Jihad fi sabil Allah, jihad for the sake of Allah, is the common Islamic term for violent jihad — most decidedly not “spiritual struggle.” A prominent Muslim writer recently decried non-Muslim analysts for supposedly claiming that Islam is “inseparable from, exclusively defined by, and universally characterized by violence against non-Muslims.” I trust he will soon be firing off a sharp letter to Khaled Al-Dosari, the most wanted jihadist in Kuwait, for doing just that. “Top Wanted Kuwaiti Islamist: Islam is Only Consummated through Jihad; We Don’t Have Any Ties to Al-Qa’ida; Al-‘Anzi Was Executed upon American Orders,” from MEMRI, with thanks to Nicolei:
Question: “Would you turn yourself in to the authorities? Has anyone requested you to turn yourself in?”
Al-Dosari: “I love death more than [prison]… To whom should I turn myself in? To the oppressor so that he can oppress and torture me? I should turn myself in knowing that my fate would be like the fate of Sheikh ‘Amer [Al-‘Anzi]? If I knew that there was justice and respect for human rights, I would go of my own accord, but I am convinced that they want to kill me”¦”
Question: “What is your message to your people, your brethren, your friends, and the people at large?”
Al-Dosari: “I tell them that I stand firm in my principles. Their [the authorities’] threats to kill me will not turn me away from my religion. I don’t mind dying a Muslim, even if I don’t know where I am going [to Paradise or Hell]. Religion is only consummated in the Muslims’ souls and among the people through Jihad for the sake of Allah, in all its forms. Religion can subjugate the evil of those who corrupt the land only through force, which will scare them, and only through Jihad, which will break their power. Without Jihad there would be perversion in the land and the mosques would be ruined. The struggle between truth and falsehood is a valid sunna [way of life]. The party of falsehood is always larger than the party of truth. They will be defeated, and their evil will be stopped only through Jihad. Many people only listen to the truth when the use of force pushes them to do so.”
I think he may be right about that last bit.