الحَرب

WAR

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2– Imam Ali (AS) said, ‘Diversity is the instigator of wars.’
[Ghurar al-Hikam, no. 705]

3– Imam Ali (AS) said, ‘Obstinacy is the instigator of wars.’
[Ghurar al-Hikam, no. 406]

4– Imam al-Husayn (AS) said, ‘Know that the evil of war is swift, and its taste is bitter. Therefore, he who prepares for it, and sees to its requirements, and does not suffer its wounds before its onset, he is its master; but he who plunges into it before its proper time and before gaining insight into his own effort therein, he is fit not to benefit his people and to ruin himself.’
[Sharhe Nahj al-Balagha li Ibn Abi al-Hadid, v. 3, p. 186]

5- Imam Ali (AS) said, ‘Indeed I have called you to fight those people day and night both secretly and openly, and I have told you: ‘Attack them before they attack you’, for by Allah no sooner are any people attacked in the midst of their abodes than they are disgraced.’
[Nahj al-Balagha, Sermon 27]

6- The Prophet (SAWA) said, ‘Befriend people, give them time, and do not raid them unless you first call them
[to Islam]. For you to call all the people of the earth, those who live in houses and those who live in tents, to Islam is dearer to me than for you to bring me their womenfolk and children
[as captives], and to kill their men.’
[Kanz al-`Ummal, no. 11300]

7- Imam Ali (AS) said at Siffin, ‘By Allah I did not postpone the war even for one day unless if I hoped a group of people would join me to be guided by me and repose in my light, and I love that more than killing them for their
[choosing to remain in] error.’
[Nahj al-Balagha, Sermon 55]

8- Imam Ali (AS), in his advice to Ziyad b. al-Nazr, said, ‘Know that the forefront of the people are their eyes, and that the eyes of the forefront troops are their vanguards; so when you leave your land and approach your enemy do not hesitate to send the vanguards to every side and to some mountain passes, woods, hiding places and every side, lest your enemy attack and lie in ambush for you.’
[Tuhaf al-`Uqoul, no. 191]

9- The Prophet (SAWA) said, ‘Messengers and negotiators must not be killed.’
[Qurb al-Isnad, p. 131, no. 456]

10- Imam Ali (AS) said, ‘Put the armoured man forward and keep the unarmoured one behind. Grit your teeth because this will make the swords skip off the skull, and dodge on the sides of the spears for it changes the direction of their blades. Close the eyes because it strengthens the spirit and gives peace to the heart. Kill the voices because this will keep off spiritlessness.’
[Nahj al-Balagha, Sermon 124]

11- Imam Ali (AS) said, ‘Do not fight them unless they initiate the fighting, because, by the grace of Allah, you are in the right, and to leave them until they begin the fighting will be another proof for your side’s right against them. If, by the will of Allah, the enemy is defeated, then do not kill the one who runs away nor strike a helpless person nor finish off the wounded nor inflict harm on women.’
[Nahj al-Balagha, Letter 14]

12- Imam Ali (AS) said, ‘The Prophet (SAWA) prohibited poisoning the land of the polytheists.’
[al-Kafi, v. 5, p. 28, no. 2]

13- Imam Zayn al-Abidin (AS) said, ‘If you take a captive who then cannot walk further, nor have you a carriage for him, then set him free and do not kill him, for you do not know what would be the Imam’s ruling about him.’
[`AIlal al-Sharai`a, p. 565, no. 2]

14- The Prophet (SAWA) said, ‘Say what you please, for war is a trick.’
[Kanz al-`Ummal, no. 10892]

15- Imam Ali (AS) said to his companions in the battle of Siffin, ‘Repeat the attack and be ashamed of running away, for it is a disgrace that remains throughout the generations as a burden on their necks and is a fire on the Day of Reckoning. Therefore, sacrifice your souls for other souls and cheerfully walk to death.’
[Nahj al-Sa`ada, v. 2, p. 232]

16- Imam al-Sadiq (AS) said, ‘He who runs away from the battle when faced with two men from the enemy is a deserter indeed, but if he runs away from facing combat with three men, then he is not a deserter.’
[al-Kafi, v. 5, p. 34, no. 1]

17- Imam al-Rida (AS) said, ‘Allah has prohibited running away from the midst of a battle because of what it does in weakening one’s religion and degrading the messengers and the just Imams (AS).’
[`Uyoun Akhbar al-Ridha (AS), v. 2, p. 92, no. 1]

18- Hafs b. Ghiyath narrated: ‘I asked Abu `Abdillah
[al-Sadiq] (AS) about one of the cities of the enemies in war, and whether it was permissible to inundate it with water, burn it with fire, or shoot it with mangonels until they are killed, while there are among them the women, children, old men, and the Muslim captives and merchants?’ He replied, ‘That can be done to them, and they are not to be left from being attacked only because of the presence of these
[among them], and the Muslims are neither liable for blood-money nor expiation.’
[al-Kafi, v. 5, p. 28, no. 6]

19- The Prophet (SAWA) said, ‘Truly the martyrs of the sea are more meritorious with Allah than the martyrs of the land.’
[Kanz al-`Ummal, no. 11108]

20- Imam al-Baqir (AS) or Imam al-Sadiq (AS) narrated, ‘The Prophet (SAWA) took the women to war in order for them to treat the wounded, but he did not distribute the spoils of war among them but gave them some free gifts instead.’
[al-Kafi, v. 5, p. 45, no. 8]