Editing Jihad (section)

==Etymology and literary origins==
The term ''jihad'' is derived from the [[Arabic root]] ''jahada'', meaning "to exert strength and effort, to use all means in order to accomplish a task". In its expanded sense, it can be fighting the enemies of [[Islam]], as well as adhering to religious teachings, enjoining good and forbidding evil.<ref name=Oz/> The peaceful sense of "efforts towards the moral uplift of society or towards the spread of Islam" can be known as "''jihad'' of the tongue" or "''jihad'' of the pen", as opposed to "''jihad'' of the sword".<ref name="Jihād">{{cite encyclopedia|title=Jihād|url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/philosophy-and-religion/islam/islam/jihad|publisher=encyclopedia.com|date=21 May 2013}}</ref> It is used as a term in ''[[fiqh]]'' (Islamic jurisprudence) mostly in the latter sense, while in [[Sufism]] mostly in the sense of fighting the ''nafs al-ammara'', which is the [[psychological state]] of succumbing to one's own desires.<ref name=Oz>{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/cihad |last=Özel |first=Ahmed|date=1993|title=Jihad|encyclopedia=[[Islam Ansiklopedisi]]|volume=7 |pages=527–531|publisher=Turkish Diyanet Foundation |location=Istanbul|lang=tr}}</ref> Spiritual and moral ''jihad'' is generally emphasized in pious and mystical circles.<ref name="Jihād"/>

The Hans Wehr ''[[Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic]]'' defines the term as "fight, battle; ''jihad'', [[holy war]] (against the [[infidels]], as a religious duty)".<ref name=hanswehr>{{Cite book |last=Wehr |first=Hans |url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=WTak55pG-_IC|page=142}}
|title=A Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic |date=1979 |publisher=Otto Harrassowitz Verlag |isbn=978-3-447-02002-2 |language=en|page=142|edition=3rd}}</ref> However, given the range of meanings, it is incorrect to equate it simply with "holy war".<ref name="Jihād"/><ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-04-12 |title=Jihad {{!}} Meaning, Examples, & Use in the Quran {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/jihad |access-date=2025-05-10 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref> The notion of ''jihad'' has its origins in the Islamic idea that the whole humankind will embrace Islam.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |editor-last=Lewis |editor-first=B. |editor-first2=Charles |editor-last2=Pellat|editor-first3=J. |editor-last3=Schatcht|url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=mB-qzwEACAAJ|page=538}} |encyclopedia=[[The Encyclopaedia of Islam]]: Khe-Naz. Vol. 5-7 |date=1967 |publisher=E. J. Brill |isbn=978-90-04-09739-1 |language=en|last=Tyan |first=Emile |title=Encyclopédie de l'Islam |page=538 }}</ref>{{full citation needed|date=September 2024}} In the Qur'an and in later Muslim usage, ''jihad'' is commonly followed by the expression ''fi sabil illah'', "in the path of God."<ref>For a listing of all appearances in the Qur'an of ''jihad'' and related words, see {{Cite book |url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=GrGNtwAACAAJ|page=587}}|title=al-Mu'jam al-mufahras li-alfaz al-Qur'an al-karim |date=1988 |publisher=دار حديث، |language=ar|authorlink=Muhammad Fu'ad 'Abd al-Baqi|pages= 182–83}} and {{Cite book |last=Kassis |first=Hanna E. |url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=RKbeEAAAQBAJ|page=587}} |title=A Concordance of the Qur'an |date=2023-11-03 |publisher=Univ of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-34261-3 |language=en|pages= 587–588}}</ref> [[Muhammad Abdel-Haleem]] stated that it indicates "the way of truth and justice, including all the teachings it gives on the justifications and the conditions for the conduct of war and peace."<ref>{{Cite book|title=Understanding the Qurʼan : Themes and Style|last=Abdel Haleem|first=Muhammed|date=2001|publisher=I.B. Tauris|isbn=9781860640094|location=London|pages=62|oclc=56728422}}</ref>

In [[Modern Standard Arabic]], the term ''jihad'' is used for a struggle for causes, both religious and [[Secularism|secular]]. It is sometimes used without religious connotation, with a meaning similar to the English word "[[crusade]]" (as in "a crusade against drugs").<ref name="OISO">{{cite web|title=Oxford Islamic Studies Online|url=http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/article/opr/t125/e1199|publisher=Oxford University Press|access-date=29 August 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140903062853/http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/article/opr/t125/e1199|archive-date=3 September 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref> ''Jihad'' is used commonly in Arabic countries, in the neutral sense of "a struggle for a noble cause", as a unisex name given to children.<ref>{{cite news|title='My wife can never call my name in public'|first=Rebecca|last=Seales|publisher=BBC |date=5 July 2018|access-date=29 November 2021|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-42009219}}</ref> Nonetheless, ''jihad'' is usually used in the religious sense and its beginnings trace to the Qur'an and the words and actions of [[Muhammad]].<ref name="Peters-jihad-OEIW">{{cite encyclopedia|first=Rudolph |last=Peters |title=Jihād |encyclopedia=The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Islamic World|url=http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/MainSearch.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081121021514/http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/MainSearch.html |archive-date=21 November 2008 |access-date=17 February 2008}}</ref><ref name="Berkey-2003">{{Cite book |last=Berkey |first=Jonathan P. |url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=mLV6lo4mvj0C}} |title=The Formation of Islam: Religion and Society in the Near East, 600-1800 |date=2003 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-58813-3 |language=en}}</ref>

===Quran===
''Jihad'' is mentioned in four places in the [[Qur'an]] as a noun, while its derived verb is used in twenty-four places. ''[[Mujahid]]'', the [[active participle]] meaning "[[jihadist]]", is mentioned in two verses.<ref name=Oz/> In some of these mentions (see [[At-Tawbah]] 9/41, 44, 81, 86), it is understood that the word ''jihad'' directly refers to war, and in others, ''jihad'' is used in the sense of "the effort to live in accordance with Allah's will".<ref name=Oz/> Qur'anic exhortations to ''jihad'' have been [[tafsir|interpreted]] by Islamic scholars both in the combative and non-combative sense.<ref>{{cite book|title=Striving in the Path of God ''Jihad'' and Martyrdom in Islamic Thought|author=[[Asma Afsaruddin]]|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|year=2013|page=11}}</ref> Ahmed al-Dawoody wrote that there seventeen references to or derivatives of ''jihad'' occur altogether forty-one times in eleven [[Meccan surah|Meccan]] texts and thirty [[Medinan surah|Medinan]] ones, with 28 mentions related to religious belief or spiritual struggle and 13 mentions related to warfare or physical struggle.<ref name=AD11/>{{rp|56}}

===Hadith===
There are also many [[hadiths]] (records of the teachings, deeds and sayings of the Islamic prophet Muhammad) about ''jihad'', typically under the headings of ''kitab al-jihad'' (book of ''jihad'') or ''faza'il al-jihad'' (virtues of ''jihad'') in ''hadith'' collections or as the subject of independent works.<ref name=Oz/> Of the 199 ''hadith'' references to ''jihad'' in the [[Sahih Bukhari|Bukhari]] collection of ''hadith'', all assume that ''jihad'' means warfare.<ref name="bukhari">{{cite book|last=ibn Ismāʻīl Bukhārī|first=Muḥammad |title=Ṣaḥīḥ Al-Bukhārī: The Translation of the Meanings of Sahih Al-Bukhari|url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=tB9quQEACAAJ}}|volume=v4|year=1981|publisher=Dar al-Fikr|location=Medina|pages=34–204|translator-last=Muhsin Khan|translator-first=Muhammad}}. Quoted in {{cite journal |url=http://www.meforum.org/357/what-does-jihad-mean |title=What Does ''Jihad'' Mean? |last=Streusand |first=Douglas E. |journal=Middle East Quarterly |date=September 1997 |pages=9–17 |quote=In ''hadith'' collections, ''jihad'' means armed action; for example, the 199 references to ''jihad'' in the most standard collection of ''hadith'', Sahih al-Bukhari, all assume that ''jihad'' means warfare. |access-date=24 August 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140908145532/http://www.meforum.org/357/what-does-jihad-mean |archive-date=8 September 2014 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Streusand-1997">{{cite journal|last1=Streusand|first1=Douglas E.|title=What Does ''Jihad'' Mean?|journal=Middle East Quarterly|date=September 1997|volume=4|issue=3|pages=9–17|url=http://www.meforum.org/357/what-does-jihad-mean|access-date=12 July 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150701081937/http://www.meforum.org/357/what-does-jihad-mean|archive-date=1 July 2015|url-status=live}}</ref>

Among reported sayings of Muhammad involving ''jihad'' are:

{{blockquote|The best ''Jihad'' is the word of Justice in front of the oppressive sultan.|cited by [[Ibn Nuhaas]] and narrated by Ibn Habbaan<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.khilafah.com/index.php/analysis/middle-east/11132-protestors-lose-their-fear-of-the-egyptian-regime-and-perform-the-best-jihad-the-word-of-justice-in-front-of-the-oppressive-ruler|title=Protestors lose their fear of the Egyptian regime and perform the best ''jihad'' – the word of justice in front of the oppressive ruler|last=Abdul-Kareem|first=Ibrahim|date=2011-01-28|website=The Khilafah|access-date=2019-08-09|archive-date=26 February 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110226122709/http://www.khilafah.com/index.php/analysis/middle-east/11132-protestors-lose-their-fear-of-the-egyptian-regime-and-perform-the-best-jihad-the-word-of-justice-in-front-of-the-oppressive-ruler|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://muslimmatters.org/2011/02/01/reflections-on-the-protests-in-egypt/|title=Reflections on the Protests in Egypt|last=Shehata|first=Ali|date=1 February 2011|website=MuslimMatters.org|language=en-US|access-date=9 August 2019}}</ref><ref name="Hashim1">{{cite book|last1=Hashim Kamali|first1=Mohammad|author-link=Mohammad Hashim Kamali|title=Shari'ah Law: An Introduction|date=2008|publisher=[[Oneworld Publications]]|isbn=978-1851685653|page=204}}</ref>}}
and
{{blockquote|The Messenger of Allah was asked about the best ''jihad''. He said: "The best ''jihad'' is the one in which your horse is slain and your blood is spilled."|cited by [[Ibn Nuhaas]] and narrated by Ibn Habbaan<ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/TheBookOfJihadByIbnNuhass|title=The Book of ''Jihad''|via=[[Internet Archive]]|author=Abi Zakaryya Al Dimashqi Al Dumyati|date=2016-10-23|pages=[https://archive.org/details/TheBookOfJihadByIbnNuhass/page/n43 107]|translator-last=Yamani|translator-first=Noor|access-date=2019-08-09}}</ref>}}

Ibn Nuhaas cited a [[hadith]] from [[Musnad Ahmad ibn Hanbal]], where Muhammad stated that the highest kind ''jihad'' is "The person who is killed whilst spilling the last of his blood" (Ahmed 4/144).<ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/TheBookOfJihadByIbnNuhass|title=The Book of ''Jihad''|via=[[Internet Archive]]|author=Abi Zakaryya Al Dimashqi Al Dumyati|date=23 October 2016|pages=[https://archive.org/details/TheBookOfJihadByIbnNuhass/page/n177 177]|translator-last=Yamani|translator-first=Noor|access-date=9 August 2019}}</ref> Muhammad also said, “I cannot find anything” as meritorious as ''jihad''; he further likened ''jihad'' to “praying ceaselessly and fasting continuously”.<ref name=1t4>{{cite book|url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=1T4yAQAAQBAJ}}|title=The Intensification and Reorientation of Sunni ''Jihad'' Ideology in the Crusader Period|date=3 December 2012 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=9789004242791 }}</ref>{{rp|70, 145}}<ref>{{cite book|url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=CD9IdzJ4fFQC}}|title=Reconquest and Crusade in Medieval Spain|page=12|isbn=0812218892 |last1=O'Callaghan |first1=Joseph F. |date=24 February 2004 |publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press }}</ref> Muhammad said that “if it were not a hardship for the Muslims, I would never idle behind from a raiding party going out to fight in the path of Allah.... I [would] love to raid in the path of Allah and be killed, to raid again and be killed, and to raid again and be killed”.<ref name=1t4/>{{rp|147}} Muhammad also said that "Lining up for battle in the path of Allah [jihad] is worthier than 60 years of worship".<ref name=1t4/>{{rp|151}} Muhammad claimed that any Muslim who refused to fight in ''jihad'' “will be tortured like no other sinful human” in hell with confirmation from Qur'an 8:15-16.<ref name=1t4/>{{rp|71}}<ref>{{cite web | url=https://quran.com/en/al-anfal/15-16 | title=Surah Al-Anfal - 15-16 }}</ref> In another ''hadith'' Muhammad said, “the sword wipes away all sins” and “being killed in the path of Allah washes away impurity”.<ref>{{cite book|url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=LuzFSDvKXJ4C}}|title=Understanding ''Jihad''|date=23 May 2005 |page=15|publisher=University of California Press |isbn=9780520931879 }}</ref><ref name=1t4/>{{rp|183}}

According to another ''hadith'',<ref>{{Citehadith|bukhari|5972|b=yl}}</ref> supporting one's parents is an example of ''jihad''.<ref name=AD11/>{{rp|76}} It has been reported that Muhammad considered performing ''[[hajj]]'' well to be the best ''jihad'' for Muslim women.<ref>{{Citehadith|bukhari|2784|b=yl}}</ref><ref name=AD11>{{cite book|first1=Ahmed|last1=Al-Dawoody|date=2011|title=The Islamic Law of War: Justifications and Regulations|url=https://archive.org/details/islamiclawwarjus00alda|url-access=limited|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|isbn=978-0230111608}}</ref>{{rp|58}}

The ''hadith'' emphasize ''jihad'' as one of the means to [[Paradise]]. All sins (except debt) would be forgiven for the one who dies in it.<ref name=Bonney04>{{cite book|url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=5Mcf0AEACAAJ}}|title=Jihad: From Qu'ran to Bin Laden|last=Bonney|first=Richard|author-link=Richard Bonney|year=2004|publisher=[[Palgrave Macmillan]]}}</ref>{{rp|34-35}} Participation in ''jihad'' had to be voluntary and intention must be pure, for ''jihad'' is only waged for the sake of God not for material wealth.<ref name=Bonney04/>{{rp|34-35}} On the contrary, ''jihad'' required man to put both his life and wealth at risk.<ref name=Bonney04/>{{rp|34-35}} ''Jihad'' is ranked as one of the highest good deeds; according to one ''hadith'' it is the third-best deed after [[Salat|prayer]] and being good to one's parents.<ref name=Bonney04/>{{rp|35}} One ''hadith'' exempts military ''jihad'' on men whose parents are alive, as serving one's parents is considered a superior ''jihad''.<ref name=Bonney04/>{{rp|35}}