Bismillah-ir-Rahman-ir-Rahim

004.066 And if We had decreed for them: Lay down your lives or go forth from your dwellings, but few of them would have done it; though if they did what they are exhorted to do it would be better for them, and more strengthening;

004.067 And then We should bestow upon them from Our presence an immense reward,

004.068 And should guide them unto a straight path.

004.069 Whoso obeyeth Allah and the messenger, they are with those unto whom Allah hath shown favour, of the prophets and the saints and the martyrs and the righteous. The best of company are they!

004.070 That is bounty from Allah, and Allah sufficeth as Knower.

004.071 O ye who believe! Take your precautions, then advance the proven ones, or advance all together.

004.072 Lo! among you there is he who loitereth; and if disaster overtook you, he would say: Allah hath been gracious unto me since I was not present with them.

004.073 And if a bounty from Allah befell you, he would surely cry, as if there had been no love between you and him: Oh, would that I had been with them, then should I have achieved a great success!

004.074 Let those fight in the way of Allah who sell the life of this world for the other. Whoso fighteth in the way of Allah, be he slain or be he victorious, on him We shall bestow a vast reward.

004.075 How should ye not fight for the cause of Allah and of the feeble among men and of the women and the children who are crying: Our Lord! Bring us forth from out this town of which the people are oppressors! Oh, give us from thy presence some protecting friend! Oh, give us from Thy presence some defender!

004.076 Those who believe do battle for the cause of Allah; and those who disbelieve do battle for the cause of idols. So fight the minions of the devil. Lo! the devil's strategy is ever weak.

004.077 Hast thou not seen those unto whom it was said: Withhold your hands, establish worship and pay the poordue, but when fighting was prescribed for them behold! a party of them fear mankind even as their fear of Allah or with greater fear, and say: Our Lord! Why hast Thou ordained fighting for us ? If only Thou wouldst give us respite yet a while! Say (unto them, O Muhammad): The comfort of this world is scant; the Hereafter will be better for him who wardeth off (evil); and ye will not be wronged the down upon a date-stone.

004.078 Wheresoever ye may be, death will overtake you, even though ye were in lofty towers. Yet if a happy thing befalleth them they say: This is from Allah; and if an evil thing befalleth them they say: This is of thy doing (O Muhammad). Say (unto them): All is from Allah. What is amiss with these people that they come not nigh to understand a happening ?

004.079 Whatever of good befalleth thee (O man) it is from Allah, and whatever of ill befalleth thee it is from thyself. We have sent thee (Muhammad) as a messenger unto mankind and Allah is sufficient as Witness.

These ayat have sparked my interest in finding the hadith about jihad.Also, I wonder if jihad can change. It seem like many people still understand it as war and I am not saying that war couldn't be one of its definitions. In the time of the Prophet (SAW) the Muslims were ordered to fight ,but also at that time the muslim community was very small and could be easily eradicated. In todays world, I feel that jihad might not be something that is done physically on the battle field. I feel that there are bigger fish for the Muslims to fry that would be in the cause of Allah. For instance, we have to help eradicate the roots of extremism by spreading and encouraging more knowledge amongst the Muslims. We need to foster the scholarship traditions that women engaged in from the time of the Prophet (SAW) now . I really feel that many of the issues that are considered evil have taken a new face in today's world.  I guess I just really want to know what jihad is.

I completely agree with you Sr. Halimat. This is a great point! Women have been underrepresented in islamic scholarship despite so many of them playing such active lives at the time of the Prophet and after. Makes you wonder what happened to those narrations....

Wow, that's a great point about jihad transforming into a new form in this day and age. A lot of the things you mentioned would undoubtedly be more effective at protecting Islam than physical battle. The aya would still apply though, the one that pushes us to go forward seeking reward for our jihad, without fearing consequence from humans (I guess it could be in terms of people disliking your message).