Arab wars for power were not Islamic jihad

Arab wars for power were not Islamic jihad

CENTRALITY OF JIHAD IN THE POST-QUR’ANIC PERIOD

By Asghar Ali Engineer

(Islam and Modern Age, March 09)

Jihad in Islam has acquired centrality in history of Islam. In Qur’an it is not jihad but values like justice, compassion and forgiveness are more prominent. While these values are permanent and transcendent, war (for which Qur’an uses the word qital, not jihad) is contextual and defensive only when such situation arises. Rahmah (compassion) is quite central to Islam as it is one of the most prominent names of Allah. Compassion, in fact, is as central to Islamic value-system as in Buddhism. But then question arises why jihad, that too, in the sense of war, became so central to Islam? It is an important question and we must seek answer to this question in the history of Islam.

http://www.newageislam.com/arab-wars-for-power-were-not-islamic-jihad---/radical-islamism-and-jihad/d/1232