Uthman (ra) stood on the pulpit and said: “I heard from the
Messenger of Allah (Peace be upon him) a hadith that I didn’t tell you about
previously because I feared you would all leave from Madinah. I heard him say:
‘Being stationed in the path of Allah for a day is better than 1000 days
anywhere else. So let everyone choose what they like.”
Abu Bakr as Sideeq (ra) escorted an army and walked with
them and then said, “Praise be to Allah for having dust on our feet in his
cause.” A man said: “But we just escorted them and gave them farewell?” Abu
Bakr said: “We prepared them, gave them farewell and made prayers for them.”
Abu Bakr bin Abi Musa said I heard my father say: “Paradise
is beneath the shadow of swords.” A man dressed in poor clothes stood up and
said: “O Abu Musa! Did you hear that from the Messenger of Allah(Peace be upon
him)?” He said “yes” The man went back to his companions and gave them his
salaams, then he drew out his sword, broke his sheath and went on to fight
until he was killed.”
Urwah bin al Zubair said: “Al Zubair had three scars from
sword wounds. One was on his shoulder. It was so large I would stick my fingers
in it. Two of them were from Badr and one in the battle of Yarmuk”
Anas bin Malik (ra) said: ‘Abu al Dujanah threw himself
behind the walls in Yamamah and his leg broke. He kept on fighting with a
broken leg until he was killed.’
Muadh bin Amr bin al Jamooh said: ‘I made Abu Jahl my target
on the day of Badr. When I found him, I charged at him and hit him with my
sword and cut his leg in two. Then his son Ikrimah hit me on my shoulder until
he cut off my arm. It only remained hanging to my body by the skin of my side.
But because fighting distracted me I remained dragging it behind me for most of
the day. Dragging my arm behind me annoyed me so I placed my foot over it and
pulled it off.’
Khalid bin al Waleed (ra) said: “That I were to marry a
beautiful woman whom I love, or that I were given the good news of having a
newborn son, it is less beloved and dear to my heart then to be, in a cold icy
night, in an army waiting to meet the enemy the next morning. I advise you to
go on Jihad”
These were the words of Khalid before his death. He also
said, “I was prevented a lot of reciting of Quran because of my preoccupation
with Jihad.”
Abdullah bin Amr said, “Shall I tell you about the best
martyr on the Day of Judgment? That is the one who stands in the ranks on the
battlefield and when they face the enemy he does not turn left or right. Rather
he carries his sword and says: “O Allah! Today I hand over to you my soul to
make up for my past days!” and then he is killed. That person is among the
martyrs who now lie down in the high rooms of Paradise wherever they wish!”
Ibn Umar (ra) said, “One trip on Jihad is better than 50
Hajjs.”
Abu al Hassan al Muradi narrated that Ali bin Bakar said: “I’ve
seen a Muslim in a battle against the Romans with his intestines spilled in
front of him over his saddle. He stuck them back to his stomach and tied his
turban around it. He carried on fighting and ended up killed over ten Roman soldiers
before falling dead!”
Al Khateeb mentions in “The history of Baghdad” and Ibn
Asakir in “The history of Damascus”, that Muhammad bin Fadhail bin Iyad said:
“I saw Ibn al Mubarak in my dream so I asked him “What did you find your best
deeds to be?” He said: “The deed that I preoccupied myself with.” I asked “Jihad
and Ribaat?” He said: “Yes.” I told him “So what did Allah Almighty do to you?”
He said, “He forgave me.”
Al Fadhl bin Ziyad said: I heard Abu Abdullah (Imam Ahmad)
when Qazw was mentioned to him he started to cry and then said, “There is no
act of worship greater than it”
(Ibn Qudamah records) in al Mugni it states that Imam Ahmad
said: “There is nothing comparable in rewards to meeting the enemy. And for one
to involve in the actual fighting is the best of deeds (compared to supportive
roles.) The ones who are fighting the enemy are the ones defending Islam, so
what can be greater than that? People feel save while they feel fear. They have
given up their souls for Allah.”
Uthman is one of the Imams of the Tabi’een and one of their
fighters. He was asked, “Are you going out to fight this year?” He said, “Yes,
I wouldn’t want to miss fighting even if I were to make 100,000 dinars.”
Saad bin Abdul Aziz said Abu Muslim al Khawlani died in the
territory of the Romans during the reign of Mu’awyah. He told Bisr bin Arta’ah
(a companion who was the leader of their army): “Appoint me as the Amir
(commander) over the dead and hand me the banner of war and make my grave the
closest of all the graves of the martyrs to the enemy. I want to be resurrected
on the Day of Judgment carrying the banner of war leading the martyrs.”
Yazeed bin Abi Ubayd said: “I asked Salamah bin al Akwa: “What
was your pledge to the Messenger of Allah on the day of Hudaybiah?” He said: “We
pledged to die.”
Al Qurtubi writes in his Tafseer, “As long as the enemy is
more than twice the number of Muslims they can retreat but being steadfast and
fighting is better. In the battle of Mutah the Muslims with only 3000 faced the
Roman army of 200,000 Roman soldiers and 100,000 Arab soldiers. It is also mentioned
that when Tariq was opening al Andalusia he had only 1700 soldiers while his
enemy was 70,000 strong.”
Source: ‘Mashari al-Ashwaq ila Masari al-Ushaaq’ by Imam Ibn Nuhaas
Translated by Imam Anwar Awlaki
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