The Prophet's ﷺ Guidance in Warfare — Siyar and Jihad

The section of Zad al-Ma'ad addressing the Prophet's ﷺ guidance in warfare is among the most extensive in the work — reflecting the significant portion of the Madinan period that was characterized by military campaigns (ghazawat) and the elaborate body of prophetic guidance on the ethics, strategy, and conduct of warfare that emerged from that period. Ibn al-Qayyim's treatment demonstrates that the Islamic laws of warfare are not later developments or compromises with political reality but part of the revealed prophetic guidance.

The Prophet ﷺ conducted or authorized approximately 27 personal military expeditions (ghazawat) and dispatched approximately 36 separate expeditionary forces (saraya) during the Madinan period. Each was governed by explicit prophetic instructions on conduct, and the cumulative body of these instructions constitutes what Islamic law calls the Siyar (the law of nations and warfare). Ibn al-Qayyim presents both the specific details of the Prophet's ﷺ military practice and the overarching ethical principles that governed it.

The pre-battle instructions that the Prophet ﷺ gave to his commanders are foundational for Islamic warfare law. Abu Bakr al-Siddiq — following the prophetic example — gave his commanders instructions when dispatching them to Syria that include among the most noble statements of the ethics of war ever articulated: 'You will find a people who have devoted themselves in monasteries — leave them to what they have devoted themselves to. Do not kill women or children or the elderly. Do not cut a fruitful tree. Do not destroy inhabited buildings. Do not slaughter a sheep or a cow or a camel except for food. You will pass by peoples who have left the middle of their heads bald (monks) — strike them with the sword (in battle). In the name of Allah, proceed.' (Malik in al-Muwatta'.)

The prohibition of killing non-combatants is among the most firmly established principles of Islamic warfare law. The Prophet ﷺ explicitly prohibited the killing of women and children — 'He saw a woman who had been killed in one of the raids, and he was displeased by this and prohibited the killing of women and children.' (Al-Bukhari and Muslim.) Similarly prohibited is the killing of monks, hired laborers, old men who are not fighting, and others who are not engaged in combat.

The Prophet ﷺ also prohibited mutilation (muthla) of the killed enemy — 'Do not mutilate corpses' — and prohibited the killing of animals beyond what was necessary for food. The burning of crops, the destruction of civilian infrastructure, and the deception of non-combatants were all subject to restriction under the prophetic guidance.

Ibn al-Qayyim's analysis of the legal status of jihad — that it is an obligation (fard) of two types: fard ayn (individually obligatory when the enemy attacks Muslim lands) and fard kifayah (collectively obligatory at other times, discharged when sufficient numbers participate) — reflects the classical Sunni juristic consensus. The chapter is careful to distinguish between the different contexts in which the Prophet ﷺ fought and to draw the appropriate legal lessons from each, rather than applying any single campaign's specific tactics as universal rules.