Part 6

Magnify your Lord. Purify your clothes. Shun all filth. Do not give out of a desire for gain. Be steadfast for your Lord. ) (74: 1-7) And: ( Be steadfast in the face of what they say and cut yourself off from them - but courteously. ) (73: 9) So you must have three qualities: knowledge, gentleness and patience; knowledge before enjoining good and forbidding evil, gentleness in carrying this out, and patience after it. Reasons for Enjoining Good and Forbidding Evil There are many incentives which encourage you to enjoin good and forbid evil: to receive a reward from Allah to avoid His punishment, to defend Allah's commands and His Shari'a, to give sincere advice to the believers and to save them from Allah's anger and punishment both in this world and in the next, to glorify Allah it by implementing His orders, by obeying Him, by thanking and praising Him and by expending your life and wealth in His way. TWO FIGHTING IN THE WAY OF ALLAH The Merits of Fighting in the Way of Allah From the Quran Allah says: ( Fighting is prescribed for you even if it is hateful to you. It may be that you hate something when it is good for you and it may be that you love something when it is bad for you. Allah knows and you do not know. ) (2: 214) He also says: ( Go out to fight, whatever your circumstances or desires, and do jihad with your wealth and yourselves in the Way of Allah. That is better for you if you only knew. ) (9: 41) He says: ( Allah has bought from the muminun their selves and their wealth in return for the Garden. They fight in the Way of Allah and they kill and are killed. ) (9: 112) Allah it says: ( Those muminun who stay behind — other than those forced to by necessity — are not the same as those who do jihad in the Way of Allah, sacrificing their wealth and themselves. Allah has given those who do jihad with their wealth and themselves a higher rank than those who stay behind. Allah has promised the Best to both, but Allah has preferred those who do jihad over those who stay behind by an immense reward: high ranks conferred by Him as well as forgiveness and mercy. Allah is Ever-Forgiving, Most Merciful. ) (4:94-95) From the Ahadith Abu Hurairah related that a man came to the Messenger of Allah and said, "Tell me what action is equal to doing jihad." He replied, "I do not know of such an action." Then he added, 'Could you, as long as a Muslim fighter is on the battlefield, enter your mosque and perform prayers without stopping and fast without breaking your fast?" The man said, "Who could do that?" Abu Hurairah added, "The mujahid is rewarded even for the steps of his horse as it wanders about tethered on a long rope."16 Abu Sa'eed al-Khudri related that a Bedouin came to the Prophet and said, "O Messenger of Allah! Who is the best of mankind?" The Prophet said, "A man who fights in the Way of Allah with his life and his property, and also a man who lives beside a mountain path among the mountain paths in order to worship his Lord and safeguard people from his evil."17 Anas Ibn Malik related that the Prophet said: "A morning's journey or an afternoon's journey in the Way of Allah is better than the whole world and what is in it."18 Salman al-Farsi related that he heard the Prophet say, "Keeping watch for a day and a night (during jihad) is better than fasting for a whole month and standing in prayer every night. If a person dies (while doing this), it will be as if his action continues and he will go on receiving his reward for it perpetually and he will be saved from the punishment of the grave."19 Abu Hurairah related that the Prophet said: "Whoever dies without having fought in the Way of Allah and without having expressed any desire for jihad has died the death of a hypocrite."20 Abu Hurairah related that he heard the Prophet say, "The example of a mujahid in the Way of Allah - and Allah knows best who really strives in His Way - is like a person who fasts and prays continuously.