Jihad
Arabic word which literally means striving or struggling, especially with a praiseworthy aim
Jihad (; Arabic: جِهَاد, romanized: jihād [d͡ʒɪˈhæːd]) is an Arabic word that means 'exerting', 'striving', or 'struggling', particularly with a praiseworthy aim. Jihad is typically associated with religiously-motivated warfare against external enemies of Islam. In an Islamic context, it encompasses almost any effort to make personal and social life conform with God's guidance, such as an internal struggle against evil in oneself, efforts to build a good Muslim community (ummah), and struggle to defend Islam. For its literal translation 'struggle', the term is frequently associated with warfare.
Jihad is classified into inner ("greater") jihad, which involves a struggle against one's own passions and impulses, and outer ("lesser") jihad, which is further subdivided into jihad of the pen/tongue (debate or persuasion) and jihad of the sword (warfare). Much of Muslim opinion considers inner jihad to have primacy over outer jihad. The analysis of a large survey from 2002 reveals considerable nuance in the conceptions of jihad held by Muslims around the world, ranging from righteous living and promoting peace to fighting against the opponents of Islam.
The word jihad appears frequently in the Qur'an referring to both religious and spiritual struggle and to war and physical struggle, often in the idiomatic expression "al-jihad fi sabil Allah" ('striving in the path of God'), conveying a sense of self-exertion. In the hadiths, jihad refers predominantly to warfare. Greater jihad refers to spiritual and moral struggle, and has traditionally been emphasized in Sufi and Ahmadiyya circles.
The public source identifies “Jihad” as arabic word which literally means striving or struggling, especially with a praiseworthy aim. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Jihad, Arabic and word.
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The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 19, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q44311. The first chronological checks are 2002.
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This entry incorporates text from “Jihad” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.