Jihad The Struggle for Peace and Justice

Abstract

It is a great privilege and honor for me, as the founding chairman of
the Institute of Islamic Understanding, Malaysia, to be invited to address
this distinguished Second Parliament of the World's Religions. This
topic-Jihad: Struggle for Peace and Justice-is very relevant, as we are
still searching for a universally acceptable world order that can guarantee
a true state of intematfonal peace through absolute justice. The world has
yet to be completely free from a number of bloody atrocities and
aggression that are direct infringements on human and individual rights.
There is the unending Middle East conflict between the Palestinians and
Israel for more than four decades, the "ethnic cleansing" of the Bosnians
by the Serbs, and the Somali political and economic convulsion. The relevant world bodies have yet to exhibit their ability to handle
and manage effectively, and with the desired firmness and vigor, such
delicate intemational conflicts. It is quite apparent that the intemational
community seems to depend on the world bodies that serve only the interests
of a powerful few. Actions taken seem to be rather selective, to
the extent that they create a degtee of bias and injustice.
The problems of environmental degradation and resource distribution
still loom large despite rapid and unprecedented advancement in science
and technology. Abject poverty, undernourishment, and malnutrition remain
prevalent in parts of Africa and Asia. The world now sees a system
that concentrates political, military, economic, social, and cultural power
in the hands of a privileged few located largely in the North. More specifically,
within this global system the poor South had to "pay" the rich
North approximately 132 billion dollars in debt servicing during 1988. It
has been estimated that six hundred fifty thousand Third World children
die each year. If we consider the global distribution of income -both between
and within countries-we would discover that the richest 20 percent
of the world's population receives at least 150 times more than the
poorest 20 percent. What is even more distressing is a United Nations'
study showing that "the poorest of the developing countries have more
than half of the world's population and 5.6 per cent of world income." ...