Page 53 - Islam Denounces Terrorism

Adnan Oktar (Harun Yahya) 51

enmity instead of brotherhood, afflictions instead of beauty and igno-
rance instead of art, beauty, science and culture. It is easy to put a gun
in the hand of someone who believes in such a superstitious faith. It is
easy to say, "That community are your enemies." It is easy to stir such
a person up. It is easy to produce communities of rage.

Why does radicalism or bigotry exist? The answer is evident:
Because that is what many people are taught. They know no other
faith. This superstitious faith is all the radicals who appear in the name
of Islam know as Islam. They have been left in ignorance, in a ghetto.
They have been turned away from society, art and science. They have

always been misinformed about the concept of "jihad" and have
applied it wrongly because that is what they were taught. They have
always imagined that by acting on the falsehood they were taught they
were doing a good thing. They never even imagined they were actual-
ly harming themselves, their faith, their own families, their own peo-
ples and, of course, others. However, the "jihad" described in the
Qur'an is very much different than the picture of jihad painted by the

radicals.
So what does the word "jihad" mean?

The word jihad comes from the Arabic word "jahd." Its meanings
are 1) To work, to strive, to exhibit determination and persistence or
self-sacrifice and 2) To control one's lower self. On the basis of these

definitions, waging jihad in Islam means to inform the other side, to
teach people proper moral values and to turn them away from evil. In
doing this, a Muslim must train his own lower self in the direction of
moral virtue and train himself to be someone far removed from rage
and hatred. In other words, what a Muslim engaged in jihad must do
is to train himself on the one hand, and strive to teach people truth and
goodness on the other. He must be a role model with his own moral
values in order to spread love, peace and affection and to turn people
away from evil.