Greater and lesser jihaad
Question

                Which is the greater jihad, jihad with one's nafs or jihad in the battlefield ?
Praise be to Allah.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.