# What is a "jihad"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 30, 2002, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-jihad/111575 "2002-05-30T17:37:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![shelbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3d9bf3/32.png) [@shelbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shelbo)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2002, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-jihad/111575/1 "2002-05-30T17:37:29Z")
Is it, as the individual in [this story](http://webcenter.newssearch.netscape.com/aolns_display.adp?key=200205291816000256527_aolns.src) says, a “personal struggle”? Or is it, as is generally used in the media these days, a “holy war”? ---
**Author:** ![a\_gherkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f6c823/32.png) [@a\_gherkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/a_gherkin)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2002, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-jihad/111575/2 "2002-05-30T17:49:06Z")
jihad means means to ‘strive for a btter way of life’ . it is an arabic word, stems from ‘jahada’ and islam condems any sort of holy war ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2002, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-jihad/111575/3 "2002-05-30T18:07:34Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by a\_gherkin \* > \*\*…and islam condems any sort of holy war \*\* Well, that’s not entirely true. The Qur’n allows, and actually mandates, waging war in self defense, or to protect other Muslims from forced conversion or religious persecution. Jihad can be used to refer to either an individual’s internal struggle against his evil inclinations and desires (which Christians term “spiritual warfare”), or the fighting of a just war to protect Islam. ---
**Author:** ![av8rmike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/edb3f5/32.png) [@av8rmike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/av8rmike)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2002, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-jihad/111575/4 "2002-05-30T18:08:48Z")
The Master’s Disciple [spake](http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mjihad.html), and the people listened, and lo, they were educated. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2002, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-jihad/111575/5 "2002-05-30T18:10:26Z")
More importantly, why do American news reporters insist on Frenchifying the “j” when pronouncing “jihad”? ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2002, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-jihad/111575/6 "2002-05-30T18:31:22Z")
For the same ignorant reason they keep using “jihad” == “holy war”. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2002, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-jihad/111575/7 "2002-05-31T01:35:13Z")
I think the reason they use “jihad” to mean “holy war” has a lot more to do with how a lot of Muslims themselves use the term. Even if it’s not strictly supported by a strict reading of Islamic doctrine, you can’t deny that for a period of centuries there have been a lot of Muslims who have taken up arms against the infidel in the name of jihad. Even now. ---
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2002, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-jihad/111575/8 "2002-05-31T01:58:44Z")
In Islam: Greater Jihad = Personal Struggle - the day to day trials and tribulations that face the average Muslim. Trying to be the best, most faithful Muslim as is possible. Lesser Jihad - protecting Islam and the Muslim faith from attack. A defensive position. Non-Existant, Pisses-Off-the-Average-Muslim Jihad - The belief, held by finatical groups, that an agressive “holy-war” is in any way, shape or form a good idea, or an idea sanctioned by the profit. ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_Bowe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df788c/32.png) [@Doug\_Bowe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_Bowe)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2002, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-jihad/111575/9 "2002-05-31T05:24:12Z")
## John Corrado did a good job. You’ll find basically the same answer in “The Handy Religion Answer Book” ( John Renard, copyright 2002, Visible Ink Press, Detroit). Jihad comes from an Arabic verb that means “to struggle or exert oneself…” …Under prescribed circumstances jihad can include offensive military action where the free practice of Islam is under threat of constraint…Even then, therefore, we are talking about a type of defensive action…Military jihad has always been subject to strict criteria and is in many ways parallel to the Christian notion of “just war.” Very few, if any, recent calls for Jihad have actually satisfied the necessary criteria. When someone asked Muhammad what the greatest jihad was, the Prophet replied that it was to speak a word of truth in the ear of a tyrant. An important theme in Islamic spirituality has been called the “Greater Jihad,” as distinct from all the various forms of exterior, lesser jihad’s. Warriors of the spirit must take up the sword of self-knowledge against the fiercest enemy of all, their own inner tendencies to evil and idolatry. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2002, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-jihad/111575/10 "2002-05-31T12:01:40Z")
> [@](#): > > Non-Existant, Pisses-Off-the-Average-Muslim Jihad - The belief, held by finatical groups, that an agressive “holy-war” is in any way, shape or form a good idea, or an idea sanctioned by the profit. If it is a belief held by fanatical groups, then it’s not non-existent, is it? It might not be supported by strict Islamic doctrine, but it’s still there. ---
**Author:** ![toadspittle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c0e974/32.png) [@toadspittle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toadspittle)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2002, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-jihad/111575/11 "2002-05-31T13:56:22Z")
Let’s face it: the main problem is that “jihad” has been used many times by muslim demagogues to signify an ongoing struggle–often violent–against the West and the U.S. in particular. Whether it’s supported by the Koran or not, it’s being used thus, _and accepted as such_, by thousands if not millions of muslims around the world. Remember–just because the Crusades were completely antithetical to every single word Jesus spoke doesn’t mean that they weren’t embraced by European Christians. ---
**Author:** ![Eva\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e495f1/32.png) [@Eva\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eva_Luna)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2002, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-jihad/111575/12 "2002-05-31T17:18:57Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by alice\_in\_wonderland \* > \*\* > > Non-Existant, Pisses-Off-the-Average-Muslim Jihad - The belief, held by finatical groups, that an agressive “holy-war” is in any way, shape or form a good idea, or an idea sanctioned by the profit. \*\* Not to be a pain, but I think you mean “an idea sanctioned by the Prophet.” ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2002, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-jihad/111575/13 "2002-05-31T18:53:01Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by acsenray \* > I think the reason they use “jihad” to mean “holy war” has a lot more to do with how a lot of Muslims themselves use the term. Still sounds like sloppy translating to me. Just because a holy war can be a “jihad” doesn’t mean the definition of “jihad” is “holy war.” It’s like as if I were to say, in English, “my responsibility is to fight crime,” and someone misinterprets that so they think the word “responsibility” _means_ “fighting crime.” Which it doesn’t of course, but if I were to later say “it is my responsibility to mow the lawn,” I’d get some funny looks. It probably doesn’t help matters any that the typical Westerner never hears the word “jihad” being used except in the context of a news article (or bad action movie) about radical Muslems waging holy war. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2002, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-jihad/111575/14 "2002-05-31T19:41:44Z")
> [@](#): > > Whether it’s supported by the Koran or not, it’s being used thus, _and accepted as such_, by thousands if not millions of muslims around the world. Any cite for those numbers, **toadspittle**? I would be very surprised if there were as many as a million Muslims trying to wage “holy war” against the West. ---
**Author:** ![toadspittle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c0e974/32.png) [@toadspittle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toadspittle)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2002, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-jihad/111575/15 "2002-05-31T20:42:51Z")
[http://www.fas.org/irp/world/para/ladin.htm](http://www.fas.org/irp/world/para/ladin.htm) > [@](#): > > As many as 10,000 Arabs received training and combat experience in Afghanistan. Of these, nearly half were Saudis, with others including more than 3000 Algerians, 2000 Egyptians, and hundreds of others from Yemen, Sudan, Pakistan, Syria and other Muslim states. > > …Al-Qa’ida’s goal is to “unite all Muslims and to establish a government which follows the rule of the Caliphs.” Bin Laden has stated that > the only way to establish the Caliphate is by force. Al-Qa’ida’s goal, therefore, is to overthrow nearly all Muslim governments, which are > viewed as corrupt, to drive Western influence from those countries, and eventually to abolish state boundaries. I concede. Here’s a scant 10,000 that are actively training to bring about a one-world Islamic govt. by force. I haven’t the patience to search for any more, or to see if I can find hard numbers on those who support the idea of a holy war vs. the west. So I retract “millions” and let “thousands” stand.