Through Force or Faith? — Page 118
?— A Reply to Pope Benedict XVI 118 It is said: َو َنْيِذَّلا اْوُدَهاَج اَنْيِف ْمُهَّنَيِدْهَنَل اَنَلُبُس١ؕ َو َّنِا َهّٰللا َعَمَل َنْيِنِسْحُمْلا And as for those who strive in our path—We will, surely, guide them in Our ways. And, verily, Allah is with those who do good. ( S u rah al-‘Ankab u t, 29:70) َو ْنَم َدَهاَج اَمَّنِاَف ُدِهاَجُي ٖهِسْفَنِل َّنِا َهّٰللا ٌّيِنَغَل ِنَع َنْيِمَلٰعْلا And whoso strives, strives only for his own soul; ver- ily Allah is Independent of the entire universe. ( S u rah al-‘Ankab u t, 29:7) ٌمْيِحَّرَّمُث َّنِا َكَّبَر َنْيِذَّلِل اْوُرَجاَه ْۢنِم ِدْعَب اَم اْوُنِتُف َّمُث اْوُدَهٰج َو اْۤوُرَبَص١ۙ َّنِا َكَّبَر ْۢنِم اَهِدْعَب ٌرْوُفَغَل Then, surely thy Lord—to those who fled their homes after they had been persecuted and then struggled hard in the cause of Allah and remained steadfast— aye, surely, after that thy Lord is Most Forgiving, Merciful. ( S u rah an-Na h l, 16:111) (Note: This verse is from the chapter Al-Na h l, which is a Meccan chapter. ) Upon reflection on these verses, it becomes clear that in Islamic terminology, jihad is the phrase for effective application of extreme effort and perfect means for a noble purpose in the path of God. As all the aforementioned verses are Meccan, it is self-evident that the adversaries of Islam have always given a wrong connotation to the word and term of jihad , as jihad was being practiced even in Meccan life when there was no war and no armed conflict. This