Secondly he had a quality of combativeness, of always being actively engaged in combat against all that negated the Truth and disrupted harmony. Externally it meant fighting wars, either military, political or social ones, the war which the Prophet named the 'little holy war' (al-jihad al-a$ghar).Inwardly this combativeness meant a continuous war against the carnal soul (na/s), against all that in man tends towards the negation of God and His Will, the 'great holy war' (al-jihad al-akbar).

Ideals and realities of Islam On page 78 Saturday, January 5, 2013 @ 4:45pm