Re: Jihad and killing in the way of Allah should be made common : Munawwar Hassan
qital - does not mean “murder”
It would be very strange for any Muslim to advocate murder whilst believing it is murder … murder is part of fasad and is a mortal sin and subject to sentence of death or blood money, qatal is technically “physical fighting” which can lead to killing … so an acceptable meaning of qatl is “killing” … but the problem in this linguistic formula is that it is wrong to conclude:
“killing for Allah” … 
The essence of qital-u-fi-sabee-lillah and jihad is in line with what Allah (SWT) advocates … That there shall be no harm and no propagating harm … that oppression shall not prosper and fasad should be stopped … It is not about killing but about preventing it … the offensive jihad as people quote is also about this … Offensive jihad is a misnoma - in reality it is pre-emptive campaigns that is allowed … Just like in the case of Fatah-e-Makkah … That was a conquest - where none were killed on the battlefield … So in fact pre-emptive actions can be less damaging and need to be selected on that basis. Collateral damage is absolutely wrong in the Islamic rules. So based on this what ISIS and many Muslims are doing on the battlefield is wrong.
These days a regime may be oppressing its people so another comes in trying to liberate them, but when doing so themselves start to oppress those people … that is not jihad … When fighting groups enter a land for jihad you know it is true jihad when it is fi sabee lillah - but it is “for the sake of power and political gain” when they do it to manifest their agenda and control. True jihad is to fight putting oneself at risk of harm to protect others and when the risk subsides to lower your weapons and leave the power to be taken by the responsible members of the populous to decide among themselves. Power vacuums are dangerous so it would be prudent to not enter a place for such jihad until and unless a proper and organised body that is representative of the people to form the opposition that is recognised by other countries.
Jihad also encapsulates not bending to bribes, not bending to governmental threats or from other bodies, being law abiding in this day and age is a jihad because it is difficult.