Some Muslim apoligists have defined "jihad" as a spiritual battle against one's own negative tendencies. How does this differ from the Roman Catholic idea put forth by the one they call "St Anthony?" From the Catholic Encyclopedia concerning his teachings: It is an instruction on the duties of the spiritual life, in which the warfare with demons occupies the chief place.
It appears that there were Arabic writings sometimes attributed to Anthony that espouse such doctrine. Might this not have been the basis of Jihad?

One of the great falacies of logic is to introduce a forth term into a syllogism (logical argument.) Often one term has more than one meaning. In the case cited, Jihad (call it Jihad 1) is used to describe a personal struggle against evil. In the current news, Jihad (Jihad 2), means a war or struggle against Christians or Western culture.
You can say:
St Anthony says a struggle aginst personal evil is good.
Jihad 1 is a struggle against a personal evil.
Therefore St anthony says that Jihad 1 is good.

You cannot say:
St Anthony says a struggle against a personal evil is good.
Jihad 2 is a struggle against Christianity.
Therefore Jihad 2 is good.

Since the word Jihad can mean many things it is subject to interpretation. It is always good to define your terms for the purpose of the argument at hand.