To start with, terrorism means the threat or use of force against civilians or the armed forces for political – purposes. Groups of terrorists, acting singly or jointly, engage in bombings, killings, hijackings, skyjackings (hijacking of aircraft) and large-scale destruction of property. The dimension of suicide attacks and bombings has been added to the regular terrorist efforts in the 20th and 21st centuries. Now international terrorism is on the rise as one state arranges terrorist missions in another state. Or one state masterminds midair explosion of planes in international air space as the US blamed Libya of it several years earlier.
Jihad means the exertion of efforts for the cause of God. True jihad must begin in the heart of every individual against the evils of his or her own soul. This is the greater jihad without which the jihad of the sword, the lesser jihad, becomes simply warfare.
Society is nothing but a conglomeration (group) of individuals, and the reform of society on Islamic or ideal lines is necessary before any jihad is waged to obey the main Quranic injunctions (orders)
- Kill them until there is no persecution (cruel treatment)
- Fight against those who stop others from following the way of God
- Fight against those who treat helpless men, women, and children cruelly
- Fight against those who light against you and turn them out of the places taken forcibly from you
The jihadi organizations and their supporters, for example, in Pakistan did not set in motion movements against corruption, illiteracy, the current feudal (“jagirdari”) system and governmental and administrative inefficiency in different forms. Clearly, the common people could have risen to great heights if these organizations, together with them and their leaders, had started a jihad against political, social and economic evils in the country. Our industry and agriculture could have been in excellent shape. Our science, technology, and general education could have been of the finest order. Our armed forces could have depended on a solid economic base for a long and decisive war against the enemy. True independence and democracy, with an educated population and booming (progressive) economy, would have been possible. Then the armed jihad, after the social jihad, would have been more practical and more in accordance with the advice of the Holy Prophet.
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