The Arabic word ‘Jihad’ or ‘jihaad(un)’ (also spelt as ‘Jihaad’) is a noun. The meanings of every Arabic noun depend mainly upon two factors:

a)      What is the Arabic root of the noun word, and the signification or meaning of that root?

b)     What is the form or measure (or baab, as they call it in Arabic) of that noun word?

The Arabic root of the word ‘Jihad’ is ‘jahd(un)’ or ‘juhd(un)’, with the following meanings: Power; Influence; Energy; Ability; Labour; Toil; Exertion; Effort; Endeavour; Diligence; Painstaking, or extraordinary painstaking; The utmost of one’s power or force or ability or energy or effort or endeavour; Hard earning; Fruit of labour; Solemnity; Earnestness.

The word ‘juhd’ (meaning ‘fruit of labour’) appears in the Quran, Sura 9 verse 79. The word ‘jahd’ (meaning ‘solemn’ or ‘earnest’) appears in the Quran, Sura 5 verse 53, Sura 6 verse 109, Sura 16 verse 38, Sura 24 verse 53, and Sura 35 verse 42.

The noun ‘jihad(un)’ is according to the form or measure ‘fiaal(un)’. This form or measure adds two important significations to the meanings of the root of the word, when the noun denotes an act that affects an object:

a)      a sense of intention, effort, attempt or striving (to do or exert what the root of the word implies)

b)     a sense of reciprocity, i.e. another does to one what one does to another.

In the light of the above, the definition of the word ‘Jihad’ comes out to be:

Striving to exert one’s utmost power, influence, efforts, endeavours or abilities (in contending with an object of disapprobation or for attaining an object of approbation)

The sense of reciprocity is often implied whenever the word ‘Jihad‘ affects another object. Whenever there is ‘Jihad‘ AGAINST an object (, be it another human being or one’s own evil inclinations), the other object strives to exert its utmost influence or power against you and you, in return, strive to exert your utmost influence or power against that object. As soon as the other object ceases to strive hard against you, you can no longer be in ‘Jihad‘ with that object. 

The word ‘Jihad’ DOES NOT mean ‘fighting’ or ‘war’. It is far from being synonymous with ‘war’. It’s meaning as ‘fighting’ or ‘war’ undertaken for propagation of religion is utterly unfounded in the Arabic language. There is nothing in the word to indicate any striving or struggle with the ‘sword’.