Anyone chanting ‘jihad’ at protest should be arrested, UK government adviser says
Pro-Palestinian protesters who chant “jihad” during today’s demonstration should be arrested, the government’s independent adviser on political violence and disruption has said.
Lord Walney also said he believed protest organisers should contribute to the increasing costs of policing the large-scale demonstrations.
“Clearly, shouting ‘jihad’ in the street in the wake of the pogrom on 7 October is not using the interpretation of the word meaning inner struggle,” he told The Times.
“Anyone of reasonable mind would know this and I am strongly of the view that people who are chanting ‘jihad’ should be arrested,” he says.
What does jihad mean?
The word, although sometimes associated with terrorism, has “a number of meanings”, which include struggle or effort but also holy war.
Most modern Islamic scholars and Muslims see the word “jihad” as meaning “exerted effort” or “struggle”, and it can be used in a variety of contexts.
Nick Aldworth, former counterterrorism national co-ordinator, says: “That word has had an affiliation to terrorists, but actually has an enormous amount of legitimacy in the Islamic faith.”
Shaykh Ibrahim Mogra, an imam in Leicester, said the word in Arabic means to “struggle” or to “strive” and has two strands.
He explained that greater jihad is an everyday struggle “to improve yourself, to be a better human being, a better Muslim – kind, caring, peaceful”.
“The lesser jihad is where you pick up a weapon and fight alongside your fellow Muslims or the group that’s fighting in self-defence or to remove an injustice or oppression,” he said.
But there are a number of rules about a military jihad, which can only be called for by a Muslim ruler or Khalifa who is ruling according to the Sharia, or Islamic law.
“The rules include the killing of civilians not being permitted, religious buildings cannot be targeted and prisoners of war must be treated humanely,” said Mr Mogra.
He said jihad is a “very noble thing for Muslims where you risk your life or lay down your life to protect others or liberate others,” but added: “No individual Muslim in this country can call for a jihad because that’s not for us as UK citizens to do.”
https://news.sky.com/story/middle-east-crisis-us-uk-launch-strikes-houthi-targets-israel-gaza-hamas-12978800
