Lesser and Greater Jihad

The two forms of Jihad are sometimes explained by Muslims as follows:

• Lesser outer jihad (al-jihad al-asghar); a military struggle, i.e. a holy war
• Greater inner jihad (al-jihad al-akbar); the struggle of personal self-improvement against the self's base desires

They claim this "inner Jihad" essentially refers to all the struggles that a Muslim may go through, in adhering to the religion. For example, a scholarly study of Islam can be an intellectual struggle that some allegedly may refer to as "jihad."

During Prophet Muhammad's lifetime, and onwards to the present, the word 'Jihad' was, and is, almost always used in a military sense.^[1] This idea of a greater and lesser jihad was a later development which originated from the 11^th century book, The History of Baghdad, by the Islamic scholar al-Khatib al-Baghdadiis, by way of Yahya ibn al 'Ala', who said,

In fact, all four schools of Sunni jurisprudence (Fiqh) as well as the Shi'ite tradition make no reference at all to the "greater" jihad, only the lesser.^[3] So even before we examine the evidence against the validity of this hadith, we know that the concept of the greater jihad is unorthodox and heretical to the majority of the worlds Muslims.

Qur'an

One of the most important factors in the classification of a genuine hadith, is that it must conform with what is written in the Qur'an. However, this hadith directly contradicts the explicit teachings of the Qur'an.

Hadith

In all six major Hadith collections (Sahih Bukhari, Sahih Muslim, Dawud, al-Sughra, Tirmidhi and Ibn Majah), jihad almost always refers to the "lesser" outward physical struggle and not the so-called "greater" inward spiritual struggle. As an example, there are nearly 200 references to jihad in the most trusted collection of hadith, Sahih Bukhari, and every single one assumes that jihad means literal warfare.

This fabricated hadith does not appear in any of the famous hadith collections, and in fact goes against the teachings found in corroborated (Mutawatir) sahih hadith. Some of these hadith state that fighting jihad is second only to the belief in Muhammad and Allah, and that standing for an hour in the ranks of battle is better than standing in prayer for sixty years.

Furthermore, Muhammad himself refutes the claim that the "greater" jihad is the inward spiritual struggle, when he states the best jihad is that of a man whose "blood is shed and his horse is wounded".

The importance placed on physical jihad in Islam, is never more apparent than in the sahih hadith which record Muhammad calling Muslims who refuse to fight or consider going to jihad as 'hypocrites'.

Scholars

Lesser vs Greater Jihad Hadith

The "lesser versus greater jihad" hadith's isnad (the completeness of the chain of narrators and the reputation of each individual narrators within the chain of oral tradition) has been categorized by scholars as "weak" (da`if), and generally in Islamic law, only the authentic (sahih) and good (hasan) hadiths are used in deriving the rules. The weak hadiths have no value for the purpose of Shari'ah.^[6] Contemporary Islamic scholars have even classed it as "maudu" (fabricated), meaning this narration, by some, is not even considered to be a hadith at all.^[7]

Dr. Abudllah Yusuf Azzam:

Ibn Taymiyahh (also known as Shaykh ul-Islam to Muslim clerics):

Ibn Hajar al-`Asqalani:

Al Bayhaqi:

Al Haakim:

Abu Yala al Khalili:

Amru bin Ali an Nasai and Ad Darqutni:

Ibn Adi:

Abu Dahadbi:

Mufti Zar Wali Khan (who is given the title Sheikh ul hadith) mentioned in his Dora Tafsir that this hadith was fabricated by Sufis.

Lesser vs Greater Jihad Concept

In the Editors preface to Yusuf al ‘Uyayree's "Thawaabit ‘ala darb al Jihad" (Constants on The Path of Jihad), we find the following in reference to the concept of the 'greater jihad' being the inner struggle:

Ibn Baaz:

Dr. Muhammad Amin:

A similar narration taken from the same source reads,

This hadith has also been classed as Maudu (fabricated).

Dr. Suhaib Hassan:

Shaikh Abdullah Faisal:

The lesser versus greater jihad "hadith" and other similar narrations have been shown by Islamic scholars to be, not only weak, but false. They serve no purpose in Islamic law or thought, and contradict sahih hadith and the Qur'an itself. Therefore, this concept of a lesser and greater jihad has no validity within Islam. We leave you with the words of Western scholar, David Cook:

• List of Fabricated Hadith
• Misconceptions about Jihad
• Lying - A hub page that leads to other articles related to lying

• Jihad and the Professors - Daniel Pipes, November 2002