Allah is Goodness and the Goodness in Jihad (Struggle) of the Heart and Soul

Jihad of the heart and soul is something our Prophet did all the time and this is done by calling to and proclaiming the truth of Islam Allah commanded the Prophet to make Jihad as he commands us: "So obey not the disbelievers, but strive against them (by preaching) with the utmost endeavour with it (the Quran)” (Surat 25:52) The Prophet also made Jihad against the hypocrits as many of us find ourselves doing today and Jihad against them is more difficult than Jihad against the unbelievers. The reason being is because the hypocrits need more convincing arguments; and only those truly gifted with knowledge and understanding of the deen are capable of providing this

Islam is truth, and to convey the message of truth despite severe opposition is the best form of Jihad In this day, many are afraid to speak the truth. For one, there are many hypocrits who sit waiting to stand in the way of the truth. Once the truth is told they pouce upon the messenger attacking him in the worst way – through his reputation and honor. So thus, many avoid speaking the truth out of fear of this. Also, many Muslims today are weak in their knowledge and understanding of the deen. But the desire to be of importance is great, so they mis-interpret the truth and pass it on as a falsehood which results in the message being distorted and lost. These factors are what led to the Prophet's statement: "The Mujahid is one who performs Jihad of his self in obedience to Allah” (Ahmed)

So thus before doing Jihad by conveying the truth to others, we need to begin by conveying it to ourselves Jihad of the self is only accomplished by defeating the shaytaan within yourself. Allah tells us: "Surely, Shaitan (Satan) is an enemy to you so take (treat) him as an enemy." (Surat 35:6) And the command to treat him as an enemy is an exhortation to strive to the utmost of one's ability to fight against him. We have to resists his whispers. His play on our desires. His exploitation of our weaknesses such as anger, loneliness, depression and the likes.

Allah has given us the tools needed to defeat shaytaan in his battle against us. All we need to do is utilize them Allah has given us hearing, sight, reason and strength. And he has sent down His Books and His Messengers to aid us And he has supported us with His angels. Allah has commanded us to do that which is the greatest support for ourselves in the fight against our enemy, and he has informed us that if we fulfill what He has commanded, we will continue to be supported He tells us that if we are overcome, it will be because of our having abandoned a part of what we were commanded to do.

Allah lets us know that proclaiming the truth is not an easy task and will bring about casualities, but we musn't lose faith in our purpose Allah informs us that when we are hurt to treat our wounds and go back and continue the fight with patient perseverance. Also Allah informs us that He is with the God-fearing among us, with those among us who do righteous deeds, and who patiently persevere. Allah lets us know that he will defend the believers from that from which they are unable to defend themselves; and it is by His defence that we become victorious and were it not for that,our enemy would have vanquished us.

The help and support of Allah is contingent on one's faith or Belief If one's belief is strong, the defence is strong, so whoever finds something good, he should praise and thank Allah and whoever finds something other than that, he should not blame anyone except himself. One's faith will never be strong until you make your heart,tongue and limbs submit to Allah Likewise it will never be strong until you struggle against your devil by disbelieving in his promises and disobeying his commands. This is known as striving against the self

Jihad (Striving) against the self is on 4 levels: The First: That he struggles against it by learning guidance. The Second: That he struggles against it by acting upon that guidance The Third: That he struggles against it by calling people to the guidance, for if he does not, he will be one of those who hides what Allah has revealed. The Fourth: That he does so with patient perseverance in the face of the hardships which afflict one who is calling to Allah and that he bears all of this for Allah If all of these four are fulfilled, he will be one of the learned men of religion who practice what they know and teach it to others.

Struggling (i.e. Jihad) against the disbelievers and the hypocrites; is also of 4 levels: With the heart With the tongue (i.e. by preaching), With one's wealth and With the body (i.e. by fighting). And Jihad against the disbelievers is more particularly by the hand, While Jihad against the hypocrites is more particularly by the tongue.

Jihad against the perpetrators of injustice, evil deeds and innovations; and that is at 3 levels: The First: With one's hand, if one is able to do so; if he is unable to do so, he proceeds to the second. The Second: With one's tongue (i.e. to speak against it). If he is unable to do that, he must proceed to the third. The Third: With one's heart (i.e. to hate the deed in one's heart) As Muslims today, we must try to fulfill the Jihad of the heart and soul by conveying the truth to other. But to do this we must first educate ourself as to what the truth is, then conform and submit to it ourselves. Then convey it to others.