Story and Pix by Saiful Bahri Kamaruddin

BANGI, 22 Feb 2016 – A survey done on Malaysians in 2015 showed that contrary to popular belief, there is still a significant number of people who are ignorant that violence is not part of Jihad or Islam.

However, most respondents agreed that violence is not the best option in promoting the teachings of Islam to Non-Muslims, according to the survey done by the World Assembly of Muslim Youth (WAMY), an international non-governmental organisation founded in 1973 and registered with the United Nations with headquarters in Saudi Arabia.

The WAMY in Malaysia expressed concern that the negative connotations perceived of Jihad had made Muslim organisations and even government agencies shy away from using the term Jihad in their work.

“As long as the Jihad concept remains unclear, our youths will misconstrue the concept and join Daesh or Islamic State,” said  Ustaz Shahrin Awaludin, the Chief Executive Officer of WAMY Malaysia at the tabling of its report titled Jihad Today as part of a roundtable discussion organised by The National University of Malaysia (UKM) and the movement.

Daesh is the acronym in Arabic which means  Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.

Shahrin said WAMY is concerned that the survey showed that while 55% of respondents rejected violence in carrying out Jihad, 45% replied that they didn’t know whether war was necessary.

At least 70% of all the 60 respondents were Muslims.

Shahrin said to counter the pessimistic image of Jihad and Islam, WAMY and the Faculty of Islamic Studies at UKM have agreed to join forces to inform the public – especially youths – about the concept by publicising accurate information by digital and conventional means.

He said naturally they will use social media and invite users to ask questions about Jihad while answers will be answered as promptly as possible.

At the same time, he expressed hope that WAMY and UKM would also co-author pamphlets to be distributed to the public about the importance of Jihad as an obligation that has to be fulfilled by all Muslims.

From a linguistic point of view, he explained, the closest meaning of the word Jihad in English means to exert one’s utmost endeavour in promoting a cause.

He said the main objective of Jihad is to establish a just and equitable system that brings harmony to all and where all social classes are given the opportunity to thrive and achieve success.