TOI: What do the Qur’an and the Bhagavad Gita say about violence and conflict resolution in the context of jihad and Kurukshetra?
Maulana Wahiduddin Khan: Let’s discuss the misunderstanding of the term jihad. Jihad is an Arabic word that has neither a mysterious meaning nor relation to any sacred duty. Jihad is a simple word; it means to struggle, to strive. Jihad is to achieve a positive goal in life through peaceful means.
The Prophet of Islam has said: “Do jihad against your own desires.” That is, doing jihad against yourself. So jihad means to control your desires. Jihad is to discipline your own behaviour. The Qur’an says: “Do jihad with the help of the Qur’an” (25:52). The Qur’an is a book of ideology; it is not a weapon. So doing jihad with the help of the Qur’an means to try to achieve one’s goals through an ideological struggle.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: In the Bhagavad Gita, Sri Krishna said to Arjuna: The perpetual enemy of an enlightened person is agyaan or ignorance and desires. The shatru or enemy is desire. Our own mind behaves as both friend and enemy. When you have control over your mind it is your friend; when you don't have control, the mind is your enemy. The mind is the cause of your bondage and liberation. The mind you have no control over is frustrated and so is self-destructive. That is the mind you need to wage war with before dealing with outer war.
http://newageislam.com/jihad-in-the-gita-and-the-quran/islam,terrorism-and-jihad/d/1815
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