The eminent Muslim scholar, Sheikh Muhammad Al-Hanooti, member of the North American Fiqh Council, states: “People say an anecdote in a story that some blind guys were around an elephant. Each one of them touched a part of the elephant. One of them touched the tusk. Another touched the tail. A third touched an ear. A fourth touched the trunk, and so forth. Then, each one of them described the elephant as if it is only what he touched.
This case is similar to the people who cut Islam into pieces and in a reactionary way. I think that before we talk about Jihad that we should talk about Tawhid (belief in the Oneness of Allah), about making Da`wah (calling people to Islam), and teaching Muslims what Islam is.
I believe that all the decline of Muslims is because of their negligence of Islam. The only touches of Islam that they have are what they have of culture. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) spent 13 years just building up faith and Tawhid in Makkah. When he immigrated to Madinah, he was not allowed to fight, but to continue publicizing the roots of Islam. The last touches of the building of Islam are the protection and the security, which include Jihad.”