Jihad in Islamic Law

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Jihad جهاد in Arabic literally means "struggle" coming from the Arabic verb جاهد jaahada meaning to "strive." Jihad fi sabil Allah جهاد في سبيل الله is thus literally "struggle/striving on the path of god." Historically, the use of the word jihad has been very wide semantically, with applications from war to spiritual discipline to reform and many, many things in between. Despite these wide and varied applications, though, the main meaning of jihad in Islamic law from the origins of the religion to the classic period to the present day continues to be armed struggle, either to expand the realm of Islamic political dominance or to defend Islamic lands from infidels, with the expansion of Islamic political dominance being part-and-parcel to a social and political system which advances the interest of the Muslim religion and induces the peoples conquered in this warfare to convert to Islam. This socio-political system, that of the dhimma, is intimately connected to the institution of "jihad at-talab" جهاد الطلب the "jihad of request" involving the three-option offer that an Islamic force must make before commencing hostilities against an infidel enemy: 1. Conversion to Islam. 2. Payment of the jizyah and subjection to Islamic political dominion and the strictures of the dhimma. 3. Fighting until death.


Jihad in the Qur'an and Sunnah

Jihad in the Qur'an

The words "jihad" and "fighting" (قتال--Qitaal) appear frequently in the Qur'an. According to the traditional exegeses of the Qur'an in Sunni Islam, the first verse "revealed" to Muhammad about fighting is in surat-al-hajj (surah 22) verse 39:

أُذِنَ لِلَّذِينَ يُقَٰتَلُونَ بِأَنَّهُمْ ظُلِمُوا۟ ۚ وَإِنَّ ٱللَّهَ عَلَىٰ نَصْرِهِمْ لَقَدِيرٌ Permission [to fight] has been given to those who are being fought, because they were wronged. And indeed, Allah is competent to give them victory.
Quran 22:39

A number of other prominent verses in the Qur'an deal with jihad and fighting the unbelievers. Amongst the most prominent of these verses is the "verse of the sword" from surat-at-taubah (surah 9), verse 5:

فَإِذَا ٱنسَلَخَ ٱلْأَشْهُرُ ٱلْحُرُمُ فَٱقْتُلُوا۟ ٱلْمُشْرِكِينَ حَيْثُ وَجَدتُّمُوهُمْ وَخُذُوهُمْ وَٱحْصُرُوهُمْ وَٱقْعُدُوا۟ لَهُمْ كُلَّ مَرْصَدٍ ۚ فَإِن تَابُوا۟ وَأَقَامُوا۟ ٱلصَّلَوٰةَ وَءَاتَوُا۟ ٱلزَّكَوٰةَ فَخَلُّوا۟ سَبِيلَهُمْ ۚ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ غَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ And when the sacred months have passed, then kill the polytheists wherever you find them and capture them and besiege them and sit in wait for them at every place of ambush. But if they should repent, establish prayer, and give zakah, let them [go] on their way. Indeed, Allah is Forgiving and Merciful.
Quran 9:5

This verse has been interpreted by numerous [[

Jihad in Early Islam

Jihad in Classic Islamic Law

Offensive Jihad

According to Muslim scholar Dr. Hawarey, 80% of the battles Muhammad participated in were offensive.[1]

Defensive Jihad

Jihad in Later Islamic Sources

Jihad in Modern Islam

References

  1. ↑ Military Operations in the Era of Prophet Mohammed (SAW) - military.hawarey.org
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