The British Government and Jihad — Page 4
4 Why did Islam come to need jihad and what is jihad ? I would now like to address this question. It needs to be understood that Islam was forced to confront great difficulties from its very inception, and all nations stood opposed to it. When a Prophet or Messenger comes from God, his followers are perceived to be a promising, truthful, righteous and progressive group that is likely to advance quickly. Pre-existing communities and reli- gious sects inevitably begin to develop a certain kind of anger and jealousy towards them. Religious experts and leaders are particularly vocal about expressing such feelings because arrival of a man of God leads to a change in their incomes and pres- tige. Their students and disciples begin to emerge from their trap because they find all excellent qualities of faith, morality and knowledge in the person who is from God. Those possessing sense and discrimination therefore begin to under- stand that these scholars do not deserve the respect that they had been previously accorded on the basis of educational accomplishment, piety and abstinence. Exalted titles such as Najm-ul-Ummah [Star of the Nation], Shams-ul-Ummah [Sun of the Nation], Sheikh-ul-Mash a ’ikh [Leader of the Honourable] and so forth no longer befit them. Sensible people who do not wish to lose their faith therefore turn away from these scholars. Religious scholars and patriarchs have always been jealous of God’s Prophets and Messengers because of the foregoing losses. The members of this faction are in fact deficient; they possess very little of Divine light and their flaws are totally exposed during a Prophet or Messenger’s time. Their egos give rise to a hostility towards God’s Prophets and the righteous, and they selfishly devise plans to injure them. Such people sometimes