Greater Jihad of society and self: Religious and psychological implications in Pakistani Madrassa and University students

ABSTRACT

Development of a Greater Jihad Scale sought to record “jihad” as a Muslim spiritual struggle. Pakistani madrassa and university students responded to items that described Self Jihad as a struggle against corruptions within the self and Societal Jihad as an effort to bring social life into conformity with Islamic ideals. Greater Jihad factors correlated positively with Islamic Moral Values, Intrinsic and Extrinsic Social Religious Orientations, and Satisfaction with Life. Madrassa students scored higher on all these measures, but Greater Jihad factors more strongly predicted religious functioning in university students. In addition, Societal Jihad correlated negatively with the Extrinsic Personal Orientation, and madrassa students displayed lower Extrinsic Personal and Self-Esteem scores. These data supported descriptions of Muslim personality adjustment in terms of a subordination of the self and confirmed the greater jihad as an influential process within the Muslim psychology of religion.