Abstract

This paper aims at investigating the meaning and the use of the word jihad in the Holy Quran and how this word is deteriorated semantically. Recently, the word jihad has been associated with terrorism and killing. This negative shift in meaning expands to include Muslims all over the world. The authors hope this effort would help to sort out some of the fears and distortions swirling around the meaning of jihad. The usage of the word jihad in the Holy Quran has been detected and investigated to find out the actual meaning and the situations in which this expression is used. The rationale behind this paper is purely linguistic one and the authors don’t intend to find any excuse for any action carried out under the name of jihad. So, this paper is limited by its specific purpose. It turns out that this word has been misused by both Muslims and non-Muslims.

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