Muslims in Action
#MyJihad Makes Waves In Campaign Against Islamophobia The struggle against Islamophobia begins by creating awareness about the true meanings and implications of the word “jihad.” By Ahmed Rehab
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here has been a lot of commotion recently in broadcast and social media about hate ads placed in New York subways by noted Islamophobe Pamela Geller. The ads read: “In any war between the civilized man and the savage, support the civilized man. Support Israel. Defeat Jihad.” While the use of the word “savages” has been the focus, what many on both sides of the debate are missing is that at the heart of the problem is the blatant misuse of the word “jihad,” implied as an acceptable synonym of “terrorism.” By asking Americans to defeat “jihad,” a central Islamic concept, Geller is in effect asking to defeat Islam and Muslims. Islamophobes aside, many Americans remain confused about the term and the concept behind it. The best response to the hateful ad campaign is to convert it into an opportunity to get to the heart of the problem and to
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My Grandma’s jihad was against diabetes and MS while bedridden for seven years. #MyJihad is against bigotry and hatemongering. What is your personal jihad?
reclaim the word “jihad.” In fact “jihad” is a word that many Muslims have shied away from and left to the ravaging of the ignorant in both the Muslim extremist and anti-Muslim (and ironically the Muslim “liberal”and “secular”) extremist circles. They seem to ironically agree on a bloody definition for the word. In response to this, the Chicago branch of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) has helped launch a new campaign to spread awareness of the various definitions of jihad. The drive hopes to become a grassroots, independent endeavor sponsored by multiple organizations and made possible by everyday people. I love jihad! Not jihad in the perverse way Osama Bin Laden and Pam Geller define it, but as a struggle against ignorance, injustice and hate. It is the struggle against the darkness in one’s own soul. It is the struggle to be patient in times of adversity. It is the struggle to find strength in God to overcome your own weaknesses. Jihad is not savage, except in the minds of those who are too lazy or too careless to wish to understand a well-documented, 1,400-year-old concept in both Islamic literature and Muslim life. My grandma’s jihad was against diabetes and MS while bedridden for seven years. #MyJihad is against bigotry and hate-mongering. What is your personal jihad? By tweeting using the hashtag #MyJihad, Muslims across the globe can discuss their personal trials, challenges and triumphs. To accompany the social media campaign, #MyJihad will also run as an ad campaign in various media, as well on public transportation nationwide. The campaign has found great reception from Muslims and non-Muslims alike. Thousands of tweets have been logged from people in the U.S., Canada, the UK, Australia, Europe, the Middle East and South Asia. Many Christians and Jews have tweeted and joined in solidarity. Besides Twitter and the public transportation ad campaigns, a YouTube campaign, flash mobs and public service Jihad campaigns are under works. Campaign organizers are currently accepting donations at www.myjihad.org. For more information, aslso visit the Facebook page at www.myfacebook.com/myjihad.org.
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Ahmed Rehab is the executive director of CAIR-Chicago.
Islamic Horizons November/December 2012