Book reference: p.103 — "Discuss in detail the principles and terms and conditions for 'Jihad' in the light of Quran and Sunnah."

Literal and Technical Meaning

• "Striving/struggle" — not synonymous with "holy war."
• Spans a spectrum from personal moral struggle (Jihad al-Nafs) to, under strict conditions, armed defence.

Forms of Jihad Beyond Combat

• Jihad through knowledge.
• Jihad through speech (truth to power).
• Jihad through wealth.
  • All recognised categories, often ranked above armed Jihad in routine circumstances.

Conditions for Armed Jihad

• Must be defensive in nature.
• Must be sanctioned by a legitimate state authority — never private individuals or groups.
• Bound by strict rules of engagement:
  • No killing of non-combatants.
  • No destruction of crops/property.
  • No harming clergy (see Prophet PBUH as a Military Strategist, Theme II).

Not Aggression

• "Fight those who fight you... but do not transgress" (2:190) — a hard limit against exceeding just bounds.

Distinguishing Jihad From Terrorism

• Terrorism deliberately targets non-combatants and operates outside legitimate state authority.
• Mainstream Islamic scholarship treats this as a categorical violation of Jihad's conditions, not a variant of it.

Qur'anic Evidence

<aside> 📗

وَقَاتِلُوا فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ الَّذِينَ يُقَاتِلُونَكُم وَلَا تَعْتَدُوا ۖ إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَا يُحِبُّ الْمُعْتَدِينَ

اردو: اور اللہ کی راہ میں ان لوگوں سے لڑو جو تم سے لڑتے ہیں، اور حد سے تجاوز نہ کرو، یقینا اللہ حد سے تجاوز کرنے والوں کو پسند نہیں کرتا۔

English: "Fight in the way of Allah those who fight you, but do not transgress. Indeed, Allah does not like transgressors."

— Surah Al-Baqarah 2:190

وَإِنْ جَنَحُوا لِلسَّلْمِ فَاجْنَحْ لَهَا

اردو: اور اگر وہ صلح کی طرف مائل ہوں تو تم بھی اس کی طرف مائل ہو جاؤ۔

English: "And if they incline to peace, then incline to it [also]."

— Surah Al-Anfal 8:61

</aside>

Hadith Evidence