“Well, the phrase jihad has a lot of meanings within Islam and is subject to a lot of different interpretations,” the president responded. “I think all of us recognize that this great religion in the hands of a few extremists has been distorted to justify violence towards innocent people that is never justified. And so, I think, one of the challenges that we face is, how do we isolate those who have these distorted notions of religious war.”Is this true? Does the term 'jihad' have many different meanings within Islam? The short answer is sorta. The President is kinda correct. He's just not as precise with his terms (and for that I won't fault him.) The term 'jihad' has one basic meaning in Islam. Jihad means to strive or to struggle. The question Muslims ask themselves is, "With what or whom are we striving or struggling?" One possibly is that we are to strive and to struggle against sin. This is how is it understood, we are told, by the majority Muslims. Allah calls all devout Muslims to eradicate evil from their lives and to live in pure, holy devotion to him. Another option is that Muslims are to strive and to struggle against those who are opposed to Allah. This is holy war and is, according to the President, how the term is used by "a few extremists."
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Does 'Jihad' Have to Several Meanings?
While in India, President Obama was asked his thoughts on jihad. According to one source, the President said:
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Does the term 'Jihad' get used in daily kinds of conversations? For example, would someone say that trying to get a bolt loose was a jihad?
ReplyDeleteI guess I was wondering if it was similar to the Greek word for repent, which just means to change your mind. But in some contexts, people employ the word [metanoia] to specifically refer to the theological concept.
I know I've told students in the past that if they don't turn their homework in that I'll jihad them in the face, but I'm not familiar with using it in a non-theological context.
ReplyDeleteAs far as 'repent' goes, I've often wondered what the theological meaning of the term was. It seems to mean the same thing. I guess it just has greater theological significance because of its relationship to salvation.
The greek word [metanoia] simply means to change one's mind; however, I believe the NT writers were using that term because it most closely related to a Hebrew term, which does carry the more theological meaning.
ReplyDeleteI think that in Hebrews 12:17, the author is using the simple - change one's mind- usage of 'repent'. In other words, Esau wants his father to change his mind about Esau's birthright. He is not asking God to change His mind about salvation. I think the context makes this clear.
And i'll jihad anyone who thinks otherwise, or i might repent and sing them a song.