103. There was broad agreement between the experts as regards the origin, tradition and meaning of jihad in Islam. Jihad is an ancient, multi-faceted tradition of ‘striving or struggling’ in the cause of God, to obey God and His Law and to establish and preserve Islam. It was common ground that the prevalent message of the Qur’an is one of peace and tolerance, but it allows reasonable self-defence (like the Common Law). 104. The word jihad appears in 41 verses in the Qur’an (in 11 Meccan verses and 30 Median verses). None refer explicitly to an armed struggle. There are 21 references in the context of ‘striving’ generally because of religious beliefs and 12 references in the context of ‘armed combat’ in defence of Islam (qital). It is significant that all the verses of the Qur’an which refer to the conduct of armed combat (qital) came after the Prophet Muhammad and his Companions fled from persecution from Mecca to Medina (hijra) in 622 CE as explained above. Categorisation of Jihad in Islam 105. Classical categorisation of jihad in Islam by jurists such as the Maliki 2 jurist, Ibn Rushd (Averrroes), involved four main categories: (i) jihad of the heart (jihad bil qalb/nafs) concerned with combating the evil insinuations of the ego and the devil; (ii) jihad by the tongue (jihad bil lisan) is concerned with speaking the truth and spreading the word of Islam; (iii) jihad by the hand (jihad bil yad) concerned with doing what is right and combating injustice; (iv) jihad by the sword (jihad bis saif) which refers to armed combat (qital) in the way of God, or holy war (qital fi sabilillah), the final resort if other types of jihad fail and the integrity of the Islamic religion and safety of the Muslim community is threatened. 106. The first category, jihad of the heart (jihad bil qalb/nafs), is classically referred to as the ‘Greater Struggle’ (al-jihad al-akbar) as it concerns the daily business of training the ego to obey God’s injunctions. The fourth category, jihad by the sword (jihad bis saif) is commonly referred to as the ‘Lesser Struggle’ (jihad al-asghar). Qital 107. The Qur'anic word for armed defensive combat is in fact “qital” not jihad. It was only during the later formalisation of the doctrines of Islam and the doctrinal formulations of jihad as 'striving in the path of God' that qital was included officially as one of the many forms of jihad fiy sabilillah (striving in the path of God). Regrettably, the wider concept of jihad has now become confused with the narrow concept of qital (a concept which is highly regulated by Islamic law - see further below). In modern times, qital has come to monopolise the popular meaning of the word jihad both in the Muslim-majority world and in Western minds. This means, unfortunately, that whenever most people use the word jihad, they are almost always referring (incorrectly) to qital, i.e. armed combat. 108. The Qur'an and the Sunna lay down strict codes for the ethics of both declaring and conducting qital (la ta ‘tadu): (1) The established Islamic doctrinal conditions laid down by the Qur’an and the Sunna for the declaration of armed combat (qital) include, e.g., (i) exhaustion of all peaceful avenues, (ii) self-defence against a known armed aggressor 2 A Sunni religious school (figh) founded by the 8th Century jurist, Malik ibn Anas 24