A Comparative Study of the Structure of Jihad Verses

An important topic in exegesis and Quranic sciences is the comparative study of the revelation of verses concerning Jihad (war waged against the enemies of Islam). There are three major views among Muslim scholars about the revelation of verses on the legislation of Jihad. The term 'Jihad' has been mentioned in the Quran in Chapter al-Tawbah, verse 24, Chapter al-Furqan verse 53 and Chapter al-Mumtahinah verse 1. In some of these verses, Jihad is allowed and considered lawful only when the enemy wages a war while in some other verses, the validity of Jihad is not linked to an attack by the enemy. Rather, offensive Jihad or a war iniated by Muslims has been allowed. To reconcile between these sets of verses, it has been said that the verses which are absolute are restricted by the verses which instruct Muslims to defend themselves against the enemy attack. Some have reconciled the verses in a way such that the restricted verses are said to have been abrogated by the absolute verses. Thus, launching an attack on the enemy to spread and expand Islam is permissible. Some others are of the view that offensive Jihad and defensive Jihad are two types of Jihad that are obligatory at two different stages. To distinguish the chronology of revelation of these verses, several explanations have been given. Given the fact that Surah al-Hajj was revealed after Surah al-Baqarah, the first opinion is acceptable and verse 190 of Chapter al-Baqarah is the first verse that aims to legislate Jihad.