human beings, and to emphasize the meaning of being nice to them for they are not with their people and they must be scared… they were mentioned in the sign alongside the poor and orphans so Muslims would be just and kind to them as if they were poor or orphans)

Those are the clear RULES of Islam, who disobeys them is a Mufsid not a Mujahid.

Sadly, there are ignorant Muslims who live in different countries WHO take the signs OUT of CONTEXT, twist the facts and TRANSGRESS.

I just want for non-Muslims to judge the religion by its content not by the religion's followers esp. the wrong doers you see on the news. That was the message I want to convey.

Answer 2

THE TRUTH TO BE KNOWN BY US AMERICANS SO HERE IT IS.WE ARE SO MISGUIDED BY THE MEDIA .
In recent years, a great deal of attention in the media have been given to the threat of "Islamic Fundamentalism". Unfortunately, due to a twisted mixture of biased reporting in the Western media and the actions of some ignorant Muslims, the word "Islam" has become almost synonymous with "terrorism". However, when one analyzes the situation, the question that should come to mind is: Do the teachings of Islam encourage terrorism? The answer: Certainly not! Islam totally forbids the terrorist acts that are carried out by some misguided people. It should be remembered that all religions have cults and misguided followers, so it is their teachings that should be looked at, not the actions of a few individuals. Unfortunately, in the media, whenever a Muslim commits a heinous act, he is labeled a "Muslim terrorist". However, when Serbs murder and rape innocent women in Bosnia, they are not called "Christian terrorists", nor are the activities in Northern Ireland labeled "Christian terrorism". Also, when right-wing Christians in the U. S. bomb abortion clinics, they are not called "Christian terrorists". Reflecting on these facts, one could certainly conclude that there is a double-standard in the media! Although religious feelings play a significant role in the previously mentioned "Christian" conflicts, the media does not apply religious labels because they assume that such barbarous acts have nothing to do with the teachings of Christianity. However, when something happens involving a Muslim, they often try to put the blame on Islam itself -- and not the misguided individual. Certainly, Islamic Law allows war --- any religion or civilization that did not would never survive --- but it certainly does not condone attacks against innocent people, women or children. The Arabic word "jihad", which is often translated as "Holy War", simply means "to struggle". The word for "war" in Arabic is "harb", not "jihad". "Struggling", i.e. "making jihad", to defend Islam, Muslims or to liberate a land where Muslims are oppressed is certainly allowed (and even encouraged) in Islam. However, any such activities must be done according to the teachings of Islam. Islam also clearly forbids "taking the law into your own hands", which means that individual Muslims cannot go around deciding who they want to kill, punish or torture. Trial and punishment must be carried out by a lawful authority and a knowledgeable judge. Also, when looking at events in the Muslim World, it should be kept in mind that a long period of colonialism ended fairly recently in most Muslim countries. During this time, the peoples in this countries were culturally, materially and religiously exploited - mostly by the so-called "Christian" nations of the West. This painful period has not really come to an end in many Muslim countries, where people are still under the control of foreign powers or puppet regimes supported by foreign powers. Also, through the media, people in the West are made to believe that tyrants like Saddam Hussein in Iraq and Moamar Qaddafi in Libya are "Islamic" leaders -- when just the opposite is true. Neither of these rulers even profess Islam as an ideology, but only use Islamic slogans to manipulate their powerless populations. They have about as much to do with Islam as Hitler had to do with Christianity! In reality, many Middle Eastern regimes which people think of as being "Islamic" oppress the practice of Islam in their countries. So suffice it to say that "terrorism" and killing innocent people directly contradicts the teachings of Islam.

Answer 3

Everything Islamic is from the Qur'an.

Everything Muslim is not.

Peace.

EDIT: to the well-meaning brother Viren, Islam is for all times. Jihad is for all times. Anytime you are attacked, you are required to defend your self, your family, your city and your country.

As far as my knowledge of history goes, mankind has been in a state of perpetual warfare ever since history. Jihad is very much a valid teaching.

Note that Jihad is fighting oppression, not causing it.

Answer 4

The thing of it is, no one definately can translate the book accurately because it's old Arabic.

Most sources have three Arab translations and these vary widely.

Same probably applies to the Jewish and Christian bibles.

Muslims or Islamics, then, tend to use this fact of semantics to say whatever they want to justify at the moment.

Christians do it also, with things like Thou Shalt Not Kill. They'll say the original word means Murder not Kill, hence you can execute prisoners or fight wars to the death.

Answer 5

NO, IN THOSE DAYS , WHEN THE QURAN WAS WRITTEN AND MUSLIM RELIGION SATRTED AND FLOURISHED, IT CAME UNDER ATTACK FROM VARIOUS QUARTERS, SO THE MOHAMMED THE PROPHET SAID THERE SHOULD BE JIHAD, TO DEFEND THE RELIGION "PER SE". IT IS NOT MEANT TO BE USED AT ALL TIMES AND AGAINST ALL ENEMIES.

Answer 6

jihad is just another excuse for muslims to try to force their false religion on others.

Answer 7

yes we are commanded to defend ourselves and not turn the other cheek.

"an eye for an eye"