What Is Jihad, Really?

Jihad is one of the best-known Arabic words, and one of the least understood. In the headlines it usually means “holy war”. For Muslims it is much wider: it is the whole effort a believer makes for the sake of God — first and most often with their own self, then with their wealth and words, and in one special case on the battlefield, under a strict law.

What the word means

Jihad comes from the root j-h-d: effort, exertion, giving all one has. The Prophet ﷺ named three ways of striving together:

Narrated Anas ibn Malik: The Prophet (ﷺ) said: Use your property, your persons any your tongues in striving against the polytheists

So jihad can be with one’s self, one’s wealth and one’s words. Even before Muslims were allowed to fight, the Qur’an told the Prophet ﷺ to strive against those who rejected the message with the Qur’an itself — with argument and truth:

فَلَا تُطِعِ ٱلْكَٰفِرِينَ وَجَٰهِدْهُم بِهِۦ جِهَادًۭا كَبِيرًۭا ﴿٥٢﴾

So do not obey the disbelievers, and strive against them with the Qur'an a great striving.

Scholars such as Ibn al-Qayyim described a ladder of jihad: against one’s own self, against the whispering of Satan, against injustice, and against those who fight Islam. The first steps are for every Muslim, every day.

The struggle with one’s own self

The first and constant jihad is with one’s own soul — its selfishness, anger, laziness and pride. The Prophet ﷺ said:

…The Mujahid is one who strives against his own soul.…

He also redefined strength: the strong person is not the one who overpowers others, but the one who controls himself when angry (Bukhari 6114). Getting up for the dawn prayer, holding one’s tongue, giving up a habit one knows is wrong — all of this is jihad.

(A popular saying about returning from the “lesser jihad” of battle to the “greater jihad” of the self is not authentic as a hadith, although the meaning of striving against the self is well established in the texts above.)

Jihad in everyday life

When a man asked the Prophet ﷺ for permission to join the army, he asked whether his parents were alive and sent him back to serve them:

Narrated `Abdullah bin `Amr: A man came to the Prophet (ﷺ) asking his permission to take part in Jihad. The Prophet (ﷺ) asked him, "Are your parents alive?" He replied in the affirmative. The Prophet (ﷺ) said to him, "Then exert yourself in their service

Standing up to injustice with honest words is among the greatest jihad:

Abu Sa'eed Al-Khudri narrated that the Prophet (s.a.w) said:"Indeed, among the greatest types of Jihad is a just statement before a tyrannical ruler

Spending one’s money on the poor, on knowledge and on good causes is jihad with wealth. And when the Prophet’s wife Aisha asked about jihad for women, he told her that the best jihad for them was a sincere, accepted pilgrimage (Bukhari 1520).

A special kind of jihad: the law of war

Islam is not only a religion of prayer. It teaches people how to worship, but also how to marry, trade, inherit, keep clean, care for the earth, judge between people and govern. And because every society eventually faces war, Islam has a law of war too. It does not pretend that war will never happen; it brings war under God’s law — when it is allowed, who may declare it, how it must be fought, and how it must end.

That is why, when scholars write a chapter of Islamic law called “Jihad”, they mean this special kind: fighting in the cause of God against those who wage war, under a legitimate authority.

Fighting is commanded — but it was not the first word

For thirteen years in Mecca, Muslims were persecuted, tortured and driven from their homes, and they were told to be patient and not to fight back. Only after they had migrated to Medina and were still being attacked did permission come:

أُذِنَ لِلَّذِينَ يُقَٰتَلُونَ بِأَنَّهُمْ ظُلِمُوا۟ ۚ وَإِنَّ ٱللَّهَ عَلَىٰ نَصْرِهِمْ لَقَدِيرٌ ﴿٣٩﴾ ٱلَّذِينَ أُخْرِجُوا۟ مِن دِيَٰرِهِم بِغَيْرِ حَقٍّ إِلَّآ أَن يَقُولُوا۟ رَبُّنَا ٱللَّهُ ۗ وَلَوْلَا دَفْعُ ٱللَّهِ ٱلنَّاسَ بَعْضَهُم بِبَعْضٍۢ لَّهُدِّمَتْ صَوَٰمِعُ وَبِيَعٌۭ وَصَلَوَٰتٌۭ وَمَسَٰجِدُ يُذْكَرُ فِيهَا ٱسْمُ ٱللَّهِ كَثِيرًۭا ۗ وَلَيَنصُرَنَّ ٱللَّهُ مَن يَنصُرُهُۥٓ ۗ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ لَقَوِىٌّ عَزِيزٌ ﴿٤٠﴾

³⁹Permission [to fight] has been given to those who are being fought, because they were wronged. And indeed, Allah is competent to give them victory. ⁴⁰[They are] those who have been evicted from their homes without right - only because they say, "Our Lord is Allah." And were it not that Allah checks the people, some by means of others, there would have been demolished monasteries, churches, synagogues, and mosques in which the name of Allah is much mentioned. And Allah will surely support those who support Him. Indeed, Allah is Powerful and Exalted in Might.

Then fighting became a duty when it is needed — something the Qur’an admits people naturally dislike:

كُتِبَ عَلَيْكُمُ ٱلْقِتَالُ وَهُوَ كُرْهٌۭ لَّكُمْ ۖ وَعَسَىٰٓ أَن تَكْرَهُوا۟ شَيْـًۭٔا وَهُوَ خَيْرٌۭ لَّكُمْ ۖ وَعَسَىٰٓ أَن تُحِبُّوا۟ شَيْـًۭٔا وَهُوَ شَرٌّۭ لَّكُمْ ۗ وَٱللَّهُ يَعْلَمُ وَأَنتُمْ لَا تَعْلَمُونَ ﴿٢١٦﴾

Fighting has been enjoined upon you while it is hateful to you. But perhaps you hate a thing and it is good for you; and perhaps you love a thing and it is bad for you. And Allah Knows, while you know not.

The right intention

What makes fighting jihad is not the battlefield but the purpose. The Prophet ﷺ was asked about a man who fights for booty, one who fights for fame and one who fights to show off:

Narrated Abu Musa: A man came to the Prophet (ﷺ) and asked, "A man fights for war booty; another fights for fame and a third fights for showing off; which of them fights in Allah's Cause?" The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "He who fights that Allah's Word (i.e. Islam) should be superior, fights in Allah's Cause

So fighting for land, money, revenge, tribe or nation is not jihad, even if Muslims do it.

Who declares it

War is a decision of the state, not of individuals. Classical scholars agreed that it belongs to the legitimate ruler (imam), who must weigh benefit and harm for the whole community. The Prophet ﷺ described that ruler as a shield:

…The Imam is like a shelter for whose safety the Muslims should fight and where they should seek protection…

No preacher, group or angry individual may “declare jihad”. Doing so is not obedience to God; it is chaos that Islam forbids.

Two kinds the scholars describe

• Defence. When an enemy invades Muslim land or attacks Muslims, resisting becomes a duty on those able to fight there, and on others as needed.
• War initiated by the state. In a world of rival empires, a Muslim state could go to war to remove rulers who blocked people from hearing the message or who threatened Muslims. This was a collective duty decided by the ruler — never by individuals — and it came with an order of steps.

The Prophet ﷺ described those steps when he sent out an army. First the rules: no stealing from the spoils, no treachery, no mutilation, no killing children. Then the other side was to be offered Islam; if they refused, they could keep their religion and live under Muslim protection by paying the jizya tax (and so be exempt from military service); and only if they refused both was there fighting:

…Fight in the name of Allah and in the way of Allah. Fight against those who disbelieve in Allah. Make a holy war, do not embezzle the spoils; do not break your pledge; and do not mutilate (the dead) bodies; do not kill the children.…

Even then, nobody was forced to become Muslim — the Qur’an is clear that there is no compulsion in religion (Qur’an 2:256). Most scholars held that the reason for fighting is hostility, not disbelief alone, which is why those who do not fight — women, children, the elderly, monks, farmers and workers — may not be killed. Today, where Muslim states have signed treaties and peace agreements, Islamic law requires them to keep their word (Qur’an 9:4).

The rules of war

Islam’s law of war restricts far more than it permits:

• Do not transgress. Permission to fight is tied to fighting those who fight, with a clear ban on going beyond the limits:

وَقَٰتِلُوا۟ فِى سَبِيلِ ٱللَّهِ ٱلَّذِينَ يُقَٰتِلُونَكُمْ وَلَا تَعْتَدُوٓا۟ ۚ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ لَا يُحِبُّ ٱلْمُعْتَدِينَ ﴿١٩٠﴾

Fight in the way of Allah those who fight you but do not transgress. Indeed. Allah does not like transgressors.

• Never target non-combatants. The Prophet ﷺ saw a woman killed in one of his campaigns, and he forbade it outright:

Narrated Ibn `Umar: During some of the Ghazawat of Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) a woman was found killed, so Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) forbade the killing of women and children

• No treachery, no mutilation — even of the enemy’s dead (Muslim 4522, above).
• Keep treaties and promises of safety. Someone living under a treaty or given safe conduct is protected:

Narrated `Abdullah bin `Amr: The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "Whoever killed a person having a treaty with the Muslims, shall not smell the smell of Paradise though its smell is perceived from a distance of forty years

• Grant asylum. If an enemy fighter asks for protection to hear the word of God, he must be given it and escorted to a place of safety (Qur’an 9:6).
• Treat prisoners with dignity. They are to be freed as a favour or for ransom (Qur’an 47:4), and feeding the captive is praised as an act of faith (Qur’an 76:8).
• Accept peace. If the enemy inclines to peace, Muslims must incline to it too:

۞ وَإِن جَنَحُوا۟ لِلسَّلْمِ فَٱجْنَحْ لَهَا وَتَوَكَّلْ عَلَى ٱللَّهِ ۚ إِنَّهُۥ هُوَ ٱلسَّمِيعُ ٱلْعَلِيمُ ﴿٦١﴾

And if they incline to peace, then incline to it [also] and rely upon Allah. Indeed, it is He who is the Hearing, the Knowing.

These rules were taught fourteen centuries ago, more than a thousand years before modern international laws of war were written.

What jihad is not

Jihad is not terrorism. It is not bombing markets, attacking tourists, killing people for their religion or nationality, or taking revenge on civilians for what their government did. It is not a private war declared by a group with no legitimate authority. And it is never a way to force anyone into Islam. People who do these things in the name of jihad are breaking the very rules of jihad, and committing what Islam counts among the gravest sins. Read more in What does Islam say about terrorism?

In short

Jihad is striving in God’s cause. For most Muslims, on most days, it means the struggle with one’s own self, care for one’s parents, generosity and honest words. Islam also has a real law of war — a special kind of jihad that it commands when war is just and needed, and only then. That law exists to limit war: to give it a right reason, a legitimate authority, clear rules and a path to peace. That is mercy too.

To see how the Qur’an’s verses on fighting fit together, read Does Islam promote violence?