ALLAH HAS PURCHASED THE SOULS AND WEALTH OF
THE MUJAHIDIN IN RETURN FOR PARADISE
Allah states that
He has compensated His believing servants for their lives and wealth -- if they
give them up in His cause -- with Paradise. This demonstrates Allah's favor,
generosity and bounty, for He has accepted the good that He already owns and
bestowed, as a price from His faithful servants.
Al-Hasan Al-Basri
and Qatadah commented, "By Allah! Allah has purchased them and raised
their worth.'' Shimr bin `Atiyyah said, "There is not a Muslim but has on
his neck a sale that he must conduct with Allah; he either fulfills its terms
or dies without doing that.'' He then recited this Ayah. This is why those who
fight in the cause of Allah are said to have conducted the sale with Allah,
meaning, accepted and fulfilled his covenant. Allah's statement,
﴿يُقَـتِلُونَ فِى سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ فَيَقْتُلُونَ وَيُقْتَلُونَ﴾
(They fight in
Allah's cause, so they kill and are killed.) Indicates that whether they were
killed or they kill the enemy, or both, then Paradise will be theirs. The Two
Sahihs recorded the Hadith,
«وَتَكَفَّلَ
اللهُ لِمَنْ خَرَجَ فِي سَبِيلِهِ لَا يُخْرِجُهُ إِلَّا جِهَادٌ فِي سَبِيلِي وَتَصْدِيقٌ بِرُسُلِي بِأَنْ تَوَفَّاهُ أَنْ يُدْخِلَهُ الْجَنَّةَ، أَوْ يَرْجِعَهُ إِلَى مَنْزِلِهِ الَّذِي خَرَجَ مِنْهُ، نَائِلًا مَا نَالَ مِنْ أَجْرٍ أَوْ غَنِيمَة»
(Allah has made a
promise to the person who goes out (to fight) in His cause; `And nothing
compels him to do so except Jihad = in My Cause and belief in My Messengers. '
He will either be admitted to Paradise if he dies, or compensated by Allah,
either with a reward or booty if He returns him to the home which he departed
from.) Allah's statement,
﴿وَعْدًا عَلَيْهِ حَقًّا فِي التَّوْرَاةِ وَالإِنجِيلِ وَالْقُرْءانِ﴾
(It is a promise
in truth which is binding on Him in the Tawrah and the Injil and the Qur'an.)
affirms this promise and informs us that Allah has decreed this for His Most
Honorable Self, and revealed it to His Messengers in His Glorious Books, the
Tawrah that He sent down to Musa, the Injil that He sent down to `Isa, and the
Qur'an that was sent down to Muhammad, may Allah's peace and blessings be on
them all. Allah said next,
﴿وَمَنْ أَوْفَى بِعَهْدِهِ مِنَ اللَّهِ﴾
(And who is truer
to his covenant than Allah) affirming that He never breaks a promise. Allah
said in similar statements,
﴿وَمَنْ أَصْدَقُ مِنَ اللَّهِ حَدِيثاً﴾
(And who is truer
in statement than Allah)﴿Holy Quran Chapter 4:87﴾,
and,
﴿وَمَنْ أَصْدَقُ مِنَ اللَّهِ قِيلاً﴾
(And whose words
can be truer than those of Allah)﴿4:122﴾. Allah said next,
﴿فَاسْتَبْشِرُواْ بِبَيْعِكُمُ الَّذِى بَايَعْتُمْ بِهِ وَذَلِكَ هُوَ الْفَوْزُ الْعَظِيمُ﴾
(Then rejoice in
the bargain which you have concluded. That is the supreme success.), meaning,
let those who fulfill the terms of this contract and uphold this covenant
receive the good news of great success and everlasting delight.
﴿التَّـئِبُونَ الْعَـبِدُونَ الْحَـمِدُونَ السَّـئِحُونَ الرَكِعُونَ السَّـجِدونَ الاٌّمِرُونَ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ وَالنَّاهُونَ عَنِ الْمُنكَرِ وَالْحَـفِظُونَ لِحُدُودِ اللَّهِ وَبَشِّرِ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ ﴾
(Holy Quran
Chapter 9.112. Those who repent, who worship (Him), who praise (Him), who fast,
who bow down, who prostrate themselves, who enjoin good and forbid evil, and
who observe the limits set by Allah. And give glad tidings to the believers.)
JIHAD AGAINST THE SOUL IN ISLAM
The most
important battle a Muslim needs to fight is the battle within himself against
sinful desires (jihad an-nafs). This is a struggle, a jihad in the way of
Allah, in which all of us need to participate.
Allah tells us
the sinful desires within ourselves must be controlled and submitted to His
will, and whoever does so will enter Paradise.
Allah said:
وَأَمَّا مَنْ خَافَ مَقَامَ رَبِّهِ وَنَهَى النَّفْسَ عَنِ الْهَوَىٰ فَإِنَّ الْجَنَّةَ هِيَ الْمَأْوَىٰ
As for him who
feared to stand before his Lord and he restrained himself from his desires,
then Paradise will be his refuge. Holy Quran Chapter Surat An-Naziat 79:40
For this reason,
the Prophet declared that the true mujahid who wages jihad in the cause of
Allah is the one who wages jihad against himself.
Fadalah ibn Ubaid
reported: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said:
الْمُجَاهِدُ مَنْ جَاهَدَ نَفْسَهُ فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ
The one who
strives in the way of Allah the Exalted is he who strives against his soul.
Source: Musnad Ahmad 23445, Grade: Sahih
Sheikh
Al-Mubarakpuri comments on this tradition, saying:
أَيْ قَهَرَ نَفْسَهُ الْأَمَّارَةَ بِالسُّوءِ عَلَى مَا فِيهِ رِضَا اللَّهِ مِنْ فِعْلِ الطَّاعَةِ وَتَجَنُّبِ الْمَعْصِيَةِ ، وَجِهَادُهَا أَصْلُ كُلِّ جِهَادٍ فَإِنَّهُ مَا لَمْ يُجَاهِدْهَا لَمْ يُمْكِنْهُ جِهَادُ الْعَدُوِّ الْخَارِجِ
This means he
conquers evil inclinations within himself and performs acts of obedience
pleasing to Allah and he avoids acts of disobedience. This jihad is the
foundation for all other types of jihad, for indeed, if he does not perform
this struggle then he cannot struggle against external enemies. Source: Sharh
Sunan At-Tirmidhi 1621
Allah tells us in
several verses that those who purify their hearts from spiritual diseases will
enter Paradise. In fact, no one will succeed in the Hereafter unless they
approach Allah with a clean heart.
Allah said:
قَدْ أَفْلَحَ مَن زَكَّاهَا وَقَدْ خَابَ مَن دَسَّاهَا
He has succeeded
who purifies the soul, and he has failed who corrupts the soul. Holy Quran
Chapter Surat Ash-Shams 91:9-10
And Allah said:
يَوْمَ لَا يَنفَعُ مَالٌ وَلَا بَنُونَ إِلَّا مَنْ أَتَى اللَّهَ بِقَلْبٍ سَلِيمٍ
It will be a day
when there will be no benefit in wealth or children, but only in one who comes
to Allah with a pure heart. Holy Quran Chapter Surat Ash-Shu’ara 26:88-89
This jihad to
purify the soul involves struggling against greed for worldly pleasures,
hypocrisy and insincerity, hatred and envy, arrogance and pride, vanity and
narcissism, and other evil traits which Satan uses to lead us into destruction.
Muslims without a doubt needs to make the struggle against these evils their
top priority.
Indeed, some of
the earliest and most pious scholars among the righteous predecessors (salaf
as-salih) considered the jihad against the soul to be the greatest and most
important jihad.
Ibn Al-Qayyim
reported: It was said to Hasan Al-Basri, “O Abu Sa’eed, which jihad is best?”
Hasan, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
جِهَادُك هَوَاك
Your jihad
against your desires. Source: Rawdat Al-Muhibeen 1/478
Abu Na’eem
reported: Ibrahim ibn Adham, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
أَشَدُّ الْجِهَادِ جِهَادُ الْهَوَى مَنْ مَنَعَ نَفْسَهُ هَوَاهَا فَقَدِ اسْتَرَاحَ مِنَ الدُّنْيَا وَبَلَائِهَا وَكَانَ مَحْفُوظًا وَمُعَافًى مِنْ أَذَاهَا
The most
difficult jihad is the struggle against desire. Whoever can prevent himself
from his desires will be relieved from the world and its trials, and he will be
protected and safe from its harms. Source: Hilyat Al-Awliya 18
Ibn Rajab
reported: Ibrahim ibn Abu Alqamah would say to people when they returned from
an expedition:
قَدْ جِئْتُمْ مِنَ الْجِهَادِ الْأَصْغَرِ فَمَا فَعَلْتُمْ فِي الْجِهَادِ الْأَكْبَرِ
You have come
from the lesser jihad unto the greater jihad.
They said, “What
is the greater jihad?” Ibrahim said:
جِهَادُ الْقَلْبِ
It is the jihad
of the heart. Source: Jami’ Al-Ulum
wal-Hikam 19
In fact, the
great Caliph Umar ibn Abdul Aziz likewise considered this to be the best and
greatest jihad, even though he himself led armies against the enemies of Islam.
Ibn Muflih
reported: Umar ibn Abdul Aziz, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
أَفْضَلُ الْجِهَادِ جِهَادُ الْهَوَى
The best jihad is
the struggle against desire. Source:
Al-Adab Ash-Shar’iya 131
Thereafter, great
scholars of Islam wrote pages and pages about the jihad against the soul and
methods of purifying the heart, such as Ibn Al-Jawzi, Ibn Al-Qayyim, and Abu
Hamid Al-Ghazali. Scholars often referred to this spiritual struggle as the
“greater jihad,” because it takes precedence over any outward physical struggle
we endure.
Ibn Taymiyyah
said:
جِهَادُ النَّفْسِ وَالْهَوَى أَصْلُ جِهَادِ الْكُفَّارِ وَالْمُنَافِقِينَ فَإِنَّهُ لَا يَقْدِرُ عَلَى جِهَادِهِمْ حَتَّى يُجَاهِدَ نَفْسَهُ وَهَوَاهُ أَوَّلًا حَتَّى يَخْرُجَ إلَيْهِمْ
Jihad of the soul
against desire is the foundation of jihad against unbelievers and hypocrites,
for a Muslim cannot wage jihad against them unless he has first waged jihad
against his soul and desires before he goes out against them. Source: Rawdat
Al-Muhibeen 1/478
Furthermore,
armed jihad against an external enemy has conditions and limits and not every
Muslim needs to perform it, yet the internal jihad against the soul must be
practiced by everyone. A just armed jihad cannot be waged by people whose
hearts and minds are defiled by hatred and who are ignorant of Islam’s moral
teachings. As such, Allah has commanded the believers to appoint scholars to
teach those who perform military service so as to prevent them from
transgressing on the battlefield.
Allah said:
وَمَا كَانَ الْمُؤْمِنُونَ لِيَنفِرُوا كَافَّةً ۚ فَلَوْلَا نَفَرَ مِن كُلِّ فِرْقَةٍ مِّنْهُمْ طَائِفَةٌ لِّيَتَفَقَّهُوا فِي الدِّينِ وَلِيُنذِرُوا قَوْمَهُمْ إِذَا رَجَعُوا إِلَيْهِمْ لَعَلَّهُمْ يَحْذَرُونَ
It is not for the
believers to go forth in battle all at once. For there should separate from
every division of them a group to obtain understanding in the religion and to
warn their people when they return to them that they might be cautious. Holy
Quran Chapter Surat At-Tawba 9:122
Therefore, the
jihad against the soul must be practiced by all of us on a daily basis. We must
struggle to purify our hearts from all spiritual diseases that lead to
transgression and sin, for only in this way can our external struggles be made
just and upright.
Success comes
from Allah, and Allah knows best.
sources
Extracts from Tafseer
Holy Quran Chapter 9 Verse 111 by Ibn Kathir
https://abuaminaelias.com/jihad-against-the-soul-in-islam/
