“ The concept of jihad, which means an inner struggle to be more human, has suffered from betrayals from within,” said Jalal, a professor of history at Tufts University. “ Just when Islamic scholars like Shah Waliuallah, considered to be the founder of liberal Islam in India, would tone down the rhetoric about jihad and Islam in the 18th century, along would come people like Abul Ala Maududi in the 20th century, who would propagate a darker and a more absolute view of Islam and indeed jihad.” She said organisations supposedly associated with terrorism, such as Lakshar- e- Tayyeba and Jamat- ul- Dawa, play with people’s minds. “ When they helped people after the earthquake in Pakistan in 2005, they termed it as jihad for people who had died of a natural cause,” she said.
Ayesha said she had thought of writing a book on jihad much before 9/ 11. “ The concept of jihad is crucial to understanding the issue of faith or imaan ,” she said. “ Because if someone tells you he or she is a Hindu, Sikh or Parsi, it really does not tell you what their faith is. The concept of jihad has shifted to refer to infidel encroachment rather than an ethical struggle to be more human. The word has had a topsy- turvy journey. Its beginnings were in imaan ( faith), but over the centuries, jihad has come to be associated with external sacrifice rather than an inner struggle to understand Islam.”
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1:39 AM
Moderate Islamist here
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