What is jihad? Meaning in Islam, the Quran and jihadist ideology

The short answer. What is jihad? Jihad is an Arabic word meaning "striving" or "struggle". It covers moral and spiritual effort, but in Islamic law it also means armed war: the classical manual Reliance of the Traveller defines it as war against non-Muslims.¹ A jihadist is someone who uses the word to justify terrorism. In 2014 more than 120 scholars, including Egypt's Grand Mufti, rejected Islamic State's claim to be waging jihad.³²

Key facts #

• Reliance of the Traveller, a Shafi'i law manual, says jihad "means to war against non-Muslims". It then calls the "greater jihad" spiritual warfare against the lower self.¹
• The same manual makes jihad a communal duty. It becomes a personal duty for everyone when non-Muslims invade Muslim land.¹
• It says the caliph fights Jews, Christians and Zoroastrians until they become Muslim or pay the non-Muslim poll tax, the jizya.¹
• The saying "we have returned from the lesser jihad to the greater jihad" is graded weak by al-Bayhaqi, and "of no origin" by Ibn Taymiyya, according to Malaysia's Mufti of the Federal Territories.⁴
• The 2014 Open Letter to Islamic State, signed by more than 120 scholars, says: "Jihad in Islam is defensive war."³
• In February 1998 Osama bin Laden, Ayman al-Zawahiri and three others called killing Americans an "individual duty". The 9/11 Commission noted that none of the five was a scholar of Islamic law.⁸
• In a Pew survey of Muslims in 39 countries and territories (2008 to 2012), a median of 72 per cent, across the 21 countries where the question was asked, said suicide bombing and similar violence against civilians in defence of Islam is never justified.¹⁰
• The West Point Combating Terrorism Center reported in December 2009 that the vast majority of al-Qa'ida's victims are Muslims.¹¹

What does jihad mean? #

Jihad means "striving". The Open Letter glosses it as "struggle", and the classical manual derives it from mujahada, effort for the religion.²¹ The word has four common uses.

What does the Quran say about jihad? #

The Quran uses "strive" and "fight" in many verses, some peaceful and some military. The table gives the verses most argued over, in Pickthall's translation. For the full set, see the Quran guide.

Jihadists quote the military verses without the rest of the Quran. The Open Letter says that cherry-picking verses is forbidden.² Yet the military verses are in the text, and some classical commentators read 9:5 as cancelling earlier verses of peace. Both points are fair. See the verse of the sword and abrogation.

What are the greater and lesser jihad? #

The "greater jihad" is the inner struggle against the self. The "lesser jihad" is armed fighting. The manual quotes the saying that Muhammad said this on returning from battle.¹

The saying is weak. According to the Malaysian mufti, al-Bayhaqi called its chain weak, Ibn Taymiyya called it of no origin, and Ibn Hajar said it is the words of a follower of the Companions, Ibrahim ibn Abi 'Ublah, not the Prophet.⁴ Yet the idea is still taught. The Open Letter bases it on 25:52 and teaches that the greater jihad is the struggle against the ego.²

So inner struggle is a real strand of the tradition. The claim that it is the only meaning does not match the legal manuals, which define jihad as war. The manual's author states both senses in the same passage.¹

What do the classical law manuals say? #

The manual, written in the Shafi'i school and translated by Nuh Ha Mim Keller, sets out these rules.¹

• Duty. Jihad is a communal duty. It is a personal duty if non-Muslims invade or surround Muslims.
• Authority. An offensive expedition without the caliph's permission is disliked. If there is no caliph, no permission is needed. See what is a caliphate.
• Aim. War on Jews, Christians and Zoroastrians continues until they become Muslim or pay the jizya. Other peoples are fought until they become Muslim, though the Hanafi school allows more of them to pay the jizya.
• Limits. Killing women and children is forbidden unless they fight. Killing old men and monks is permitted. Killing a non-Muslim under a Muslim's guarantee of protection is unlawful.

Not all scholars agree. The Open Letter says there is "no such thing as offensive, aggressive jihad just because people have different religions or opinions". It names Abu Hanifa, Malik, Ahmad and Ibn Taymiyya as holding this view, "with the exception of some scholars of the Shafi'i school".² The manual belongs to that school. SeekersGuidance says the report "I was ordered to fight people" is limited to Arab polytheists in the Hanafi and Maliki schools.⁵

So the tradition contains a doctrine of offensive war and a defensive-only reading. Both are held by named scholars, and the second is the position of the 2014 letter's signers, including Egypt's Grand Mufti.²

What do Islamists and jihadists say? #

Islamists reject the defensive-only view. Sayyid Qutb, whose Milestones (1964) shaped later jihadists, wrote that the reason for jihad lies in its message, "not merely in the necessity for defence". He also wrote that no one will be forced to accept Islam.⁷ His Islamist reading is covered in the guide to the ideologues.

Jihadists went further. In February 1998 bin Laden and Zawahiri published a "fatwa" calling for the killing of any American as an "individual duty for every Muslim who can do it". The 9/11 Commission noted that neither they nor the other signers were scholars.⁸ Bin Laden told ABC News that year: "We do not have to differentiate between military or civilian."⁸ See the al-Qaeda guide.

What is a jihadist, and what is jihadist ideology? #

A jihadist is a person or group that treats armed jihad as a duty now and pursues it by terrorism or insurgency. Jihadism is that ideology. A devout Muslim who believes in the doctrine of jihad is not thereby a jihadist.

Cole Bunzel of the Brookings Institution says two streams fed the jihadi school in the later 20th century, the Muslim Brotherhood and Salafism, and that the Salafi strand now dominates.⁹ See Salafism, Wahhabism and jihadism. Jihadist ideology has four main parts:

• War is a personal duty now. The 1998 fatwa called killing Americans an "individual duty".⁸
• Civilians are targets. Bin Laden's words above are the clearest example.⁸
• Other Muslims can be declared unbelievers. The Open Letter says it is forbidden to declare anyone non-Muslim unless he openly declares disbelief.²
• A caliphate is the goal. Islamic State declared one in 2014. See the Islamic State guide.

For how people are drawn in, see how radicalisation works.

What cuts the other way? #

• Most Muslims reject violence against civilians. The Pew median was 72 per cent "never justified", and 81 per cent of US Muslims.¹⁰ Substantial minorities disagree in some places: 40 per cent in the Palestinian territories, 39 per cent in Afghanistan, 29 per cent in Egypt and 26 per cent in Bangladesh said such violence is at least sometimes justified.¹⁰
• Leading scholars condemned jihadist violence. The 2014 letter was signed by Egypt's Grand Mufti, Shawqi Allam, and a former Grand Mufti, Ali Gomaa.²
• Muslims are the main victims. The West Point study found that most of al-Qa'ida's victims were Muslims.¹¹
• The word has non-violent senses. The inner and everyday meanings are real parts of the tradition, as the table above shows.

Questions people ask #

What is jihad in Islam? #

Jihad is an Arabic word for striving or struggle. Muslims use it for inner moral effort, for good deeds and, in Islamic law, for armed fighting under rules. The classical manual Reliance of the Traveller defines it as war against non-Muslims, while many modern scholars say jihad in Islam is defensive. Jihadists use the word to justify terrorism.

What is the difference between the greater and lesser jihad? #

The greater jihad is the struggle against one's own ego and desires. The lesser jihad is armed fighting. The saying that Muhammad called war the lesser jihad is graded weak by hadith scholars, including al-Bayhaqi and Ibn Taymiyya. Yet the idea of inner struggle is widely taught, and the Open Letter bases it on Quran 25:52.

What does the Quran say about jihad? #

The Quran uses forms of the word "strive" in peaceful and military verses. Verse 25:52 urges striving "with a great endeavour". Verses such as 22:39 and 2:190 permit fighting those who fight you, but forbid aggression. Verses such as 9:5 and 9:29 command fighting, and scholars disagree on whether they are general or tied to wars of the time.

What does jihadist mean? #

A jihadist is a person who believes armed jihad is a duty now and acts on it by terrorism or insurgency. Examples include members of al-Qaeda and Islamic State. The word does not describe ordinary Muslims. Most Muslims, including leading scholars such as Egypt's Grand Mufti, reject the jihadist use of the word.

What is jihadism? #

Jihadism is the ideology that treats violent jihad as a personal duty against rulers and unbelievers. Its main beliefs are that fighting needs no ruler's permission, that civilians can be targeted, that other Muslims can be declared unbelievers and that a caliphate is the goal. It is a minority movement, and studies find most of al-Qaeda's victims were Muslims.

Is jihad only defensive? #

Scholars disagree. The 2014 Open Letter, signed by more than 120 scholars, says jihad in Islam is defensive war. The Shafi'i manual Reliance of the Traveller allows offensive war under a caliph to extend Muslim rule, and Sayyid Qutb rejected the defensive-only view. Both positions are held by named scholars.

Related guides #

• The Quran and violence: the 71 passages on war, and the verses jihadists cite.
• Common arguments and replies: the "greater jihad" argument tested against the sources.
• The caliphate: the office that classical law says may declare jihad.
• Salafism, Wahhabism and jihadism: where jihadist ideology comes from.
• Al-Qaeda: bin Laden's 1998 fatwa and the movement it launched.
• The ideologues: Qutb, Maududi and the Islamist reading of jihad.

Cite as: The Analyst, "What Is Jihad? Meaning in Islam, the Quran and Jihadism", Fighting Islamists, updated 13 October 2026. https://fightingislamists.com/jihad.html

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