مجاهد
Mujāhid
A person who practises jihad, that is, who strives in the cause of God; the plural is mujāhidūn.
What it means
Mujāhid is the one who strives, the active participle of the verb jāhada. It names a person who practises jihād, striving for the cause of God. The Quran uses the plural in the verse that says God has favoured “the strivers (al-mujāhidūn)” over those who sit at home (4:95). Jihad includes struggle against one’s own faults, the effort to do good and, under the strict rules set by the law, defence of the community by fighting. A saying reported in the hadith collections calls the greatest jihad a word of truth before an unjust ruler. In the modern period the word has also been used for fighters in particular conflicts.
Often misunderstood as
It is sometimes translated “holy warrior”, which narrows to fighting what the Quran uses for any effort made for God.
Term and Arabic as listed in Ismail al Faruqi, Toward Islamic English (International Institute of Islamic Thought, 1995), p. 28, listed as MUJĀHID. The definition is restated here.