Jihad (Kitab Al-Jihad)

Ibn ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) would hold horse races and would prefer the stronger horses for the longer distances.

Abu Mūsa al-Ash‘ari (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Whoever passes through any of our mosques or markets with arrows with him, he should hold them by their heads (blades) lest he injures any of the Muslims with them."

‘Ali ibn Rabī‘ah reported: I was there when a mount was brought to ‘Ali ibn Abi Tālib (may Allah be pleased with him) to ride on. When he put his foot in the stirrup, he said: "In the name of Allah". When he settled himself on its back, he recited: "Exalted is He who has subjected this to us, and we could not have otherwise subdued it. And indeed we, to our Lord, will surely return." He then recited: "Praise be to Allah" three times, and then: "Allah is the Greatest" three times. Then he said: "Exalted are You above any imperfection. I have wronged myself, so forgive me, for none but You can forgive sins" and then he laughed. It was asked: "O Commander of the Believers, what made you laugh?" He replied: "I saw the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) doing as I have done then he laughed." I asked him: ”O Messenger of Allah, what made you laugh?” He said: “Your Lord, the Exalted, is pleased when His slave seeks His forgiveness; he (the slave) knows that none can forgive sins except Allah."

Sakhr ibn Wadā‘ah al-Ghāmidi (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "O Allah, bless the early morning hours for my Ummah." Whenever the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) sent a detachment or an army, he would send them at the early morning time. Sakhr was a merchant, and he used to send his merchandise at the early morning time, so he became rich and his wealth grew.

‘Abdullāh ibn ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Messenger of Allah (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) forbade traveling with the Qur’an to the land of enemies.

Ibn ‘Abbās (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "The best number of companions is four; the best detachment is (that made up of) four hundred; and the best army is (that made up of) four thousand; and twelve thousand men will never be defeated because of their small numbers."

Buraydah ibn al-Husayb al-Aslami (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: Whenever the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) appointed a man to lead an army or a military detachment, he would advise him to fear Allah and treat well those Muslims who are with him. He would say: "Fight in the name of Allah and in the cause of Allah. Fight those who disbelieve in Allah. Fight, but do not steal from the spoils of war, do not be treacherous, do not mutilate, and do not kill children. When you meet your enemy from among the polytheists, call them to one of three things. Whichever of them they respond to, accept it from them and refrain from fighting them. Invite them to accept Islam, and if they respond, accept it from them and refrain from fighting them. Then invite them to leave their land and move to the land of the Emigrants (Madīnah). Tell them that if they do so, they will have the same rights and duties as the Emigrants. If they refuse to move, tell them they will be like the Muslim Bedouins, subject to the rulings of Allah, and they will have no share in war booty or spoils of war, unless they fight alongside the Muslims. If they refuse to enter Islam, ask them to pay the Jjizyah (poll tax paid by non-Muslims). If they do so, accept it from them and refrain from fighting them. But if they refuse, seek the help of Allah against them and fight them. If you besiege a group and they want you to give them the covenant of Allah and His Prophet, do not give them the covenant of Allah and His Prophet, instead give them your own covenant and the covenant of your companions, for if you violate your covenant and the covenant of your companions, that is easier than violating the covenant of Allah and the covenants of His Prophet. If you besiege a group of people and they want you to apply the judgment of Allah upon them, do not offer them that, but rather offer them your own judgment, because you do not know whether you would apply correctly the judgment of Allah upon them."

Ibn ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: “A Muslim person must listen and obey concerning what he likes and hates, unless he is ordered to commit a sin. If he is ordered to commit a sin, then he should neither listen nor obey.”

Abu Tha‘labah al-Khushani (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: Whenever the people encamped during a journey, they would disperse in the mountain passes and valleys. When the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) noticed this he said: "Your scattering about in the mountain passes and valleys is indeed from the devil." After that they kept close together whenever they set up camp.

‘Abdullāh ibn Abu Awfa (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) during one of the days wherein he met the enemy, waited until the sun had declined. Thereafter, he stood up among them and said: "O people, do not wish to meet the enemy, and ask Allah for safety. And if you meet them, have patience and know that Paradise lies under the shadows of swords." Then, the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "O Allah, Revealer of the Book, Mover of the Clouds, Defeater of the Armies, Defeat them and help us against them!"

Anas ibn Mālik (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: Whenever the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) set out to participate in war, he would say: "O Allah, You are my Supporter and my Helper. With Your help I get strength, and with Your help I pounce upon the enemy and defeat it, and with Your help I fight."

Jābir (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "War is deception."

Ibn ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him and his father) reported that the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "I have been commanded to fight people until they testify that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, establish prayer, and pay Zakah; if they do so, they protect their blood and properties from me, except through the right of Islam; and their reckoning is with Allah."

Al-Miqdād ibn ‘Amr al-Kindi (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: He said to the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him): What if I meet a man from the disbelievers and we both fight? He strikes one of my hands with the sword and cuts it off, then he seeks refuge from me in a tree and says: I have submitted to Allah. O Messenger of Allah, should I kill him after saying it? The Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Do not kill him." He said: O Messenger of Allah, he cut off one of my hands, then he said this after cutting it off. The Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Do not kill him, for if you kill him, he will be in the same position as yours before you kill him, and you will be in the same position as his before saying the word that he said."

Jarīr ibn ‘Abdullāh (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: 'The Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) sent a brigade to (the tribe of) Khath‘am. Some of their people sought protection by resorting to prostration but were hastily killed. When the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) was informed of that, he ordered half the blood money to be paid for them, saying: "I am not responsible for any Muslim who stays among the polytheists." They asked: "Why, O Messenger of Allah?" He said: "Their fires should not be visible to one another.''

Abu ‘Abdullāh Khabbāb ibn al-Aratt (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: We complained to the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) while he was lying in the shade of the Ka‘bah, placing his cloak under his head. We said: "Will you not supplicate for our victory (over our opponents)? Will you not invoke Allah for us?" He replied: "Among those who came before you, a man would be seized and held in a pit dug for him in the ground, and he would be sawed into two halves from his head, and his flesh would be torn away from his bones with iron combs, and none of this would turn him away from his religion. By Allah, Allah will bring this matter (Islam) to its completion until the traveler will walk from Sana'a to Hadramaut fearing none except Allah and the wolf for his sheep, but you are rushing things." In another narration: "Having made a pillow from his cloak, and we had faced much persecution from the polytheists."

Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) dispatched a secret troop of ten men under the leadership of ‘Āsim ibn Thābit al-Ansāri (may Allah be pleased with him). They proceeded until they reached Al-Had'ah, a place between ‘Usfān and Makkah, when the news reached a branch of the tribe of Hudhayl called Banu Lihyān. About one hundred of their archers hurried to track them. When ‘Āsim and his companions sensed them, they took refuge in a safe place. Their trackers circled them and said: "Come down and surrender. We give you our pledge and covenant that we will not kill any of you." ‘Āsim ibn Thābit (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "O people, as for me, I will not go down to be under the protection of disbelievers. O Allah, let your Prophet know what has happened to us." The disbelievers then shot arrows at them until they killed ‘Āsim. Three of the men went down trusting their pledge and covenant; Khubayb, Zayd ibn Ad-Dathinnah, and a third man. When the disbelievers captured them and tied them up with the strings of their bows, the third companion said: "This is the start of a betrayal. By Allah, I will not go with you. I have a clear example in these (killed companions)." So they dragged him and tried to force him to accompany them, but he refused, so they killed him. They took Khubayb and Zayd ibn Ad-Dathinnah with them and sold them as slaves in Makkah. This incident took place after the battle of Badr. Khubayb was bought by the children of Al-Hārith ibn ‘Āmir ibn Nawfal ibn ‘Abd Manāf. It was Khubayb who had killed Al-Hārith in the battle of Badr. Khubayb remained as their prisoner for a several days, until they decided to kill him. Khubayb borrowed a razor from one of Al-Hārith’s daughters to shave his pubic hair. Without her being aware, her little son crawled towards Khubayb. When she saw her son on Khubayb's knee and he had the razor in his hand, she was so alarmed that Khubayb noticed the agitation on her face. He said: "Are you afraid that I will kill him? No, I will never do that." She later commented: "By Allah, I never saw a prisoner better than Khubayb. By Allah, I once saw him eating a bunch of grapes from his hand while he was chained up, but there was no such fruit at that time in Makkah. It must have been a blessing that Allah had bestowed upon Khubayb." When they took him out of the Sacred Precincts, so they could kill him outside its boundaries, Khubayb asked them to let him pray two Rak‘ahs. They allowed him to do so, so he offered the two Rak‘ahs. Then he said: "Had I not reckoned that you would think that I was anxious, I would have prayed more. O Allah, remove them altogether; slay them one by one and spare none of them." He then recited these poetic verses: "I do not care how I will be killed as long as I will die in the cause of Allah, as a Muslim. This is for Allah's sake, and if He so wills, He may bless torn and amputated limbs." It was therefore Khubayb who established the Sunnah (practice) for any Muslim who is about to be killed to pray two Rak‘ahs. The Messenger of Allah (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) related to his Companions what had happened to the ten Companions on the day that it happened. Later, when some disbelievers from the Quraysh were informed that ‘Āsim had been killed; they sent people to fetch a recognizable part of him to confirm his death. They did so, because ‘Āsim had previously killed one of their chiefs. So Allah sent a swarm of bees, resembling a shady cloud, to hover over the body of ‘Āsim to shield him from their messengers, so they could not cut off any part of him.

‘Abdullāh ibn ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that a woman was found killed in one of the expeditions of the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him), and so the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) denounced killing women and boys.

Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) sent us out on an expedition and said: "If you find so-and-so and so-and-so", referring to two men from Quraysh whom he named, "then burn them with fire." Then, when we were set to go out, the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "I commanded you to burn so-and-so and so-and-so, but no one punishes with fire except Allah. So if you find them, kill them."

Ibn Mas‘ūd (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: We were on a journey with the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) when he went to relieve himself. We then saw a Hummarah (a type of bird) with its two chicks. We took its chicks, and the bird came back and began to flap its wings. Upon seeing it, the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) came and said: "Who has distressed it by taking its baby? Return its baby." He then saw an ant colony that we had burned, and he said: "Who burned this?" We said: We did. He said: "No one should punish with fire except the Lord of fire."