Topic > Jihad in Islam and Islam - 1196

One could argue endlessly about the definition and what exactly Jihad is, I'm sure many have. The basic definition of the word simply means “struggle,” not to gain money or power but simply to bring people to Islam. The common Western idea – or misconception – is that Jihad is a holy war or a justification for terrorism. Very rarely are there two religious groups that agree on the exact deeper meanings of Jihad. There are also some groups that may believe the same basic definition of Jihad, but interpret or apply it drastically differently within their own religion. There are two most well-known or accepted definitions that Muslims refer to as “major Jihad” and “minor Jihad”. The “Great Jihad” is defined as the internal spiritual struggle of oneself to submit to Allah, the struggle for moral reform and the conversion of others to Islam; while "minor Jihad" is considered the external physical effort of an Islamic obligation to take up arms against non-believing infidels in defense of the faith against tyranny and persecution. In the historical Sunni belief of "greater Jihad", Muhammad is thought to have told his followers returning home from war that they had "returned from a lesser jihad of fighting non-Muslims to a greater jihad of fighting against lust", according to Menhab Khans article on Modern Gangha. This is believed to be the first time a distinction was made between “lesser jihad” and “major jihad”. According to John Heit, the “great jihad” is then further divided into three types of internal struggle: “One, the Jihad of the Heart (the struggle for moral reform and faith); two, Jihad of the language (the struggle to proclaim the word of God abroad; on the right... center of the paper... these young people found comfort and inspiration in the works of their Iraqi Muslim brother Muhammad Ahmad al-Rashid; who demonstrated a sensitive mind towards political action, but also stated that jihad by the sword - the path of the true Muslim - was inevitable. Putting things into perspective, I imagined what it would be like if America were invaded by foreign forces, the government was demolished, a new leadership was established and none of these were in accord with my way of life. I could honestly say that I would follow actions similar to those of the Sunni insurgents whose modern film remake I recently saw.” Red Dawn.” i (in the new version) the North Koreans invade and actually take control of the United States, this helped me in my imagination, I would take up arms as the characters in the movie would hear my raucous battle cry, “WOLVERINES!”