The greatest Jihad is to battle your own soul. to fight the evil within yourself
– Prophet Muhammad (PBUH)
( Please visit this link for more examples of this concept: https://abuaminaelias.com/jihad-against-the-soul-in-islam/)
This is the true meaning of Jihad in Islam. Jihad is nothing but conquering oneself. An external Jihad is fought during unavoidable circumstances to protect the world against people who want to destroy peace. But Islam says that unless a man first fights against his own ignorance, craving, delusion etc, he is not qualified for an external Jihad.
The situation of Bhagwad Gita is actually an external Jihad. Arjuna refuses to fight the war against adharma, even though it is his duty as a warrior. But Krishna asks him to surrender the fruit of actions and just do his duty. This concept of surrender is the basis of both Karma Yoga in Bhagavad Gita as well as Islam. The word Islam itself means ‘surrender’. Prophet Mohammed’s main work was to resurrect the old Abrahamic concept of unconditional love and surrender to God. That is what Islam means.Everything else in Quran is a collection of social laws that Muhammad gave to people of those days in his country.
The key concept here is Inner jihad. It is a way of purifying one self. The concept of Navaratri that we are celebrating is also a symbolic representation of the Inner Jihad. Mahishasura represents the three malas: ahankar, karma and maya (delusion). Kali destroying Mahishasura in 9 days represents destroying these three malas (3 days for each mala). The tenth day, Vijayadasami represents the victory of the inner jihad. A victor who conquers himself thus is called as Jina in Jainism. Mahavira (which means ‘the Great warrior’) was called by that name as he had conquered himself.
This is the significance of festivals like Navratri or Durga Puja and even Diwali. Today is Vijayadasami, the tenth day following the 9 day Navaratri celebrations that just happened. Navaratri is a festival that is celebrated all over India in a grand manner. In Eastern parts of India, it is celebrated as Durga puja. On this Vijayadasami day, let us all remember the significance of walking on the spiritual path, removing the ignorance and reaching salvation .
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