Fethullah Gulen about jihad

There are two aspects of jihad. One is fighting against superstitions and wrong convictions and also against carnal desires and evil inclinations, and therefore enlightenment both intellectually and spiritually, which is called the greater jihad; the other is encouraging others to achieve the same objective and is called the lesser jihad.

The lesser jihad, which has usually been taken to mean fighting for God's cause, does not refer only to the form of striving done on battlefields. The term is comprehensive. It includes every action from speaking out to presenting oneself on the battlefield - provided the action is done for God's sake. Whether speaking or keeping silent, smiling or making a sour face, joining a meeting or leaving it, every action taken to ameliorate the lot of humanity, whether by individuals or communities, is included in the meaning of the lesser jihad.

While the lesser jihad depends on the mobilization of all the material facilities and is performed in the outer world, the greater jihad means a person's fighting against his carnal self. These two forms of jihad cannot be separated from each other. Only those who triumph over their carnal selves can perform the lesser jihad, which, in turn helps man to succeed in the greater jihad. ............

.......When the believers performed the lesser jihad whether by fighting on battlefields against those who waged war on them or tried to prevent them from worshipping One God only, or preaching the truth and enjoining the right and good and forbidding the wrong and evil, God's help and victory came, and men began to enter Islam in throngs. At that moment the Almighty decreed that His praises should be glorified and His forgiveness should be sought. As all success and victory are from God, it is only He who must be praised and worshipped.

God does not approve wrongdoing and disorder. He wills that human beings should live in peace and, accordingly, that justice should prevail amongst them. It is, therefore, incumbent upon those who believe in One God and worship Him faithfully to secure justice in the world. Islam calls this responsibility jihad

Jihad denotes, literally, doing one's utmost to achieve something. It is not the equivalent of war, for which the Arabic word is vital. It has a wider connotation and embraces every kind of striving in God's cause.

A mujahid is a person who is sincerely devoted to his cause, who uses all his physical, intellectual and spiritual capacity to serve it and employs all the force he commands in confronting any power which might stand in its way, and, whenever necessary, does not shirk risking his very life for it. All this is jihad. Jihad in the way of God is that striving in which man engages exclusively to win God's good pleasure, to establish the supremacy of His religion and to make His Word prevail.

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Jihad as the core element of Islamic doctrine literally embodies justice. The section on Jihad in the Shafi'i book of Sacred Islamic Law, Reliance of the Traveller
('Umdat al-Salik),87 is to be found in the Book of Justice (o9.0). Likewise, as Gulen accurately explains on page 20, Jihad is integral to justice:
"God does not approve wrongdoing and disorder. He wills that human beings should live in peace and, accordingly, that justice
should prevail amongst them. It is therefore incumbent upon those who believe in One God and worship Him faithfully to secure justice in the world. Islam calls this responsibility jihad."

Gulen then goes on to explain the various forms of jihad, including warfare. Again, on page 20, and in perfect accord with shariah, Gulen states the purpose of Jihad:
"…to establish the supremacy of His religion and to make His Word prevail."

IIn the same section, Gulen then clearly references the Islamic doctrine of amr bi 'l-ma'ruf wa nahy an al-munkar and articulates the aim of establishing a worldwide caliphate:

"Besides the holy struggle, the principle of amr bi 'l-ma'ruf wa nahy an al-munkar (enjoining the good and forbidding the evil) seeks to convey the Message of Islam to all human beings in the world and to establish a model Islamic community on a world-wide basis."

Gulen does not distance himself in any way from the goal of establishing a worldwide caliphate. It is clear that he understands this is to be an obligatory objective for all Muslims.

Gulen next further identifies the two broad categories of jihad as the greater jihad and the lesser jihad. He describes the greater jihad as an internal spiritual struggle, and the lesser jihad as including warfare. It should be noted that this whole distinction between the so-called 'greater jihad' and 'lesser jihad', however, relies on a........................
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87 Reliance of the Traveller, The Classic Manual of Islamic Sacred Law ('Umdat al-Salik), d. 769/1368.
Available at http://www.islamicbulletin.org/free_downloads/resources/reliance2_complete.pdf..................................

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............weak hadith, transmitted through an unreliable chain of narrators. Whether sincerely or otherwise, Gulen here slips into an all-too-common pattern of de-emphasizing the importance of fighting in favor of a personal internal struggle. When he states on
page 24, for example, that "only those who triumph over there carnal selves can perform the lesser jihad," he perpetuates an erroneous reversal of the actual importance of each in Islam.

Citing on the following page (page 25) the example of Muhammad, Gulen seems almost to try to rectify any prior misimpression by mentioning the 'two aspects of jihad' but then offering explicit praise of Muhammad for his battlefield prowess:
"The Prophet, upon him be peace and blessings, combined these two aspects of jihad in the most perfect way in his person. He displayed monumental courage on battlefields."

Gulen goes on in the same vein, acknowledging truthfully that violent jihad is what resulted in the successful spread of Islam—not internal struggle to better oneself. He additionally identifies a broad set of circumstances in which Muslims should wage such jihad (page 27):

"When the believers performed the lesser jihad whether by fighting on battlefields against those who waged war on them or tried to prevent them from worshipping One God only, or preaching the truth and enjoining the right and good and forbidding the wrong and evil, God's help and victory came, and men began to enter Islam in throngs."

So, as Gulen points out, violent jihad is not just waged against those who wage war against the believers. It is also waged against those who interfere with the spread and practice of Islam.

One of the most important sections (especially for non-Muslims) in Prophet Muhammad as Commander is on pages 29-31. It is here where Gulen defines the conditions under which Islam allows the use of force:
"Islam seeks to call people with wisdom and fair exhortation, and does not resort to force until those who desire to maintain the
corrupted order they built on injustice, oppression, self-interest and.........................

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.............exploitation of others and usurpation of their rights, resist it to prevent its preaching. Thus Islam allows the use of force in the following cases:

1. If unbelievers or polytheists or those who make mischief and corruption on the earth resist the preaching of Islam and try to block its way of conquering the minds and hearts of people. …In case it is resisted or prevented, it offers its enemies three alternatives: either they will accept Islam, or allow its preaching or admit its rule. If they reject all three alternatives, Islam allows the use of force.

2. God permitted His Messenger to resort to the 'sword' only after he emigrated to Madina and established an independent state there. This permission was given because the Muslims were wronged….
It…has been witnessed by history, that Islam resorts to force in order to defend itself and establish freedom of belief…
It is a historical fact which has been acknowledged even by many Western writers, that Christians and Jews have lived the
most prosperous and happiest period of their history under the rule of Islam.

3. Islam…never approves any injustice in any part of the world…the righteous servants of God are charged with the duty of submitting the earth to God's rule, which depends on absolute justice and worship of only One God. They are also obliged to strive until persecution and the worship and obedience of false deities and unjust tyrants come to an end.

Thus, any society or civilization that is perceived to be standing in the way of or interfering with the spread of Islam is subject to lawful attack. Gulen's second point echoes the commonly-heard apologia that says virtually all violent Jihad is defensive. If Muslims are "wronged" they can wage violent jihad. As with a few other passages in this book, one wonders to what extent Gulen himself actually believes his next statement, that, in any case, Christians and Jews never had it so good as when conquered and ruled by Muslims. Gulen's final point here (3) is essentially a restatement of Qur'anic verse 8:39, which says.............

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And fight them until there is no fitnah and [until] the religion, all of it, is for Allah . And if they cease - then indeed, Allah is Seeing of
what they do.
As Gulen explains, because Muslims are tasked with subjugating the world to Islam, they are obligated to use whatever means necessary to accomplish the task, obviously including violent jihad.

Finally, on pages 31-37, Gulen provides what amount to rules for jihadis. Some are merely curiosities—others are ominous indeed. "So, whoever fights for other causes, such as fame or material gain, or for racial or other ideological considerations of similar nature, he will not be regarded as a fighter with whom God is pleased."

Here, Gulen seems to refer to Qur'anic admonishments like the following:
Those who desire the life of the Present and its glitter, --to them we shall pay (the price of) their deeds therein,--without diminution.
They are those for whom there is nothing in the Hereafter but the Fire: vain are the designs they frame therein, and of no effect are the deeds that they do! (Qur'an 11:15-16)

But he departs from scripture when he includes the additional prohibition of fighting for racial or other ideological considerations, which would seem to preclude fighting for a nation state or any leader motivated by racial or non-Islamic ideology.

Then Gulen returns to solid Islamic traditional ground with the following passages about the obligatory nature of violent jihad, the jihad of fighting and the battlefield:
"Where fighting is necessary…the Quran exhorts believers not to avoid fighting."
"When fighting is unavoidable, Muslims must not hesitate to take up arms and hasten to the front. The Qur'an exhorts Muslims to fight when necessary and severely reprimands those who show reluctance in mobilizing in the way of God…"

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"One of the important points to be mentioned concerning jihad is that a believer cannot flee the battlefield."
"Fleeing on the battlefield is one of the seven major, perilous sins." But the next passage, reminiscent at once of the Ayatollah Khomeini -- We do not worship Iran, we worship Allah.
For patriotism is another name for paganism. I say let this land [Iran] burn. I say let this land go up in smoke, provided Islam emerges triumphant in the rest of the world.88

--and of Qur'anic verse 9:5 --
But when the forbidden months are past, then fight and slay the Pagans wherever ye find them, and seize them, beleaguer them, and lie in wait for them in every stratagem (of war)…
--is perhaps the most ominous of all for non-Muslims, in view of Iran's drive for deliverable nuclear weapons and the fact that a jihadist Pakistan already has them.

Here Gulen says:
"…believers should also equip themselves with the most sophisticated weaponry. Force has an important place in obtaining
the desired result, so believers cannot be indifferent to it. Rather they must be much more advanced in science and technology than unbelievers so that they should not allow unbelievers to use 'force' for their selfish benefit. According to Islam, 'right is might'; so, in order to prevent might from being right in the hands of unbelievers and oppressors, believers must be mightier than others."

"An Islamic state…should be able to secure peace and justice in the world and no power should have the courage to make corruption in any part of the earth. This will be possible when Muslims equip themselves with a strong belief and righteousness in all their affairs,.................
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88 Taheri, Amir, "Nest of Spies: America's Journey to Disaster in Iran (London: Hutchinson, 1988), p. 269.
Available at http://www.amazon.com/Nest-Spies-Americas-Journey-Disaster/dp/0394575660
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and also with scientific knowledge and the most sophisticated technology."

Similarly revealing of Gulen's close alignment with authoritative Islamic doctrine and law—as well as the never-directly-mentioned Muslim Brotherhood—is his commentary from the 'Reflections on the Quran' series. His brief comments on Surah 9 ('Tawbah') focus on Qur'anic verse 9:20, which reads as follows:
"Those who believe and have emigrated (to the home of Islam in God's cause), and strive in God's cause with their wealth and persons are greater in rank in God's sight, and those are the ones who are the triumphant." (At-Tawbah 9:20)

For which Gulen's observations conclude with a summary of three obstacles that challenge faithful Muslims who seek Allah's favor by emulating Muhammad's original Hijra from Mecca to Medina but also "striving in order to exalt God's Word in the new land to which one has immigrated."
Gulen's comment on Muslims who succeed in that challenge is both chilling and directly reminiscent of Brotherhood writing, including the "grand jihad" passage from the 'Explanatory Memorandum on the Strategic Goal for the Group in North America,'89 and also sections of 'The Methodology of Dawah. As Gulen writes:'90

Indeed, if "believing" means overcoming the first obstacle of Satan, "leaving one's tribe, community, and relatives in order to immigrate to a different land for the sake of belief" is surmounting another obstacle which is as powerful as the other. Without being content with leaving one's native land and relatives, "striving in order to exalt God's Word in the new land to which one has immigrated" means destroying a third, great barrier. One who has overcome all of these..................
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89 "Explanatory Memorandum on the Strategic Goals for the Group in North America," 5/22/1991.
Available at http://www.investigativeproject.org/documents/misc/20.pdf
90 Siddiqi, Shamim A., "Methodology of Dawah." Available here

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..................obstacles or barriers has conquered his or her own carnal self and attained salvation.91
The Gulen Movement must be understood for the jihadist, subversive, worldwide Islamic network that it is. Just because Fethullah Gulen does not permit the revelation of any overt connections to the Muslim Brotherhood or other transnational jihad groups does not obviate their ideological synchrony. This is a dangerous organization that threatens Western civilization as surely as an al-Qa'eda or Islamic State—but with far greater finesse and stealth.

91 Fethullah Gulen's Works, 'Reflections on the Quran, Sūratu't-Tawbah (Repentance). Available here