The Meccan Period

Although the term jihad is often used by both Muslim and non-Muslim scholars almost exclusively in a military sense and this understanding is

i In Islamic tradition, the Ka‘ba is said to have been founded by Abraham and his son Ishmael; the removal of the idols from within it when Mecca fell to the Muslims in 630 represented, from the Muslim perspective, the return of the Ka‘ba to the proper worship of the one God of Abraham.

The Qur'an and the biographical literature on the Prophet detail some of these aggressive attacks on the early Muslims, which included eviction from their homes, physical torture, financial deprivation and forced starvation. Despite the growing aggression, Muslims were not granted permission to retaliate physically against their persecutors during this period. Instead the Qur'an counselled them to forgive those who caused them harm and to bear with patience the trials and tribulations that were visited upon them. Qur'an 42:43 states, ‘Whoever is patient and forgives, that is indeed the best resolu­tion of affairs.' Another verse (Qur'an 3:200) counsels, ‘O those who believe, be patient and forbearing, outdo others in forbearance, be firm and revere God so that you may succeed.'

In these and other verses, the Qur'an highlights ‘patient forbearance', termed sabr in Arabic, as a highly significant, non-militant dimension of struggling against wrongdoing (and, therefore, of jihad) in this early period.

The requital of evil is an evil similar to it: hence, whoever pardons and makes peace, his reward rests with God - for indeed, He does not love evil-doers. Yet surely, as for those who defend themselves after having been wronged - no blame whatever attaches to them: blame attaches but to those who oppress people and behave outrageously on earth, offending against all right; for them is grievous suffering in store!

Non-violent struggle against wrongdoing is not the same as passivity, how­ever, which when displayed in the face of grave oppression and injustice is clearly marked as immoral in the Qur'an (4:95).

The term jihad itself is also used in the Qur'an during the Meccan period in a non-combative sense. Two important verses may be cited in this context as examples. The first is Qur'an 22:78, which states, ‘Strive (jahidu) in regard to God a true striving as is His due'; the second is 29:69 which states, ‘As for those who strive in regard to Us (jahadu fina), we will surely guide them to Our paths. Indeed, God is with those who do good.' Early exegetes from before the tenth century, like Muqatil ibn Sulayman (d. 767), understood the Arabic verbsjahidu and jahadu in Qur'an 22:78 and 29:69 respectively to refer to the general striving of believers to obey God in their actions and to please Him. They also emphasised that, since these verses are Meccan, they could not therefore be referring to the military jihad.

Later scholars, however, among them the celebrated exegete Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari (d. 923), assigned military meanings to these verses. After him, influential exegetes like Fakhr al-Din al-Razi (d. 1210) and Muhammad al-Qurtubi (d. 1273) attached both combative and non-combative meanings to these verses. Thus, with regard to Qur'an 22:78, they understand two types of exertion to be implied in the verse: (a) the spiritual exertion required to overcome one's base desires in order to obey God; and (b) the general, physical exertion required to carry out one's religious obligations, including military activity. With regard to Qur'an 29:69, al-Razi additionally under­stands the intellectual effort of the believer to increase in knowledge of God to be indicated in the verse.

Another critical Meccan verse is Qur'an 25:52, which states: ‘Do not obey the unbelievers and wage a mighty struggle (jihad kabir) with it.' An overwhelming majority of the exegetes understand this striving to be carried out by means of the Qur'an, referred to in the pronoun ‘it'. One exegete explains that the Arabic phrase jihad kabir (‘a mighty struggle') in the verse refers to jihad of the tongue, that is to say, the struggle to preach the message of Islam.^[876]