Greater and lesser jihaad

It was narrated that the
Prophet (peace and blessings of
Allaah be upon him), said to his companions when they returned from
a military campaign, “We have come back from the lesser jihaad to the
greater jihaad.” They said, “Is there any greater jihaad than jihaad
against the kuffaar?” he said, “Yes, jihaad al-nafs (jihaad against
the self).”

This hadeeth is not saheeh. 

Undoubtedly jihaad against
the self comes before jihaad against the kuffaar, because one cannot
strive against the kuffaar until after one has striven against one’s
own self, because fighting is something which the self dislikes. Allaah
says (interpretation of the meaning):

“Jihaad (holy fighting in
Allaah’s Cause) is ordained for you (Muslims) though you dislike it,
and it may be that you dislike a thing which is good for you and that
you like a thing which is bad for you. Allaah knows but you do not know”[al-Baqarah
2:216]

The point is that jihaad
against the enemy cannot take place until one strives and forces oneself
to do it, until one’s self submits and accepts that. 

Fataawa Manaar al-Islam by Shaykh
Ibn ‘Uthaymeen (may Allaah have mercy on him), 2/421 

Ibn al-Qayyim said: “Jihaad
is of four stages: jihaad al-nafs (striving against the self),
jihaad al-shayaateen (striving against the shayaateen or devils),
jihaad al-kuffaar (striving against the disbelievers) and jihaad
al-munaafiqeen (striving against the hypocrites). 

Jihaad al-nafs
means striving to make oneself learn true guidance, and to follow it
after coming to know it, calling others to it, and bearing with patience
the difficulties of calling others to Allaah. Jihaad al-Shaytaan
means striving against him and warding off the doubts and desires that
he throws at a person, and the doubts that undermine faith, and striving
against the corrupt desires that he tries to inspire in a person. Jihaad
against the kuffaar and munaafiqeen is done in the heart and on the
tongue, with one’s wealth and oneself. Jihaad against the kuffaar mostly
takes the form of physical action, and jihaad against the munaafiqeen
mostly takes the form of words… The most perfect of people are those
who have completed all the stages of jihaad. People vary in their status
before Allaah according to their status in jihaad.”(Zaad al-Ma’aad
3/9-12)

 And Allaah knows best.