IT ISN’T FOR ONE’S MATERIAL WEALTH OR POWER BUT FOR THE COMMON GOOD

It’s narrated in authentic Hadith that Jihad as one of the means to Paradise can erase all sins (except debt) of the one who dies in it.

Participation in Jihad had to be voluntary, and intention must be pure, for Jihad is only waged for the sake of God, and not for one’s material wealth but for the common good here and the hereafter.

But Jihad does not mean ‘Holy War’ or a fight with the extreme use of weapons available to take lives and destroy properties. No, that is a gross misinterpretation of the Arabic word ‘Jihad’.

Jihad is the fight against rampant corruption, injustices, oppression, and poverty. It isn’t necessarily waged by armed struggle but, rather, by persuasive words and best action and conduct.

The Holy Prophet Mohammad (saw) said: “The ink of the scholar is more holy than the blood of the martyr.” Jihad is better fought with persuasive words than with armed struggle.

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In other words, Jihad is only justified to defend Islam, protect the Muslims and the oppressed, and their homeland, with Allah’s reward expected more in the hereafter than in the present world.

It is not justified by the worldly personal interest of an individual or a group. However, any temporal good that comes out of it, or any fruits it bears, should be enjoyed by all, and not the few alone.

The Holy Prophet Mohammad (saw) also said: “The most excellent Jihad is that for the conquest of self.”

The series of Moro autonomous governments from the central government in Manila including the present Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) is the outcome of the Moro People’s Jihad through the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) and other similar fronts of Muslim Filipinos.

And every Bangsamoro has the inherent right to participate in the affairs of the Bangsamoro governance including aspiring for any position, be it appointive or elective, if, indeed, Jihad is for Allah and for the people.

It is not proper to question others where were they at the height of the fighting. It is also wrong to say the BARMM is the sole affairs of the mujahideen whose Jihad could not be justified if not launched for all the people including politicians or what not.