The Chapters on Jihad

It wasnarrated that ‘Abdullah bin ‘Amr said: “A man came to theMessenger of Allah (ﷺ) and said: ‘O Messenger of Allah, I havecomeseeking to go out in Jihad with you, seeking thereby the Face ofAllahand the Hereafter. I have come even though my parents areweeping.’ Hesaid: ‘Go back to them and make them smile as youhave made themweep.’”

It wasnarrated that Abu Musa said: “The Prophet (ﷺ) was askedabout aman who fights to prove his courage, or out of pride andhonour forhis close relatives, or to show off. The Messenger of Allah(ﷺ)said: ‘Whoever fights so that the Word of Allah may be supremeisthe one who (is fighting) in the cause of Allah.’”

It wasnarrated that Abu ‘Uqbah, who was the freed slave of somePersianpeople, said: “I was present with the Prophet (ﷺ) on the DayofUhud. I struck a man from among the idolaters and said: ‘Take that!And I am a Persian slave!’ News of that reached the Prophet (ﷺ)andhe said: ‘Why did you not say: “Take that! And I am an Ansarislave!?”

‘Abdullah bin ‘Amr said: “I heard the Prophet (ﷺ) say: ‘Thereis noband of warriors that fights in the cause of Allah and acquireswarspoils, but they have been given two thirds of their reward, butifthey do not get any spoils of war, then they will have theirreward infull (in the Hereafter).’”

It wasnarrated from ‘Urwah Al-Bariqi that the Messenger of Allah(ﷺ)said: “Goodness is tied to the forelocks of horses until the DayofResurrection.”

It wasnarrated from ‘Abdullah bin ‘Umar that the Messenger of Allah(ﷺ) said: “There is goodness in the forelocks of horses until theDay of Resurrection.”

It wasnarrated from Abu Hurairah that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ)said: “There is goodness in the forelocks of horses” – or he said:“There is goodness tied in the forelocks of horses.” Suhail (oneofthe narrators) said: “I am not certain of” – “until theDay ofResurrection. And horses are of three types: those that bringrewardto a man, those that are a means of protection for a man, andthosethat are a burden (of sin) for a man. As for those that bringreward,a man keeps them in the cause of Allah and keeps themconstantly ready(for Jihad), so they do not take any fodder intotheir stomachs but areward will be written for him, and if he putsthem out to pasture,they do not eat anything but reward will bewritten for him. If hegives them to drink from a flowing river, forevery drop that enterstheir stomachs there will be reward,”(continuing) until he mentionedreward in conjunction with theirurine and droppings, and even whenthey run here and there bythemselves, for each step they take areward will be written for him– ‘As for those that are a means ofprotection, a man keeps thembecause they are a source of dignity andadornment, but he does notforget the rights of their backs andstomachs (i.e., their right notto be overworked and their right to befed) whether at times of theirdifficulty or ease. As for those thatbring a burden (of sin), theone who keeps them for purposes ofwrongdoing or for pomp and showbefore people, is the one for whomthey bring a burden of sin.”

It wasnarrated from Abu Qatadah Al-Ansari that the Messenger ofAllah (ﷺ)said: “The best of horses are those that are deep black,with ablaze on the forehead, white marks on the legs and white noseandupper lip, and with no whiteness on the right foreleg. If notdeep-black, then reddish-brown, with these markings.”

It wasnarrated that Abu Hurairah said: “The Prophet (ﷺ) used todislikehorses that had three legs with white markings on them, andone legthe same color as the rest of the body.”

It wasnarrated that Tamim Ad-Dari said: “I heard the Messenger ofAllah(ﷺ) say: ‘Whoever ties a horse in the cause of Allah, thenfeedsit with his own hand, he will have one merit for every grain.’”

Mu’adhbin Jabal narrated that he heard the Prophet (ﷺ) say: “AnyMuslimwho fights in the cause of Allah for the time between twomilkings ofa she-camel, he will be guaranteed Paradise.”

It wasnarrated that Anas bin Malik said: “I was present in a war, and‘Abdullah bin Rawahah said:O soul of mine! I see that you doNot want to go to Paradise.I swear by Allah that you surelyWill enter it, willingly orUnwillingly.’”

It wasnarrated that ‘Amr bin ‘Abasah said: “I came to the Prophet(ﷺ) and said: ‘O Messenger of Allah, which Jihad is best?’ Hesaid:‘(That of a man) whose blood is shed and his horse iswounded.’”

It wasnarrated from Abu Hurairah that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ)said: “There is no one who is wounded in the cause of Allah – andAllahknows best of who is wounded in His cause – but he will come ontheDay of Resurrection with his wounds looking as they did on the dayhewas wounded; their color will be the color of blood but their smellwill be the fragrance of musk.”

Isma’ilbin Abu Khalid said: “I heard ‘Abdullah bin Abu Awfa say:‘TheMessenger of Allah (ﷺ) supplicated to Allah against theConfederates (Al-Ahzab) and said: ‘O Allah, Who has sent down theBookand is Swift in bringing to account, destroy the Confederates. OAllah, destroy them and shake them.’”

Sahl binAbu Umamah bin Sahl bin Hunaif narrated from his father,from hisgrandfather that the Prophet (ﷺ) said: “Whoever asks Allahformartyrdom, sincerely from his heart, Allah will cause him to reachthe status of the martyrs even if he dies in his bed.”

It wasnarrated from Abu Hurairah: “Mention of the martyrs was madein thepresence of the Prophet (ﷺ) and he said: ‘The earth does notdryof the blood of the martyr until his two wives rush to him liketwowet nurses who lost their young ones in a stretch of barren land,andin the hand of each one of them will be a Hullah* that is betterthanthis world and everything in it.’”

It wasnarrated from Miqdam bin Ma’dikarib that the Messenger ofAllah(ﷺ) said: “The martyr has six things (in store) with Allah: Heisforgiven from the first drop of his blood that is shed; he is shownhis place in Paradise; he is spared the torment of the grave; he iskept safe from the Great Fright; he is adorned with a garment offaith; he is married to (wives) from among the wide-eyed houris; andhe is permitted to intercede for seventy of his relatives.”

It wasnarrated from Jabir bin ‘Abdullah: “When ‘Abdullah bin ‘Amrbin Haram was killed, on the Day of Uhud, the Messenger of Allah(ﷺ)said: ‘O Jabir, shall I not tell you what Allah said to yourfather?’I said: ‘Yes.’ He said: ‘Allah does not speak toanyone except frombehind a screen, but He spoke to your father faceto face and said: “OMy slave, ask Me and I shall give you.” Hesaid: “O my Lord, bring meback to life so that I may be killed forYour sake a second time.” Hesaid: “I have already decreed thatthey will not return (to the worldafter death).” He said: “OLord, convey (the good news about my state)to those whom I have leftbehind.” So Allah revealed this Verse:‘Think not of those asdead who are killed in the way ofAllah.’”[3:169]

It wasnarrated from ‘Abdullah concerning the Verse: “Think not ofthoseas dead who are killed in the way of Allah. Nay, they are alive,withtheir Lord, and they have provision,”[3:169] that he said: “Weasked about that, and (the Prophet (ﷺ)) said: ‘Their souls arelikegreen birds that fly wherever they wish in Paradise, then theycomeback to lamps suspended from the Throne. While they were likethat,your Lord looked at them and said, “Ask me for whatever youwant.”They said: “O Lord, what should we ask You for when we canflywherever we wish in Paradise?” When they saw that they wouldnot beleft alone until they had asked for something, they said: “Weask Youto return our souls to our bodies in the world so that we mayfightfor Your sake (again).” When He saw that they would not askforanything but that, they were left alone.’”

It wasnarrated from Abu Hurairah that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ)said: “The martyr does not feel anything more when he is killed thanoneof you feels if he is pinched (by a bug).”

It wasnarrated from ‘Abdullah bin ‘Abdullah bin Jabir bin ‘Atik, fromhis father, that his grandfather fell sick and the Prophet (ﷺ) cameto visit him. One of his family members said: “We hoped that whenhe died it would be as a martyr in the cause of Allah.” TheMessenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: “In that case the martyrs of mynation would be few. Being killed in the cause of Allah is martyrdom;dying of the plague is martyrdom; when a pregnant woman dies inchildbirth that is martyrdom; and dying of drowning, or burning, orof pleurisy, is martyrdom.”

It wasnarrated from Abu Hurairah that the Prophet (ﷺ) said: “What doyou say among yourselves about the martyr?” They said: “The onewho is killed in the cause of Allah.” He said: “In that case themartyrs among my nation would be few. Whoever is killed in the causeof Allah is a martyr; whoever dies in the cause of Allah is a martyr;whoever dies of a stomach disease is a martyr; and whoever dies ofthe plague is a martyr.”

It wasnarrated from Anas bin Malik that the Prophet (ﷺ) enteredMakkah onthe day of the Conquest, with a helmet on his head.

It wasnarrated from Sa’ib bin Yazid, if Allah wills, that theProphet(ﷺ) wore two coats of mail on the Day of Uhud, one over theother.

Sulaimanbin Habib said: “We entered upon Abu Umamah and he saw some silverornaments on our swords. He got angry and said: ‘People conqueredlands and their swords were not adorned with gold and silver, butwith lead and iron and ‘Alabi.’”

It wasnarrated from Ibn ‘Abbas that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ)acquiredhis sword Dhulfiqar, from the spoils of war on the Day ofbadr.

It wasnarrated that ‘Ali bin Abi Talib said: “When Mughirah binShu’bahfought alongside the Prophet (ﷺ) he would carry a spear, andwhenhe would come back he would throw his spear down so that someonewould pick it up and give it back to him.” ‘Ali said to him: “Iwilltell the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) about that.” He (the Prophet(ﷺ))said: “Do not do that, for it you do that it will not bepicked up asa lost item to be returned.”

It wasnarrated that ‘Ali said: “The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) had anArabian bow in his hand, and he saw a man who had a Persian bow inhishand. He said: ‘What is this? Throw it away. You should usethis andothers like it, and Qana* spears. Perhaps Allah will supportHisreligion thereby and enable you to conquer lands.’”