jihad

American  

[ji-hahd] / dʒɪˈhɑd /

Or jehad

noun

1. spiritual striving against moral failings, undertaken as a religious duty by Muslims.

2. armed struggle in defense of Islam: in traditional Muslim law, bound by a number of rules, conditions, and restrictions on when and where it is acceptable.

3. any vigorous, emotional crusade for an idea or principle.

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jihad British  

/ dʒɪˈhæd /

noun

1. Islam a holy war against infidels undertaken by Muslims in defence of the Islamic faith

2. Islam the personal struggle of the individual believer against evil and persecution

3. rare a crusade in support of a cause

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jihad Cultural  

1. In Islam, a holy war; a war ordained by God. The Koran teaches that soldiers who die in jihad go to heaven immediately.

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Usage

The term jihad, literally meaning struggle, has always had multiple meanings within Muslim discourse. It has been interpreted to mean an individual spiritual struggle toward righteousness, and to mean a collective struggle for self-defense. This second meaning was picked up by both the international media and Islamic fundamentalists, and the word is now often understood to mean a holy war against nonbelievers, despite the lack of support for this meaning in the religious scholarship of mainstream Islam.

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Modern-day terrorists often claim that they are carrying out acts of destruction, such as the attacks on the World Trade Center towers, as part of a jihad.

Etymology

Origin of jihad

First recorded in 1865–70; from Arabic jihād “struggle, strife”

Explanation

Jihad is an Islamic religious term that most often means a kind of inner struggle for a spiritual goal. Many Muslims view jihad as an important duty of their religious life. The word jihad literally means "struggle" in Arabic. It's an important concept in Islam, one that appears dozens of times in the Quran, usually in the sense of a believer's internal struggle to be a good Muslim and fulfill essential religious duties. In Western popular culture and news, and among some groups of Muslims, jihad is more often used to mean "holy war," or a violent struggle against the enemies of Islam.

Example Sentences

In a message congratulating Mojtaba on his appointment Sunday, Hassan Khomeini—the grandson of the Islamic Republic’s founding ayatollah—offered “condolences on the martyrdom of your beloved father, who was a model of jihad and martyrdom.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 9, 2026

It’s not just the idea of global jihad that became unfashionable over the past decade in the greater Middle East.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 3, 2026

Jawlani's approach could signal the decline of global jihad movements like IS and al-Qaeda, whose inflexibility is increasingly seen as ineffective and unsustainable.

From BBC • Dec. 8, 2024

But now the bogey of "love jihad" means Hindu girls are asked to leave by a certain hour and not linger in his room.

From BBC • Apr. 28, 2024

Mammy said that before he left with Noor to join the jihad against the Soviets, back in 1980, it was Ahmad who had dutifully and competendy minded these things.

From "A Thousand Splendid Suns" by Khaled Hosseini

Related Words

• demonstration
• expedition
• movement