The term for holy war in Islam is "jihad." Jihad can be interpreted in different ways, including as a struggle or striving for personal spiritual growth, as well as a physical struggle in defense of Islam.
There aren't groups in ISLAM there is only ISLAM (Qur'an & sunnah) jihad means to strike and struggle for the sake of ALLAH. ISLAM came to the 21st century from the idol worshiping times by jihad, IF there is no jihad there would be no ISLAM.
The term is jihad
It is called Jihad. Refer to related question below.
The jihad movement started as a way to spread Islam throughout the world.
Jihad does not mean'holy war'. Jihad means 'struggle, striving'. Any action done in the way of Almighty Allah, by mouth (preaching Islam), spending money, or by physical means is Jihad in Islam. The greatest Jihad is fighting against one's own evil passions, being honest and just in daily routine matters is Jihad. Anyhow, if some force unjustly attacks Islam and tries to uproot it, the Muslim states must wage Jihad till peace is resored. It will be a holy war. Declaring Jihad in this situation is the responsibility of Muslim States. No individual or a group of Muslims is authorised to declare Jihad. These are the insane and mad people who kill innocent people in the name of Islam. They have nothing to do with Islam. Islam means 'peace', not war or killing. According to Islam, Killing of one innocent human is like killing the whole humans.
No, it is not one of the five pillars of Islam.Refer to question below for more information on the five pillars of Islam and on Jihad.
The jihad movement started as a way to spread Islam throughout the world.
Jihad does not mean'holy war'. Jihad means 'struggle, striving'. Any action done in the way of Almighty Allah, by mouth (preaching Islam), spending money, or by physical means is Jihad in Islam. The greatest Jihad is fighting against one's own evil passions, being honest and just in daily routine matters is Jihad. Anyhow, if some force unjustly attacks Islam and tries to uproot it, the Muslim states must wage Jihad till peace is resored. It will be a holy war. Declaring Jihad in this situation is the responsibility of Muslim States. No individual or a group of Muslims is authorised to declare Jihad. These are the insane and mad people who kill innocent people in the name of Islam. They have nothing to do with Islam. Islam means 'peace', not war or killing.
Simply put, Jihad exists in Islam because the Qur'an demands it. However, it should be noted that there are two forms of jihad. One is an internal struggle to be true and faithful to Islam amidst all of the struggles and difficulties that the world presents. The second is the command to rise militarily in defense of Islam when Muslims are under attack, especially from non-Muslims. This second form of jihad is popularly considered the "holy war" type of jihad.
A struggle or conflict to spread Islam is a Jihad
Jihad is not one of the five pillars of Islam. The five pillars are Shahada (faith declaration), Salat (prayer), Zakat (charity), Sawm (fasting), and Hajj (pilgrimage). Jihad, which means striving or struggling, is an important concept in Islam but is not one of the pillars.