Borneo Bulletin, Friday, December 26, 2003
Jihad's real meaning to be explained
By Rosli Abidin Yahya
The Council of Religious Ministers for Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia and
Singapore (MABIMS) will publish a comprehensive working paper for explaining Jihad
(crusade or holy war) to their Ummah (followers of Islam) by its target date next year.
Such a move is needed to avoid confusion and will also serve as a guideline for
Muslims, especially young Turks, who could be misguided by certain elements,
caused by lack of definition to the phrase's real meaning.
The decision was made several days ago at the Senior Officers Meeting (SOMS)
during the 28th unofficial meeting of MABIMS held in Kuala Lumpur.
It was attended by the acting Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Religious Affairs
of Brunei Darussalam, Hj Tasim Hj Akim; Secretary General for Ministry of Religious
Affairs of Republic of Indonesia, Prof Dr H Faisal Ismail; Director General Islamic
Development Department of Malaysia, Datuk Mohamad Shahir Abdullah; and the
President of Singapore Islamic Religion Council, Mohammad Alami Musa.
The Sultanate will take a leading role by collecting all needed materials from the
concerned nations towards the final processing of the aforementioned book, which will
be in the Malay language, also translated into Arabic and English.
It shall also provide explanations to non-Muslims who may associate terrorism with
Islam, said Datuk Mohamad Shahir Abdullah, as quoted by Berita Harian.
Jihad is a religious conviction for able Muslims towards defending the integrity of
Islam. Those who may die because of Jihad are promised good returns and paradise
in the afterlife.
Copyright © 2003 Brunei Press Sdn Bhd. All right reserved.
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