18 nov 2023 ♡ jihad

in the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

it hurts my heart how the term jihad has become so demeaned, so distorted from it's true, beautiful meaning. jihad is far from detonating some kind of "holy war" in the same sense of a crusade. its far, far from that.

greater jihad essentially is the struggle in which one tries to purify his or her heart, do good, and avoid evil. while in a similar sense, lesser jihad indicates an outward struggle. 

none of these two meanings represent so-called violence in which islam is to be spread by the sword. contrarily, its considered a sin if one was to force another to convert.

jihad, purely, means so much to me as a fellow servant of God. its precisely what aids me towards productivity, speaking sweet and nice words that would please Him, and to attenuate my ego.

"the greatest jihad is to battle your own soul, to fight the evil within yourself" - Prophet Muhammad ﷺ