Jihad
Jihad (/dʒɪˈhɑːd/; Arabic: جِهَاد, romanized: jihād [dʒiˈhaːd]) is an Arabic word which literally means "striving" or "struggling", especially with a praiseworthy aim.[1][2][3][4] In an Islamic context, it can refer to almost any effort to make personal and social life conform with God's guidance, such as struggle against one's evil inclinations, proselytizing, or efforts toward the moral betterment of the Muslim community (Ummah),[1][2][5][6] though it is most frequently associated with armed conflict.[4][7]
For other uses, see Jihad (disambiguation).
In classical Islamic law (sharia), the term refers to armed struggle against unbelievers,[2][3] while modernist Islamic scholars generally equate military jihad with defensive warfare.[8][9] In Sufi circles, spiritual and moral jihad has been traditionally emphasized under the name of greater jihad.[5][10][3] The term has gained additional attention in recent decades through its use by various insurgent Islamic extremist, militant Islamist, and terrorist individuals and organizations whose ideology is based on the Islamic notion of jihad.[5][7][11][12]
The word jihad appears frequently in the Qur'an with and without military connotations,[13] often in the idiomatic expression "striving in the path of God (al-jihad fi sabil Allah)",[14][15] conveying a sense of self-exertion.[16] They developed an elaborate set of rules pertaining to jihad, including prohibitions on harming those who are not engaged in combat.[17][18]
In the modern era, the notion of jihad has lost its jurisprudential relevance and instead given rise to an ideological and political discourse.[5][8] While modernist Islamic scholars have emphasized the defensive and non-military aspects of jihad, some Islamists have advanced aggressive interpretations that go beyond the classical theory.[8][12]
Jihad is classified into inner ("greater") jihad, which involves a struggle against one's own base impulses, and external ("lesser") jihad, which is further subdivided into jihad of the pen/tongue (debate or persuasion) and jihad of the sword.[5][19][10] Most Western writers consider external jihad to have primacy over inner jihad in the Islamic tradition, while much of contemporary Muslim opinion favors the opposite view.[19] The analysis of a large survey from 2002 reveals considerable nuance in the conceptions of jihad held by Muslims around the world.[20]
The sense of jihad as armed resistance was first used in the context of persecution faced by Muslims, as when Muhammad was at Mecca, when the community had two choices: emigration (hijra) or jihad.[21] In Twelver Shi'a Islam, jihad is one of the Ancillaries of the Faith.[22] A person engaged in jihad is called a mujahid (plural: mujahideen). The term jihad is often rendered in English as "Holy War",[23][24][25] although this translation is controversial.[26][27] Today, the word jihad is often used without religious connotations, like the English crusade.[1][2]
Tradition distinguishes the "greater jihad" (inner struggle against sinful behavior) from the "lesser jihad" (military sense).[5] Early Islamic thought considered non-violent interpretations of jihad, especially for those Muslims who could not partake in warfare in distant lands. Most classical writings use the term "jihad" in the military sense.[61][62] The tradition differentiating between the "greater and lesser jihad" is not included in any of the authoritative compilations of Hadith. In consequence, some Islamists dismiss it as not authentic.[63]
The most commonly cited hadith for "greater jihad" is:
This was also cited in The History of Baghdad by Al-Khatib al-Baghdadi, an 11th-century Islamic scholar.[65][66] This reference gave rise to the distinguishing of two forms of jihad: "greater" and "lesser".[64] Some Islamic scholars, such as Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani, consider the hadith to have a weak chain of transmission.[67]
The concept has had "enormous influence" in Islamic mysticism (Sufism).[68][69]
Ibn Hazm lists four kinds of jihad fi sabilillah (struggle in the cause of God):
A related hadith tradition that has "found its way into popular Muslim literature",[71] and which has been said to "embody the Muslim mindset" of the Islamic Golden Age (the period from the mid-8th century to mid-13th century following the relocation of the Abbasid capital from Damascus to Baghdad),[72] is:
The belief in the veracity of this hadith was a contributing factor in the efforts by successive caliphs to subsidize translations of "Greek, Hebrew and Syriac science and philosophy texts",[73] and the saying continues to be heavily emphasised to this day in certain Islamic traditions advocating intellectualism over violence, for example in Timbuktu,[74] where it is central to one of two key lessons in the work Tuhfat al-fudala by the 16th-century Berber scholar Ahmed Baba.[75] In general, however, fewer people today are aware of the hadith, which suffers from "a general lack of knowledge", according to Akbar Ahmed.[76]
According to classical Islamic scholars like Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya, Jihad is against four types of enemies: the lower self (nafs), Satan, the unbelievers, and the hypocrites. The first two types of Jihad are purely peaceful spiritual struggles. According to Ibn Qayyim "Jihad against the lower self precedes jihad against external enemies". Confirming the central importance of the spiritual aspect of Jihad, Ibn Taymiyyah writes:
Engaging in the greater jihad need not preclude engaging in the lesser jihad. Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani recommended his followers to pursue both the greater and the lesser jihads.[78]
At least one important contemporary Twelver Shia figure, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the leader of the Iranian Revolution and the founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran, wrote a treatise on the "Greater Jihad" (i.e., internal/personal struggle against sin).[79]
Robert W. Schaefer discusses jihad and gazavat in the context of the Caucasus: "Gazavat was the jihad of its day. Gazavat meant putting yourself on the right path (what Muslims refer to as the lesser jihad) as well as expelling the invader (what is referred to as greater jihad)."[80]
