\Ji*had"\, Jehad \Je*had"\, n. [Ar. jih[=a]d.] (Moham.)
A religious war against infidels or Mohammedan heretics;
also, any bitter war or crusade for a principle or belief.

      [Their] courage in war . . . had not, like that of the
      Mohammedan dervishes of the Sudan, or of Mohammedans
      anywhere engaged in a jehad, a religious motive and the
      promise of future bliss behind it.       --James Bryce.