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Jihad
Jihad is an Islamic term referring to a religious duty of Muslims. InArabic, the
word jihd is a noun meaning "struggle" or "resisting". A person engaged in jihad is
called a mujahid, the plural of which ismujahideen. The word jihad appears
frequently in the Quran, often in the idiomatic expression "striving in the way of
God (al-jihad fi sabil Allah). Muslims and scholars do not all agree on its definition.
Within the context of the classical Islamic law, it refers to struggle against those who
do not believe in the Islamic God (Allah) and do not acknowledge the submission to
Muslims and so is often translated as "Holy War", although this term is
controversial. According to the Dictionary of Islam and Islamic historian Bernard
Lewis, in the large majority of cases jihad has a military meaning. Javed Ghamidi
states that there is consensus amongst Islamic scholars that the concept of jihad will
always include armed struggle against wrong doers.It was generally supposed that
the order for a general war could only be given by the Caliph (an office that was
claimed by the Ottoman sultans), but Muslims who did not acknowledge the spiritual
authority of the Caliphate (which has been vacant since 1923)such as non-Sunnis
and non-Ottoman Muslim statesalways looked to their own rulers for the
proclamation of a jihad. There has been in fact no universal warfare by Muslims on
non-believers since the early caliphate. Some proclaimed Jihad by claiming
themselves as mahdi, e.g. the SudaneseMahommed Ahmad in 1882. Others have
given the word wider definitions. Many observersboth Muslim[14] and non-Muslim
talk of jihad having two meanings: an inner spiritual strugglethe "greater jihad";
and an outer physical struggle against the enemies of Islamthe "lesser jihad"
which may take a violent or non-violent form.
Jihad is an important religious duty for Muslims. A minority among the Sunni
scholars sometimes refer to this duty as the sixth pillar of Islam, though it occupies
no such official status. In Twelver Shi'a Islam, however, Jihad is one of the
ten Practices of the Religion.
Origins:
In Modern Standard Arabic, the term jihad is used for a struggle for causes, both
religious and secular. The Hans Wehr Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic defines
the term as "fight, battle; jihad, holy war (against the infidels, as a religious
duty)".Nonetheless, it is usually used in the religious sense and its beginnings are
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traced back to the Quran and words and actions of Muhammad In the Qur'an and in
later Muslim usage, jihad is commonly followed by the expression fi sabil illah, "in
the path of God It is sometimes used without religious connotation, with a meaning
similar to the English word "crusade" (as in "a crusade against drugs).

History of usage and practice

The practice of periodic raids by Bedouin against enemy tribes and settlements to
collect booty predates the revelations of the Quran, and according to some scholars,
while Islamic leaders "instilled into the hearts of the warriors the belief" in jihad
"holy war" and ghaza (raids), the "fundamental structure" of this bedouin warfare
"remained, ... raiding to collect booty".
Classical:
"From an early date Muslim law laid down" jihad in the military sense as "one of the
principal obligations" of both "the head of the Muslim state", who declared the jihad,
and the Muslim community. Within classical Islamic jurisprudence the
development of which is to be dated into the first few centuries after the prophet's
death jihad is the only form of warfare permissible under Islamic law, and may
consist in wars against unbelievers, apostates, rebels, highway robbers and dissenters
renouncing the authority of Islam. The primary aim of jihad as warfare is not the
conversion of non-Muslims to Islam by force, but rather the expansion and defense
of the Islamic state. In theory, jihad was to continue until "all mankind either
embraced Islam or submitted to the authority of the Muslim state." There could be
truces before this was achieved, but no permanent peace. One who died 'on the path
of God' was a martyr, (Shahid), whose sins were remitted and who was secured
"immediate entry to paradise."

Classical manuals of Islamic jurisprudence often contain a section called Book of

Jihad, with rules governing the conduct of war covered at great length. Such rules
include treatment of nonbelligerents, women, children (also cultivated or residential
areas) Although some Islamic scholars have differed on the implementation of Jihad,
there is consensus amongst them that the concept of jihad will always include armed
struggle against persecution and oppression. The first documentation of the law of
Jihad was written by 'Abd al-Rahman al-Awza'i and Muhammad ibn al-Hasan al-
Shaybani. (It grew out of debates that surfaced following Muhammad's death.)