CarolC beat me to the punch ~ I have also read that the term "Jihad" can refer to the "warfare" or struggle within one's own soul that is necessary to any effort to live righteously, and that for moderate (sane) Muslims, the vast majority of Muslims, this is the only kind of "jihad" in which they engage.

However, to be fair, is is NOT only critics and "outsiders" like Mr Steyn who interpret the word "jihad" to mean "holy war." Plenty of Muslims, including Islamic clerics and other leaders, are preaching hatred for Westerners, for the modern world in general, and for violent, deadly resitance to all such "alien" influences.

And the more violent and antisocial interpretation of "jihad" is nothing new, either. The rapid spread of Islam in its early days is directly attributable to violence and conquest.

(Of course, Islam is hardly unique among world religions in this regard. Christianity was a small, fragmented, and generally pacifistic movement until the conversion of Constantine, when the church joined forces with the empire.)