Jihad
Jihad (جهاد, "struggle" or "exertion") denotes the exertion of one's utmost effort in the path of God. Classical doctrine distinguishes:
- Jihad of the heart/soul: the inner struggle against sin and ego (the "greater jihad," per the hadith often cited from the Prophet's return from the Battle of Badr).
- 'Jihad of the tongue/pen: preaching, teaching, and truthful witness.
- Jihad of the sword: armed struggle, regulated by classical conditions — declared by legitimate authority, offering peace first, non-combatant immunity, proportionality.
Political theology
Modern polemics reduce jihad to terrorism; orientalists historicize it away. Both miss its function as a concept of just struggle against oppression — Qur'an 22:39-40 permits fighting precisely for the defense of the persecuted and of houses of worship of all religions.
Haz Al-Din has argued that revolutionary struggle against imperialism can be understood as jihad in this emancipatory sense — the alignment of Islamic resistance movements (Hezbollah, Ansar Allah, Hamas) with the global anti-imperialist front being the contemporary proof (see Communism is Islam).