Qur'anic ‘jihād’: A Linguistic and Contextual Analysis

Abstract

The word jihād is one that has been much discussed. It is often interpreted with some degree of sensationalised polemic and has become, to some extent, divorced from its significance as a Qur'anic term. Our approach in this study is therefore to deal with the subject on the basis of the Qur'an alone, as a term which forms an important theme in the Qur'an, on the basis of close linguistic analysis of the text itself. In particular, our analysis will not ignore the linguistic context which is crucial in understanding any text. The picture that emerges from this study and this approach will differ from that held by many, both Muslims and non-Muslims, who have arrived at a perception of the meaning of jihād which differs from that which is actually found in the Qur'an.