Encyclopedia of Islam

Further reading: Heinz Halm, Shi’a Islam: from Religion 

to Revolution (Princeton, N.J.: Markus Wiener, 1997); 

David Pinault, Horse of Karbala: Muslim Devotional Life 

in India (New York: Palgrave, 2001); Vernon Schubel, 

Religious Performance in Contemporary Islam (Colum-

bia: University of South Carolina Press, 1999).

mujaddid

  See 

renewal

 

and

 

reform

 

movements

.

mujahid

 

(pl. 

mujahidin)

Literally, “one who strives in the path of God,” the 

Arabic term often refers to those who undertake 

holy war on behalf of Islam. The plural, mujahidin, 

has been applied in the modern era to a number 

of groups leading revivalist or anticolonial move-

ments. Examples include the mujahidin led by Shah 

Wali Allah and Sayyid Ahmad Brelwi in South Asia 

during the 18th and 19th centuries, or the 

Jihad

movements of W

est

 a

Frica

 and the Mahdist 

move

-

ment

 in the s

Udan

 during the same time period.

Technically, jihad (in the sense of war) can 

be launched only against disbelievers who resist 

or repress the practice of i

slam

. However, in the 

mid-20th century, Islamists such as s

ayyid

  q

Utb

(d. 1966) redefined the term 

kafir

 (disbeliever) to 

include professing Muslim political leaders who fail 

to implement Islamic law and whose practice of 

Islam is deemed to be insufficient by the Islamists. 

As a result, radical organizations claiming to be 

mujahidin have increasingly attacked secular Mus-

lim leaders, intellectuals, or writers, along with the 

usual colonial or neocolonial targets. In their pur-

suit of war, these groups undertake terrorist actions 

while justifying their deeds in quranic terms.

K  498  

Muharram

---

Such activity has dramatically increased since 

the mid-1970s. Mujahidin groups led Afghan resis-

tance to the Soviet invasion during the 1980s, 

supported the 1978 Iranian revolution and sought 

to export that revolution to other Middle East-

ern sites, assassinated secular leaders in e

gypt

and other locations, resisted Russian authorities 

in  c

hechnya

 and Israeli authorities in p

ales

-

tine

, launched terrorist operations throughout 

the world, including the attacks of September 

11, 2001, and kidnapped/executed Westerners in 

combat zones such as l

ebanon

 and i

raq

. Moderate 

Muslims reject such interpretations of jihad, often 

emphasizing the primacy of the so-called greater 

jihad (a peaceful struggle against unrighteousness 

in one’s own life and one’s community). However, 

the mujahidin recruit warriors and gain support for 

their actions by tapping into considerable Muslim 

resentment toward Western power and excesses as 

well as fears regarding threats to their faith from 

Western influences. It is clear that the struggle 

over the interpretation of jihad will be a major 

issue within the Muslim world for years to come.

See also a

Fghan

 

mUJahidin

.

Stephen Cory