Jihad Means
'Inner Struggle'
The Myth:
Jihad simply means 'struggle' and really just refers to a peaceful striving against
sin rather than a holy war to spread Islam.
The Truth:
In Arabic
"jihad" means struggle. In Islam it means holy war.
The
Quran
specifically exempts
the disabled and 'weak' from Jihad (4:95, 9:91), which would make no sense if the word
is being used within the context of spiritual struggle. It is also
unclear why Muhammad and his Quran would use graphic language, such as smiting fingers and
heads from the hands and necks of unbelievers if he were speaking of
character development.
With this
in mind, Muslim apologists generally admit that there are two meanings to the
word, but sometimes claim that “inner struggle” is the “greater Jihad,” whereas “holy
war” is the “lesser.” In fact, this misconception is based on a weak
single hadith that Islamic scholars generally agree was fabricated.
By
contrast, the most reliable of all Hadith collections is that of Bukhari.
Jihad is mentioned over 50 times in reference to the words of Muhammad (in sahih verses).
Each carries a clear connotation to holy war, with only a handful of possible
exceptions (dealing with a woman's supporting role during a time of holy war, and a non-combatant's obligation to supply funding).
Neither the Shiite tradition nor any of the four schools of Sunni jurisprudence
have much to say about Jihad in a context other than physical warfare against unbelievers and its funding. According to Reliance of the Traveler, "Jihad means to war against non-Muslims, and is etymologically
derived from the word mujahada signifying warfare to establish the religion"
(o9.0).
The association of 'Jihad' with spiritual struggle in the modern discourse is a
rhetorical strategy to downplay the association of Islam with violence.
[Additional Note: Apologists try to minimize fear of Jihad and devalue
its association with terrorism by claiming that Jihad can only be
declared by a caliphate. There are two problems with this. The first
is that a caliphate isn't mythical, but can be self-proclaimed at any
time (as all caliphates are). This is the case with ISIS. The second problem
is that this rule of declaring Jihad is found in the Sharia, and is thus as legitimate
as anything else found there - including the execution of apostates, gays and adulterers.
]
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