What Is Jihad?

Yesterday, in my final World Religions session on Islam, also the last day of the semester, we looked at the concept of “jihad.” You’ve heard this word, right? It doesn’t carry with it good vibes.

When we think of this word, what may come to mind is the idea of “holy war,” expressed in the act of someone shouting, “Allahu Akbar!” (“God is great!”), followed by a bomb detonating. It’s a grave and scary image.

But, here’s the thing. What if what we see in sensationalized media and Hollywood films is a far cry from the foundational meaning of jihad?

The word jihad literally means “to strive or struggle.” That's it. And, to strive and struggle is genuinely part of regular life. At least for me. In some sense, we engage in jihad when lifting weights, studying for a test, trying to keep the dog from tearing up the furniture, etc. Every day life. Furthermore, for Muslims, they believe the greatest jihad one engages in is against our sinful tendencies.

Turning to the Qur’an, you can see the more extensive meaning of this word in a few passages:

O Believers, go out in the cause of God, (whether) light or heavy, and strive (jihad) in the service of God, wealth and soul. This is better for you if you understand. —9:41

And strive (jihad) in the way of God with a service worthy of Him. He has chosen you and laid no hardship on you in the way of faith, the faith of your forebear Abraham. He named you Muslim earlier, and in this (Qur’an) in order that the Prophet be witness over you, and you be witness over mankind. So be firm in devotion, pay the zakat, and hold on firmly to God. He is your friend: How excellent a friend is He, how excellent a helper! —22:78

So do not listen to unbelievers and strive (jihad) against them with greater effort. —25:52

The first two examples speak to this greater jihad, that is striving to follow God, which includes steering clear of what does not honor God. Now, as an aside, I don’t believe the Qur’an is requiring a merit-based effort, especially since we are told that God is the Most Compassionate and Most Merciful many times throughout the Qur’an. And, remember that the New Testament speaks positively of our striving as well (1 Thess 5:15; 1 Tim 4:10; and there are multiple times the Bible exhorts us to “make every effort”). Moving on, the final example above speaks of making the effort to not be led astray by unbelievers. Doesn’t the New Testament offer similar instructions?

You see, jihad has a very different connotation when looking at the broader context of this concept within the Qur’an and Islamic theology. This is not about attacking Christians or Westerners.

Now, we shouldn't be naive and turn a blind eye to the fact that there are fundamentalist Muslims who will use the word jihad to argue for “holy war.” This is what spawns terrorist attacks. But, as most Muslim leaders will note, the word jihad and the statement, “Allahu Akbar!”, have been hijacked from their original intent. Matter of fact, “Allahu Akbar!”, is what is proclaimed during prayer. It’s a statement of worship. And any statements that may be found in secondary Islamic texts, such as the Sunnah and Hadith, should be considered within their ancient context, just as the Qur’an should be. You can’t just pull out a few words and declare, “See, Muslims are told to kill unbelievers!”

Isn’t this what we teach with the Christian Scriptures as well? Don’t pull passages out of context.

As Christians, don’t we want others to give us the honor and respect of wisely engaging the Bible and its messages? We cringe when others mistakenly build ideas through misunderstanding the Bible, or when they build an idea about Christianity via third-hand knowledge.

If we detest such, why would we engage in the same behavior when talking about Islam?

And let’s not forget that plenty of Christians, both historically and in the modern era, have utilized varying passages from the Bible to justify their own ideas of “holy war” (the Crusades), or why the US should attack Iran. And this happens with Muslims as well. But, again, as many imams will tell you, these important words have been deeply misappropriated by extremists.

In all, I hope I’ve been able to give a little bit of insight into the more essential nature of jihad. More than that, my desire would be that Christians – and all peoples – would actually sit down with Muslims, have a cup of coffee or a meal with them, and simply listen to their stories, their faith, their struggles. Building bridges is much more effective in our world today. It will make a world of difference.