Fighting for the Cause of Allah (Jihaad)

Yahya ibn Bukayr narrated to us; al-Layth narrated to us, who said: Yunus told me, from Ibn Shihab, from ʿUbayd Allah ibn ʿAbd Allah, that ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿAbbas told him that Abu Sufyan told him: Heraclius said to Abu Sufyan, “I asked you how your battles with him went, and you said victory alternated between you. Such is the case with messengers: they are tested, but the final outcome is theirs.”

Muhammad ibn Saʿid al-Khuzaʿi narrated to us; ʿAbd al-Aʿla narrated to us, from Humayd, who said: I asked Anas. ʿAmr ibn Zurara narrated to us; Ziyad narrated to us, who said: Humayd al-Tawil told me, from Anas (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: My uncle Anas ibn al-Nadr had been absent from the Battle of Badr. He said, “Messenger of Allah, I was absent from the first battle in which you fought the polytheists. If Allah lets me witness a battle against them, Allah will see what I do.”

On the day of Uhud, when the Muslims withdrew, he said, “O Allah, I apologize to You for what these”—meaning his companions—“have done, and I disassociate myself before You from what these”—meaning the polytheists—“have done.” Then he advanced. Saʿd ibn Muʿadh met him, and Anas said, “Saʿd ibn Muʿadh, Paradise! By the Lord of al-Nadr, I can smell its fragrance from beyond Uhud.” Saʿd said, “Messenger of Allah, I could not do what he did.” Anas said: We found more than eighty wounds on him, from sword blows, spear thrusts, or arrows. He had been killed and mutilated by the polytheists; no one recognized him except his sister, by his fingertips.

We thought that this verse was revealed about him and others like him: “Among the believers are men who were true to the covenant they made with Allah…” His sister, who was called al-Rubayyiʿ, broke a woman’s incisor. The Messenger of Allah ordered retaliation. Anas said, “Messenger of Allah, by the One who sent you with the truth, her incisor will not be broken.” They accepted compensation and abandoned retaliation. The Messenger of Allah said, “Among Allah’s servants are those who, if they swear an oath by Allah, He fulfills it.”

Abu al-Yaman informed us; Shuʿayb informed us, from al-Zuhri, who said: Ismaʿil told me; my brother told me, from Sulayman—I think from Muhammad ibn Abi ʿAtiq—from Ibn Shihab, from Kharija ibn Zayd, that Zayd ibn Thabit (may Allah be pleased with him) said: “When I copied the written sheets into the codices, I missed a verse from Surat al-Ahzab that I used to hear the Messenger of Allah recite. I found it only with Khuzayma ibn Thabit al-Ansari, whose testimony the Messenger of Allah had made equal to the testimony of two men. It is: ‘Among the believers are men who were true to the covenant they made with Allah.’”

Muhammad ibn ʿAbd al-Rahim narrated to us; Shababa ibn Sawwar al-Fazari narrated to us; Israʾil narrated to us, from Abu Ishaq, who said: I heard al-Baraʾ (may Allah be pleased with him) say: A man wearing iron armor came to the Prophet and said, “Messenger of Allah, shall I fight and then embrace Islam?” He replied, “Embrace Islam, then fight.” The man embraced Islam and fought, and was killed. The Messenger of Allah said, “He did little work and received a great reward.”

Muhammad ibn ʿAbd Allah narrated to us; Husayn ibn Muhammad Abu Ahmad narrated to us; Shayban narrated to us, from Qatada, who said: Anas ibn Malik narrated to us that Umm al-Rubayyiʿ bint al-Baraʾ, the mother of Haritha ibn Suraqa, came to the Prophet and said, “Prophet of Allah, will you tell me about Haritha? He was killed at Badr by an arrow that came from an unknown direction. If he is in Paradise, I will be patient; otherwise, I will grieve for him greatly.” He replied, “Mother of Haritha, there are gardens in Paradise, and your son has attained al-Firdaws, the highest garden.”

Sulayman ibn Harb narrated to us; Shuʿba narrated to us, from ʿAmr, from Abu Waʾil, from Abu Musa (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: A man came to the Prophet and said, “One man fights for spoils, another fights for renown, and another fights to show his position. Which of them is fighting in Allah’s cause?” He replied, “Whoever fights so that Allah’s word is supreme is fighting in Allah’s cause.”

Ishaq informed us; Muhammad ibn al-Mubarak narrated to us; Yahya ibn Hamza narrated to us, who said: Yazid ibn Abi Maryam told me; ʿAbaya ibn Rafiʿ ibn Khadij informed us, who said: Abu ʿAbs—ʿAbd al-Rahman ibn Jabr—told me that the Messenger of Allah said: “No servant’s feet become dusty in Allah’s cause without the Fire being forbidden to touch him.”

Ibrahim ibn Musa informed us; ʿAbd al-Wahhab informed us; Khalid narrated to us, from ʿIkrima, that Ibn ʿAbbas told him and ʿAli ibn ʿAbd Allah: “Go to Abu Saʿid and hear his narrations.” We went to him while he and his brother were watering their garden. When he saw us, he came over, sat with his legs drawn up, and said: “We were carrying the mosque bricks one at a time, while ʿAmmar carried two at a time. The Prophet passed by him, wiped the dust from his head, and said, ‘Alas for ʿAmmar! The rebellious faction will kill him. ʿAmmar calls them to Allah, and they call him to the Fire.’”

Muhammad narrated to us; ʿAbda informed us, from Hisham ibn ʿUrwa, from his father, from ʿAʾisha (may Allah be pleased with her): When the Messenger of Allah returned on the day of the Trench, laid down his weapons, and bathed, Gabriel came with dust on his head and said, “You have laid down your weapons, but by Allah I have not laid down mine.” The Messenger of Allah asked, “Where to?” He said, “Here,” pointing toward Banu Qurayza. ʿAʾisha said: The Messenger of Allah went out to them.

Ismaʿil ibn ʿAbd Allah said: Malik told me, from Ishaq ibn ʿAbd Allah ibn Abi Talha, from Anas ibn Malik (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: The Messenger of Allah invoked against those who killed the companions of Biʾr Maʿuna for thirty mornings, naming Riʿl, Dhakwan, and ʿUsayya, who disobeyed Allah and His Messenger. Anas said: A Qur’anic passage was revealed about those killed at Biʾr Maʿuna, which we recited and which was later abrogated: “Tell our people that we have met our Lord; He is pleased with us, and we are pleased with Him.”

ʿAli ibn ʿAbd Allah narrated to us; Sufyan narrated to us, from ʿAmr, who heard Jabir ibn ʿAbd Allah (may Allah be pleased with them both) say: Some people drank wine in the morning on the day of Uhud, then were killed as martyrs. Sufyan was asked, “Was it toward the end of that day?” He replied, “That is not stated in this report.”

Sadaqa ibn al-Fadl narrated to us, who said: Ibn ʿUyayna informed us, who said: I heard Muhammad ibn al-Munkadir say that he heard Jabir say: My father was brought to the Prophet after being mutilated and placed before him. I went to uncover his face, but my people stopped me. The Prophet heard a woman crying out; someone said, “It is ʿAmr’s daughter”—or “ʿAmr’s sister.” He said, “Why does she weep?”—or “Do not weep”—“the angels have continued to shade him with their wings.” I asked Sadaqa: “Is the wording ‘until he was lifted’ included?” He replied, “Jabir may have said it.”

Muhammad ibn Bashshar narrated to us; Ghundar narrated to us; Shuʿba narrated to us, who said: I heard Qatada say: I heard Anas ibn Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) narrate from the Prophet: “No one who enters Paradise would wish to return to this world, even if he were given everything on earth, except a martyr. He would wish to return and be killed ten times, because of the honor he sees.”

ʿAbd Allah ibn Muhammad narrated to us; Muʿawiya ibn ʿAmr narrated to us; Abu Ishaq narrated to us, from Musa ibn ʿUqba, from Salim Abu al-Nadr, the freedman and scribe of ʿUmar ibn ʿUbayd Allah, who said: ʿAbd Allah ibn Abi Awfa (may Allah be pleased with them both) wrote to him that the Messenger of Allah said: “Know that Paradise is beneath the shades of swords.” Al-Uwaysi also narrated it from Ibn Abi al-Zinad, from Musa ibn ʿUqba.

Al-Layth said: Jaʿfar ibn Rabiʿa told me, from ʿAbd al-Rahman ibn Hurmuz, who said: I heard Abu Hurayra (may Allah be pleased with him) narrate from the Messenger of Allah that Sulayman ibn Dawud (peace be upon them both) said: “Tonight I will surely go to one hundred women”—or ninety-nine—“and each will bear a horseman who fights in Allah’s cause.” His companion said to him, “If Allah wills.” But he did not say, “If Allah wills.” Only one woman conceived, and she bore half a man. By the One in whose hand is Muhammad’s soul, had he said, “If Allah wills,” all of them would have fought in Allah’s cause as horsemen.

Ahmad ibn ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Waqid narrated to us; Hammad ibn Zayd narrated to us, from Thabit, from Anas (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: The Prophet was the finest, bravest, and most generous of people. Once the people of Medina were alarmed, and the Prophet rode a horse, going ahead of them. He said, “We found it to be like the sea.”

Abu al-Yaman informed us; Shuʿayb informed us, from al-Zuhri, who said: ʿUmar ibn Muhammad ibn Jubayr ibn Mutʿim informed me that Muhammad ibn Jubayr said: Jubayr ibn Mutʿim informed me that while he was traveling with the Messenger of Allah and the people on their return from Hunayn, people crowded around the Prophet asking him for things until they forced him against a thorn tree, which caught and snatched his cloak. The Prophet stopped and said, “Give me my cloak. If I had as many camels as these thorn trees, I would distribute them among you. Then you would not find me miserly, lying, or cowardly.”

Musa ibn Ismaʿil narrated to us; Abu ʿAwana narrated to us; ʿAbd al-Malik ibn ʿUmayr narrated to us, who said: I heard ʿAmr ibn Maymun al-Awdi say: Saʿd used to teach his sons these words as a teacher teaches boys to write, and he would say that the Messenger of Allah used to seek refuge in Allah from them after prayer: “O Allah, I seek refuge in You from cowardice; I seek refuge in You from being returned to the most decrepit age; I seek refuge in You from the trials of this world; and I seek refuge in You from the punishment of the grave.” I related this to Musʿab, and he confirmed it.

Musaddad narrated to us; Muʿtamir narrated to us, who said: I heard my father say: I heard Anas ibn Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) say: The Prophet used to say: “O Allah, I seek refuge in You from incapacity, laziness, cowardice, and extreme old age. I seek refuge in You from the trials of life and death, and I seek refuge in You from the punishment of the grave.”

Qutayba ibn Saʿid narrated to us; Hatim narrated to us, from Muhammad ibn Yusuf, from al-Saʾib ibn Yazid, who said: I accompanied Talha ibn ʿUbayd Allah, Saʿd, al-Miqdad ibn al-Aswad, and ʿAbd al-Rahman ibn ʿAwf (may Allah be pleased with them). I did not hear any of them narrate from the Messenger of Allah, except that I heard Talha narrate about the day of Uhud.