| Verse 52 of Sūrat al-Furqān (“So do not obey the faithless, but wage against them a great jihad with it”) has traditionally been interpreted by Quranic exegetes as referring to striving against the disbelievers through the instrumentality of the Quran. However, Martyr Ayatullah Khamenei presents an innovative hermeneutical reading in which the essence of the Great Jihad is defined as “disobedience to the disbelievers” (ʿadam al‑iṭāʿah), thereby elevating the concept from a merely exegetical notion to a comprehensive civilizational strategy for confronting hegemonic systems. The present study aims to conceptualize the notion of the Great Jihad on the basis of Martyr Ayatullah Khamenei’s interpretation of this verse and to articulate a three‑layered model encompassing theoretical, strategic, and operational dimensions. Using a qualitative approach, the research conducts a content analysis of the Leader’s direct statements between 2012 and 2024 and employs thematic analysis to extract the principal conceptual components. The findings indicate that, within this exegetical framework, the Great Jihad rests upon three defining characteristics: essentiality, in the sense that non‑obedience itself constitutes the core of the struggle; perpetuity, indicating its continuous and sustained nature; and comprehensiveness, reflecting its wide scope across various domains of life. At the strategic level, three principal pillars emerge: vigilance and intellectual awareness regarding the enemy’s schemes, refusal to comply with the enemy, and active resistance combined with steadfastness. At the operational level, three domains appear as concrete manifestations of the Great Jihad: the Resistance Economy, the Jihad of Clarification, and institutional capacity‑building accompanied by the scientific documentation and theorization of revolutionary experiences. Overall, the study concludes that in Martyr Ayatullah Khamenei’s intellectual framework the Great Jihad functions as a civilizational strategy for confronting hegemonic domination; grounded in the principle of “disobedience to the disbelievers” and structured around three strategic pillars and three operational domains, it offers a comprehensive, multi‑layered, and actionable model for safeguarding the identity, independence, and dignity of the Islamic community in the contemporary era. |
