The Ninth Hadith: (Allah has prepared (reward) for those who go out in His cause)

It was narrated from Abu Hurairah that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said:

Values

Values on Jihad:

1. Jihad is the peak of Islam, which means the highest of its deeds in virtue, rank and reward.

2. Jihad is the branch of belief in Allah and His Messenger, peace be upon him.

3. Allah has guaranteed Paradise for those fighting and striving sincerely for His Cause. This guarantee is a blessing and a favor from The Almighty.

4. Allah shows His affection towards His servants in this Qudsi hadith, telling them the great reward of jihad.

5. Jihad has a reward in the afterlife and in the worldly life.

6. In the hadith, it is not specified whether the wound is big or small, so any wound shall be rewarded regardless of its degree.

7. The Prophet (peace be upon him) loved the Shahadah (martyrdom, dying in the Cause of Allah) because of its reward, virtue and honorable status for Allah.

8. The Prophet (peace be upon him) did not stay behind from any expedition except for a reason.

9. The oath “by the One in Whose Hand is my soul” is repeated more than once to confirm the importance of the matter, the Shahdah, and how much the Prophet, peace be upon him, hoped for it.

10. Before going out to fight, we should be prepared “Prepare against them what you ˹believers˺ can of ˹military˺ power”, “Had they ˹really˺ intended to march forth, they would have made preparations for it.”

11. Taking the spoils of war is permitted in Islam, it was not lawful for the prior nations.

12. Staying behind and not taking part in fighting is not an attribute of a true Muslim, especially if it is fard ayn (individual duty), i.e. an act that is obligatory for Muslims individually. If any companion could not join an expedition or battle, he would tell that he stayed behind for a certain reason.

13. Jihad or fighting the enemies of Islam in their lands to raise the Word of Allah and spread Islam is fard kefayah (collective duty), i.e. an act that is obligatory for the Muslim community collectively – if it is sufficiently carried out by some members of the Muslim community, then other Muslims do not have to perform it. It is only a duty on those called out by the Imam of the Muslims.

Juristic Values:

Preparing the fighters for Jihad is the Imam’s duty, if the Imam could not; it becomes the duty of the Muslim individuals.

The martyr should be buried without ghusl (bathing the deceased according to the Islamic Shariah), he should be kept and buried in the clothes he was killed in.

Generic Values:

1. Ikhlas (Sincerity) is one of the conditions for accepting deeds in all kinds of worship, the first of which is jihad.

2. In the hadith, there is a reference to the two conditions of accepting deeds: Sincerity (in My cause) and following the sunnah of the Prophet (belief in My Messengers).

3. Believing in one messenger requires believing in all messengers, disbelieving in one messenger is like disbelieving in all messengers and in Almighty Allah.

4. The Prophet’s pursue of high aspirations and aims it is a lesson to all the leaders to be courageous.

5. People would be resurrected in the same condition they died in. Whoever dies in a state of obedience, he would be resurrected in the same state. The proof is the hadith in which it is mentioned that a man died during Hajj, and the Prophet said he will be raised on the Day of Resurrection reciting the Talibyah. There is another hadith in which it is mentioned that an army will set out to attack the Ka’ba, but they will be swallowed by he land, and they will be resurrected in a state agreeing with their intentions.

6. It would have been difficult for Muslims if the Prophet, peace be upon him, led every expedition, because they needed him in other matters such as legislations and resolving difficult situations they face.

7. Resolving and following up on the Muslim religious and worldly matters is an obligation.

8. The Prophet’s mercy towards Muslims and feeling for them whether regarding the worldly life or the afterlife.

9. It is permissible when the Imam does not fulfill one of his duties personally due to being busy with other things, so he might authorize or appoint someone as his representative for the best interest of Muslims.

10. A thing that happens due to an act of worship and is considered unpleasant in this worldly life is actually important and dignified for Allah such as the blood of the martyr and the smell that issues from the mouth of the fasting person.

11. The virtue of the smell of musk because the martyr’s blood is assimilated to it, which is quite precious for Almighty Allah.

12. “…nor would they be pleased to stay behind if I went…” This indicates that it would be very difficult for the faithful one not to follow Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, the companions, may Allah be pleased with them, were keen to follow the footstep of the Prophet, peace be upon him, and remain with him under all conditions.

13. Allah’s decree is applied on Messengers and other people, even though the Prophet, peace be upon him, loved to attain Shahadah yet he died on his bed.

14. One of the most credible sentences is: “But I could not find the resources to give them mounts…” at that time, it was lack of horses but today it is actually a lack of knights.

15. A person should aspire and intend to do acts of worship, even if he could not do them, for he might attain the reward by his intention not the actual deed.

16. “I will admit him” “I will return him” … The servant who walks the path to Allah should attribute every deed in his life to His Lord.

17. Combining the two statements “And do not go out except (to fight) for Jihad in My Cause” and “I will admit him to Paradise” clarifies that the reward of Allah is based on intentions and the inner self, this is why we are prohibited from calling someone who died in the battle field “a martyr” because only Allah knows who died in His Cause. This is why; we should supplicate to Allah to bless him with the status of Shahdah.

18. One of the five objectives of the Shariah rulings is preservation of the self, but it was killed when it contradicted with preservation of the religion and jihad.

19. The Prophet, peace be upon him, explained to the Muslims why he could not join some of the military expeditions. This reflects his humbleness and the wish to explain to the Ummah everything.

20. The Prophet’s excuse to his companions and his good expectations of them is quite clear in saying: “they could not find the resources to follow me, nor would they be pleased to stay behind if I went.”

Juristic Values:

In the statement “And do not go out except (to fight) for Jihad in My cause, out of faith in Me” the general follows the specific, the specific is jihad and the general is faith which includes jihad.

When interests contradict, the most important comes first then the less in importance.

Hardship begets facility (al-Mashaqqah tajlibu al-taysir)

“I wish I could fight in the cause of Allah and be killed, then fight and be killed, then fight and be killed.” This statement is an example of Dalalat Al-Iqtidha (the required meaning indicated by the text, but not explicitly by its format). The sentence hypothetically is “fight, and be killed, then come back to life, then fight and be killed…”

“But I could not find the resources to give them mounts” This indicates that there should be no obligation unless within the capacity of the person.

Linguistic Values:

“…but he has from Me a guarantee” The hasr (restriction) semantic technique is used here as the pronoun ‘Me’ is mentioned before guarantee.

Hadith Values:

The Qudsi hadith and the prophetic hadith are combined in one context. The first sentence is a Qudsi hadith, and what follows is said by the Prophet, peace be upon him.