1 This reference gave rise to the distinguishing of two forms of jihad: "greater" and "lesser".
Among the traditions indicating that Jihad has a nonviolent meaning, people most commonly cite the following from the Qur'an: A number of fighters came to the messenger of Allah, and he said: "You have done well in coming from the 'lesser jihad' to the 'greater jihad'." They said: "What is the 'greater jihad'?" He said: "For the servant (of God) to fight his passions". 2 This radically makes one reinterpret the apparent aggressiveness of Jihad and focus more on the waging of spiritual warfare. The greater Jihad is interpreted as the struggle pertained to the difficulty and complexity of living a good life: struggling against the evil in oneself in order to be virtuous and moral, making a serious effort to do good works and to help to reform society. The lesser Jihad addresses fighting injustice and oppression, spreading and defending Islam, and creating a just society through preaching, teaching and, if necessary, armed struggle or holy war. The greater Jihad is the most important and difficult one, struggling against one ego, selfishness, greed and evil.3 The Qur'an and the Sunnah both provide guidelines for living in a world of peace where there are diverse nations and peoples. Also, how to fight the enemy against corruption and oppression but, there is a careful line drawn to distinguish self-defense between aggression, resistance and rebellion, reform and terrorism.
Islam emerged in a nation where war was something common. The rise and spread of Islam was caught in between the local war against the Eastern Roman and the Sasanian empires. The teachings of Prophet Muhammad eventually became a source of conflict between the empires. His reformist message posed an unwelcome challenge to the religious and political establishments of the communities.