WORLD HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -In its most general meaning, jihad refers to the obligation incumbent on all Muslims, individuals and the community, to follow and realize God’s will: to lead a virtuous life and to extend the Islamic community through preaching, education, example, writing, etc.

Detailed explanation-2: -mujahideen, Arabic mujāhidūn (“those engaged in jihad”), singular mujāhid, in its broadest sense, Muslims who fight on behalf of the faith or the Muslim community (ummah).

Detailed explanation-3: -The term jihad, often translated as “holy war”, actually means struggle or exertion. The Prophet Muhammad referred to battle as a “minor jihad” in comparison to the struggle against the evil of one’s soul-self-exertion in personal compliance with the dictates of Islam-which he describes as the “superior jihad”.

Detailed explanation-4: -From the mid-seventh century, Muslim Arab armies from Saudi Arabia began to travel north into Central Asia and west across Africa, invading the countries they passed. The Sasanian Empire, exhausted from many years of war with the Romans, was spectacularly defeated and Iran and Iraq were soon conquered.