Jihad al-Akbar (The Greatest Jihad)

The real Mujahid is the one who makes Jihad (strives) against himself for the sake of obeying Allah. [Ranked authentic. Tirmidhi, Ibn Majah, Ibn Hibban, Tabarani, Hakim, etc.]

Sufyan al-Thawri said: “I have never dealt with anything stronger against me than my own ego; it was one time with me, and one time against me”…

Yahya ibn Mu`adh al-Razi said: “Fight against your ego with the four swords of training: eat little, sleep little, speak little, and be patient when people harm you… Then the ego will walk the paths of obedience, like a fleeing horseman in the field of battle.”

Maulana Ashraf Ali Thanawi (rahmatullahi alayhi) said:

“There is a consensus among all the well established Sufi masters that the foundation stone of Tasawwuf and spiritual path (sulook) is to cleanse the nafs (lower self) of the blame worthy moral traits (razail).

This is achieved by the aspirant using his determination (himmat) to act against the desires of his nafs.This acting against the nafs is called the spiritual struggle (mujahidah), endeavor (riyadah) and the Greatest Jihad (jihad al-akbar)
Neither excessive remembrance (dhikr), offering supererogatory salah, recitation of litanies and Holy Quran nor even the observance of the essentials (faraiz) disciplines the nafs. This is because the role of these things in removal of blame worthy characteristics is that of secondary assistance and not primary treatment. The individual will receive their reward and merits respectively. However, it is against the norms set by Allah that  the nafs be disciplined without meticulous  spiritual struggle (mujahidah).

This is the reason we observe that most of the religious individuals are inflicted with blame worthy moral characteristics in spite of their extra worship.”

Maulana Husain Ahmad Madani (rahmatullahu alayhi) said during the British occupation of India:

“If the Muslims want to see their future bright, then it is their duty that by their actions and character they prove their importance and usefulness. The more they will be useful for the country, the more respect they will have… Today the Muslims know the word jihad, but they have forgotten that, against the enemies of Islam and the Muslim community, like those of the residents of Makkah, patience and steadfastness, self-control, and high morals are considered jihad al-akbar (the greatest jihad). In this jihad al-akbar there is no need of any sword or daggers, but only the strength of character and good deeds, which are more effective.”

Imam Ibn ul Qayyim al Jawziyyah (Rahmatullahi alayhi) said:

“He has thereby made guidance dependent on jihad. Therefore, the most perfect of people are those of them who struggle the most for His sake, and the most obligatory of jihads are the jihad against the ego, the jihad against desires, the jihad against the devil, and the jihad against the worldly attractions. Whoever struggles against these four, Allah will guide them to the ways of His good pleasure which lead to His Paradise, and whoever leaves jihad, then he leaves guidance in proportion to his leaving jihad.

Al-Junayd said:

‘Those who have striven against their desires and repented for our sake, we shall guide them to the ways of sincerity, and one cannot struggle against his enemy outwardly except he who struggles against these enemies inwardly. Then whoever is given victory over them will be victorious over his enemy, and whoever is defeated by them, his enemy defeats him.’”