The British Government and Jihad — Page 3
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ 1 2 نَحْمَدُهُ وَنُصَلِّي عَلَى رَسُولِهِ الْكَرِيمُ . THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT AND JIHAD The philosophy and true nature of jihad is a matter both complex and subtle. Grave errors have been made both in our age and in the middle age [of Islam] because people failed to understand this subject. It is with great embarrassment that I am forced to admit that these dangerous mistakes have exposed the holy religion of Islam, which is a mirror of the laws of nature and a manifestation of God's glory, to the criticism of its opponents. It should be understood that the word "jihad" is derived from the [Arabic] root "juhd", which means "to strive" and is there- fore used figuratively for religious wars. It seems that the word "yudh", which is commonly used by Hindus to mean war, is in reality a corruption of the word jihad. Since Arabic is the mother of all languages, out of which all other languages emerged, the word "yudh" which in Sanskrit means war is actu- ally the same as "juhd" or "jihad". Over time the letter "jim" was replaced by the letter "y" and after further alteration the word was spoken with phonetic emphasis. 1. In the name of Allah, the Gracious, the Merciful. [Translator] 2. We praise Allah and invoke His blessings upon His noble Prophetsa. [Translator]