Ah, now we’re getting somewhere: jihad is really an inner spiritual struggle, right? No warfare against unbelievers is involved, right? That’s what those who claim this site is “Islamophobic” keep telling us, right?
Not surprisingly, that is not what we get here. Al-Qaradawi has been praised by establishment dhimmi Islamic scholar John Esposito as a champion of a “reformist interpretation of Islam and its relationship to democracy, pluralism and human rights.”
He also says that Muslims should obtain nuclear weapons, explaining: “The Koran referred to this, saying: ‘Prepare against them what force and steeds of war you can, to strike terror in the hearts of the enemies of Allah and of your own enemies, and others besides them, whom you do not know, but Allah knows.’ ‘Prepare against them what force and steeds of war you can.'”
That’s Qur’an 8:60. And he also prayed that Allah would kill all the Jews: “Oh Allah, take this oppressive, Jewish, Zionist band of people. Oh Allah, do not spare a single one of them. Oh Allah, count their numbers, and kill them, down to the very last one.”
And so when this “reformist” turns to jihad, he ain’t exactly Gandhi. He blames “Orientalists” for the idea that jihad is holy war to spread Islam, but then goes on to say that Islam can and should be spread by many other means — something that we have been telling people at this site for years. It should also be borne in mind that spreading Islam is not just a spiritual quest, but a political one, since with Islam will come Sharia, and the institutionalized, legal oppression of women and non-Muslims.
“Ward Off Western Propaganda Against Jihad, Muslims Told,” from Bernama, December 19 (thanks to James):
PUTRAJAYA, Dec 19 (Bernama) — The Western orientalists’ propaganda that describes Jihad as a “holy war” to spread Islam across the world should be tackled seriously by all Muslims, World Union of Muslim Ulama chairman Prof Dr Yusuf Abdullah Ali Al-Qaradawi said.
To do so, he said, the Muslims should understand the real concept of Jihad to enable them to ward off the criticisms pertaining to the spread of Islam.
Apart from Jihad, he said the spread of Islam across the modern world could also be done via the Internet and the print and electronic media.
“Islam teaches the Muslims to spread the religion in a wise and proper manner.
“It will be wrong if it is done in the opposite manner. To understand the truth about something, we must also see the comparison,” he said when delivering a talk at the “Muhadharah Perdana 2009” programme here on Saturday.
Dr Al-Qaradawi, who is also the chairman of the European Council for Fatwa and Research, said although Jihad was compulsory for all Muslims, Islam had never been spread by using violence.
“Indeed, violence is not the smartest way to spread Islam. The use of swords in war may be necessary to open a new state, but it cannot open human minds,” he said..