13 Facts About Jihad

Jihad is an Arabic word which literally means "striving" or "struggling", especially with a praiseworthy aim.

Jihad is used quite commonly in Arabic countries, in the neutral sense of "a struggle for a noble cause", as a unisex name given to children.

Jihad is mentioned in four places in the Qur'an as a noun, while its derived verb is used in twenty-four places.

Best Jihad is the word of Justice in front of the oppressive sultan.

Jihad is ranked as one of the highest good deeds; according to one hadith it is the third best deed after prayer and being good to one's parents.

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Jihad never forced non-Muslims to Islam and upheld the truces with non-Muslims so long as they didn't violate them.

Ibn Taymiyya's views on Jihad are explained in his treatise titled Qa?idah mukhtasarah fi qital al-kuffar wa muhadanatuhum wa tahrim qatlahum li mujarrad kufrihim.

Jihad identified as heretical and deviant Muslims anyone who propagated innovations contrary to the Quran and Sunna.

Jihad insisted that Christians and Jews were mushrikeen because gave their priests or rabbis "authority to make laws, obeying laws which were made by them [and] not permitted by God" and "obedience to laws and judgments is a sort of worship".

Jihad's ideas influenced Egyptian Islamist extremist groups, and Ayman al-Zawahiri, later the No 2 person in al-Qaeda.

Jihad's fatwa was endorsed by a number of clerics including leading Saudi clerics such as Sheikh Abd al-Aziz ibn Baz.

Jihad was so important that to "repel" the unbelievers was "the most important obligation after Iman [faith]".

Jihad inspired young Muslims with stories of miraculous deeds during jihad—mujahideen who defeated vast columns of Soviet troops virtually single-handed, who had been run over by tanks but survived, who were shot but unscathed by bullets.