Jihad originally meant striving to spread Islam, not primarily holy war
Evidence
Beyond the frontiers of Muslim power lies the House of War, lands not only inhabited but also—more important—ruled by non-Muslims. It is the moral and religious duty of Muslims to share their good fortune with the rest of the world, not selfishly to keep God’s final revelation for themselves, but to strive unceasingly to bring it to all humankind, if possible in peace, if necessary by war. This is one of the basic obligations of the Muslim faith. It is called jiha¯d, a word which literally means “striving,” and is usually translated “holy war.” — Bernard Lewis, From Babel to Dragomans, 651
Categorization
Category: Definitional Content
- DEFINE: Etymology of jihad: literally ‘striving,’ not ‘holy war’ — the standard translation misleads.
- ADDENDUM: Relevant to sacrifice article theme — defensive framing of religious obligation to spread faith, though no corpses here.
Related
- Jihad originally obliged peaceful mission, with war only as last resort (similarity 0.96)
- Modern Islamic scholars define jihad as spiritual striving, not holy war (similarity 0.84)
- Jihad and crusade differed fundamentally in religious warrant and scope. (similarity 0.83)
- Jihad spans warfare, inner struggle, defending the oppressed, and serving parents (similarity 0.83)
- Jihad means struggle and carries a contested internal and external history (similarity 0.82)
- Most Islamic scholars reject jihad as a tool for forced conversion (similarity 0.80)
- In their view, jihad is universal revolutionary struggle and that the modernists’ search for moral justifications for jihad is senseless because jihad is prescribed by the Qur’an. At the same… (similarity 0.79)
- The word jihad has been severed from its formal meaning of struggle. (similarity 0.78)