What is Jihad?
Jihad simply means making great efforts or striving for a particular purpose. Jihad is not synonymous with violence. It is a form of worship through which one earns Divine reward.
Jihad is a fact of life. What is called ‘effort’ or ‘struggle’ in English is called ‘jihad’ in Arabic. Jihad is not some mysterious concept. Nor is it synonymous with violence. It simply means making great efforts or striving for a particular purpose.
The root word of jihad is juhd, which connotes making much effort for something. According to the famous Arabic dictionary Lisan al-Arab, the word juhd means utmost effort. Juhd and related words appear in different forms to indicate this meaning. For instance, the phrase jahad al-laban means, ‘making efforts to take out all the butter’. In Arabic, one says bazala juhdahu, that is, ‘He exerted his utmost power or ability.’ Likewise, when we say jahada ar-rajulu fi kaza ay jadda fihi wa balagha, it means, ‘The man made every effort and tried his best for the cause.’ The terms jihad and mujahid (one who engages in jihad) precisely mean the same. (Lisan al-Arab, Vol. 3 p. 135)
Striving hard for a particular purpose is something that all human beings do. It is a human characteristic. There are words in every language to denote such effort, and the word for this in Arabic is ‘jihad’. It is the basic meaning of the word ‘jihad’.
There is one difference, though, we must note in this regard. The term ‘effort’ or ‘struggle’ ordinarily does not connote divine reward or worship. However, these are implied when the term jihad is used in the Islamic context. Thus, jihad refers to a particular effort or struggle, that is also a form of worship and earns Divine reward for the person who engages in it. As the Quran says: Jahidu fillahi haqqa jihadihi. (22:78) It means: “Strive for the cause of God as it behoves you to strive for it.”
In some situations, the act of jihad or struggle might take the form of facing one’s opponents. On such occasions, in terms of usage, and not in the literal sense, jihad can also take on the sense of war. Hence, Imam al-Raghib al-Isfahani, an eleventh-century Muslim scholar of Quranic exegesis and the Arabic language, mentions three types of jihad:
- Fighting one’s external antagonists.
- Fighting Satan.
- Fighting one’s self.
(Al-Mufradat fi-Gharib el-Quran, p. 208)
