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What is the definition of jihad?

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Anonymous

11y ago
Updated: 8/17/2019

The literal meaning is "struggle." This can be interpreted as internal examination to make oneself more righteous (so-called "greater jihad") or as taking up arms to kill people who don't believe as oneself does ("lesser jihad").

As you might guess, these rather different meanings afford the opportunity for much accidental -- and deliberate -- confusion.

One way to get perspective is to know that "jihad" has the same two connotations as "crusade." Today in the West, "crusade" almost always means some noble struggle against a social evil, as "Crusade Against Illiteracy," but to imams and ayatollahs in the Middle East, it means "kill some Muslims," as it did in the Eleventh Century.

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Wiki User

11y ago

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