Jihād and qitāl in the Qur'an: two distinct words

In Brief

In everyday speech "jihad" is often treated as a synonym for "war". In the Qur'an's own vocabulary two different roots are at work: ج-ه-د (j-h-d), which carries effort, capacity and self-exertion, and ق-ت-ل (q-t-l), which carries killing and fighting. The two roots occasionally appear in the same context, but they are not interchangeable. Most verses about warfare never use the jihād root at all, and several verses that do use it have nothing to do with warfare. This article maps where the words actually sit in the text; it does not issue a ruling.

Verses Discussed

• 25:52 — a command to wage "a great striving" revealed in Mecca, before any fighting was permitted.
• 29:6 — whoever strives, strives for his own benefit.
• 29:69 — the promise of guidance to "those who strive for Us".
• 29:8 — the same verb used for parents pressing a child toward association with God.
• 31:15 — the same scene, with the limit drawn: no obedience, but continued kindness.
• 24:53 — the same root in the phrase "their strongest oaths".
• 22:78 — "strive with the striving due to Him", followed by prayer, zakāh and holding fast.
• 9:20 — striving with wealth and lives.
• 9:41 — the same pair: wealth and lives, light or heavy.
• 2:190 — the prohibition of transgression in fighting.
• 2:191 — not initiating combat at al-Masjid al-Ḥarām.
• 2:192 — if they cease, forgiveness.
• 2:193 — when they stop, hostility stops.
• 2:216 — fighting prescribed although it is disliked.
• 4:75 — fighting for the oppressed.
• 8:61 — if they incline to peace, incline to it.
• 60:8 — kindness and justice toward those who do not fight you.
• 60:9 — exactly who the prohibition targets.

Jihād: the root means exertion

The plainest use of the root sits entirely outside any military setting. Swearing an oath "with all one's force" is expressed with a word from this very root:

وَأَقْسَمُوا۟ بِٱللَّهِ جَهْدَ أَيْمَـٰنِهِمْ

"And they swear by Allāh their strongest oaths that if you ordered them, they would go forth [in Allāh's cause]." (24:53)

(interpretation) There is no battle here — only the idea of going to the limit of one's capacity. That is the core of the root.

The same verb is also used for pressure exerted against a person:

وَإِن جَـٰهَدَاكَ لِتُشْرِكَ بِى مَا لَيْسَ لَكَ بِهِۦ عِلْمٌ فَلَا تُطِعْهُمَآ

"But if they endeavor to make you associate with Me that of which you have no knowledge, do not obey them." (29:8)

وَإِن جَـٰهَدَاكَ عَلَىٰٓ أَن تُشْرِكَ بِى مَا لَيْسَ لَكَ بِهِۦ عِلْمٌ فَلَا تُطِعْهُمَا

"But if they endeavor to make you associate with Me that of which you have no knowledge, do not obey them but accompany them in [this] world with appropriate kindness." (31:15)

(interpretation) The subject of the verb here is a pair of parents, and what they do is not fight but insist. "To do jihād" therefore does not by itself mean "to wage holy war"; it means to put one's whole force behind something. Who is doing it, and toward what, is stated separately. In these two verses the one exerting pressure is in the wrong — and kindness toward them is still commanded.

A command to strive when no fighting was permitted

Sūrat al-Furqān is Meccan; in the revelation ordering held in this database it comes 42nd, at a stage when the community had no permission for armed response. The command is nevertheless explicit:

فَلَا تُطِعِ ٱلْكَـٰفِرِينَ وَجَـٰهِدْهُم بِهِۦ جِهَادًا كَبِيرًا

"So do not obey the disbelievers, and strive against them with it [i.e., the Qur’ān] a great striving." (25:52)

(interpretation) The instrument named by "with it" is, by the logic of the passage, the revealed text itself. What is described is not a battle but a refusal to submit and a sustained effort of communication. The only striving the Qur'an calls "great" is an unarmed one — a point worth noticing not to belittle qitāl, but to see that the two concepts do not coincide.

The direction of the root often turns back on the one who strives:

وَمَن جَـٰهَدَ فَإِنَّمَا يُجَـٰهِدُ لِنَفْسِهِۦٓ

"And whoever strives only strives for [the benefit of] himself." (29:6)

وَٱلَّذِينَ جَـٰهَدُوا۟ فِينَا لَنَهْدِيَنَّهُمْ سُبُلَنَا ۚ وَإِنَّ ٱللَّهَ لَمَعَ ٱلْمُحْسِنِينَ

"And those who strive for Us - We will surely guide them to Our ways. And indeed, Allāh is with the doers of good." (29:69)

(interpretation) What 29:69 promises is not victory but guidance. The measure of striving here is moral direction, and the verse closes with "the doers of good".

Scope: wealth, lives and worship in one breath

وَجَـٰهِدُوا۟ فِى ٱللَّهِ حَقَّ جِهَادِهِۦ

"And strive for Allāh with the striving due to Him. ... So establish prayer and give zakāh and hold fast to Allāh." (22:78)

ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ وَهَاجَرُوا۟ وَجَـٰهَدُوا۟ فِى سَبِيلِ ٱللَّهِ بِأَمْوَٰلِهِمْ وَأَنفُسِهِمْ

"The ones who have believed, emigrated and striven in the cause of Allāh with their wealth and their lives are greater in rank in the sight of Allāh." (9:20)

ٱنفِرُوا۟ خِفَافًا وَثِقَالًا وَجَـٰهِدُوا۟ بِأَمْوَٰلِكُمْ وَأَنفُسِكُمْ فِى سَبِيلِ ٱللَّهِ

"Go forth, whether light or heavy, and strive with your wealth and your lives in the cause of Allāh." (9:41)

(interpretation) In 9:20 and 9:41 the striving is done with wealth as well as lives, and something done with wealth cannot be combat by definition. At the same time 9:41 is plainly a call to march out. So the word does not exclude fighting; it simply is not reducible to it. That is the whole distinction.

Qitāl: fighting has its own name and its own limits

When the Qur'an speaks of warfare it usually reaches for q-t-l, not j-h-d. And wherever that root appears, limiting clauses tend to appear beside it.

وَقَـٰتِلُوا۟ فِى سَبِيلِ ٱللَّهِ ٱلَّذِينَ يُقَـٰتِلُونَكُمْ وَلَا تَعْتَدُوٓا۟ ۚ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ لَا يُحِبُّ ٱلْمُعْتَدِينَ

"Fight in the way of Allāh those who fight against you but do not transgress. Indeed, Allāh does not like transgressors." (2:190)

وَلَا تُقَـٰتِلُوهُمْ عِندَ ٱلْمَسْجِدِ ٱلْحَرَامِ حَتَّىٰ يُقَـٰتِلُوكُمْ فِيهِ

"And do not fight them at al-Masjid al-Ḥarām until they fight you there." (2:191)

فَإِنِ ٱنتَهَوْا۟ فَإِنَّ ٱللَّهَ غَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ

"And if they cease, then indeed, Allāh is Forgiving and Merciful." (2:192)

فَإِنِ ٱنتَهَوْا۟ فَلَا عُدْوَٰنَ إِلَّا عَلَى ٱلظَّـٰلِمِينَ

"But if they cease, then there is to be no aggression [i.e., assault] except against the oppressors." (2:193)

(interpretation) 2:190-193 is a single passage carrying four limits: only against those who fight you, without transgression, without initiating combat in the sanctuary, and stopping when the other side stops. Lifting one of these verses out of the passage makes the text's own limits invisible.

Fighting itself is not presented as something desirable:

كُتِبَ عَلَيْكُمُ ٱلْقِتَالُ وَهُوَ كُرْهٌ لَّكُمْ

"Battle has been enjoined upon you while it is hateful to you." (2:216)

(interpretation) The verse concedes in advance that fighting is disliked. A text that introduces an obligation with "though you hate it" is not glorifying that obligation.

One stated ground for fighting is the protection of the defenceless:

وَمَا لَكُمْ لَا تُقَـٰتِلُونَ فِى سَبِيلِ ٱللَّهِ وَٱلْمُسْتَضْعَفِينَ مِنَ ٱلرِّجَالِ وَٱلنِّسَآءِ وَٱلْوِلْدَٰنِ

"And what is [the matter] with you that you fight not in the cause of Allāh and [for] the oppressed among men, women, and children..." (4:75)

Peace is not left to preference

وَإِن جَنَحُوا۟ لِلسَّلْمِ فَٱجْنَحْ لَهَا وَتَوَكَّلْ عَلَى ٱللَّهِ

"And if they incline to peace, then incline to it [also] and rely upon Allāh." (8:61)

(interpretation) This sits in the middle of a sūra about a battle, and it reverses the instruction: the moment the other side inclines toward peace, inclining becomes obligatory. The closing call to rely on God does not pretend the risk away — it acknowledges the risk and commands peace anyway.

Finally, the text itself distinguishes between those who fight and those who do not:

لَّا يَنْهَىٰكُمُ ٱللَّهُ عَنِ ٱلَّذِينَ لَمْ يُقَـٰتِلُوكُمْ فِى ٱلدِّينِ وَلَمْ يُخْرِجُوكُم مِّن دِيَـٰرِكُمْ أَن تَبَرُّوهُمْ وَتُقْسِطُوٓا۟ إِلَيْهِمْ

"Allāh does not forbid you from those who do not fight you because of religion and do not expel you from your homes - from being righteous toward them and acting justly toward them." (60:8)

إِنَّمَا يَنْهَىٰكُمُ ٱللَّهُ عَنِ ٱلَّذِينَ قَـٰتَلُوكُمْ فِى ٱلدِّينِ وَأَخْرَجُوكُم مِّن دِيَـٰرِكُمْ

"Allāh only forbids you from those who fight you because of religion and expel you from your homes and aid in your expulsion - [forbids] that you make allies of them." (60:9)

(interpretation) 60:8 and 60:9 stand back to back and set the criterion as hostile action, not belief. The question the text asks is not "what do they believe" but "did they make war and drive you out".

Root and Word Note

The counts below are taken from this platform's word-level database (one record per Qur'anic word linked to a root):

(interpretation) Numbers do not settle a ruling, but they give a sense of proportion: the fighting root occurs more than four times as often as the striving root, and warfare has its own name. Of the 41 j-h-d words, 11 occur in Meccan sūras — that is, at a stage when armed struggle was not on the table.

From the same root, the nouns "jahd" and "juhd" appear in contexts of oath-taking and means (24:53 and 9:79), with no link to warfare. By contrast "al-qitāl" in 2:216 is warfare under its own name, while "silm" in 8:61 shares a root with "Islām", "muslim" and "salām".

Different Readings

(interpretation) More than one plausible reading exists, and they do not fully exclude one another.

• Lexical reading: the root meaning governs. J-h-d is exertion; fighting becomes one of its forms only when the context says so. 25:52 and 29:8 are this reading's strongest anchors.
• Contextual-historical reading: there is a development between the Meccan and Medinan periods. In Meccan verses striving is built on patience and communication; in Medinan verses defensive warfare enters. On this reading the temporary overlap of the two words reflects historical circumstance, not synonymy.
• Holistic-legal reading: read as a whole, the qitāl verses yield a law of war — a cause (attack and expulsion), a limit (no transgression), a termination condition (the other side stopping) and an obligation of peace. This reading treats the verses as passages, not isolated lines.
• Reductive reading: the reading that equates jihād with qitāl. Verses such as 9:41 do give it something to stand on, but 25:52 and 29:8 do not carry that equation. This article does not find the equation compatible with the text taken whole — while not hiding that the reading exists and has anchors.

Honest Limits

What the text states plainly: j-h-d and q-t-l are separate roots, used as separate words. 25:52 issues a command to strive that is not a command to fight. In 29:8 and 31:15 the verb describes pressure unrelated to war. The prohibition of transgression (2:190), the condition of stopping (2:192-193), the duty to incline toward peace (8:61) and justice toward non-combatants (60:8) are all written explicitly.

What remains interpretation: the exact scope of "a great striving"; which qitāl verses are bound to their historical situation and which are general; who holds the authority to declare war; the precise range of "fitnah" in that passage. The text does not settle these in a single sentence; they were elaborated later in the juristic layer — from which this article draws no proof.

What this article is not: it is not a legal ruling on warfare, a verdict on any current conflict, or a justification or condemnation of any group's actions. It is a conceptual reading note.

Conclusion: In the Qur'an, jihād is a concept of effort and qitāl a concept of warfare. They intersect in some verses but do not coincide: not every striving is fighting, and fighting itself is an exceptional state whose cause, limits and stopping condition the text defines. Collapsing the two words shrinks the scope of striving and hides the limits placed on fighting.

Related articles

• Principles of war and peace
• The "sword verse" claim

Source: Qur'anic verses (M. Okuyan's Turkish rendering; Saheeh International in English) + kuranokuyan.com. Qur'an-centred, non-sectarian, cited.