Jihad of Construction

Jihad of Construction
جهاد سازندگی Jahād-e Sāzandegī
Jihad of Construction on a 200 rial banknote of 1982.
Active1979–2001
Disbanded2001
CountryIran Islamic Republic of Iran
TypeCombat engineering
Nickname(s)"Trench-less trench-makers"
EngagementsIran–Iraq War
Commanders
Notable
commanders		Morteza Aviny (head of Jihad TV Unit)[1]

Jihad of Construction or Construction Jihad (Persian: جهاد سازندگی Jahād-e Sāzandegī), or simply Jihad (جهاد Jahād) was one of Organizations of the Iranian Revolution. The organization began as a movement of volunteers to help with the 1979 harvest, but soon was institutionalized and took on a broader, more developmental role in the countryside. It was involved with road building, piped water, electrification, clinics, schools, and irrigation canals.[2] It also provides "extension services, seeds, loans," etc. to small farmers.[3]

During the Iran–Iraq War, the organization held a combat engineering responsibility. They were active in various operation of the war,[4] most notably in Operation Fath ol-Mobin,[5] Operation Beit-ol-Moqaddas,[6] Operation Kheibar, and Operation Dawn 8.

Iranian leader Ayatollah Khomeini has called them the "trench-less trench-makers" (سنگرسازان بی سنگر sangar-sāzān-e bi-sangar).[7]

The organization engaged in development activities overseas in Tanzania (from 1987), Ghana and Lebanon (1989), Sudan and Sierra Leone (1991), and Albania (1993). It was also active in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bosnia and Herzegovina.[8]

The title for a Jihad member is Jahādgar (جهادگر). The title for the commanders is Sardār-e Jahādgar (سردار جهادگر).

In 2001 it was merged with the Agriculture Ministry to form the Ministry of Agriculture Jihad.[9]

  1. ^ "دفتر امور ایثارگران/سردار جهادگر شهید سید مرتضی آوینی". Archived from the original on 7 August 2016. Retrieved 18 August 2016.
  2. ^ Keddie, Modern Iran (2003), p.286
  3. ^ Bakhash, Reign of the Ayatollahs, (1984) p.202
  4. ^ "وزارت جهاد کشاورزی-دفتر امور ایثارگران". Archived from the original on 7 August 2016. Retrieved 18 August 2016.
  5. ^ تبیان, موسسه فرهنگی و اطلاع رسانی (18 August 2016). "عملیات فتح المبین". Retrieved 18 August 2016.
  6. ^ "مروری بر عملیات بیت المقدس /3". 6 June 2011.
  7. ^ "اصلی/لقب "سنگرسازان بی سنگر" گرانبهاترین مدال افتخار از سوی امام خمینی به جهادگران". Archived from the original on 7 August 2016. Retrieved 18 August 2016.
  8. ^ Lob, Eric, 2016. 'The Islamic Republic of Iran's Foreign Policy and Construction Jihad's Developmental Activities in Sub-Saharan Africa.' International Journal of Middle East Studies; Cambridge Vol. 48, Iss. 2, (May): 313–338.
  9. ^ "The Ministry of Jihad-e Agriculture". Archived from the original on 3 October 2011. Retrieved 15 September 2015.