Jihad

 (English: /dʒɪˈhɑːd/; Arabic: جهاد jihād [dʒɪˈhaːd]) is an Arabic word which literally means striving or struggling, especially with a praiseworthy aim.

A

 * OFFENSIVE JIHAD: Where the Kuffar are not gathering to fight the Muslims, the fighting becomes Fard Kifaya, with the minimum requirement of appointing believers to guard the borders and the sending of an army at least once a year, to terrorise the Enemies of Allah. It is the duty of the Imam to assemble and send out an Army unit into the land of War, once or twice every year. Moreover, it is the responsibility of the Muslim population to assist him, and if he does not send an army he is in sin. And the Ulama have mentioned that this type of Jihad is for maintaining the payment of Jizya. The Scholars of the principles of religion have also said, "Jihad is Da'wah with a force and is obligatory to perform with all available capabilities, until there remains only Muslims or people who submit to Islam." DEFENSIVE JIHAD: This is expelling the Kuffar from our land and it is Fard Ayn, a compulsory duty upon all.
 * Abdullah Azzam, DEFENSE OF THE MUSLIM LANDS The first Obligation After Iman


 * Jihad is a duty in Islam. ... Those who avoid jihad are not Muslims.
 * Rasheed Ahmad, Pakistan’s Federal Minister for Railways. Quoted from “Shocking: Pak minister talks of jihad and Kashmir,” Times of India, March 1, 2019


 * "I counsel you to fear God and uphold the requirements of the outer aspects of the sharia and its statutes. The greater jihad is incumbent upon you, which is the jihad against the passions, and when you wage this jihad against your lower self the other jihad against the enemies will be [easy] for you, for if you should be killed [in the martial jihad] you will be among the living martyrs for whom God provides. The merit of the one who wages jihad (mujahid) in God’s path is like that of the devout one who fasts in God’s signs … strive to participate actively [in jihad] in God’s path… beware… if you do not take part in military campaigns and if you are not resolved to go forth [for this purpose] then you will be among the hypocrites…"
 * Ibn Arabi in Harry Neale, Jihad in Premodern Sufi Writings, Springer (2016), p. 66


 * The term "" originates not with Islam but with the who first used it to give theological legitimacy to what was in reality a battle for land and trade routes. "Holy war" was not a term used by Muslim conquerors, and it is in no way a proper definition of the word jihad. There are a host of words in Arabic that can be definitively translated as "war"; jihad is not one of them. The word jihad literally means "a struggle," "a striving," or "a great effort." In its primary religious connotation (sometimes referred to as "the greater jihad"), it means the struggle of the soul to overcome the sinful obstacles that keep a person from God. This is why the word jihad is nearly always followed in the Quran by the phrase "in the way of God." However, because Islam considers this inward struggle for holiness and submission to be inseparable from the outward struggle for the welfare of humanity, Jihad has more often been associated with its secondary connotation ("the lesser jihad"): that is any exertion—military or otherwise—against oppression and tyranny. And while this definition of jihad has occasionally been manipulated by militants and extremists to give religious sanction to what are in actuality social and political agendas, that is not at all how Muhammad understood the term.
 * Reza Aslan,


 * It is jihad, Mr. Morgan, a particularly virulent, fundamentalist form of hatred.
 * Robert Asprin & Linda Evans, Ripping Time (2000), Chapter 3


 * To sum up, Islam is a religion of continuous personal and through disciplined worship. The  involve individual and communal obligations meant to provide the proper context for social, religious and, above all, spiritual reform. This process of disciplined reform is called jihad, "striving" or "struggling." the greatest Jihad is the struggle of every person against the evil of their own carnal soul. However, depending on social and political circumstances, Jihad can become an obligation as well as a process. Jihad may be regarded as a sixth fundamental obligation (faridah) incumbent on every Muslim when social and religious reform is gravely hampered or the community's integrity threatened. In a situation where the entire Muslim ' is in danger, jihad becomes an absolute obligation (fard 'ayn). Otherwise it is a limited obligation (fard kifayah), incumbent upon those who are directly involved. These rules apply to armed struggle, or the jihad of the sword. This, and the struggle to reform society and rectify its social, moral, and political ills, is called jihad fi sabil allah ("struggle in the way of God"). Another and closely related form of jihad is jihad bi-al-qur'an, that is jihad by means of the Qur'an. The Prophet is commanded, "Do not obey the rejecters of faith but wage a great jihad against them by means of it [the Qur'an]" (Q. 25:52). This form of Jihad is as imperative today as it was in the time of the Prophet. Yet the greatest and most fundamental striving is the jihad of the spirit, which was called by the Prophet "the greater jihad." It is jihad fi-allah, "struggle in God." As God declares in the Qur'an: "As fo those who strive in Us, We shall guide them to Our ways" (Q. 29:69) These are the ways of peace, to which God shall "guide those who seek His good pleasure" (Q. 5:16). The goal of true jihad is to attain a harmony between islam (submission), iman (faith), and ' (righteous living).
 * Mahmoud M. Ayoub,

B

 * Jihad is of various kinds, with one’s self, one's wealth, by making du’aa’, by teaching and guiding, by helping to do good in any way. The greatest form of jihad is jihad with one’s self (i.e., going oneself and fighting), followed by jihad with one's wealth, jihad by speaking out and guiding others. Da’wah is also part of jihad. But going out oneself to fight in jihad is the highest form.
 * (Fatawa ash-Sheikh Ibn Baz, 7/334, 335), quoted in


 * Peace is associated in the Qur'an with God, making it the defining feature of the life intended for humanity, to be fully realized ultimately in the next life. Islam recognizes corruption as endemic to humanity and the need for force to maintain political and social peace, within and across societies. Early biographies of the Prophet Muhammad suggest that while he waged war, he always sought a just peace—sometimes over the protests of his companions. Considerable confusion attaches to the concept of jihad, which can be translated as either spiritual or armed struggle. During the early centuries of Islam, scholars set ethical limits on war-making. Intentions had to be pure, and not just self-interested, and the use of force had to be absolutely necessary, for example, to protect the religious community, preserve justice, or defend territory. Therefore, jihad to extend the abode of Islam was driven more by imperial than by religious considerations. The Qur’an forbids coercion in religious affairs: “There is no compulsion in religion.” (Qur’an 2:256) and killing a life without cause is equivalent to "killing the whole human race" (Qur’an 5:32). Modern calls for holy war against the infidels, articulated by Osama bin Laden and others, are at odds with the Islamic tradition and roundly denounced by leading Muslim scholars. Islam is also home to a pacifist current, most richly developed within Sufism.
 * Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs, Islam on Peace and Violence

C

 * There is no lack of evidence concerning the Muslim practice of jihad. The classical and modern works on the subject are voluminous, and they are documented by an examination of Muslim actions as recorded by historians. There can be no reasonable doubt that jihad is a major theme running through the entirety of Muslim civilization and is at least one of the major factors in the astounding success of the faith of Islam.


 * In reading Muslim literature -- both contemporary and classical -- one can see that the evidence for the primacy of spiritual jihad is negligible. Today it is certain that no Muslim, writing in a non-Western language (such as Arabic, Persian, Urdu), would ever make claims that jihad is primarily nonviolent or has been superseded by the spiritual jihad. Such claims are made solely by Western scholars, primarily those who study Sufism and/or work in interfaith dialogue, and by Muslim apologists who are trying to present Islam in the most innocuous manner possible.


 * ...after surveying the evidence from classical until contemporary times, one must conclude that today's jihad movements are as legitimate as any that have ever existed in classical Islam... In short, although the actions of many of these groups may disgust many Muslims, as far as their conduct of jihad, they fall within the limits set by classical and contemporary Muslim law.

D

 * Jihad made it possible for the early followers of Islam from the Muhajirun and the Ansar to be instrumental in the entry of the Quraysh and the people around them into the fold of Islam. Subsequently, God destined that Mesopotamia and Syria be conquered at their hands. Later on it was through the Muslims of these areas that God made the empires of the Persians and Romans to be subdued. And again, it was through the Muslims of these newly conquered realms that God actualized the conquests of India, Turkey and Sudan. In this way, the benefits of jihad multiply incessantly, and it becomes, in that respect, similar to creating an endowment, building inns and other kinds of recurring charities.… Jihad is an exercise replete with tremendous benefits for the Muslim community, and it is the instrument of jihad alone that can bring about their victory.… The supremacy of his Religion over all other religions cannot be realized without jihad and the necessary preparation for it, including the procurement of its instruments. Therefore, if the Prophet’s followers abandon jihad and pursue the tails of cows [that is, become farmers] they will soon be overcome by disgrace, and the people of other religions will overpower them.
 * Shah Waliullah Dehlawi: in: Muhammad Al-Ghazali, Socio-political Thought of Shah Wali Allah, pp. 265-8. (Part 3, Selection from Hujjat Allah Al Balighah, Section XXIII Jihad.) (Also quoted in Jihād: From Qur’ān to bin Laden by Richard Bonney.  Palgrave Macmillan, 2004. also in  Spencer, Robert in The history of Jihad: From Muhammad to ISIS, 2018.)

E

 * The spread of Islam by arms is a religious duty upon Muslims in general. It narrowly escaped being a sixth rukn, or fundamental duty, and is indeed still so regarded by the descendants of the Khāridjīs. This position was reached gradually but quickly. In the Meccan Sūras of the Qur’ān patience under attack is taught; no other attitude was possible. But at Madīna the right to repel attack appears, and gradually it became a prescribed duty to fight against and subdue the hostile Meccans. Whether Muhammad himself recognized that his position implied steady and unprovoked war against the unbelieving world until it was subdued to Islam may be in doubt. Traditions are explicit on the point; but the Qur’ānic passages speak always of the unbelievers who are to be subdued as dangerous or faithless. Still, the story of his writing to the powers around him shows that such a universal position was implicit in his mind, and it certainly developed immediately after his death, when the Muslim armies advanced out of Arabia. It is a now a fard ‘ala ’l-kifāya, a duty in general on all male, free, adult Muslims, sane in mind and body and having means enough to reach the Muslim army, yet not a duty necessarily incumbent on every individual, but sufficiently performed when done by a certain number. So it must continue to be done until the whole world is under the rule of Islam....A Muslim who dies fighting in the Path of Allah (fī sabīl Allāh) is a martyr (shahīd) and is assured of Paradise and of peculiar privileges there. Such a death was, in the early generations, regarded as the peculiar crown of a pious life. It is still, on occasions, a strong incitement, but when Islam ceased to conquer it lost its supreme value. Even yet, however, any war between Muslims and non-Muslims must be a jihād with its incitements and rewards. Of course, such modern movements as the so-called Mu‘tazilī in India and the Young Turk in Turkey reject this and endeavour to explain away its basis; but the Muslim masses still follow the unanimous voice of the canon lawyers. Islam must be completely made over before the doctrine of jihād can be eliminated.
 * Encyclopaedia of Islam, vol. 1, “A–D,” ed. Th. Houtsma, T.W. Arnold, and R. Basset (Leiden: Brill, 1913), s.v. “djihād,” by D.B. Macdonald.


 * In law, according to general doctrine and in historical tradition, the djihād consists of military action with the object of the expansion of Islam and, if need be, of its defence….The notion stems from the fundamental principle of the universality of Islam: this religion, along with the temporal power which it implies, ought to embrace to whole universe, if necessary by force….
 * Encyclopaedia of Islam, vol. 2, “C–G,” ed. B. Lewis, Ch. Pellat, and J. Schacht, 2nd ed. (Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1965), s.v. “djihād,” written by E. Tyan.

G

 * "[God] has perfected the pleasures for the martyrs who have fought in God’s path, for they have not embarked boldly upon fighting, save that they [first] sundered their attention from worldly affairs, desiring [only] to meet God, [they are] willing to be killed for His satisfaction… blessed is the paradise that the martyr reaches…"
 * al-Ghazali in Harry Neale, Jihad in Premodern Sufi Writings, Springer (2016), p. 64

H

 * JIHAD. “Lit. “An effort, or a striving.” A religious war with those who are unbelievers in the mission of Muhammad. It is an incumbent religious duty, established in the Qur’an and in the Traditions as a divine institution, and enjoined specially for the purpose of advancing Islam and of repelling evil from Muslims.
 * T. P. Hughes, Dictionary of Islam, Entry Jihad

K

 * ″The Islamic faith, born among a single people and spreading to others, used the state as an instrument for achieving a doctrinal or an ultimate religious objective, the proselytization of mankind. The Islamic state became necessarily an imperial and an expansionist state striving to win other peoples by conversion. At the very outset, the law of war, the jihad, became the chief preoccupation of jurists. The Islamic law of nations was essentially a law governing the conduct of war and the division of booty. This law was designed for temporary purposes, on the assumption that the Islamic state was capable of absorbing the whole of mankind; for if the ideal of Islam were ever achieved, the raison d’être of the law of war, at least with regard to Islam’s relations with non-Islamic states, would pass out of existence. ..The Islamic law of nations, however, is not a system separate from Islamic law. It is merely an extension of the sacred law, the shari’a, designed to govern the relations of Muslims with non-Muslims, whether inside or outside the territory of Islam. In a word, an Islamic law of nations does not exist as a separate system in the sense that modern municipal (national) law and international law, based on different sources and maintained by different sanctions, are distinct from one another″


 * ″Thus the jihad may be regarded as Islam’s instrument for carrying out its ultimate objective by turning all people into believers, if not in the prophet-hood of Muhammad (as in the case of the dhimmis), at least in the belief of God. The Prophet Muhammad is reported to have declared "some of my people will continue to fight victoriously for the sake of the truth until the last one of them will combat the anti-Christ." Until that moment is reached the jihad, in one form or another will remain as a permanent obligation upon the entire Muslim community. It follows that the existence of a dar al-harb is ultimately outlawed under the Islamic jural order; that the dar al-Islam (Islamic community) are permanently under jihad obligation until the dar al-harb is reduced to non-existence; and that any community accepting certain disabilities- must submit to Islamic rule and reside in the dar al-Islam or be bound as clients to the Muslim community. The universality of Islam, in its all embracing creed, is imposed on the believers as a continuous process of warfare, psychological and political if not strictly military.″


 * The word "jihad" has nowhere been used in the Qur'an to mean war in the sense of launching an offensive. It is used rather to mean "struggle". The action most consistently called for in the Qur'an is the exercise of patience.
 * Wahiduddin Khan The True Jihad: The Concept of Peace, Tolerance and Non Violence in Islam, p. 4.


 * Both the Qur'an and the Hadith have attached great importance to jihad. What is jihad? Jihad means struggle, to struggle one's utmost. It must be appreciated at the outset that this word is used for non-violent struggle as opposed to violent struggle. One clear proof of this is the verse of the Qur'an (25:52) which says: "Perform jihad with this (i.e., the word of the Qur'an ) most strenuously."
 * Wahiduddin Khan The True Jihad: The Concept of Peace, Tolerance and Non Violence in Islam, p. 48.

L

 * The overwhelming majority of classical theologians, jurists, and traditionalists [i.e., specialists in the hadith] . . . understood the obligation of jihad in a military sense.
 * Bernard Lewis, The Political Language of Islam (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1988), p. 72.

M

 * The first step... is to understand the difference between total strategy, that is Jehad, and military strategy. The term, Jehad, so often confused with military strategy, is, in fact, the near-equivalent of total or grand strategy or policy in execution.  Jehad entails the comprehensive direction and application of ‘power’ while military strategy deals only with the preparation for and application of force.  Jehad is a continuous and never-ending struggle waged on all fronts including political, economic, social, psychological, domestic, moral and spiritual to attain the object of policy.  It aims at attaining the overall mission assigned to the Islamic State, and military strategy is one of the means available to it to do so.  It is waged at the individual as well as collective level; and at internal as well as external front. Waged in its true spirit, and with multiple means available to it, the Islamic concept of total strategy has the capacity to produce direct results.
 * Malik, Brigadier S.K., The Quranic Concept of War, Lahore, 1979, New Delhi reprint, 1986. p 54 ff. (also quoted in S.R. Goel, The Calcutta Quran Petition Section 1, Chapter 3. (1999))

Q

 * "The third category is the "moderate Ummah" which Almighty Allah has guided to the approach of moderation and granted knowledge, wisdom, and deep understanding of the Shari`ah and reality. Hence, it has not slipped into the negligence of the first category that seeks to keep the right of the Ummah unarmed with power, its Qur'an unguarded by the sword, and its home and sanctuaries with no guards to protect and defend them. Likewise, it has not fallen into the excess and extremism of the second group that seeks to fight those who are peaceful and declare war against all people without discrimination; white and black, in the East or in the West. Their alleged aim by doing so is to shepherd people to (the way of) Almighty Allah, drive them shackled toward Paradise and take them coercively by the hand to the Straight Path. They further add that their aim is to remove the obstacles set in front of those people by despotic regimes that do not allow them to convey the Word of Allah and the Call of His Messenger to the people, so that they can hear it loud and clear and free from all stains.
 * Yusuf al-Qaradawi, Fiqh Al-Jihad (2009)


 * Jihad against the lower self precedes jihad against external enemies and is the basis for it. Indeed, if one does not strive against himself first to do what he has been commanded and avoid what he has been forbidden and to wage war against it for the sake of Allah, one cannot possibly strive against external enemies. How can one strive against his enemies and be just if his enemy within has overpowered him, dominated him, and he did not strive or wage war against it for the sake of Allah? Rather, he cannot go out against his enemies unless he gives precedence to striving against himself.
 * Ibn al-Qayyim, Zād al-maʿād, 3:6. Quoted in "Jihad in Islam: Just-war theory in the Quran and Sunnah", p. 6.

R

 * The Qur’ān calls upon believers to undertake jihād, which is to surrender “your properties and youselves in the path of Allāh”; the purpose of which in turn is to “establish prayer, give zakāt, command good and forbid evil”—i.e., to establish the socio-moral order. So long as the Muslims were a small, persecuted minority in Mecca, jihād as a positive organized thrust of the Islamic movement was unthinkable. In Medina, however, the situation changed and henceforth there is hardly anything, with the possible exception of prayer and zakāt, that receives greater emphasis than jihād....Every virile and expansive ideology has, at a stage, to ask itself the question as to what are its terms of co-existence, if any, with other systems, and how far it may employ methods of direct expansion. In our own age, Communism, in its Russian and Chinese versions, is faced with the same problems and choices. The most unacceptable on historical grounds, however, is the stand of those modern Muslim apologists who have tried to explain the jihād of the early Community in purely defensive terms.
 * Fazlur Rahman, Islam (Chicago: Chicago University Press, 1966), 37. as quoted in Ibn, Warraq (2017). The Islam in Islamic terrorism: The importance of beliefs, ideas, and ideology. ch 5

S

 * In hadith collections, jihad means armed action; for example, the 199 references to jihad in the most standard collection of hadith, Sahih al-Bukhari, all assume that jihad means warfare.
 * What Does Jihad Mean? by Douglas E. Streusand Middle East Quarterly September 1997, pp. 9-17

W

 * While there are hundreds of sources for militant, or lesser, jihād in classical Islam—hadīth collections, commentaries on the Koran, law books from all the schools of law, and so on—there do not seem to have been any works devoted exclusively to spiritual, or greater, jihād. This is clearly a derivative form, since it is not mentioned in any of the canonical collections of hadīth. Even the later literature on jihād fails to mention “greater jihād.”
 * Ibn, Warraq (2017). The Islam in Islamic terrorism: The importance of beliefs, ideas, and ideology. ch 7.

Z

 * The Sheikh has departed, may God have mercy on him, to his God as a martyr and we must continue on his path of ¬ Jihad to expel the invaders from the land of Muslims and to purify it from injustice. Today, and thanks to God, America is not facing an individual or a group, but a rebelling nation, which has awoken from its sleep in a jihadist renaissance.
 * Ayman al-Zawahiri,

Quotes in the Quran

 * وَمَن جَٰهَدَ فَإِنَّمَا يُجَٰهِدُ لِنَفْسِهِۦٓ ۚ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ لَغَنِىٌّ عَنِ ٱلْعَٰلَمِينَ
 * And whosoever striveth, striveth only for himself, for lo! Allah is altogether Independent of (His) creatures.
 * Quran 29:6, , as translated by in The Meaning of the Glorious Koran (1930)
 * وَٱلَّذِينَ جَٰهَدُوا۟ فِينَا لَنَهْدِيَنَّهُمْ سُبُلَنَا ۚ وَإِنَّ ٱللَّهَ لَمَعَ ٱلْمُحْسِنِينَ
 * As for those who strive in Us, We surely guide them to Our paths, and lo! Allah is with the good.
 * Quran 29:69, , as translated by in The Meaning of the Glorious Koran (1930)
 * إِنَّمَا ٱلْمُؤْمِنُونَ ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ بِٱللَّهِ وَرَسُولِهِۦ ثُمَّ لَمْ يَرْتَابُوا۟ وَجَٰهَدُوا۟ بِأَمْوَٰلِهِمْ وَأَنفُسِهِمْ فِى سَبِيلِ ٱللَّهِ ۚ أُو۟لَٰٓئِكَ هُمُ ٱلصَّٰدِقُونَ
 * The (true) believers are those only who believe in Allah and His messenger and afterward doubt not, but strive (jihad) their wealth and their lives for the cause of Allah. Such are the sincere.
 * Quran 49:15, , as translated by in The Meaning of the Glorious Koran (1930)
 * Only those are Believers who have believed in Allah and His Messenger, and have never since doubted, but have striven (jihad) with their belongings and their persons in the Cause of Allah: Such are the sincere ones.
 * Quran 49:15, ', as translated by in ' (1934)

Quotes in Ahadith

 * Hadith


 * “I came to the Prophet and said: ‘O Messenger of Allah, which Jihad is best?’ He said: ‘(That of a man) whose blood is shed and his horse is wounded.’”
 * Sunan Ibn Majah, Book 24, Hadith 2900


 * أَفْضَلُ الْجِهَادِ كَلِمَةُ عَدْلٍ عِنْدَ سُلْطَانٍ جَائِرٍ
 * The best form of jihad is to tell a word of truth to an oppressive ruler.
 * Narated by ,


 * The best Jihad is to say a word of truth before a tyrant ruler.
 * Sunan Abu Dawud, Hadith No. 4344


 * The Mujahid is one who strives against his own soul.
 * Jami` at-Tirmidhi, Hadith No. 1621


 * Abu Dawud (14:2526) (considered daif) - The Prophet said, Three things are the roots of faith: to refrain from (killing) a person who utters, "There is no god but Allah" and not to declare him unbeliever whatever sin he commits, and not to excommunicate him from Islam for his any action; and jihad will be performed continuously since the day Allah sent me as a prophet...


 * Abu Dawud (14:2527) (considered daif) - The Prophet said: Striving in the path of Allah (jihad) is incumbent on you along with every ruler, whether he is pious or impious


 * Sahih Muslim (1:149) - "Abu Dharr reported: I said: Messenger of Allah, which of the deeds is the best? He (the Holy Prophet) replied: Belief in Allah and Jihad in His cause..."


 * Sahih Muslim (20:4645) - "...He (the Messenger of Allah) did that and said: There is another act which elevates the position of a man in Paradise to a grade one hundred (higher), and the elevation between one grade and the other is equal to the height of the heaven from the earth. He (Abu Sa'id) said: What is that act? He replied: Jihad in the way of Allah! Jihad in the way of Allah!"


 * Sahih Muslim (20:4696) - "the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) said: 'One who died but did not fight in the way of Allah nor did he express any desire (or determination) for Jihad died the death of a hypocrite.'"

Sahih al-Bukhari

 * Sahih al-Bukhari, compiled by.

The Translation of the Meanings Of Sahih Al-Bukhari, 1971

 * Translated into English by in ', 1971. The Arabic text used for this work is from ', a multi-volume commentary on the Sunni hadith collection Sahih al-Bukhari, composed by  in the 15th century, published by the Egyptian Press of Mustafa Al-Babi Al-Halabi in 1959. Text online. Note: the translation was published by the  and many have associated the university with the   ideology, and have stated it has exported Salafi-inclined theologians around the world. The chain of transmission are not present in the translation and the content inside parentheses, except complimentary phrases or, are commentaries by the translator not present in the Arabic text.


 * حَدَّثَنَا أَحْمَدُ بْنُ يُونُسَ، وَمُوسَى بْنُ إِسْمَاعِيلَ، قَالاَ حَدَّثَنَا إِبْرَاهِيمُ بْنُ سَعْدٍ، قَالَ حَدَّثَنَا ابْنُ شِهَابٍ، عَنْ سَعِيدِ بْنِ الْمُسَيَّبِ، عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ، أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم سُئِلَ أَىُّ الْعَمَلِ أَفْضَلُ فَقَالَ ‏"‏ إِيمَانٌ بِاللَّهِ وَرَسُولِهِ ‏"‏‏.‏ قِيلَ ثُمَّ مَاذَا قَالَ ‏"‏ الْجِهَادُ فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ ‏"‏‏.‏ قِيلَ ثُمَّ مَاذَا قَالَ ‏"‏ حَجٌّ مَبْرُورٌ ‏"‏‏.‏
 * Narrated : Allah's Apostle was asked, "What is the best deed?" He replied, "To believe in Allah and His Apostle (Muhammad)." The questioner then asked, "What is the next? He replied, "The Jihad (religious fighting) in Allah's Cause." The questioner again asked, "What is the next?" He replied, "To perform 'Mubrur, (which is accepted by Allah and is performed not to show off and without committing a sin and in accordance with the traditions of the Prophet)."
 * Volume 1, Book 2, Number 25
 * Chain of transmission: Ahmed bin Younis and Musa bin Ismail ⟶ Ibrahim bin Saad ⟶ ⟶  ⟶.


 * حَدَّثَنَا إِسْحَاقُ بْنُ مَنْصُورٍ، أَخْبَرَنَا عَفَّانُ، حَدَّثَنَا هَمَّامٌ، حَدَّثَنَا مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ جُحَادَةَ، قَالَ أَخْبَرَنِي أَبُو حَصِينٍ، أَنَّ ذَكْوَانَ، حَدَّثَهُ أَنَّ أَبَا هُرَيْرَةَ ـ رضى الله عنه ـ حَدَّثَهُ قَالَ جَاءَ رَجُلٌ إِلَى رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم فَقَالَ دُلَّنِي عَلَى عَمَلٍ يَعْدِلُ الْجِهَادَ‏.‏ قَالَ ‏ "‏ لاَ أَجِدُهُ ـ قَالَ ـ هَلْ تَسْتَطِيعُ إِذَا خَرَجَ الْمُجَاهِدُ أَنْ تَدْخُلَ مَسْجِدَكَ فَتَقُومَ وَلاَ تَفْتُرَ وَتَصُومَ وَلاَ تُفْطِرَ ‏"‏‏.‏ قَالَ وَمَنْ يَسْتَطِيعُ ذَلِكَ قَالَ أَبُو هُرَيْرَةَ إِنَّ فَرَسَ الْمُجَاهِدِ لَيَسْتَنُّ فِي طِوَلِهِ فَيُكْتَبُ لَهُ حَسَنَاتٍ‏.‏
 * Narrated : A man came to Allah's Apostle and said, "Instruct me as to such a deed as equals Jihad (in reward)." He replied, "I do not find such a deed." Then he added, "Can you, while the Muslim fighter is in the battle-field, enter your mosque to perform prayers without cease and fast and never break your fast?" The man said, "But who can do that?" Abu Huraira added, "The  (i.e. Muslim fighter) is rewarded even for the footsteps of his horse while it wanders bout (for grazing) tied in a long rope."
 * Volume 4, Book 52: The Book of Jihad (Fighting for the Allah's Cause), Number 44
 * Chain of transmission: Ishaq bin Mansour ⟶ Affan ⟶ Hammam ⟶ Muhamad bin Juhadah ⟶ Abu Husayn ⟶ Dhakwan ⟶.


 * حَدَّثَنَا حَفْصُ بْنُ عُمَرَ الْحَوْضِيُّ، حَدَّثَنَا هَمَّامٌ، عَنْ إِسْحَاقَ، عَنْ أَنَسٍ ـ رضى الله عنه ـ قَالَ بَعَثَ النَّبِيُّ صلى الله عليه وسلم أَقْوَامًا مِنْ بَنِي سُلَيْمٍ إِلَى بَنِي عَامِرٍ فِي سَبْعِينَ، فَلَمَّا قَدِمُوا، قَالَ لَهُمْ خَالِي أَتَقَدَّمُكُمْ، فَإِنْ أَمَّنُونِي حَتَّى أُبَلِّغَهُمْ عَنْ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم وَإِلاَّ كُنْتُمْ مِنِّي قَرِيبًا‏.‏ فَتَقَدَّمَ، فَأَمَّنُوهُ، فَبَيْنَمَا يُحَدِّثُهُمْ عَنِ النَّبِيِّ صلى الله عليه وسلم إِذْ أَوْمَئُوا إِلَى رَجُلٍ مِنْهُمْ، فَطَعَنَهُ فَأَنْفَذَهُ فَقَالَ اللَّهُ أَكْبَرُ، فُزْتُ وَرَبِّ الْكَعْبَةِ‏.‏ ثُمَّ مَالُوا عَلَى بَقِيَّةِ أَصْحَابِهِ فَقَتَلُوهُمْ، إِلاَّ رَجُلاً أَعْرَجَ صَعِدَ الْجَبَلَ‏.‏ قَالَ هَمَّامٌ فَأُرَاهُ آخَرَ مَعَهُ، فَأَخْبَرَ جِبْرِيلُ ـ عَلَيْهِ السَّلاَمُ ـ النَّبِيَّ صلى الله عليه وسلم أَنَّهُمْ قَدْ لَقُوا رَبَّهُمْ، فَرَضِيَ عَنْهُمْ وَأَرْضَاهُمْ، فَكُنَّا نَقْرَأُ أَنْ بَلِّغُوا قَوْمَنَا أَنْ قَدْ لَقِينَا رَبَّنَا فَرَضِيَ عَنَّا وَأَرْضَانَا‏.‏ ثُمَّ نُسِخَ بَعْدُ، فَدَعَا عَلَيْهِمْ أَرْبَعِينَ صَبَاحًا، عَلَى رِعْلٍ وَذَكْوَانَ وَبَنِي لِحْيَانَ وَبَنِي عُصَيَّةَ الَّذِينَ عَصَوُا اللَّهَ وَرَسُولَهُ صلى الله عليه وسلم‏.‏
 * Narrated Anas: The Prophet sent seventy men from the tribe of Bani Salim to the tribe of Bani Amir. When they reached there, my maternal uncle said to them, "I will go ahead of you, and if they allow me to convey the message of Allah's Apostle (it will be all right); otherwise you will remain close to me." So he went ahead of them and the pagans granted him security But while he was reporting the message of the Prophet, they beckoned to one of their men who stabbed him to death. My maternal uncle said, "Allah is Greater! By the Lord of the Kaba, I am successful." After that they attached the rest of the party and killed them all except a lame man who went up to the top of the mountain. (Hammam, a sub-narrator said, "I think another man was saved along with him)." Gabriel informed the Prophet that they (i.e the martyrs) met their Lord, and He was pleased with them and made them pleased. We used to recite, "Inform our people that we have met our Lord, He is pleased with us and He has made us pleased " Later on this Quranic Verse was cancelled. The Prophet invoked Allah for forty days to curse the murderers from the tribe of Ral, Dhakwan, Bani Lihyan and Bam Usaiya who disobeyed Allah and his Apostle.
 * Volume 4, Book 52: The Book of Jihad (Fighting for the Allah's Cause), Number 57
 * Chain of transmission: Hafs ibn ‘Umar al-Hawdi ⟶ Hammam ⟶ Ishaq ⟶ Anas.


 * حَدَّثَنَا حَفْصُ بْنُ عُمَرَ، حَدَّثَنَا شُعْبَةُ، عَنْ أَبِي إِسْحَاقَ، عَنِ الْبَرَاءِ ـ رضى الله عنه ـ قَالَ رَأَيْتُ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم يَوْمَ الأَحْزَابِ يَنْقُلُ التُّرَابَ وَقَدْ وَارَى التُّرَابُ بَيَاضَ بَطْنِهِ، وَهُوَ يَقُولُ لَوْلاَ أَنْتَ مَا اهْتَدَيْنَا وَلاَ تَصَدَّقْنَا وَلاَ صَلَّيْنَا‏.‏ فَأَنْزِلِ السَّكِينَةَ عَلَيْنَا وَثَبِّتِ الأَقْدَامَ إِنْ لاَقَيْنَا‏.‏ إِنَّ الأُلَى قَدْ بَغَوْا عَلَيْنَا إِذَا أَرَادُوا فِتْنَةً أَبَيْنَا‏.‏
 * Narrated Al-Bara: On the day (of the battle) of Al-Ahzab (i.e. clans) I saw the Prophet carrying earth, and the earth was covering the whiteness of his abdomen. And he was saying, "Without You (O Allah!) we would have got no guidance, nor given in charity, nor prayed. So please bless us with tranquility and make firm our feet when we meet our enemies. Indeed people have oppressed us but never shall we yield if they try to bring affliction upon us."
 * Volume 4, Book 52: The Book of Jihad (Fighting for the Allah's Cause), Number 90
 * Chain of transmission: Hafs bin Umar ⟶ Shu'ba ⟶ Abu Ishaq ⟶ Al-Bara


 * حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو الْيَمَانِ، أَخْبَرَنَا شُعَيْبٌ، عَنِ الزُّهْرِيِّ، قَالَ حَدَّثَنِي سِنَانُ بْنُ أَبِي سِنَانٍ الدُّؤَلِيُّ، وَأَبُو سَلَمَةَ بْنُ عَبْدِ الرَّحْمَنِ أَنَّ جَابِرَ بْنَ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ ـ رضى الله عنهما ـ أَخْبَرَ أَنَّهُ، غَزَا مَعَ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم قِبَلَ نَجْدٍ، فَلَمَّا قَفَلَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم قَفَلَ مَعَهُ، فَأَدْرَكَتْهُمُ الْقَائِلَةُ فِي وَادٍ كَثِيرِ الْعِضَاهِ، فَنَزَلَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم وَتَفَرَّقَ النَّاسُ يَسْتَظِلُّونَ بِالشَّجَرِ، فَنَزَلَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم تَحْتَ سَمُرَةٍ وَعَلَّقَ بِهَا سَيْفَهُ وَنِمْنَا نَوْمَةً، فَإِذَا رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم يَدْعُونَا وَإِذَا عِنْدَهُ أَعْرَابِيٌّ فَقَالَ ‏"‏ إِنَّ هَذَا اخْتَرَطَ عَلَىَّ سَيْفِي وَأَنَا نَائِمٌ، فَاسْتَيْقَظْتُ وَهْوَ فِي يَدِهِ صَلْتًا ‏"‏‏.‏ فَقَالَ مَنْ يَمْنَعُكَ مِنِّي فَقُلْتُ ‏"‏ اللَّهُ ‏"‏‏.‏ ثَلاَثًا وَلَمْ يُعَاقِبْهُ وَجَلَسَ‏.‏
 * Narrated that he proceeded in the company of Allah's Apostle towards  to participate in a . When Allah's Apostle returned, he too returned with him. Midday came upon them while they were in a valley having many thorny trees. Allah's Apostle and the people dismounted and dispersed to rest in the shade of the trees. Allah's Apostle rested under a tree and hung his sword on it. We all took a nap and suddenly we heard Allah's Apostle calling us. (We woke up) to see a bedouin with him. The Prophet said, "This bedouin took out my sword while I was sleeping and when I woke up, I found the unsheathed sword in his hand and he challenged me saying, 'Who will save you from me?' I said thrice, 'Allah.' The Prophet did not punish him but sat down.
 * Volume 4, Book 52: The Book of Jihad (Fighting for the Allah's Cause), Number 158
 * Chain of transmission: Abu Al-Yaman ⟶ Shu'ayb ⟶ Al-Zuhri ⟶ Sinān bin 'Abi Sinān al-Dawali ⟶ Abu Salamah bin Abd al-Rahman ⟶
 * Note: the word used in the Arabic text is not "Ghazwa" (غَزْوَة‎) but "Gaza" (غزا)


 * حَدَّثَنَا إِسْحَاقُ بْنُ إِبْرَاهِيمَ، قَالَ قُلْتُ لأَبِي أُسَامَةَ حَدَّثَكُمْ عُبَيْدُ اللَّهِ، عَنْ نَافِعٍ، عَنِ ابْنِ عُمَرَ ـ رضى الله عنهما ـ قَالَ وُجِدَتِ امْرَأَةٌ مَقْتُولَةً فِي بَعْضِ مَغَازِي رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم، فَنَهَى رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم عَنْ قَتْلِ النِّسَاءِ وَالصِّبْيَانِ‏.‏
 * Narrated Ibn 'Umar: During some of the Ghazawat of Allah's Apostle, a woman was found killed, so Allah's Apostle forbade the killing of women and children.
 * Volume 4, Book 52: The Book of Jihad (Fighting for the Allah's Cause), Number 258
 * Chain of transmission: 'Ishaq bin 'Ibrahim ⟶ Abu Osama ⟶ Ubayd Allah ⟶ Nafi ⟶ Ibn 'Umar
 * Note: there is no mention of the word Ghazawat (غزوات) in the Arabic text, instead the word present is Maghazi (مَغَازِي).


 * حَدَّثَنَا يَحْيَى، حَدَّثَنَا وَكِيعٌ، عَنْ شُعْبَةَ، عَنْ سَعِيدِ بْنِ أَبِي بُرْدَةَ، عَنْ أَبِيهِ، عَنْ جَدِّهِ، أَنَّ النَّبِيَّ صلى الله عليه وسلم بَعَثَ مُعَاذًا وَأَبَا مُوسَى إِلَى الْيَمَنِ قَالَ ‏ "‏ يَسِّرَا وَلاَ تُعَسِّرَا، وَبَشِّرَا وَلاَ تُنَفِّرَا، وَتَطَاوَعَا وَلاَ تَخْتَلِفَا ‏"‏‏.
 * Narrated Abu Burda that his father said, "The Prophet sent Mu'adh and Abu Musa to Yemen telling them. 'Treat the people with ease and don't be hard on them; give them glad tidings and don't fill them with aversion; and love each other, and don't differ."
 * Volume 4, Book 52: The Book of Jihad (Fighting for the Allah's Cause), Number 275
 * Chain of transmission: Huyayy ⟶ Wakee ⟶ Shu'bah ⟶ Sa'id ibn Abu Burda ⟶


 * حَدَّثَنَا الْمَكِّيُّ بْنُ إِبْرَاهِيمَ، أَخْبَرَنَا يَزِيدُ بْنُ أَبِي عُبَيْدٍ، عَنْ سَلَمَةَ، أَنَّهُ أَخْبَرَهُ قَالَ خَرَجْتُ مِنَ الْمَدِينَةِ ذَاهِبًا نَحْوَ الْغَابَةِ، حَتَّى إِذَا كُنْتُ بِثَنِيَّةِ الْغَابَةِ لَقِيَنِي غُلاَمٌ لِعَبْدِ الرَّحْمَنِ بْنِ عَوْفٍ قُلْتُ وَيْحَكَ، مَا بِكَ قَالَ أُخِذَتْ لِقَاحُ النَّبِيِّ صلى الله عليه وسلم‏.‏ قُلْتُ مَنْ أَخَذَهَا قَالَ غَطَفَانُ وَفَزَارَةُ‏.‏ فَصَرَخْتُ ثَلاَثَ صَرَخَاتٍ أَسْمَعْتُ مَا بَيْنَ لاَبَتَيْهَا يَا صَبَاحَاهْ، يَا صَبَاحَاهْ‏.‏ ثُمَّ انْدَفَعْتُ حَتَّى أَلْقَاهُمْ وَقَدْ أَخَذُوهَا، فَجَعَلْتُ أَرْمِيهِمْ وَأَقُولُ أَنَا ابْنُ الأَكْوَعِ، وَالْيَوْمُ يَوْمُ الرُّضَّعِ، فَاسْتَنْقَذْتُهَا مِنْهُمْ قَبْلَ أَنْ يَشْرَبُوا، فَأَقْبَلْتُ بِهَا أَسُوقُهَا، فَلَقِيَنِي النَّبِيُّ صلى الله عليه وسلم فَقُلْتُ يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ، إِنَّ الْقَوْمَ عِطَاشٌ، وَإِنِّي أَعْجَلْتُهُمْ أَنْ يَشْرَبُوا سِقْيَهُمْ، فَابْعَثْ فِي إِثْرِهِمْ، فَقَالَ ‏ "‏ يَا ابْنَ الأَكْوَعِ، مَلَكْتَ فَأَسْجِحْ‏.‏ إِنَّ الْقَوْمَ يُقْرَوْنَ فِي قَوْمِهِمْ ‏"‏‏.‏
 * Narrated Salama: I went out of Medina towards Al-Ghaba. When I reached the mountain path of Al-Ghaba, a slave of 'Abdur-Rahman bin 'Auf met me. I said to him, "Woe to you! What brought you here?" He replied, "The she-camels of the Prophet have been taken away." I said, "Who took them?" He said, " and ." So, I sent three cries, "O ! O Sabahah!" so loudly that made the people in between its (i.e. Medina's) two mountains hear me. Then I rushed till I met them after they had taken the camels away. I started throwing arrows at them saying, "I am the son of Al-Akwa"; and today perish the mean people!" So, I saved the she-camels from them before they (i.e. the robbers) could drink water. When I returned driving the camels, the Prophet met me, I said, "O Allah's Apostle Those people are thirsty and I have prevented them from drinking water, so send some people to chase them." The Prophet said, "O son of Al-Akwa', you have gained power (over your enemy), so forgive (them). (Besides) those people are now being entertained by their folk."
 * Volume 4, Book 52: The Book of Jihad (Fighting for the Allah's Cause), Number 278
 * Chain of transmission: Al-Makki bin Ibrahim ⟶ Yazid Abi Obaid ⟶ Salama