format_quote Originally Posted by
Osman
Excellent stuff; I’ve just finished reading through the various links to the question – “what does jihad man;” does it mean struggle or does it mean war
Clearly the author if the ‘Commonly Misquoted Verses’ document and other moderate Muslims stress that jihad means struggle in the most benign way e.g. struggle to be a better person. It is also clear that the word jihad is used extensively by radicals to mean an armed attack.
I found a link that suggests that 199 references to jihad in the most standard collection of hadith, Sahih al-Bukhari, all assume that jihad means warfare.
Another link suggested that jihad can mean both a struggle to learn and an armed struggle to fight an enemy and that the meaning of the word should be clear in the context in which it is used. It can also be misused to for political purposes e.g. when Arafat spoke of a "jihad for Jerusalem," he intended his Muslim audience to hear a call to arms while falling back on the peaceful definition to allay concerns in Israel and the West.
I suggest that, to most non Muslims jihad means holy war. I believe that because, like it or not, the extremists have monopolised the use of the word and the meaning of words change with time and usage. For example fifty years ago a gay person was someone who was entertaining, witty and happy!