"Jihad" is played in standard 4/4 time and runs for 3 minutes and 31 seconds.[6] A skittering vamp played by Jeff Hanneman leads into the track, while Dave Lombardo shimmers his hi-hat.[6] Smoothly mixing up tempos, the band builds the song with a fast,[7] "wonky, catchy and angular"[8] guitar riff reminiscent of the breakdown in 1986's "Angel of Death".[9] This guitar riff decelerates before bursting forward again in two-bar stretches underpinned by Lombardo's pounding, fifth-gear drumming.[7]