The Spirituality of Jihad

[qatarperegrine]

Last Thursday, my friend Doug and I attended a talk on "The Spirituality of Jihad" over at Georgetown. The speaker was Dr. Reza Shah-Kazemi, from the Institute of Ismaili Studies. He's written several books on Shi'a and on mysticism in Hinduism, Christianity and Islam. He has a bachelor's in International Relations and a doctorate in Comparative Religion, so basically I want to be him when I grow up.

The talk was rather loosely organized, but I thought Dr. Shah-Kazemi said some interesting things. It's always fun to hear a Shi'a/Sufi perspective, since mostly around here we hear Sunni/Wahhabist perspectives.

(All quotes from the Qur'an below are reconstructed from my notes of his on-the-fly translations. If you want to read official translations of the verse, I recommend the USC-MSA Compendium of Muslim Texts.)

Dr. Shah-Kazemi began by reminding us that Muhammad once told his troops, as they returned from battle, that they were returning from the "lesser jihad" to the "greater jihad." "What is the greater jihad?" they asked him; he replied "al-jihad al-nafs," the war of (or with, or for) the soul.

1. Lesser Jihad
   
   
   1. Jihad must be defensive and abide by rules of combat
      The foundational verse of jihad al-asghar is 2:190: "Fight in the way of God those who fight you, but do not transgress, for God does not love transgressors." He says that transgressing in this case means aggressing; jihad is always a defensive struggle.
      
      Jihads must also be declared by someone with the authority to do so, and they must abide by all the rules of combat set down in the Qur'an, such as the inviolability of noncombatants. Dr. Shah-Kazemi says that most supposed "jihads" declared today are in clear violation of Quranic principles. For example, he argued that suicide bombings are in clear violation of a hadith (Bukhari 4.52.147) in which Muhammed condemned a man who committed suicide on the battlefield.
   
   
   2. Jihad is authorized only to ensure religious freedom
      Explicit religious persecution is the only legitimate grounds for jihad: "God does not forbid you from dealing kindly and justly with those who do neither persecute you on the basis of your faith nor drive you from your homes. ... God only forbids you from turning to those who who persecute you for your faith and drive you from your homes. ..." (60:8-9)
      
      And it is religious persecution against anyone, not just Muslims, that necessitates jihad. The reason God instituted jihad was to protect places of worship, regardless of their religious affiliation: "If God did not repel some people by means of others, then cloisters and churches and synagogues and mosques, places in which the name of God is invoked, would be destroyed." (22:40)
   
   
   3. Case study: 'Abd al-Qadir
      The revered Algerian emir 'Abd al-Qadir led the rebellion when France colonized Algeria in 1830. Dr. Shah-Kazemi said he upheld the Quranic injunction "Never let the hatred of a people allow you to deal unjustly with them; this is closer to piety" (5:8). Even during his campaign against the French he was known for being more merciful than the colonists. Unlike the French, he didn't permit prisoners to be tortured; apparently he once had an underling whipped for beheading a Frenchman for a trophy, even though the Frenchman was already dead at the time. Dr. Shah-Kazemi also said that when al-Qadir requested that a priest be sent for his POWs, the French were worried word would get out that he was acting more chivalrous than they were.
      
      In 1847 al-Qadir was forced to surrender, and was allowed to move to Damascus after a couple years imprisonment in France. (As a side note, when we were in France last month we happened to visit the chateau where he was imprisoned. I had no idea who he was but was struck by the high regard in which he was obviously held in Amboise; there is a street named after him, and the memorial to his household is much larger and more impressive than the neighboring memorial to Da Vinci!)
      
      In 1860 there was a massacre of Christians in Damascus, and al-Qadir took Christians into his own home and the citadel to protect them. He told his men to protect the Christians with their lives, and said it was as worthy a cause as fighting the French had been. Thus, Dr. Shah-Kazemi said, he "morally equated fighting Christian colonialist aggressors and fighting fanatical Muslim aggressors."
      
      Dr. Shah-Kazemi also quoted a passage from one of al-Qadir's letters, which he has embraced as his motto:

      "When we think how few men of real religion there are, how small the number of defenders and champions of the truth -- when one sees ignorant people imagining that the principle of Islam is hardness, severity, extravagance and barbarism -- it is time to repeat these words: 'Patience is beautiful; help is from God.' (12:18)."

      
      


2. Greater Jihad
   
   
   1. Sufi doctrine of jihad
      The Sufi doctrine of jihad is shown in the three stages of the soul. The first stage is al-nafs al-ammara, the unruly soul that incites to evil. The next stage is al-nafs al-lawwama, the self-accusing soul in which "conscience has been enlivened." The final stage is al-nafs al-mutmaina, the perfected soul that is at peace in the certainty of God. Jihad is the process through which the soul moves from stage two to stage three.
      
      
   2. Al-hawa'
      The greater jihad means fighting al-hawa al-nafs, the caprice or egoism of the soul. Egoism leads to hidden shirk, or what Dr. Shah-Kazemi calls "polytheism on the level of spirituality, not on the level of theology." In other words, those who have not conquered hawa are guilty of idolatry because they worship their own whims instead of God.
   
   
   3. Case study: Imam 'Ali
      'Ali's life also demonstrates the true jihadi. Dr. Shah-Kazemi recalled 'Ali taking time before a battle to answer someone's theological questions, since he said that coming to terms with God's oneness was more important than physical battle.
      
      In another famous moment, 'Ali was prepared to kill an adversary when suddenly the adversary spat in his face. In that moment 'Ali changed his mind and spared the adversary's life, because he did not want to kill out of personal anger. Dr. Shah-Kazemi quoted the words Rumi put into 'Ali's mouth, saying that due to their great impact Rumi's words are as important as whatever 'Ali actually said at the time:

      "[Ali] said, 'I strike [with] the sword for the sake of God [only]. I am the servant of God; I am not commanded by the body.
      I am the Lion of God, not the lion of craving, [and] my actions are evidence of my religion.
      In battle, [the verse] "You did not throw when you threw" [is the attitude] for me. I am like the sword, but the one who strikes is [like] the Sun.
      I have removed the baggage of self from [blocking] the way, [and] I have considered [anything] other than God [to be] nothing.
      I am a shadow [and] the Sun is my lord; I am the doorkeeper, not a curtain [barring the way] to Him.'"

      (That last part is a pun: I am the hajib, the doorkeeper, not the hijab, the curtain.)
      
      Intriguingly, Dr. Shah-Kazemi compared 'Ali at that moment to both Arjuna (the great warrior on the battlefield) and to Krishna (the manifestation of the Divine) in the Bhagavad Gita. Wow.
   
   
3. The Expansiveness of Islam
   I'm not entirely sure how this section relates to jihad, but it was clearly the core of what Dr. Shah-Kazemi wanted to say. Perhaps it can be seen as his alternative to the worldview that says that jihad is the normative state of affairs between Islam and the non-Muslim world.
   
   "Truth is not within the confines of Islam," Dr. Shah-Kazemi said. "It's not that where Islam is, there is truth. Rather, where truth is, there is Islam." The Qur'an is kitab bil-haqq -- a book with truth -- that serves as a confirmation and protector of previous scriptures and truths.
   
   Dr. Shah-Kazemi emphasized that salvation is not confined to Muslims: "Jews, Christians, Sabians, and whoever believes in God and the Day of Judgment and who acts virtuously, will have their reward; they shall not fear, nor shall they grieve" (2:62). In fact, references to exclusivity in the Qur'an are shown to be absurd: "[Jews and Christians] say: 'No one will enter salvation except Jews and Christians.' These are their vain desires. Say: 'Show proof, if you are truthful.' No; whoever submits and is virtuous will get his reward" (2:111-112).

In conclusion (or in abstract, if you didn't read the above): armed struggle is permissible in Islam in very limited circumstances, and only to protect religious freedoms. More vital, though, is the "greater jihad" or the struggle to conquer our own caprices and egoism.

Comments

Dr Reza Shah- Kazemi

[(Anonymous)]

I do enjoy checking your blog! Here is a new source to read! Your parental units have just spent a fun half hour finding out about Dr. Shah-Kazemi, and have agreed to buy his book when it comes out or we get home.
Like Reza Aslan, he is able to put together his roots and commitment to Islam and his western setting.
Thanks, Qatar!

[gryphonwing.livejournal.com]

Wow, thank you! I used to work with a man from Iraq who would talk to me about Islam. He explained to me what "jihad" really means--and explained it almost exactly like this, too. Since then I have refrained from using it to mean any violence despite the "lesser" meaning, because it's so incredibly overused and misused. I loved listening to Saad talk about the striving for spiritual perfection, the inner jihad. He was a man I greatly admired--and he was also the first Arabic Muslim I ever knew well enough to talk with about religion.

Because of him, my understanding of Islam is that at heart it's about personal purity, and that living one's life according to its precepts will bring one closer to God. Also because of him, I think of it as a religion espousing peace, not war.

He allowed me to mentally separate Islam-the-faith from Middle Eastern culture and cultural history, too. And while I know very well that there are plenty of people who disagree with him about Islam, I think his views aren't terribly unusual.

Every Muslim I've known personally--and it's a short list, sadly--has been a kind, respectful, and deeply spiritual person. I suppose it prejudices me a bit. :)

[yamansalahi.livejournal.com]

His views about jihad are quite prevalent in the West amongst Muslim academics of all persuasions--Sunni and Shia, and amongst Sufi orders.

[y-pestis.livejournal.com]

Remember your post on Muslim heroes? I think you may have found one - it sounds like 'Abd al-Qadir may fit the bill...

Fascinating, thanks for the notes!!

-M

[qatar.livejournal.com]

Well... in my post I was looking for pacifist heroes, not people who were nice in battle. However, 'Abd al-Qadir, like Saladin, is a good reminder that Muslims have often been much more chivalrous and committed to ethics in wartime than their non-Muslim counterparts. That counts for something.

Sufism

[(Anonymous)]

If you have an interest in Sufism you should read Mevlana Jelalluddin Rumi's works. Coleman Barks' "The Illuminated Rumi" would be a good place to start, if you haven't been exposed to him already.
www.sufism.org

Eyvallah!
-Rockin' Hejabi
www.rockinghejabi.blogspot.com
rockinhejabi@yahoo.com

Re: Sufism

[qatar.livejournal.com]

Yes, I love Rumi! Especially Barks' translations. I hadn't seen sufism.org before, though; thanks.