The word jihad means "to struggle" or "to strive." A jihad is defined as being "a holy war waged on behalf of Islam as a religious duty"; "a crusade for a principle or belief." In Islam, jihad is the central doctrine that calls on believers to combat the enemies of their religion. According to the Qur'an and the Hadith, jihad is a duty that may be fulfilled in four ways: by the heart, the tongue, the hand, or the sword. The first way (known in Sufism as the “greater jihad”) involves struggling against evil desires. The ways of the tongue and hand call for verbal defense and right actions. The jihad of the sword involves waging war against enemies of Islam. Believers contend that those who die in combat become martyrs and are guaranteed a place in paradise.
Under the definitions of "to struggle," "to strive," and "a holy war," the Christian wages his own jihad—according to all four ways—and is the only individual who is truly engaged in a true holy war, because "our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places" (Eph. 6:12).
The Christian is daily engaged in the jihad of the heart: "The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately wicked; Who can understand it?" (Jer. 17:9). "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Rom. 3:23). "For if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live" (Rom. 8:13). "Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest" (Eph. 2:3). We struggle against the temptations to sin and strive for holiness and Christ-likeness.
The Christian is daily engaged in the jihad of the tongue and of the hand: "Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, that it may give grace to those who hear" (Eph. 4:29). "So also the tongue is a small part of the body, and yet it boasts of great things. Behold, how great a forest is set aflame by such a small fire! And the tongue is a fire, the very world of iniquity; the tongue is set among our members as that which defiles the entire body, and sets on fire the course of our life, and is set on fire by hell. For every species of beasts and birds, of reptiles and creatures of the sea, is tamed, and has been tamed by the human race. But no one can tame the tongue; it is a restless evil and full of deadly poison" (James 3:5-8). "Therefore, to one who knows the right thing to do, and does not do it, to him it is sin" (James 4:17). "Contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints" (Jude 3). We struggle and strive to not only say the right things and to do the right things, to have integrity, but we also struggle and strive to defend our faith and expose other faiths for their lies, deceit, and how they keep people in bondage to sin and the devil.
The Christian is daily engaged in the jihad of the sword: "For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart" (Heb. 4:12). The Word of God is the Christian's sword, and it is able to cut through anything because "My word . . . shall not return to Me empty, without accomplishing what I desire, and without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it" (Is. 55:11). Remember, our holy war "is not against flesh and blood, but
against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of
this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the
heavenly places" (Eph. 6:12). Our sword is able to combat "the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life" (1 John 2:16) and succeed.
The jihad of the Christian is more noble and holy than the one fought by Islam.
The jihad of the Christian is more noble and holy than the one fought by Islam.