جِهَاد struggle in Arabic
جِهَاد is how you say “struggle” in Arabic.
Root ج ه د j-h-d. noun (verbal noun of form III jāhada). jihād.
Arabic
English
The audio uses AI voices.
Meaning of struggle in Arabic
- the utmost exertion of one's power or effort against an adversary classically said to apply to a visible enemy, the devil, or one's own self
- fighting, waging war against unbelievers the extended sense adopted by Muslim usage
- striving in the cause of God or religion as in the phrase jihād fī sabīl Allāh, 'struggle in the way of God'
Example sentence
اعْلَمْ أَنَّهُ إِنَّمَا كَانَ جِهَادُ النَّفْسِ أَكْبَرَ مِنْ جِهَادِ الأَعْدَاءِ
Know that the struggle against one's self is indeed greater than the struggle against enemies.
جِهَادُ struggle
jihad means 'struggle, striving'; the '-u' ending marks it as the subject, heading an 'of…' phrase with the next word.
The English is machine-translated.
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How it is used
Lane traces jihād to the verb jāhada, 'to exert one's utmost power in contending with an object of disapproval' — traditionally a visible enemy, the devil, or the self. From this general sense of striving, Muslims came to use the word specifically for fighting or waging war against unbelievers, especially in the phrase jihād fī sabīl Allāh, 'struggle in the way of God.'
Words from the same root
- جَهَدَ to strive, exert oneself to the utmost
- اِجْتَهَدَ to strive hard, do one's utmost
- جُهْدٌ effort, power, ability
- جَهْدٌ effort, exertion, or hardship
- مَجْهُودٌ the utmost of one's power or effort
More example sentences
اعْلَمْ أَنَّهُ إِنَّمَا كَانَ جِهَادُ النَّفْسِ أَكْبَرَ مِنْ جِهَادِ الأَعْدَاءِ
Know that the struggle against one's self is indeed greater than the struggle against enemies.
جِهَادِ struggle
jihad means 'struggle'; heading an 'of…' phrase with the next word; the noun after 'min'.
اشْتَدَّ الْجِهَادُ وَصَعُبَ الأَمْرُ بِخِلافِ جِهَادِ الْكُفَّارِ
The struggle becomes intense and the matter becomes difficult, unlike the struggle against the disbelievers.
الْجِهَادُ the struggle
al- = 'the'; jihad means 'struggle'; the '-u' ending marks it as the subject.
اشْتَدَّ الْجِهَادُ وَصَعُبَ الأَمْرُ بِخِلافِ جِهَادِ الْكُفَّارِ
The struggle becomes intense and the matter becomes difficult, unlike the struggle against the disbelievers.
جِهَادِ the struggle against
jihad means 'struggle'; heading an 'of…' phrase with the next word; the noun after 'bi-khilaf'.
فمن أراد صلاح نفسه، فليجاهدها جهادًا طويلاً، وليصبر على مراغمتها
So whoever wants to reform himself, let him strive against it with a long struggle, and be patient in opposing it.
جِهَادًا struggle
A verbal noun meaning 'a striving', here repeating the verb's own idea to intensify it, an absolute-object construction. It stands in the object case as this echoing emphasizer, the Arabic way of saying 'strive a real striving'.
Common questions
- How do you say "struggle" in Arabic?
- جِهَاد (jihād) — literally the exertion of one's utmost effort against an adversary.
- What does jihād literally mean?
- It comes from jahada, 'to strive or exert oneself to the utmost,' and originally covered struggle against a visible enemy, the devil, or one's own self, before also coming to mean fighting in the cause of religion.
Related words
Definitions summarised from Lane's Arabic-English Lexicon (E. W. Lane, 1863–1893).