Laz, jihad is principally military, forceable expansion of Islam—itself the command, “Submit.” The Sufi/mystic interpretation of inner struggle is at most secondary, and comes from the same mystic tradition of the Hashishin and Salafists (al Qaradawi). Struggle and change = jihad, in the sense of the latter, and is part of the Indonesian title of the “Audacity of Hope,” i.e., “Jihad, from Jakarta to the White House.”
Only in closer, more esoteric study of Islam does someone learn of the ijtihad of legal philosophic meaning, bringing to bear some of what transpired AFTER the wave of Islamic conquest following 632.
http://www.danielpipes.org/990/what-is-jihad
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ijtihad
j h d at the root includes mujahid/mujahideen. The variants that speak to spiritualism are/have been coopted. Witness al Qaradawi’s fatwas and insistence on the ‘progression’ of Islam and the encouragement of violence, as though Sufi meets Sunni and Twelver Shi’ite. This is dangerous, dangerous water.
My 2 cents
In order for civilization to stand, the Sufis must win.