The Gulf Crisis and New World Order — Page 14
Quotations from Sem1011s terminology taught to us by the Holy Quran and by Muhammad-. It is unrelated to the military terminology of the world. " (January 25, 1991) Defination of Jihad: "The second question which is being frequently raised at the present time is about "Jihad". Ahmadi Muslims from various countries ask me what reply should they give. Is this war a Jihad i. e Holy-War according to the teachings of Islam? As far as the definition of the concept of Jihad in Islam is concerned, the most comprehensive definition has been given in the Chapter Al-Haj of the Holy Quran in the verse which I have mentioned a number of times. "Permission to fight is granted to those against whom war is made because they have been wronged. " (Al-Haj:40) That is, those people are granted permission to raise their sword against those who are engaged in fighting against them. They can raise their swords only against those who first commenced hostilities against them, not because of any justifiable cause but because they are oppressed and have been wronged. This verse develops this subject further and it is not possible to give a finer or more perfect definition of Jihad than this. If we apply this definition to the present situation then it is definitely not Jihad in the Islamic sense. It is a political war. A political war, whether it be between Muslims and non-Muslims or between one Muslim nation and another Muslim nation, does not become a Jihad. Only the war of an oppressed group which is being prevented from declaring its faith in God or which is fighting against religious persecution on itself can be called Jihad. " (January 25, 1990) 14