Summary: Many people outside Islam think they know what jihad means ndash; "holy war," theyrsquo;ve been told by pundits or reporters. And, in part, theyrsquo;re righthellip;but thatrsquo;s not the whole story. Jihad can mean ldquo;holy war,rdquo; or more correctly, ldquo;struggle,rdquo; ndash; but the struggle doesnrsquo;t have to be with those outside Islam. In fact, jihad is something that often focuses Muslims inward. There are actually two jihads ndash; the Lesser and the Greater Jihad. The lesser jihad is actually the one most people are familiar with ndash; ldquo;holy war.rdquo; But the Qurrsquo;an cautions Muslims against fighting unnecessarily. War is to be waged as a defensive measure, not an offensive one. The more important jihad is the Greater Jihad. It is an inner struggle for Allah ndash; a struggle to be a better person ndash; in this sense pursuing a degree can be seen as jihad. But jihad can also been seen as a struggle to improve society ndash; although Gandhi was not Muslim his struggle for Indian independence can be considered this kind of jihad. On a religious level, Jihad is an attempt to find harmony among the ideas of submission to Allah, faith and righteous living.
