A religious duty. The djihdd has the effect of extending the sway of the faith; it is prescribed by God and his Prophet; the Muslim dedicates himself to the djihdd in- the same way that, in Christianity, the monk dedicates himself to the service of God; in the same vein it is said in different hadiths that "the djihdd is the monasticism of Islam"; the djihdd is "an act of pure devotion"; it is "one of the gates to Paradise"; rich heavenly rewards are guaranteed for those who devote themselves to it; those who fall in the djihdd are the martyrs of the faith, etc. A substantial part of the doctrine reckons the djihdd among the very "pillars" (arkan) of the religion, along with prayer and fasting etc. It is a duty which falls upon every Muslim who is male, free and able bodied. It is generally considered that non-Muslims may be called upon to assist the Muslims in the djihdd. A "collective" obligation (fard kifdya) in contrast to fard ‘ayn. The fard kifdya is that duty which is imposed upon the community considered as a whole and which only becomes obligatory for each individual in particular to the extent that his intervention is necessary for the realization of the purpose envisaged by the law. Thus, as soon as there exists a group of Muslims whose number is sufficient to fulfil the needs of a particular conflict, the obligation of the djihdd no longer rests on the others. The general teaching is that the duty of djihdd falls, in the first place, individually as a fard 'ayn, upon those who live in the territory nearest to the enemy, and that the same holds good in the case of the inhabitants of a town which is besieged. In the organized State, however, the appreciation of the precise moment at which the djihdd is transformed into an 'ayn obligation is a matter for the discretion of the sovereign; so that, in the case of general mobilization, the djihdd loses, for all the members of the community, its character of fard kifaya, and becomes, instead, fard cayn. All this implies, however, that for those who hold the reins of authority and, in particular, the sovereign, the djihdd is always an individual duty, since their own personal action is necessary in every case. Where there are several independent Muslim states, the duty will fall upon the ruler of the state which is nearest to the enemy. Further, the duty of the djihdd is relative and contingent in this dual sense that, on the one hand, it only comes into being when the circumstances are favourable and of such a nature as to offer some hope of a victorious outcome, and, on the other hand, the fulfilment of the duty may be renounced in consideration of the payment by the enemy of goods reaching a certain value, if such policy appears to be in conformity with the interests of the moment.
Its subsidiary character. Since the djihdd is nothing more than a means to effect conversion to Islam or submission to its authority, there is only occasion to undertake it in circumstances where the people against whom it is directed have first been invited to join Islam. Discussion turned on the question as to whether it was necessary, on this ground, to address a formal invitation to the enemy. The general doctrine holds that since Islam is sufficiently widespread in the world, all peoples are presumed to know that they have been invited to join it. It is observed, however, that it would be desirable to repeat the invitation, except in cases where there is ground for apprehension that the enemy, thus forewarned, would profit from such a delay by better organizing his defences and, in this way, compromising the successful outcome of the djihdd. Its perpetual character. The duty of the djihdd exists as long as the universal domination of Islam has not been attained. "Until the day of the resurrection", and "until the end of the world" say the maxims. Peace with non-Muslim nations is, therefore, a provisional state of affairs only; the chance of circumstances alone can justify it temporarily. Furthermore there can be no question of genuine peace treaties with these nations; only truces, whose duration ought not, in principle, to exceed ten years, are authorized. But even such truces are precarious, inasmuch as they can, before they expire, be repudiated unilaterally should it appear more profitable for Islam to resume the conflict. It is, however, recognized that such repudiation should be brought to the notice of the infidel party, and that he should be afforded sufficient opportunity to be able to disseminate the news of it throughout the whole of his territory [see SULH].
Its defensive as well as offensive character. The djihdd has principally an offensive character; but it is equally a djihdd when it is a case of defending Islam against aggression. This indeed, is the essential purpose of the ribdt [q.v.] undertaken by isolated groups or individuals settled on the frontiers of Islam. The ribdt is a particularly meritorious act. Finally, there is at the present time a thesis, of a wholly apologetic character, according to which Islam relies for its expansion exclusively upon persuasion and other peaceful means, and the djihdd is only authorized in cases of "self defence" and of "support owed to a defenceless ally or brother". Disregarding entirely the previous doctrine and historical tradition, as well as the texts of the Kur'an and the sunna on the basis of which it was formulated, but claiming, even so, to remain within the bounds of strict orthodoxy, this thesis takes into account only those early texts which state the contrary (v. supra).
pt. 2
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