Know Thine Enemy 3
Know Thine Enemy
Sunday, May 20, 2007 11:41 PM
Know Thine Enemy
[Third in a series.]
Jihad
Holy war? No, it means striving. Perhaps we should return briefly to Muslim Book 019, Number 4294.
- Fight in the name of Allah and in the way of Allah.
- Fight against those who disbelieve in Allah.
- Make a holy war, do not embezzle the spoils; do not break your pledge; and do not mutilate (the dead) bodies; do not kill the children.
What could make a war holy? Lets turn to the Qur’an for guidance about striving.
- 9:41. March forth, whether you are light (being healthy, young and wealthy) or heavy (being ill, old and poor), strive hard with your wealth and your lives in the Cause of Allâh. This is better for you, if you but knew.
- 9:81. Those who stayed away (from Tabuk expedition) rejoiced in their staying behind the Messenger of Allâh; they hated to strive and fight with their properties and their lives in the Cause of Allâh, and they said: “March not forth in the heat.” Say: “The Fire of Hell is more intense in heat”, if only they could understand!
It is better for you to strive hard with your life and wealth; failure to do so will land you in the fire. But what is this “cause of Allah” bit? Perhaps there is a hadith to explain it.
- Volume 4, Book 52, Number 45:
Narrated Abu Said Al-Khudri:
Somebody asked, “O Allah’s Apostle! Who is the best among the people?” Allah’s Apostle replied “A believer who strives his utmost in Allah’s Cause with his life and property.” They asked, “Who is next?” He replied, “A believer who stays in one of the mountain paths worshipping Allah and leaving the people secure from his mischief.”
- Volume 4, Book 52, Number 46:
Narrated Abu Huraira:
I heard Allah’s Apostle saying, “The example of a Mujahid in Allah’s Cause– and Allah knows better who really strives in His Cause—-is like a person who fasts and prays continuously. Allah guarantees that He will admit the Mujahid in His Cause into Paradise if he is killed, otherwise He will return him to his home safely with rewards and war booty.”
- Volume 4, Book 52, Number 50:
Narrated Anas bin Malik:
The Prophet said, “A single endeavor (of fighting) in Allah’s Cause in the forenoon or in the afternoon is better than the world and whatever is in it.”
- Volume 4, Book 52, Number 65:
Narrated Abu Musa:
A man came to the Prophet and asked, “A man fights for war booty; another fights for fame and a third fights for showing off; which of them fights in Allah’s Cause?” The Prophet said, “He who fights that Allah’s Word (i.e. Islam) should be superior, fights in Allah’s Cause.”
The best man is he who strives his utmost in Allah’s cause. The Mujahid will be rewarded with Paradise or booty. A single endeavor of fighting is better than all possible worldly gain. Fighting in Allah’s cause is to make his word superior; in essence, to make Islam dominate the world.. That reminds me of an ayat.
- 9:33. It is He Who has sent His Messenger (Muhammad) with guidance and the religion of truth (Islâm), to make it superior over all religions even though the Mushrikûn (polytheists, pagans, idolaters, disbelievers in the Oneness of Allâh) hate (it).
Allah sent the Qur’an to be made superior over all alternatives, by force of arms. To verify this, we turn next to the translator’s notes.
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(V.2:190) Al-Jihâd (holy fighting) in Allâh’s Cause (with full force of numbers and weaponry) is given the utmost importance in Islâm and is one of its pillar (on which it stands). By Jihâd Islâm is established, Allâh’s Word is made superior, (His Word being Lâ ilaha illallâh which means none has the right to be worshipped but Allâh), and His Religion (Islâm) is propagated. By abandoning Jihâd (may Allâh protect us from that) Islâm is destroyed and the Muslims fall into an inferior position; their honour is lost, their lands are stolen, their rule and authority vanish. Jihâd is an obligatory duty in Islâm on every Muslim, and he who tries to escape from this duty, or does not in his innermost heart wish to fulfil this duty, dies with one of the qualities of a hypocrite.
Narrated ‘Abdullâh bin Mas‘ûd ??? ???? ???: I asked Allâh’s Messenger ??? ???? ???? ???? “O Allâh’s Messenger! What is the best deed?” He replied, “To offer the Salât (prayers) at their early fixed stated times.” I asked, “What is next in goodness?” He replied, “To be good and dutiful to your parents.” I further asked, “What is next in goodness?” He replied, “To participate in Jihâd in Allâh’s Cause.” I did not ask Allâh’s Messenger ??? ???? ???? ???? anymore and if I had asked him more, he would have told me more. (Sahih Al-Bukhâri, Vol.4, Hadîth No.41).
Is this holy fighting really a high priority to Allah?
- 61:4. Verily, Allâh loves those who fight in His Cause in rows (ranks) as if they were a solid structure .
- 9:111. Verily, Allâh has purchased of the believers their lives and their properties; for the price that theirs shall be the Paradise. They fight in Allâh’s Cause, so they kill (others) and are killed. It is a promise in truth which is binding on Him in the Taurât (Torah) and the Injeel (Gospel) and the Qur’ân. And who is truer to his covenant than Allâh? Then rejoice in the bargain which you have concluded. That is the supreme success .
We learned something significant from those ayat.
- Allah loves those who fight in his cause.
- Allah owns the Muslims; they are his slaves.
- Allah purchased them, the price being admission to Paradise.
- Muslims kill others and are killed fighting in Allah’s cause.
[Take a bathroom break; relieve the pressure you don’t want to risk ruining your furniture. ]
Is that holy fighting optional or mandatory?
- 2:216. Jihâd (holy fighting in Allâh’s Cause) is ordained for you (Muslims) though you dislike it, and it may be that you dislike a thing which is good for you and that you like a thing which is bad for you. Allâh knows but you do not know.
It is ordained for Muslims, that means it is mandatory, not an ala carte item.
Who are Muslims commanded to fight?
- 8:38. Say to those who have disbelieved, if they cease (from disbelief) their past will be forgiven. But if they return (thereto), then the examples of those (punished) before them have already preceded (as a warning).
- 8:39. And fight them until there is no more Fitnah (disbelief and polytheism: i.e. worshipping others besides Allâh) and the religion (worship) will all be for Allâh Alone [in the whole of the world ]. But if they cease (worshipping others besides Allâh), then certainly, Allâh is All-Seer of what they do.
- 9:29. Fight against those who (1) believe not in Allâh, (2) nor in the Last Day, (3) nor forbid that which has been forbidden by Allâh and His Messenger (4) and those who acknowledge not the religion of truth (i.e. Islâm) among the people of the Scripture (Jews and Christians), until they pay the Jizyah with willing submission, and feel themselves subdued.
There are two discreet commands to fight, against disbelievers and against people of the book. Both commands are fight until loops. Fight them until only Allah is worshiped. Fight them until they submit and pay extortion. Those are generally applicable, open ended commands. Their effect is not limited to a particular time or place. We will find ahadith to confirm these facts.
- Every Prophet used to be sent to his nation only but I have been sent to all mankind.
- “I have been ordered to fight the people till they say: ‘None has the right to be worshipped but Allah.’ And if they say so, pray like our prayers, face our Qibla and slaughter as we slaughter, then their blood and property will be sacred to us and we will not interfere with them except legally and their reckoning will be with Allah.“
- jihad will be performed continuously since the day Allah sent me as a prophet until the day the last member of my community will fight with the Dajjal (Antichrist).
Muhammad was sent to all mankind, to fight the people, from his first day as a profit in 610 and the war continues until Judgment Day. Does this clear it up for you?
BCP
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