Through Force or Faith? — Page 116
?— A Reply to Pope Benedict XVI 116 is employed and this is but one among many forms of jihad. It means to defend oneself and to restore the freedom that has been usurped by oppression and persecution as is said: ْمِهِراَيِد ِرْيَغِب ٍّقَح ۤاَّلِا ْنَا اْوُلْوُقَّي اَنُّبَر ُهّٰللا١َؕنِذُا َنْيِذَّلِل َنْوُلَتٰقُي ْمُهَّنَاِب اْوُمِلُظ١ؕ َو َّنِا َهّٰللا ىٰلَع ْمِهِرْصَن ُرْيِدَقَلۙ َنْيِذَّل۟ا اْوُجِرْخُا ْنِم Permission to fight is given to those against whom war is made, because they have been wronged—and Allah, indeed, has power to help them—Those who have been driven out from their homes unjustly, only because they said, ‘Our Lord is Allah…’ ( S u rah al- H ajj, 22:40–41) Term ‘Holy War’ for Jihad In the criticism of Islam, with respect to jihad , it is said in the Western world these days that Muslims consider jihad as Holy War, and because of it they jump into it under the influence of emotions without reflection and as a result the society becomes insecure. It has been observed that certain terms that originally belonged to the Western Christian world have been imputed to Islam deliberately. One of these terms is ‘Holy War’. In the original sources of Islam (Quran and h adīth ), one does not find any use of the term ‘Holy War’ for jihad. This term belongs to Christians indeed. It is substantiated by the fact that, not only the Bible is its original source; its holiness has been invoked by the Church to thrust its followers into wars for centuries. It is mentioned in the book of Joel in the Old Testament: