Approaching the West — Page 77
A pproaching the West—77 calling for “a struggle within. ” He called for every Muslim to protect their morals and spiritual values against decadence! That was the Jih ā d of the time. He also pointed out that the real enemies of Isl ā m had waged an intellectual warfare against Isl ā m and it needed a response by the Jih ā d of the pen and not of the sword. He declared that the concept of a continuous armed struggle against non-Muslims was an erroneous principle. The Qur’ ā n did not divide the world into D ā r al-Isl ā m (abode of Isl ā m—the territory where Isl ā m was supreme) and D ā r al- Ḥ arb (abode of war—that is, the rest of the world conceived as fighting against Isl ā m). As the Muslims are free to spread the message of Isl ā m through preaching, through peaceful means, through Da‘wat Ilall ā h—by calling mankind to God, the A ḥ madiyya Muslim Community is now leading in this form of Jih ā d. Ḥ a ḍ rat Mirz ā Ghul ā m A ḥ mad made a clear distinction between the real Isl ā mic Jih ā d and political or economical warfare. A ḥ mad ī s believe that to kill innocent non- combatants is a sin prohibited by Isl ā m, and to commit suicide is an even a greater sin. To combine the two sinful acts together in suicidal attacks does not make it a meritorious act at all. In addition to explaining the theological concept of Jih ā d, Ḥ a ḍ rat Mirz ā Ghul ā m A ḥ mad founded a dynamic community (a Jam ā ‘at) of Muslims—known as the A ḥ madiyya Movement in Isl ā m—to practice and implement what he preached. All the members of the A ḥ madiyya Muslim Jam ā ‘at have to take a pledge on oath that under the impulse of any passions, they shall cause no harm