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STATISTICS:
•Islam is a monotheistic religion founded by Prophet Muhammad in seventh-century Saudi Arabia.
•Today, Islam is the second largest religion in the world. The word "Islam" means "submission," reflecting the religion's central tenet of submitting to the will of God.
Personal Jihad: The Struggle Within
Anila Umar
CanadaGALLERYCONVERSATION
I know that there are many women of my generation who are struggling with their own inner jihad.

I have chosen a series of photographs I took in February 2003 while on hajj, the Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca, to answer the question, What defines your generation of women? First, let me begin with a brief explanation. Followers of the religion of Islam are grounded by their faith and obedience in submission to what are known as the Five Pillars of Islam. These include (1) believing that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is His messenger, (2) praying five times daily, (3) fasting during the month of Ramadan, (4) giving of alms to charity, and (5) making a pilgrimage, known as hajj, to the Muslim holy city of Mecca once in a person’s lifetime.

Second, let me tell you about the Arabic word jihad. It has been thrown around a lot in the media, and therefore many people now believe that jihad means “holy war” and is an excuse for Muslims to become violent. Fighting for one’s religion or belief system, as in a holy war, would be a type of jihad, yes, but that is not the only or even the most common use of the word. In fact, the word jihad simply means “struggle,” and that is the meaning it holds for me and I hope for many other Muslims. As a young Muslim woman, I believe it refers to my personal struggle within myself.

I am a twenty-five-year-old Canadian woman. My parents are originally from India and Pakistan. It has been hard for me growing up in Canada. For years I was confused about my identity.
Am I Canadian? Am I Indian? Am I Pakistani? Am I Muslim? I finally came to the conclusion that I am all of these and yet none of them. The only thing I really am is Anila — a young woman struggling within herself to personally effect change, a young woman who wants other young girls to grow up feeling less confused about who they are and proud of being themselves, not the statues that society creates, statues of perfect little girls who grow up to be perfect little women. I am a young woman who is struggling to gain inner peace, to reconcile who she is, within herself.

And I do not feel alone. In fact, I know that there are many women of my generation who are struggling with their own inner jihad. Why are we different from the women who came before us and those who will come after us? Because we are part of something unique in history. We are women who can no longer be boxed into one nationality because our families have moved. We are women who cannot be boxed into one race because our families have intermarried. We are women who cannot even be boxed into one religion because of our experiences. We are learning, we are changing, we are adapting, and we are accepting many different ways of thinking, behaving, and believing.

The series of photographs I have submitted take you on a step-by-step journey through the most important part of my personal jihad. I took photographs at Jamarath in Saudi Arabia. At Jamarath, Muslims throw stones at a pillar that symbolizes the devil. It is the last rite we perform to complete our hajj. When we throw the rocks, we are letting all evil in the world know that we have completed hajj and are now clean. We will no longer knowingly cause any evil in this world. We are letting the devil know that we have spent the last few days fighting him and we have won.

It was a turning point in my life when I walked all of the kilometers to Jamarath from Mina, where our camp was set up. We were an army of four million people who had sacrificed and struggled to make an oath that we would try to do only good in this world. We were no longer going to be pushed around by evil. We had each won a significant battle in our personal jihad. This was the most important day of my life because it solidified my beliefs. It was the day I realized that I am not alone and that being Anila is perfectly okay.
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saxony j
I believe evil is about the intent to hurt and know that it is wrong; I also want to let you know that I am not muslim however, I feel some of my actions may be based on the muslim faith like the ability to understand the higher truth of the human mind and spirit...and I root for those muslims who have not been heard...I am sorry for the sufferings but keep up your spirits
Anila Umar (Canada)
Hi Saxonyj,
Thank-you for you comments. Well, in Islam the devil is just that...satan. An entity that defied God by not bowing to Adam and was therefore cast out. The devil now roams the earth trying to get humans to do evil things. Evil in Islam is both an action and a state of mind. Personally, I think evil is anything that causes deliberate harm on anyone or anything else. :) Anila
saxonyj (United States)
I really enjoyed your writing of your personal jihad; you think and act like a free person; I admire you for that; what is evil or the devil to the muslim faith; is there a definition? Is evil a state of mind or an action. I would like to know. I find that evil may be defined differently depending on one's religion; I am not sure if there is a universal definition for evil.
Imagining Ourselves Team (United States)
Are you torn between two or several identities?
 
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