Hadith Eight of An-Nawawi

On the authority of the son of Umar (may Allah be pleased with both of them) , the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “I have been ordered to fight against the people until they testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, establish the prayer and give the zakah. Then, if they do that, their blood and



 wealth will be protected from me – except in accordance with the right of Islam. And their reckoning will be Allah, the exalted”

Reported in Bukhari and Muslim

Brief Commentary:

• The prophet (peace be upon him) mentioned this hadith with a different wording in many different occasions to show its importance
• We learn from this hadith:
  • Why we fight
  • When we fight
  • When it is deemed permissible for a blood of a Muslim to be spilt
• The prophet (peace be upon him) said “I have been ordered” and he did not mention who ordered him, but it is understood that the order came from Allah as there is no higher authority over the prophet (peace be upon him) except Allah
• Scholars have differed on who “the people” that the prophet (peace be upon him) says he has been ordered to fight. The majority opinion is that they are the disbelievers, and that the people of the book (Jews and Christians) are excluded from this as they are eligible to pay jizyah (form of tax) instead
• The objective of jihad is not to kill people, but to make the word of Allah the highest, either by people accepting Islam or by paying the jizyah to the Muslims so that the people who believe in Allah and establish His laws are in a higher authority
• It is a right in Islam that zakah is taken from the people and given to the poor. When the Muslims stopped paying zakah after the prophet’s (peace be upon him) death, Abu Bakr fought them for it, as they had committed an action of apostasy
• Some scholars say that fasting an hajj were not included in the list here because it is much harder to implement due to the many excuses available to allow someone not to fast or go to hajj, and that it is hard to know if someone has stopped fasting or doesn’t believe in going to hajj.
• Other scholars said Salah and Zakah were mentioned because they are more important examples
• A Muslim’s blood is more sacred than the day of ‘Arafah, the month of Dhul Hijjah, and Makkah itself
• The hadith ended with “And their reckoning will be Allah, the exalted”, to tell us that we carry out rulings in this life based on what is apparent and not based on assumptions, and in the day of judgement Allah will deal with everyone in a just way, so if someone is apparently a Muslim, but we feel he is not, we let him be and Allah will be the just ruler on the day of judgement and will recompense that person with what they truly deserve

Benefits and Action points to take from this hadith:

• We fight to make Allah’s word the highest word i.e. Allah’s laws are the highest laws and are implemented
• We fight when there is a Muslim ruler leading us into the fight and must never attack someone without the consent of the valid Muslim leader. Hence this type of jihad cannot be performed due to our own individual decisions and is only initiated by the leaders of the Muslims
• It is permissible to spill the blood of a Muslim if they do not say the shahada, refuse to pray, or refuse to pay zakah, but again, this can only be done with the permission of the Muslim leader in a Muslim country and must never be carried out based on an individual’s own decision
• It is a condition to physically say the shahada to become a Muslim
• Jizyah is only accepted from the people of the book. (Some scholars also added the majus (fireworshippers) to this too)
• Becoming a Muslim protects one’s blood and money as it is not to be touched if they are a Muslim
• Actions that we carry out must always be based on what is apparent, and not on what we assume

And Allah knows Best.