Should a Muslim always be prepared for jihad?

Muslims should be prepared all the time for jihad. Allah has said in the Qur’an:

“And prepare against them whatever you are able of power and of steeds of war by which you may terrify the enemy of Allah and your enemy and others besides them whom you do not know [but] whom Allah knows. And whatever you spend in the cause of Allah will be fully repaid to you, and you will not be wronged.” [1]

‘Prepare for the disbelievers as much strength and stead the war as you are able, to strike terror in the hearts of the enemies.’ - This is the commandment of Allah that Muslims should be prepared for; this is the mortal of the scuff. Be prepared; the Muslim society should be prepared. It is not that Muslims are by nature warriors; I mean they are just people who get into fights and kill, this is not true, this is not Muslim nature, Muslim nature is peaceful.

Islam comes from the same root as سلام a greeting, peace, people greeting each other السلام عليكم (may peace be upon you). However, the reality is that those who stand for the truth, the ultimate truth, will constantly be under attack by falsehood, by evil. Even though Muslims may not be practicing Islam properly still, Islam represents the ultimate truth, and the forces of evil which are present in the world are geared towards throwing Islam. This is why when we look around we see Muslims everywhere under attack, in Burma they are being driven out and the people are saying they are not really Burmese. Their women are raped, the men are murdered and the children are killed. Burma, Eritrea, Palestine, Philippines, Yugoslavia, everywhere you turn, you will find that Muslims are under attack. Of course we know that some people due to their ignorance think that Muslims are always fighting, and Islam is about fighting. But, this is not true. Once you uphold the truth the forces of evil will try to destroy you. This is what the Seerah of the Prophet Mohammed (ﷺ) tells us. When he was not calling to one God, but worshipped and believed in one God, he was trustworthy in the society and people liked him. But as soon as he received revelation and was commanded now to call the people to the worship of one God, then the whole society became his enemy and they tried to stop him. Things built up from stage to stage to stage, so much so that it eventually became a conflict. This is the history, and this repeats itself wherever Muslims exists.

Hence, knowing that reality, Allah commands the Muslims to be prepared. Our modes of entertainment are encouraged to be those which are connected in one way or another for being prepared. `Uqba ibn `Amir has said, quoting from Prophet Mohammed (ﷺ): “Everything which a Muslim amuses himself is useless except archery, training his horse, and training with his wife.” [2]

In modern days, we use guns. In the past they fired arrows, now we fire bullets. Whatever means of weaponry is present today; we should be trained in it. This should be part of the Muslim educational program. Instead of playing cricket, soccer, etc., we should be training in martial arts especially where the Muslims are in the non-Muslim society, where they are always under attack. It is important for both the Muslim men and women which will make them capable of defending themselves in one state or another, be it by learning how to use the fire alarm and using means like razor or knife or by learning Judo. It should be a part of the normal course of education for Muslim men and women. In that way, whenever Muslims get into problems with the people of the society, they can fight to defend themselves. This would send a clear signal to the enemy that the Muslims are united and can defend each other. The enemy will be hesitant to attack the Muslims then.

This is how Japanese are known because they teach karate in their schools from kindergarten all the way up. When most of the kids graduate, they are already experts in karate. Most people in the West don’t mess with the Japanese because they are equipped with their black belts. In a similar way, Muslims should also be known, because Allah has to strike terror in the hearts of the enemies; so the enemies fear Muslims and they don’t mess with Muslims. If Muslims were looked at in this fashion, then you wouldn’t find all the atrocities meted out to them in the world.

In Sri Lanka, some Tamil Tigers went in a town and massacred 54 Muslims. In retaliation, Muslims went to some nearby villages and massacred around 60 of their families. Is this Islam? This type of action, though is a result of frustration in the hearts of those people whose women and children have been murdered, is forbidden, is haraam. Instead, if those Muslims had been prepared when the Tamil Tigers came into their society, they would not have been able to do cause so much harm. The Muslims would have fought to the last man before they would have killed a child or a woman; this is how the Muslims were known in the past, they would not go and surrender or hide near the bush leaving their child and their women inside the house to be killed. That’s what happened in this case. When the Tamil Tigers came in, the men who were thought to be strong were overwhelmed and ran into the bushes leaving their children to be massacred. 31 out of the 54 people who were killed in those homes were children, small children. The men of the village did not fulfill their duties, they ran; they were cowards! They should have stayed there and died rather than have their children murdered, but they were not prepared.

Muslims in general are not prepared and hence we find the non-Muslim forces directing all of these kinds of attacks and massacres and atrocities on Muslims all around the world. Muslims are not able to face it; until they come together and fulfill the commandments of Allah with regards to jihad and preparations for jihad.

With growing number of Muslims, there are more massacres. The media is more effective in carrying the information forward unlike 10 years back. Now we are able to get the news in the farthest corners of the earth, so now we hear what is happening to Muslims in China, Nigeria, Philippines, etc. Now we are learning about all these happenings. Therefore it seems, that there is much more, and it will continue and will increase until Muslims go back to the commandments that were given to them concerning preparations for jihad and willingness to make sacrifices; spending their wealth to establish that jihad.

In Afghanistan, we see that Muslims in spite of the weakness in terms of the arms, they took on one of the former super power of the world, Russia. It was the defeat of the Russians, the USSR in Afghanistan which began the process of the breakup of the United Socialist Soviet Republic, The Afghanis fought with their bare hands, with little arms and defeated one of the super powers. This shows us that because of the fact that the type of life they lived was rugged to a certain degree, it helped to prepare them. They were not living a luxurious easy life, so taking to the hills, living on very small amount of food etc, was easy for them.  Also, we learn from this struggle is that the Muslim society does not have traditionally a standing army.

During the times of the Prophet Mohammed (ﷺ), there was not a group of Sahabah who was called the army (jaysh), who were paid to be prepared to fight. This was not the way. When the struggle came, the Prophet Mohammed (ﷺ) put out the call and every fit person; young to old, came to fight because it’s the duty of each and every able person to be involved in the jihad. When you have a standing army whose job is just to fight then you build a source of corruption in the society, because these people are paid to fight and the money is their only source of inspiration. Hence, when their lives are threatened, they would flee the battle field.

Sudan declared Islamic Law to be the law of the land about 3 years ago. But about a year ago, Sudan also declared itself to be a place of hijrah, that any Muslim who wants to make hijrah is welcomed. These are parts of the steps of creation of true Islamic society; of course it’s not saying that its perfect in Sudan, but these are some of the efforts they are making.

In the southern part of Sudan they have a struggle going on with Gerang, who is supported by America, Britain and the Christian churches etc., and it’s been a losing battle, up until recently. In the last few months, it seems as though that the whole thing is turning around now, the Sudanese defeating them in battle after battle. How did this happen? Because a large number of Sudanese have joined the army as volunteers to fight, believing that this is jihad now for the establishment of the protection of the Islamic state, for the establishment of its own security etc., They have joined the battle and are fighting for Allah, not because they are paid. With these volunteers, the struggle has turned around, and that’s how it is, when people are fighting for Allah, then they will succeed, they will be given success, Allah will bless their efforts. But when they are fighting because they are paid, then the likelihood of success is very small, it then becomes who has got the most powerful weapons etc., there is no difference between the Muslim and the non-Muslim.

We need to unite until we reach a position of unbreakable unity where Islam becomes a body which stretches all over the earth and becomes THE super power that it should be. But, until then Muslims will be in a weak position, and the only thing that will give them success ultimately is their faith, because that’s what they have over the disbelievers. Their faith in God, their belief that sacrificing one’s life for the sake of Allah is the highest deeds that one may attain, guaranteeing paradise, would give them the superior edge, an edge over the disbelievers. Muslims be prepared for jihad having the intentions of making jihad and take part when it is possible, otherwise Muslims will be defeated as they are being defeated, and massacred. The non-Muslims will continue to humiliate them and create havoc amongst the Muslims around the world, until they take that responsibility which Allah has defined to them, based on the fact that they are the call bearers of the truth, they are the ones holding up the torch of righteousness, of the ultimate truth of Islam, and as such whether they honestly hold it up or they do not, they will become the target of the forces of evil.

References:

[1] Surah al-Anfal, 8:60

[2] Reported by Abu Dawud: Book of Jihad: Chapter: Regarding Shooting - Hadeeth : 2507