The Chapters on Jihad

Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.

Abū Bakr ibn Abī Shaybah narrated to us: Muḥammad ibn Fuḍayl narrated to us, from ʿUmārah ibn al-Qaʿqāʿ, from Abū Zurʿah, from Abū Hurayrah, who said: The Messenger of God, peace and blessings be upon him, said: “God has prepared for the one who sets out in His path, setting out only for striving in My path, faith in Me, and belief in My messengers, a guarantee from Me that I will admit him to Paradise or return him to his home from which he set out, with whatever reward or spoils he has gained.” Then he said: “By the One in whose hand is my soul, were it not too difficult for the Muslims, I would never stay behind any expedition that sets out in the path of God. But I cannot find the means to provide them with mounts, and they cannot find the means to follow me, and they would not be content to stay behind me. By the One in whose hand is the soul of Muḥammad, I wish I could fight in the path of God and be killed, then fight and be killed, then fight and be killed.”

Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.

Abū Bakr ibn Abī Shaybah and Abū Kurayb said: ʿUbayd Allāh ibn Mūsā narrated to us, from Shaybān, from Firās, from ʿAṭiyyah, from Abū Saʿīd al-Khudrī, from the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, who said: “The one striving in the path of God has a guarantee from God: either He will take him into His forgiveness and mercy, or return him with reward and spoils. The example of one striving in the path of God is like that of one who fasts and prays at night without tiring until he returns.”

Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.

Abū Bakr ibn Abī Shaybah and ʿAbd Allāh ibn Saʿīd said: Abū Khālid al-Aḥmar narrated to us, from Ibn ʿAjlān, from Abū Ḥāzim, from Abū Hurayrah, who said: The Messenger of God, peace and blessings be upon him, said: “A morning or evening journey in the path of God is better than the world and everything in it.”

Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.

Hishām ibn ʿAmmār narrated to us: Zakariyyā ibn Manẓūr narrated to us: Abū Ḥāzim narrated to us, from Sahl ibn Saʿd al-Sāʿidī, who said: The Messenger of God, peace and blessings be upon him, said: “A morning or evening journey in the path of God is better than the world and everything in it.”

Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.

Naṣr ibn ʿAlī al-Jahḍamī and Muḥammad ibn al-Muthannā said: ʿAbd al-Wahhāb al-Thaqafī narrated to us: Ḥumayd narrated to us, from Anas ibn Mālik, that the Messenger of God, peace and blessings be upon him, said: “A morning or evening journey in the path of God is better than the world and everything in it.”

Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.

Abū Bakr ibn Abī Shaybah narrated to us: Yūnus ibn Muḥammad narrated to us: Layth ibn Saʿd narrated to us, from Yazīd ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Hād, from al-Walīd ibn Abī al-Walīd, from ʿUthmān ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Surāqah, from ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb, who said: I heard the Messenger of God, peace and blessings be upon him, say: “Whoever equips a warrior in the path of God until he is fully equipped will receive a reward like his, until he dies or returns.”

Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.

ʿAbd Allāh ibn Saʿīd narrated to us: ʿAbdah ibn Sulaymān narrated to us, from ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Abī Sulaymān, from ʿAṭāʾ, from Zayd ibn Khālid al-Juhanī, who said: The Messenger of God, peace and blessings be upon him, said: “Whoever equips a warrior in the path of God will have a reward like his, without diminishing the reward of the warrior in the slightest.”

Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.

ʿImrān ibn Mūsā al-Laythī narrated to us: Ḥammād ibn Zayd narrated to us: Ayyūb narrated to us, from Abū Qilābah, from Abū Asmāʾ, from Thawbān, who said: The Messenger of God, peace and blessings be upon him, said: “The best dinar a man spends is a dinar he spends on his family, a dinar he spends on a horse in the path of God, and a dinar he spends on his companions in the path of God.”

Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.

Hārūn ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Ḥammāl narrated to us: Ibn Abī Fudayk narrated to us, from al-Khalīl ibn ʿAbd Allāh, from al-Ḥasan, from ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib, Abū al-Dardāʾ, Abū Hurayrah, Abū Umāmah al-Bāhilī, ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿUmar, ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAmr, Jābir ibn ʿAbd Allāh, and ʿImrān ibn al-Ḥuṣayn—all of whom related from the Messenger of God, peace and blessings be upon him, that he said: “Whoever sends money in the path of God while remaining at home will receive seven hundred dirhams for every dirham. Whoever goes out to fight in the path of God himself and spends for that cause will receive seven hundred thousand dirhams for every dirham.” Then he recited this verse: “God multiplies for whomever He wills.”

Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.

Hishām ibn ʿAmmār narrated to us: al-Walīd ibn Muslim narrated to us: Yaḥyā ibn al-Ḥārith al-Dhimārī narrated to us, from al-Qāsim, from Abū Umāmah, from the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, who said: “Whoever neither goes out to fight, equips a fighter, nor looks after a fighter family well during his absence, God Most Glorious will afflict him with a calamity before the Day of Resurrection.”

Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.

Hishām ibn ʿAmmār narrated to us: al-Walīd narrated to us: Abū Rāfiʿ—that is, Ismāʿīl ibn Rāfiʿ—narrated to us, from Sumayy, the client of Abū Bakr, from Abū Ṣāliḥ, from Abū Hurayrah, who said: The Messenger of God, peace and blessings be upon him, said: “Whoever meets God without a trace of service in His path will meet God with a deficiency.”

Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.

Muḥammad ibn al-Muthannā narrated to us: Ibn Abī ʿAdī narrated to us, from Ḥumayd, from Anas ibn Mālik, who said: When the Messenger of God, peace and blessings be upon him, returned from the expedition of Tabūk and drew near Medina, he said: “In Medina there are people who were with you on every journey you made and every valley you crossed.” They said, “Messenger of God, even though they are in Medina?” He said: “Yes, even though they are in Medina; an excuse kept them back.”

Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.

Aḥmad ibn Sinān narrated to us: Abū Muʿāwiyah narrated to us, from al-Aʿmash, from Abū Sufyān, from Jābir, who said: The Messenger of God, peace and blessings be upon him, said: “In Medina there are men who shared your reward every time you crossed a valley or traveled a road; an excuse kept them back.” Abū ʿAbd Allāh ibn Mājah said: “Or something like what I have written verbatim.”

Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.

Hishām ibn ʿAmmār narrated to us: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Zayd ibn Aslam narrated to us, from his father, from Muṣʿab ibn Thābit, from ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Zubayr, who said: ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān addressed the people and said: “People, I heard a report from the Messenger of God, peace and blessings be upon him, and nothing kept me from relating it to you except my concern for you and your companionship. Choose for yourselves, or leave it. I heard the Messenger of God, peace and blessings be upon him, say that whoever spends a night on guard in the path of God Most Glorious, it is like a thousand nights spent fasting and praying.”

Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.

Yūnus ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā narrated to us: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Wahb narrated to us: al-Layth informed me, from Zuhrah ibn Maʿbad, from his father, from Abū Hurayrah, from the Messenger of God, peace and blessings be upon him, who said: “Whoever dies keeping watch in the path of God will continue to receive the reward for the good deeds he used to perform and his provision. He will be safe from the trial, and God will raise him on the Day of Resurrection safe from terror.”

Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.

Muḥammad ibn Ismāʿīl ibn Samurah narrated to us: Muḥammad ibn Yaʿlā al-Sulamī narrated to us: ʿUmar ibn Ṣubḥ narrated to us, from ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿAmr, from Makḥūl, from Ubayy ibn Kaʿb, who said: The Messenger of God, peace and blessings be upon him, said: “One day of guarding a vulnerable point of the Muslims in the path of God, seeking its reward, outside Ramadan, has a greater reward than one hundred years of worship, fasting and praying throughout them. A day of guarding a vulnerable point of the Muslims in the path of God, seeking its reward during Ramadan, is better before God and greater in reward”—I think he said—“than one thousand years of worship, fasting and praying throughout them. If God returns him safely to his family, no sin will be recorded against him for a thousand years; good deeds will be recorded for him, and the reward for guarding the frontier will continue until the Day of Resurrection.”

Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.

Muḥammad ibn al-Ṣabbāḥ informed us: ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn Muḥammad informed us, from Ṣāliḥ ibn Muḥammad ibn Zāʾidah, from ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz, from ʿUqbah ibn ʿĀmir al-Juhanī, who said: The Messenger of God, peace and blessings be upon him, said: “May God have mercy on the one who keeps watch over the guards.”

Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.

ʿĪsā ibn Yūnus al-Ramlī narrated to us: Muḥammad ibn Shuʿayb ibn Shābūr narrated to us, from Saʿīd ibn Khālid ibn Abī al-Ṭawīl, who said: I heard Anas ibn Mālik say: I heard the Messenger of God, peace and blessings be upon him, say: “One night of keeping watch in the path of God is better than a man fasting and praying among his family for a thousand years. A year is three hundred and sixty days, and a day is like a thousand years.”

Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.

Abū Bakr ibn Abī Shaybah narrated to us: Wakīʿ narrated to us, from Usāmah ibn Zayd, from Saʿīd al-Maqburī, from Abū Hurayrah, that the Messenger of God, peace and blessings be upon him, said to a man: “I advise you to be mindful of God and to proclaim that God is greater at every high place.”

Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.

Aḥmad ibn ʿAbdah informed us: Ḥammād ibn Zayd informed us, from Thābit, from Anas ibn Mālik, who said: The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, was mentioned, and he said: He was the finest of people, the most generous of people, and the bravest of people. One night the people of Medina were alarmed. They set out toward the sound, and the Messenger of God, peace and blessings be upon him, met them, having reached the sound before them. He was on the horse of Abū Ṭalḥah, bareback, with no saddle, and a sword hanging at his neck. He said: “People, you will not be alarmed.” He turned them back. Then he said of the horse: “We found it to be a sea”—or he said, “It is a sea.” Ḥammād said: Thābit or someone else narrated to me that it was a horse belonging to Abū Ṭalḥah that used to be slow, but it was never outpaced after that day.