17.1 What is Jihad?

In the Qur’an, the word jihad from the root j-h-d, meaning “to strive.”

Jihad is not a single action, political system, a branch or sect (such as Sunni or Shia), a school of law (such as Hanafi or Shafi‘i), a specific group, or an organization.

Instead, jihad is a core concept within Islamic teaching that applies to different areas of life.

Jihad is used in a broad sense and can refer to:

• Striving in the path of God
• Striving against one’s own ego, selfish desires, or temptations to do wrong
• Supporting one’s parents and raising children well
• Enduring hardship and injustice with patience
• Community service and teaching
• Fighting against aggressors who have initiated conflict, as permitted in the Quran (2:190)

All Muslims are expected to practice jihad in some form.

Jihad in its military form helped create the political environments we saw in Module 16.

Here, in Module 17 we will look at what jihad is conceptually.

Later, in Module 18 we will look at how some groups use and also distort jihad in practice.

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Jihad is described in the Qur’an and further expanded on in the Hadith (reports about what Muhammad said and did).

The Hadith is where you will see more detailed discussions of different types of jihad, the emphasis on intention, and descriptions of moral and spiritual struggle.

This is also where the distinction between greater jihad and lesser jihad is commonly discussed.

In section 17.2, we will look more closely at these two categories.