Does Jihad mean struggle or holy war?
Jihad, an Islamic term, is a religious duty of Muslims. In Arabic, the word jihād is a noun meaning “struggle.” Jihad appears frequently in the Qur’an and common usage as the idiomatic expression “striving in the way of Allah (al-jihad fi sabil Allah)”. A person engaged in jihad is called a mujahid, the plural is mujahideen. A minority among the Sunni scholars sometimes refer to this duty as the sixth pillar of Islam, though it occupies no such official status.In Twelver Shi’a Islam, however, Jihad is one of the 11 Practices of the Religion. According to scholar John Esposito, Jihad requires Muslims to “struggle in the way of God” or “to struggle to improve one’s self and/or society.” Jihad is directed against Satan’s inducements, aspects of one’s own self, or against a visible enemy. The four major categories of jihad that are recognized are Jihad against one’s self (Jihad al-Nafs), Jihad of the tongue (Jihad al-lisan), Jihad of the hand (Jihad al-yad), and Jihad of the sword (which c
