jihad - Khadijah Mosque

JihadIn Mecca, Sayyidina Abu Bakr tried with loveand gentleness to convince his son as to theveracity of Islam. He used the best and loftiestmeans to try to bring him over to Islam, yetAllah had not decreed for him to become aMuslim just yet. Sayyidina Abu Bakr madeHijrah and later went to fight in the battle ofBadr. This son of his also went out on the day ofBadr, yet he was with the kuffar. The son wastrying his best to avoid his father so they wouldnot have to fight each other. Later, when hisson accepted Islam, he said to his father, “Ohmy father, on the day of Badr (when I was akafir) I was avoiding you so we wouldn’t have tofight.” Sayyidina Abu Bakr replied to him, “Asfor me, if I met you on that day I would havekilled you.”What is the reason behind this? This intricatepoint is necessary for us to understand. Whenthe action of the son wasn’t based on servitudeto Allah, but rather, was based on compassion(for his father), and his going out to battle wasonly for glory, honor, and nationalistic goals,this was how he acted. His actions were a slaveto his emotions. On the other hand, the actionsof Sayyidina Abu Bakr (in Mecca) and his loveand compassion were not for himself, but forthe sake of his Lord. So when the time camethat he had to serve Allah by fighting againsthis son, he didn’t waiver, even if it meant hisown son’s death. We are in need of this criterionin establishing the correct concept of jihad withthe kuffar.Therefore, the understanding of jihad is toestablish the means for the guidance andsalvation of the kuffar, not merely to just fightthem. Fighting them happens in a few cases,and the goal behind it is to save others from theoppression of the ones who are preventing theguidance from spreading. We do not fight out ofrevenge and spite. The Muslim doesn’t fightbecause the kafir is my (personal) enemy,because the kafir is conspiring against me,because the kafir has killed and slaughteredother Muslims. The Muslim fights the kafirbecause he has prevented and has become abarrier for the guidance to reach others. Again,the Muslim doesn’t fight out of revenge andonly because the enemy has killed otherMuslims. Think about what is being said deeply!The Prophet, may the peace and blessings ofAllah be upon him, when he entered Mecca,didn’t avenge for the killings of the Muslims onthe day of Uhud, even though Allah establishedhim over the kuffar on that day of the greatConquest (the Fath). These disbelievers inMecca were the same ones who killed hiscompanions and members of his own family!These were the same people who barred theguidance from reaching others. These were thesame people who ripped open the chest andstomach of Sayyidina Hamza (the uncle andcompanion of the Blessed Prophet, peace beupon him). These were the same people whoate from the liver of Sayyidina Hamza, may Allahbe blessed with him. And what is more amazingis that those who actually conspired to kill Hamza(Hind and Wahshi), their Islam was acceptedby the Prophet, peace and blessing be uponhim, and he didn’t kill either of them even aftertheir accepting of the faith.If we were to understand that the purpose offighting against the kuffar is to avenge for spiltMuslim blood then it would have been befittingfor the Prophet, peace be upon him, to commandthe killing of Wahshi and Hind right when heentered Mecca. But the issue with the Muslimsis not one of revenge, it is an issue of guidanceand the spreading of its light. The Muslim isthe “letter of guidance” sent to humanity fromAllah (al-Muslim bareed hidayat-illah ila alkhalq).So when the Prophet, peace andblessings be upon him, saw that there was hopein them being guided he said, “Go, for verilyyou are free.” And this is how our interactionmust be. The day I meet with an enemy soldieroff the battle field, who killed Muslims inAfghanistan, and I sense that he may wantguidance, then I will treat him with the utmostof mercy. This is what we MUST understand.So our ultimate and primary mission in jihad istheir guidance, even while we might be(physically) fighting them!All this is clearly understood in the beautifulstory where our Blessed Messenger, peace andblessings be upon him, got upset with Usamahibn Zaid, the beloved, the son of the beloved(he was named this because the Prophet, peacebe upon him, loved him greatly). Usamah wasout on the battle field fighting the enemy.During the heat of the battle one of the enemiesslipped and fell, so Usamah lifted his sword tostrike him. Immediately the enemy shouted out“La ilaha illa Allah, Muhammad Rasul-lullah,”yet, Usamah struck and killed the man anyway.The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him,heard of this and began to greatly blame andcensure Usamah saying, “Did you kill him after44 Masjid Khadijah