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440 I have heard a lot of people say Jihad is right but isn't that just like committing suicide and murder at the same (both which are wrong in Islam). And also I heard that it is ok if only you are fighting in a religious war?
Jihad, is an Islamic term from the Arabic word Jahd (to exert utmost effort, to strive, struggle) which connotes a wide range of meanings: anything from an inward spiritual struggle to attain perfect faith to a political or military struggle.

Individuals involved in the political or military forms of jihad are often labeled with the neologism "jihadist" or "jihadi" The term "jihad" is often used to describe purely physical and military "religious war", through physical struggle.

Some Muslim scholars say that this only makes up part of the broader meaning of the concept of jihad. The denotation is of a struggle, challenge, difficulty or (frequently) opposed effort, made either in accomplishment or as resistance.

A person who engages in any form of jihad can be called a mujahid (in plural: mujahidin) (Arabic: striver, struggler). Such a person might struggle to memorise the Quran or for example, engage in fighting as a military struggle for religious reasons.

Jihad has been classified either as al-jihād al-akbar (the greater jihad), the struggle against one's soul (nafs), or al-jihād al-asghar (the lesser jihad), the external, physical effort, often implying fighting.

Muslim scholars explained there are five kinds of jihad fi sabilillah (struggle in the cause of God):

1) Jihad of the heart/soul (jihad bin nafs/qalb) is an inner struggle of good against evil in the mind, through concepts such as tawhid. To save oneself from bad acts and to do good acts.

2) Jihad by the tongue (jihad bil lisan) is a struggle of good against evil waged by writing and speech, such as in the form of dawah (proselytizing), Khutbas (sermons), etc.

3) Jihad by the pen and knowledge (jihad bil qalam/ilm) is a struggle for good against evil through scholarly study of Islam, ijtihad (legal reasoning), and through sciences (such as medical sciences)

4) Jihad by the hand (jihad bil yad) refers to a struggle of good against evil waged by actions or with one's wealth, such as going on the Hajj pilgrimage (seen as the best jihad for women), taking care of elderly parents, providing funding for jihad, political activity for furthering the cause of Islam, stopping evil by force, or espionage.

5) Jihad by the sword (jihad bis saif) refers to qital fi sabilillah (armed fighting in the way of God, or holy war). If this is necessary to be carried out after all other acts have failed then it is not to be carried out by a single person it is rather the governing ruler who orders this act and to struggle against the evil.
Category (Islam / Muslims)
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