Islam is one faith, which has divided humanity into two permanently warring factions: those who believe in Allah and Muhammad, are the God's Party, and those who do not, are the Devil's Party. The former have the most sacred duty to eliminate and subdue the latter. So urgent is this purpose that Islam not only encourages its followers to murder, plunder and seduce the women of the infidels but also projects such murder, plunder and seduction as the greatest virtues. Islam calls it "Jehad", which guarantees the Mujahid (holy warrior) salvation i.e. a seat in Paradise.

                                                                            -         Anwar Shaikh

What is Jehad? The following lines quoted from the Quran help us to understand it:

a. "God has bought from the faithful their selves and their belongings against the gift of paradise; they fight in the way of Allah; they kill and get killed; that is a promise binding on Allah... (Repentance, 9: 110)

b. "Fight those who believe not in Allah and the Last Day and do not forbid what God and His Messenger have forbidden -- such men as practice not the religion of truth, being of those who have been given the Book -- until they pay the tribute out of hand and have been humbled." (Repentance, 9: 25)

Thus, according to Koran, whatever a Muslim possesses, including his life, belongs to Allah in return for paradise. Allah is bound by His promise to offer paradise to a Muslim provided he willingly kills and gets killed for His pleasure. The Muslims must fight non-Muslims. Non-Muslims are all those people, who do not believe in Islam (the religion of truth). Thus People of the Book i.e., the Jews and Christians, are equally infidels like the Hindus, the Buddhists, the atheists, etc., and must be killed unless they submit before the Islamic sword and live as tributaries (zimmie) to acknowledge their humiliation through payment of Jaziyah i.e. Poll Tax. Jehad automatically becomes obligatory on a Muslim when people do not practice what Allah and Muhammad have prescribed as the proper way of life.

‘Jehad’ is an Arabic word, which literally means ‘endeavour’, but as an Islamic doctrine, it implies fighting in the way of Allah to establish His supremacy over unbelievers until they relinquish their faith to become ‘Muslims’ or acknowledge their subordination by paying a humiliation tax called ‘jaziya’. In the name of 'Jehad', the followers of the Prophet have been indulging in warfare to convert non-Muslims to Islam for the last 14 centuries. The common Islamic technique of invasion was to send an ultimatum to the neighbouring non-Muslim ruler to convert to Islam, or face the threat of invasion by the armies of Islam. Today this has changed to take the form of terrorism and the violent happenings seen in Kashmir, Nigeria, Indonesia, Lebanon, Israel, Bosnia, Egypt and wherever there is a presence of Muslim population with a non-Muslim population.

The Koran pronounces the undertaking of jehad to constitute a Muslim’s supreme duty. Jehad is the highest form of worship in Islam. There are many kinds of Jehad. It can be waged by pen, by property and time and also by tongue. But the highest form of Jehad consists in giving away one's life in the way of God. The Quran says that you should not use the word "die” or "dead" for the martyrs because they are alive; only the living do not realise the kind of life the martyr lives, a life, that is far more superior and vigorous than our present life. According to the Quran, the martyrs receive ample provision in a regular manner and they are so richly rewarded that they desire to return to the world more than once and suffer martyrdom time and time again. The Prophet also said: "Acting as Allah's soldier for one night in a battlefield is superior to saying prayers at home for 1,000 years." (Ibne Majah, Vol. 2, page 166)

The conversion of unbelievers to Islam is the supreme aim of Jehad, though the call for conversion has not been made a compulsory pre-requisite for mounting a jehadic offensive. The other aim of Jehad is plunder, jazyah and slaughter. “Eat ye the spoils of war. They are lawful and pure” (Quran 8/69). The property of the infidel – his wealth, his women, his children – all without exception, is the lawful plunder for the mujahid i.e. the Islamic warrior. What makes Jehad irresistible to the Muslim is the reward it offers to a mujahid. A Mujahid is promised plenty of reward for participating in the carnage whether or not he survives the rigors of the battlefield. If he gets killed, then he is assured of a place in jannat i.e. paradise with beautiful gardens, wine and seventy-two houries or ever young women with wide eyes; and if he survives, then he has a share in the ghanimah i.e. plunder or spoils of war or war booty including the women of the infidels. The captured kafir women, snatched from their husbands, can be enjoyed with absolute impunity by the mujahids.

Hindus have been the victims of jehad-riots in an ever-increasing progression ever since Mohammed-bin-Qasim first invaded Sind in the seventh century. The gory chapters of Indian history, right from the invasions by the Persians, Afgans, Mongols, Turks and the Mughals to the present day terrorismare all the outcome of the “holy” doctrine of jehad. As Prof. Suhas Majumdar in his book ‘Jihad – The Islamic Doctrine of Permanent War’ points out, the Hindus should clearly understand that the doctrine of jehad is absolutely fatal to their life and property, not to speak of the honour of their womenfolk. If the Hindu does not make a serious and determined effort towards persuading his Muslim brethren to renounce the doctrine of jehad, if he does not devote his heart and soul to devise adequate means of achieving that end, then he is most certainly proceeding towards self-destruction and that too in a not very distant future. Prof. Majumdar further points out that, starting from the Islamic revolution of Khomeini’s Iran, Muslims all over the world are hell-bent on reviving the jehadic frenzy of 7th century Islam. That the Muslims of India should continue to feed on such frenzy and that the Hindus should persist in their delusion regarding the feasibility of peaceful coexistence with such a frenzied folk, does no longer make sense.

As Anwar Shaikh very correctly points out, Jehad or the pretended holy war in the name of God, has no relevance to the modern world, equipped with the most lethal weapons that have the ability to kill entire mankind within a few hours. Elimination of religious war is the most urgent need of our times.