A Study of Hassan al-Banna's "On Jihad"
Part 7
Muslim Brotherhood founder Hassan al-Banna published his treatise "On Jihad" in the late 1930s. In his book on the group, Brynjar Lia notes that the treatise eventually "became a required part of the Muslim Brothers' curriculum." This translation comes from Wendell's 1977 collection, Five Tracts of Hasan Al-Banna (1906-1949), and is the only one available that has not been sanitized for Western audiences.
Al-Banna completes his ahadith section...
(24) On the authority of Jabir b. 'Abd Allah (May God Almighty be pleased with him;), who said: "When 'Abd Allah b. Amr b. Haram was slain on the Day of Uhud, the Apostle of God (May God bless and save him) said: ' O Jabir, shall I tell you what God (August and Majestic is He!) said to your father?' I said: 'Yes indeed!' He said: 'God speaks to no one save from behind a veil, but He spoke to your father face to face, saying: " O My servant, ask of Me what thou wilt, and it shall be granted." He said: " O Lord, grant me life, that I may be slain for Thee for a second time!" He said: "But I have already decreed that 'they shall not return unto it.'"28 He said: " O Lord, let them know who are [left] behind me." So God (August and Majestic is He!) sent down this verse: "Do not reckon those who have been slain in God's way as dead…" And so on up to the end of the verse'" [Q.3:169]. Transmitted by Ibn Maja.
(25) On the authority of Anas, on the authority of his father (May God be pleased with them!), on the authority of the Prophet (May God bless and save him!), who said: "That I accompany a fighter in God's way and bestead him on his jour¬ ney, departing or reverting, is more pleasing to me than this world and what it contains." Transmitted by Ibn Maja.
"to bestead him on his journey" = to help him on it.
"departing" = setting out in the morning.
"reverting" = coming back in the evening.(26) On the authority of Abu Hurayra, who said: "The Apostle of God (May God bless and save him!) said: 'God has sent forth three: the campaigner, the pilgrim, and the visitant to the Ka'ba.'" Transmitted by Muslim.
(27) On the authority of Abu 'l-Darda', who said: "The Apostle of God (May God bless and save him;) said: 'The martyr will intercede on behalf of seventy of the people of his house.'" Transmitted by Abu Da'ud.
(28) On the authority of 'Abd Allah b. 'Umar, who said: "The Apostle of God (May God bless and save him!) said: 'If you traffic in commodities on credit, and if you grasp the tails of cattle, and if you are content to sow [fields], and if you abandon jihad. God will cast upon you a humiliation which He will not lift from you until you return to your religion.'" Transmitted by 'Ahmad [b. Hanbal] and 'Abu Da'ud, and attested as to its authenticity by Al-Hakim [al-Naysaburi].
(29) On the authority of Abu Hurayra (May God be pleased with himi), who said: "The Apostle of God (May God bless and save him!) and his Companions set out in a hurry so that they reached Badr ahead of the polytheists. The polytheists arrived, and the Apostle of God (May God bless and save him!) said: 'Forward to Paradise, whose width embraces the heavens and the earth!' 'Umayr b. al-Humam said: 'Hurrah! hurrah!' The Apostle of God (May God bless and save him!) said: 'What impels you to say "Hurrah! hurrah!"' He said: 'Nothing, O Apostle of God, except the hope that I may be one of its people.' He said: 'You are indeed one of its people.'" He [Abu Hurayra] said: "And he ['Umavr] took out some dates from his quiver and began eating them. Then he said: 'If I live long enough to eat [all] my dates, my life will indeed be a long one!' So he flung away the remaining dates, and fought them until he was slain." Transmitted by Muslim.
(30) On the authority of Abu 'Imran, who said: "We were at the city of Rum [Constantinople], and they sent out a mighty column of Byzantines against us. A like number of Muslims, and even more, came out against them. 'Uqba b. Amir was at the head of the Egyptians, and Fadala b. 'Ubayd at the head of the entire force. One of the Muslims attacked the Byzantine column until he broke into it. The men shouted and said: “Glory be to God! He has cast himself into annihilation!” But Abu Ayyub al-Ansari rose and said: "Men, you interpret this verse in this manner, but it was sent down concerning only us, the band of the Ansar. When God made Islam powerful and its defenders grew numerous, some of us said to others in secrecy, but not to the Apostle of God (May God bless and save him!): "Indeed our wealth has been lost, and God Almighty has made Islam powerful, while its defenders have grown numerous. What if we were to settle down with our wealth and make good what we have lost of it?" So God Almighty sent down an answer, rebutting what we had said, to His Prophet: "and do not be cast by your own hands into annihilation" [Q.2:195]. The "annihilation" was settling down with our wealth, augmenting it, and abandoning the campaign.' And Abu Ayyub went on faring in God's way until he was buried in the land of Rum. Transmitted by Al-Tirmidhi.
Notice, Brother, that Abu Ayyub was at an advanced age when he said this, having gone well past his youth and his middle years. And despite this, his heart, his spirit, and his faith were models for vigorous youth as support for God and the might of Islam.
(31) On the authority of Abu Hurayra (May God be pleased with him), on the authority of the Apostle of God (May God bless and save him!), that he said: "He who dies without having gone on campaign, and without having exhorted himself to do so, dies in a species of hypocrisy." Transmitted by Muslim, Abu Da'ud, and many of their peers.
And there are precious Traditions on this subject and the like, as well as on campaigning by sea and its manifold superiority over campaigning by land, and on campaigning against the People of the Book.
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