In Section 15 of Kashf al-Mahjub, Hujwiri frames the struggle against the carnal self (mujahadat al-nafs) as the greater jihad (jihad al-akbar). He grounds this teaching in the Quranic verse 'And those who strive for Us, We will surely guide them to Our ways' (al-Ankabut 29:69) and in the Prophetic sayings that the true fighter is the one who wars against his own nafs, and that 'We have returned from the lesser jihad to the greater jihad.' Hujwiri explains that the Prophet gave precedence to the inner struggle over physical warfare because opposing one's desires (hawa) and subduing the nafs is a more arduous and formidable task than outward battle. This positions the disciplining and mortification of the ego as the doctrinal foundation of the Sufi path in his prose manual.