The Concept of Jihad in Islam

Jihad is essentially a peaceful struggle. As mentioned earlier, one form of this peaceful struggle is dawah, inviting people to God. The jihad that the Quran (25:52) refers to is not about military action. Instead, it refers to an entirely intellectual and ideological task. In short, it means refuting falsehood and affirming the truth. In its primary sense, jihad in the form of qital or war is another name for peaceful struggle. That is to say, if an enemy challenges someone militarily, even then, one should initially strive, to the utmost extent possible, to respond to this challenge through peaceful means. Peaceful means can be abandoned only when it is no longer possible to use them when war becomes the only option left to respond to war initiated by others. In this regard, a statement recorded in the Sahih al-Bukhari, and attributed to Aisha, the wife of the Prophet, serves as a guiding principle. According to this report, whenever the Prophet faced two alternatives, he would always opt for the easier one. (Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith No. 3560) This means that whenever he had to choose between two options, he would always leave the harder option and choose the easier one.