JIHAD FOR KIDS?

Martyrdom is the suffering of death on account of adherence to a cause and especially to one's religious faith. This is the driving force that propels Islamic warriors to pursue Jihad, religious war, against the infidel. The infidels are those people who don't have faith in Islam from Islam point of view. Looking from the eye of an Islamic martyr, it would look like that he is looking at a non Muslim to be an evil enemy.

I have made a little browsing on the real meaning of the word infidel from the context of Islam and it doesn't really show that they are really referring to the non Muslims per se to be infidels. Here is what I found, Kafir, an Arabic word often translated as Infidel (literally, one who "covers", in the sense of hiding), refers to those who do not believe in the one god, which includes atheists and polytheists but not Christians and Jews, who are known instead as "People of the Book (Ahl-e-kitab)".In common English usage, however, the term is also applied to Christians, especially in English fiction and poetry.

"Kafir" has also come to be regarded as offensive, thus Muslim scholars discourage its use due to the Quran's command to use kind words. It is even a punishable offense to use this term against a Jew or a Christian, under Islamic law. Some Muslim extremists today however use the term in reference to all non-Muslims.

Taking into account information we get from the preceding paragraph, we can say that You and I who are mostly believers of one God is not after all an enemy of Islam. It is therefore a misinterpretation by many that the on going war on terrorist is all a war instigated by Jihad warrior. If, on the other hand, the contrary is true that indeed they are Jihadist and invoke the Islamic law to wage war on the non Muslim world, then there could probably Quran out of context.

In some instances where we see Muslim warriors training their children to the join the war against the infidels to become martyrs. Muslims will say that dying in the name of Allah is martyrdom and when you die for the sake of fighting for your faith and destroying the infidels who are against the faith is martyrdom as well. Makes really sense but don't you think that these children already have that broad understanding of what faith is all about?

The concept of martyrdom (shahada) in Islam can only be understood in the light of the Islamic concept of Holy Struggle (jihad) and the concept of jihad may only be appreciated if the concept of the doctrine of enjoining right and discovering wrong (al-amr bi'l-maruf) is properly appreciated, and good and bad, right and wrong, can only be understood if the independent divine source of righteousness, truth, and goodness (tawhid), and how the Message of the divine source of righteousness and truth has been honestly and properly conveyed to humanity through prophethood, are understood. Finally the divine message may not be fully appreciated unless the embodiment of this divine message, or the Model of Guidance, and the Supreme Paradigm (imama or uswa) is properly recognized. Obviously, taking into account the teaching you find in the preceding statements then you can say that no children will be eligible enough to understand clearly this doctrine.

The question we have right is on how to reconcile the truth from what is being taught. Obviously, the adults are indoctrinating these young children with the wrong concept of Islam which is suppose to mean peace and submission to Allah.

I am not certain though if Islam has 2 personalities, a timid side and a warrior side, but what concerns me is the paradigm they inculcate in these children's minds that they are training in the military for the sake of faith in it or might be involved in it just for their leaders political aspirations be achieved. It is utterly incongruous to say that they fight for religion and fight for freedom at the same time use children to meet these ends, which by doing so by the way deprived these kids of their rights and privileges.