Thursday, March 31, 2011

The Concept of "Inner" Jihad (Bumped)

My friend Kitman at Kitman TV makes a very interesting observation about the difference between the 'inner' and 'outer' struggle in Jihad:

Roughly speaking Aziz argues that God is only happy if you are doing it for him alone. You should fight in the path of God so that his words will be the highest. God is not only upset if his slaves flirt with other Abrahamic faiths, he also tend to get very unhappy if they think too much of the earthly riches especially the war booty, or even their heavenly counterparts. Falling short on these issues could seriously damage the ability of an otherwise successful killing spree to heap up postmortem delights

Don´t think about:

- a share of the spoils of war
- having your own sex-slaves
- improving your career opportunities
- the pleasures of paradise
- bettering the chances for your family in the after life
- other distractions from the pure cause

Keeping an eye on all these things, while fighting the unbelievers makes jihad a very difficult exercise, physically as well as mentally - hence the classic distinction between the small and the grand jihad - the inner and outer struggle. It is thus important to remember, that Jihad really is a small inner struggle, in which you constantly remind yourself that you kill for God alone and in a manner he prefers. All the while treating the war booty as something irrelevant.

In short, 'inner' Jihad, as Muslims often attempt to tell us, is not necessarily a struggle to do good over evil (like the followers of Islam ever succeed in that struggle...) but rather ensuring the mindset that 'outer' Jihad (terrorism against non-Muslims) is being committed for Allah, and not for personal gain such as fame, wealth, or an elevated status.

Read the rest at Kitman TV

Kitman TV lists, embeds, and links some of the best anti-Jihad videos you'll find on the web. It also includes the Jihad Dossier - a library of Islamic PDFs. This is a must-bookmark site for any blogging Crusader!

Referenced PDF - "Jihad and the Effects of Intention Upon It"
(You can right-click and 'save link' to download)

(Cross-posted at The Jawa Report, SnappedShot.com and Avid Editor's Insights)