الجِهادُ الأصغر

THE LESSER JIHAD*

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2– A man went to a mountain to worship Allah, so his family came to the Prophet (SAWA) concerning it. The Prophet forbade him from it, saying, ‘It is better for a Muslim to bear patiently certain instances of jihad even for a single day than to worship for forty years.’
[Mustadrak al-Wasail, v. 11, p. 21, no. 12324]

3– Imam Ali (AS) said, ‘Indeed jihad is one of the gates of Paradise that Allah will open for his exceptional friends. It is the garment of piety, Allah’s fortified defense and a solid shield.’
[Nahj al-Balagha, Sermon 27]

4– Imam Ali (AS) said, ‘Jihad is the pillar of religion and the path of the felicitous.’
[Ghurar al-Hikam, no. 1346]

5– Imam Ali (AS) said, ‘Verily Allah has made jihad obligatory and has magnified it and made it a
[source of] triumph and a helper. By Allah, neither one’s worldly affairs nor one’s religion are set aright except through it.’
[Wasael al-Shi`aah , v. 11, p. 9, no. 15]

6– Imam Ali (AS) said, ‘Certainly jihad is the noblest of deeds after
[acceptance of] Islam, and it is the pillar of religion. The reward for it is great, while at the same time, consistently maintaining one’s honour and strength. There are rewards and good tidings of Paradise after martyrdom.’
[Nur al-Thaqalayn, v. 1, p. 408, no. 429]

7– Imam al-Sadiq (AS) said, ‘Jihad is the greatest deed after fulfilling the obligatory ones.’
[Mishkat al-Anwar, no. 154]

8- The Prophet (SAWA) said, ‘The deeds of all the worshippers when compared to those who wage jihad in the way of Allah is as a gulp of sea-water that a swallow takes into his beak.’
[Kanz al-`Ummal, no. 1068]

9- The Prophet (SAWA) said, ‘Swords are the keys to Paradise.’
[Mustadrak al-Wasail, v. 11, p. 13, no. 12293]

10- Imam Ali (AS) said, ‘The doors of the heavens are opened for those who wage jihad.’
[Ghurar al-Hikam, no. 1347]

11- The Prophet (SAWA) said, ‘Whoever equips a warrior, even with a needle and thread, Allah forgives his past and future sins.’
[Mustadrak al-Wasail, v. 11, p. 24, no. 12333]

12- The Prophet (SAWA) said, ‘Whoever carries a message on behalf of a fighter during war is like one who frees a slave, and he partakes in the reward of the one who actually fought.’
[Wasael al-Shi`aah , v. 11. p. 14, no. 2]

13- The Prophet (SAWA) said, ‘Be wary of harming those who fight in the way of Allah, for Allah is angered for their sake just as He is for the sake of the Prophet (SAWA), and He answers their prayers just as He answers the prayers of the Prophet (SAWA).’
[Kanz al-`Ummal, no. 10664]

14– The Prophet (SAWA) said, ‘The prayer of one carrying his sword is seven hundred times better than praying without it.’
[Ibid. no. 10791]

15- Imam Ali (AS) said, ‘Fight in the way of Allah with your hands; and if you are not able to do so then fight with your tongues; and if you are still not able to then fight with your hearts.’
[Bihar al-Anwar, v. 100, p. 49, no. 23]

16- Imam Ali (AS) said, ‘By Allah! By Allah! Wage jihad with your wealth, your selves and your tongues for the sake of Allah.’
[Nahj al-Balagha, Letter 47]

17- The Prophet (SAWA) said, ‘Allah covers with disgrace the one who abandons jihad, and subjects him to poverty, and deprivation in his religion. Verily Allah, blessed and most High, has honoured my community by the solid hooves of its cavalry, and the tips of its lances.’
[Amali al-Saduq, p. 462, no. 8]

18- Imam Ali (AS) said, ‘Jihad has four branches: enjoining the good, forbidding the wrong, fortitude in the battlefield, and detesting the wicked.’
[al-Khisal, p. 232, no. 74]

19- The Prophet (SAWA) said, ‘Keeping your posts for a single day is better than the whole world and all that it contains.’
[Kanz al-`Ummal, no. 10508]

20- The Prophet (SAWA) said, ‘Every action will be separated from its owner upon death, except the one who maintained his post for the sake of Allah, since it will be increased and rewarded to him until the Day of Resurrection.’
[Ibid. no. 10611]

21- The Prophet (SAWA) said, ‘Standing guard for a single night for the sake of Allah is better than a thousand nights spent in worship followed by fasting during the day.’
[Ibid. no. 10730]

22- The Prophet (SAWA) said, ‘The eyes of two categories of people will never touch the fire: the one who cried out of fear of Allah, and the one who spent the night awake standing guard for the sake of Allah.’
[Sunan al-Tirmidhi, no. 1639]

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* The Arabic word jihad lexically means struggle, fight, or combat, but has adopted a very specific meaning in Islamic terminology. When used in its general sense or as ‘the lesser jihad’, it refers to physical combat or ‘holy war’ against infidels, disbelievers or hypocrites who wage war against Islam and Muslims. When used in the sense of ‘the greater jihad’- (jihad al-nafs) - coined by the Prophet (SAWA) in his famous tradition (see Ch.78: JIHAD (2): The Greater Jihad), it refers to one’s combat against one’s own base self. In this chapter, due to want of an exact English equivalent, the word jihad will be left as it is (ed.)