One of the ten practical principles of Islam, The Holy Struggle, Jihad, is literally defined as “hardship, endeavor, exaggeration in work, reaching the height of something and capability”, while in the Sharia of Islam Jihad is sacrificing one’s life and property primarily for the sake of Allah, elevating and sustaining Islamic beliefs and standpoints. In this sense, Jihad is the act of Defending the Islamic territory against the assaults and intrusions of outsiders and invaders.

The essence of Jihad lies in Defense, thus any violence which is shown with the intention of invading a country or a nation’s lives, property, etc. and for manipulating their economic potentials or human resources, not only is not called Jihad but also considered as the overt manifestation of injustice and cruelty which is strongly rejected in Islam. 

In Which Cases The Holy Struggle (Jihad) is Possible?  

If an individual or a nation participates in a struggle in order to defend their life, money, property, or independence, they have in fact committed a holy task since they have stood up against the injustice of the intruder who has questioned their legitimate human rights. Therefore, the act of Jihad is permitted in the following cases:

1. Life and Property:

When the life and possessions of the people of a country are threatened by the invasion of the intruders and opportunists, they have the right to defend themselves against these threats and retain what has been taken away from them.

2. Personal and Domestic Privacy:

It is the whole nation’s responsibility to defend the personal and domestic privacy of its members, preventing the enemies to violate and invade the family units especially women and children.

3. Independence:

To defend national independence and integrity is a totally legitimate action for a nation. Accordingly, if a government or nation tends to undermine or insult the independence of another nation and try to manipulate them, the latter is bound to defend itself in order to restore its legitimate rights. 

4. Human Rights:

The struggle to retain your rights is not limited to an individual or a nation; rather there are some values that are far beyond these and include the whole of humanity. In other words, Jihad is the act of defending the “right” that spans not only personal and public ones but also that of humanity.

Freedom is one of these human values that is precious for every single person on earth regardless of their nationality or religion, so when it is threatened or undermined in any place around the world every conscious soul finds it necessary and feels responsible to defend and retain it; if a group of people is being oppressed or treated unfairly, one cannot and should not remain indifferent to this injustice and is bound to fight for their freedom. There existed and still exist many freedom-loving people who are not just concerned about their own country or nation and instead strive for the freedom of all human beings around the globe.

To further illustrate this issue, let’s consider this example: nowadays, medical researchers are in a constant struggle to find a final and determinate cure for cancer, but they are still unsuccessful. Imagine the cure was found by a medical company, but its managers amassed it and prevented people from using it in order to increase their own interest, or even destroyed the formula so that no one would reach it, they have violated the rights of the whole humanity and should be fought with.

Are Concepts Like Monotheism (Tawhid) Which Is One of the Islamic Axioms Considered as Personal Matters or Human Values?

The answer is yes monotheism, and the concepts like this are of human values and need to be defended, but it does not mean that we are allowed to impose these beliefs on an individual or a nation since faith and belief is something that each person should reach and accept through his own intellectual and logical investigation and not through force; this is clearly reflected in this verse of Holy Quran: “there is no compulsion in religion” (2:256).

Nevertheless, if this axiom -or any other fundamental belief in Islam- is being threatened or insulted in order to arise enmity and to undermine Islam, it is every Muslim’s duty to stand up for this cause.

Peace vs. Surrender 

Up to this point, we understood that the keyword in the definition of Jihad is Defense in the four cases above. The religion of Islam is fundamentally the religion of peace and strongly recommends a peaceful relationship with others, as these verses explicitly reveal: “And if they incline toward peace, then you [too] incline toward it, and put your trust in Allah. Indeed He is the All-hearing, the All-knowing” (8:61), or “So if they [polytheists] keep out of your way and do not fight you, and offer you peace, then Allah does not allow you any course[of action ]against them”(4: 90).

However Islam makes a clear distinction between the idea of peace and surrender; while it encourages the former, it emphatically rejects the latter. In other words, peace is reached when both parties are on friendly terms, respecting each other’s beliefs and rights mutually, and live beside one another without intruding or violating each other’s rights.

But if one of the parties were to keep on invading the other one – either covertly or overtly -, and the one whose rights have been threatened did not react, this would not be called peace anymore, rather surrendering and yielding to their injustice which is totally unacceptable in Islam.

Finally, it should be noted that Islam is a religion that ranges all aspects of human’s life and has established rules for each; accordingly, it should include a rule which would protect individuals as well as the society against possible threats and guarantee society’s tranquility and harmony through retaining the social justice. Jihad is that principle that would practically provide these opportunities for Muslims.

Prayer in Islam (Salat) is the most important practical principle such that no one can be exempted from [i]. Soldiers involved in a war, patients in hospitals, passengers on airplanes or ships, all should perform the prayers (Salat) even with some modifications based on their circumstances. Of course, Islam has placed a lot of emphasis on prayer for some reasons. These reasons are reviewed in this article as the Philosophy of Prayer in Islam.

The Philosophy of Prayer in Islam, A Practical Principle of Islam

According to Prophet Muhammad (PBUH&HP): “The prayer is the pillar of religion, and its parable is that of the prop of a tent – when the prop remains upright, the pegs and ropes remain straight and upstanding, but when the prop bends or breaks neither the pegs nor the ropes remain upright” [2]. This statement highlights the importance of the prayer in Islam.

The inclination toward goodness and avoiding evils are of the outcomes of practicing the prayers. "Indeed, prayer prohibits immorality and wrongdoing ... And Allah knows that which you do" (29:45). In other words, the prayer in Islam is the base, and every other act of a Muslim is influenced by that.  

Two Major Roles of the Prayer in Islam

There are two main roles for the prayer in Islam: the spiritual promoter and the permanent reminder. Prophet Muhammad (PBUH&HP) said: “The prayer of a person is (in reality) a light in his heart, so whoever desires, can illuminate his/her heart (through the prayers)” [3].

Doing the prayers every day, one repeatedly remembers God in intervals, renews his\her promise of servitude to God, purifies him\herself and tries to keep away all the evil thoughts and actions [1]. According to Imam Ali (AS), Evil will be jealous of the person who stands up for the prayer because he sees the Mercy of God encompassing that person [4]. Hence, the prayer as a repeated reminder stops from sins and develops Infallibility. 

The Prayer, a Repeated Call

Some discuss that why one should perform the prayers five times a day? Is it to show up every day and remind God that we are there and we are His servants? Of course not! As stated earlier, it is to remind us of God unceasingly and to remember that we are His servants. If one forgets for an instant that He is present everywhere and observes us (“Neither drowsiness befalls Him nor sleep” (2:255)), he\she might be easily at the risk of committing evil deeds. These evil deeds might be harmful to either oneself or even others. So, the prayer has both the individual and social consequences.

A real prayer has some prerequisites; cleansing through ablution (Wudu), standing in the presence of God with the whole heart and body, not wearing usurped clothes or not performing the prayer in a usurped place, etc. According to Imam Ali (AS), the prayer will not be accepted if the clothes of a person and where he\she does the prayer are not lawful (Halal) [5]. Moreover, Imam Ali (AS) said that whoever performs the prayer and perceives what he\she is doing and saying, his\her sins will be forgiven once the prayer ends [6]. 

All these demonstrate that the attempt for performing a true prayer results in several accomplishments such as respecting the rights of others, purity of the appearance and the inner self, etc. Having fulfilled all these conditions, one could meet the divine requirements and reach the happiness promised through performing a “complete prayer”.   

No Substitute for the Prayer in Islam

Some people suppose that they do not need to perform the prayers. They say that serving the human beings who are the creatures of God equals worshipping God. They claim that there is no need to do the prayers as an act of worship. Instead, they try to do good to other humans. To answer, the prayer is a support for the morals and social principles. As stated above, it reminds us of the ethical behavior, the social responsibilities that one has towards others, and prevents from doing wrong to others [1]. Hence, the prayer can never be replaced with any other good deed. 

Notes:

[i] The only exception is about women during menstruation. 

References:

1. Shaikh al-Hur al-Aamili, "Wasail al-Shia", p. 214.
2. A. al-Hindi, “Kanz al-Ummal”, vol. 7, T. 18973.
3. Allama Majlisi, “Bihar al-Anwar”, vol. 82, p. 207.
4. H. Harrani, "Tuhaf al-Uqul", p174.
5. " Makarim al-Akhlaq", p. 300.