25.52 – So do not obey the disbelievers, but struggle mightily against them by means of it
The second clause of this verse is literally “struggle against them with a great struggling.” “Struggle” translates the Arabic verbjāhada, and here it appears in the form of a command to the messenger in particular. “Struggling” translates the wordjihād. The sense of jihad that the Quran intends in this verse may be partly determined by context. Since this sūra gives no sense of a battle scene and features no commands to fight,strugglelikely refers to the preaching of the messenger.
See the analysis of commands to “strive” at 66.9.

Jihad in the Quran David Cook

The Arabic root verb from which the important concept of jihād is derived literally means “to struggle, to exert.” But since the rise of Islam, specifically since the period of the great Islamic conquests (635–732), the verb has taken on the sense of “divinely sanctioned warfare.”

The root jhd occurs in the Quran about forty-one times. In the Quran the root is not the primary locus for fighting or warfare but conveys a range of different meanings. These include struggling against opponents in terms of argumentation or remonstration, as well as the struggle with one’s (evil) self or soul – a doctrine that would later be developed in Islamic mystical beliefs.

Although jihād is not considered to be fundamental to Islam, it does often appear together with believing in Allah and the Last Day (end of the world), which are central to Islamic theology. As 9.44 states, “Those who believe in God and the Last Day do not ask your permission, so that they may struggle with their lives and their wealth.” Here, jihād has both a physical as well as a financial aspect to it (see 49.15). Those who want to enter the Garden (Paradise) must be tested on earth by jihād (3.142), which is most likely fighting, that will separate the true believers from the false.

Those who have passed this test are considered to be at a level higher than other believers (9.16). “Those of the believers who sit (at home) – other than the injured – are not equal with the ones who struggle in the way of God with their wealth and their lives” (4.95). Several other verses affirm this idea as well, such as 9.20: “Those who have believed, and emigrated, and struggled in the way of God with their wealth and their lives are higher in rank with God. Those – they are the triumphant.”

When jihād does have the sense of “divinely sanctioned warfare,” it is often followed by the phrase “in the way [or path] of God” (5.54; 61.11). The fighting process is made explicit occasionally: “Go forth, light and heavy, and struggle in the way of God with your wealth and lives” (9.41). There are, however, verses in which the nature of the jihād is not clear: “And struggle for God with the struggling due to Him” (22.78).

In the Quran jihād often appears as part of the process of joining the Muslim community, who are described as believing, emigrating, and then participating in jihād (8.72, 74, 75; 2.218). This theme of personal commitment enjoined upon the believers is a community-building factor inside the Quran.

In general, the messenger and the believers are encouraged to use jihād against unbelievers: “Prophet! Struggle against the disbelievers and the hypocrites, and be stern with them” (66.9; cf. 9.73). Occasionally jihād is described as a practice that is the opposite of what the unbelievers want and thus desirable to the believers: “So do not obey the disbelievers, but struggle mightily against them by means of it” (25.52).

It is possible for jihād to be associated with the self or soul ( nafs ), “Whoever struggles, struggles for himself” (or “his soul”; 29.6). One should remember that the soul is said to be the locus of evil (12.53), and therefore this type of jihād is said to be practiced against the lower nature and is closely associated with Sufi mystical practices. In general, jihād is a choice between the things of this world, such as close relatives, one’s beloved, and possessions on the one hand and violence on the other hand – which might cause one to die and lose everything (9.24).

The quranic material from the root jhd is not very large, and as a religious, political, and military concept, jihād does not seem to be singled out as important within the text. The primary quranic root word for fighting is qtl (closely related to the Hebrew and Aramaic root words), meaning “fighting, killing,” and it is with these verses that one finds a more fully fleshed out doctrine of warfare. See “Fighting and Killing in the Quran”.