"""in the way of God"" ==

i found some material of relevance in Reuven Firestone's work ""Jihad: The Origin of Holy War in Islam"" (Oxford University Press) related to this current dispute. i wasn't actually looking for it, but came across it while looking for something else. anyway (p. 17):

The meaning of jihad
The semantic meaning of the Arabic term jihād has no relation to holy war or even war in general. It derives, rather from the root j.h.d., the meaning of which is to strive, exert oneself, or take extraordinary pains. Jihād is a verbal noun of the third Arabic form of the root jahada, which is defined classically as ""exerting one's utmost power, efforts, endeavors, or ability in contending with an object of disapprobation."" 14 Such an object is often categorized in the literature as deriving from one of three sources: a visible enemy, the devil, and aspects of one's own self. There are, therefore, many kinds of jihād, and most have nothing to do with warfare. ""Jihād of the heart,"" for example, denotes struggle against one's own sinful inclinations, while ""jihād of the tongue"" requires speaking on behalf of the good and forbidding evil. 15 ...

(removed large quote from a narration about the varying kinds of jihad)

... Muhammad is also credited with saying: ""The best jihād is [speaking] a word of justice to a tyrannical ruler."" 17 The qualifying phrase ""in the path of God"" (fi sabīl Allah) specifically distinguishes the activity of jihād as furthering or promoting God's kingdom on earth. It can be done, for example, by simply striving to behave ethically and by speaking without causing harm to others or by actively defending Islam and propagating the faith. Jihād as religiously grounded warfare, sometimes referred to as ""jihād of the sword"" (jihād al-sayf), is subsumed under the last two categories of defending Islam and propagating the faith, though these need not be accomplished only through war. When the term is used without qualifiers such as ""of the heart"" or ""of the tongue,"" however, it is universally understood as war on behalf of Islam (equivalent to ""jihād of the sword""), and the merits of engaging in such jihād are described plentifully in the most-respected religious works. 18 Nevertheless, Muslim thinkers, and particularly ascetics and mystics, often differentiate between the ""greater jihād"" (al-jihād al-akbar) and the ""lesser jihād"" (al-jihād al-asghar), with the former representing the struggle against the self and only the ""lesser jihād"" referring to warring in the path of God. 19 

 

Itaqallah, how was my suggested addition from Britannica Encyclopedia on the five types of jihad.  

I have no problem with ""in the way of God"", since the sentence is phrased as giving jihad's meaning, not its literal meaning. -  

Another problem with the article is that it fails to mention the new interpretations of jihad (on the behalf of some renowned scholars) which disagree with usage of warfare except in defense.  
Too bad those guys weren't around during Muhammad's time.  
One can always fnd some quotes like the two above in a serious book on jihad. However, 99 percent of Firestone's work is about, yes, warfare.  Or 

== "