The Stages of Jihad
By Wolfgang Bruno
A new essay by European author Wolfgang Bruno with a useful summation
of themes that will be familiar to longtime Jihad Watch readers --
including the three stages of jihad that I outline from Islamic sources in
Onward
Muslim Soldiers:
When Dutch Islam critic Theo van Gogh was murdered, comments were made
that “jihad
had arrived” in the Netherlands. Physical fighting is indeed the
primary meaning of the concept of jihad, and should be undertaken if one
is able. Jihad as Holy War is the geographical expansion of Islamic rule
by force of arms. It does not always mean killing those who are conquered,
but it does mean the acknowledgment of Islam's
supremacy. However, if that is not yet possible, then jihad should be
with one's tongue, by speaking out. Simply put, jihad is anything
undertaken to advance the spread of Islam, peaceful or not. Which means
that jihad is always present, even if there should be an absence of
violence. Da’wah, missionary work and calling to Islam, is also part
of jihad, and is utilized until such a time that physical jihad is
made possible through greater numbers. Until then, it is important to make
sure that non-Muslims are not fully aware of the real Islamic agenda. This
is where deception comes in.
Islam allows
deception in war in order to attain victory, and Muhammad himself said
"War
is deceit". "Taqiyya",
with origins in Shi’a Islam but now practiced by non-Shi’a as well, is
deliberate dissimulation to protect Islam. “Kitman” consists in
telling only a part of the truth. A good example of the use of
“kitman” is when a Muslim maintains that “jihad” really means
“an inner, spiritual struggle,” and fails to add that this definition
is based on one single, “weak” hadith of doubtful authenticity. There
are nearly 200
references to jihad in the most standard collection of hadith, Sahih
al-Bukhari, and all assume that jihad means warfare. Muhammad himself gave
the best example of
kitman in the early days of Islam, when the number of Muslims was
still small. The command to fight the infidels openly was delayed until
the Muslims become strong, but when they were weak they were commanded to
endure and be patient.
Allah changed
his instructions over time according to this principle. A good example
is the case of alcohol
consumption. Early on, the consumption of alcohol was permitted (2:219),
then restricted (4:43)
and eventually banned (5:90).
There is no disagreement among Muslims that the latter revelation cancels
out the earlier ones (2:106),
rendering them invalid, and alcohol is thus prohibited. The Koran includes
many such abrogated
verses. The early Koran of the Mecca period presented religious
tolerance as a divine command simply because Muslims had not yet acquired
the physical power to compel conversion. But when Islam became more
powerful after the flight to
Medina, the "verses of the sword" were conveniently revealed to
the Prophet, verses that sanction and indeed command violence,
historically Islam's preferred method of expansion.
Calls to "fight and slay the idolaters wherever
you find them" (9:5),
"smite at their necks" (47:4),
"make war on the unbeliever in Allah, until they pay tribute" (9:29),
"Fight until the religion be all of it Allah's" (8:39)
or "announce painful punishment to those who disbelieve" (9:3)
all contradict "There is no compulsion in religion" (2:256).
Note that sura 9 was the last or second last chapter to be revealed to
Muhammad. It is also the most aggressive and intolerant sura in the Koran,
replacing all the peaceful ones made at times of Muslim weakness.
Offensive jihad, attacking, is now fully
permissible in Sunni Islam.
Mark Gabriel, now Christian, is an ex-Muslim and former professor of
Islamic history at Al-Azhar University in Egypt. His books can give an
easy and basic introduction to Islamic concepts, also for those who
don’t share his religion. In Islam
and Terrorism he divides jihad into three stages: The weakened
stage, when Muslims are a small minority, the preparation stage and the
jihad stage, when Muslims are a large minority with real power. Notice
that full-scale, armed jihad can be launched even when Muslim are a
minority. They can then wage a jihad to cut off a part of the country for
themselves. This is what happened to India when the Muslim minority
created Pakistan. And this is what may happen to nations such as France in
the not too distant future. Muslims make up 10% of the population in
France today, but one in three of newborn babies. When their proportion
reaches 15, 20 or 30 percent, France may break down in civil war, as
Lebanon did. French Muslims have so far accepted the banning of the veil
in schools. This indicates that they still don’t
feel strong enough to wage armed rebellion against the state. It probably
also means that they judge time to be on their side, demographically
speaking. The clashes in Holland recently could be viewed as passing from
the weak stage to the preparation stage, with more open Muslim
assertiveness. The fact that this happens already when they make up 6% of
the population may be due to what Muslim perceive to be a weak response
from the Dutch.
However, even when Muslims make up only a very small part of the
population, they can affect discourse about Islam. One of the first things
Muhammad and his companions did in Medina was to launch an assassination
campaign against people such as Asma
bint Marwan and Abu
Afak, to intimidate critics into submission. Muslims now follow the
pattern of their prophet from 1400 years ago, his sunna. Both the Italian
translator and the Norwegian publisher of Salman Rushdie’s The
Satanic Verses were
nearly killed for taking part in “blasphemy” against Islam. The
Japanese translator of the book was stabbed to death in July 1991. In the
USA, Steven Emerson received
death threats for his work “Jihad in America”, whereas the
controversial Islamic reformer Rashid Khalifa was declared an apostate and
murdered in 1990 in Tuscon, Arizona. In all of these countries, Muslim
made up 1- 2 % of the population, or even less. The more recent example of
Theo van Gogh further demonstrates how toxic even a minor Muslim presence
can be.
As ex-Muslim Muhammad bin Abdulla puts it in the book Leaving
Islam: “Islam has two sets of teeth, like elephants. One is
ivory. The other set of teeth is hidden inside its jaws and is used to
chew and crush. All those sweet peace talks of Islam relate to the time
and place of weak Islam in early years. But whenever and wherever Muslims
were and are strong, they have another set of cruel laws and conduct”.
Today, in the West, we are witnessing the Islamic stage
of weakness, but the stage of violent jihad is coming sooner or later.
The reality is exactly the opposite of what
multiculturalists claim, who think clashes with Muslims will diminish in
time as we “get used to” each other. They won’t. They will become
more dangerous, as Muslims grow bolder and work to silence the
media and moderates
while supporting
terrorism. If we fail to understand this, the War against political
Islam in 2020 won’t be in Tehran, Riyadh or Baghdad. It will be in
Paris, London and Amsterdam, and maybe in Montreal, Sydney, Detroit and
New Jersey, too.
Wolfgang Bruno is a European author. He is writing a book about the
Internet movement of ex-Muslims. All
of Bruno's essays can be republished and reproduced for free by
anybody who wants to, as long as credit is given to the author.
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