A Critical Exposition of the Popular 'Jihád'/Appendix A/7
[Sidenote: In what sense they are used in the Koran.]
7. Out of the above, the verses containing the words "Jahd" and Johd,"—i.e., v, 58; vi, 109; xvi, 40; xxiv, 52; xxxv, 40; and ix, 80, marked *, are altogether out of dispute, as in all the former passages, except the last one, its obvious meaning is "most" or utmost solemn oaths,[1] or most "energetic" oaths or strongest or most forcible oaths,[2] and the latter signifies small provisions upon which a man possessing a little property can live with difficulty. The rest are of two kinds—first, the verses occurring in the Meccan Suras. As then the Moslems had not resorted to arms in their defence, though suffering from persecutions, Mohammadan commentators and jurists and Christian writers are unanimous in construing Jihád in its natural sense of exertion, effort, energy, and painstaking. Secondly, the verses containing the same words occurring in the Medina Suras, which were revealed or published when the Moslems had taken arms in their defence. As regards this period, the words are considered to have an entirely new and an altogether fortuitous meaning, viz., a religious war of aggression. Even some verses of this period are rendered by Mohammadans and Christians in the literal sense of the word.