What is the meaning of the hadith: “Fight the disbelievers with your tongues, your wealth, and your selves”?
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The Shaykh : In this worldly life, as he (peace and blessings be upon him) said, . Therefore, fighting the disbelievers is not limited to fighting them with weapons, especially since such fighting is not possible today, much to our regret, due to the conditions the Islamic world is living under, whether material, intellectual, or both colonialism.
So we must note that this third type of jihad mentioned in the previous hadith,, means that fighting the disbelievers with our selves is broader than fighting them with our weapons. This type of fighting, which is unfortunately not possible in the present age, leaves the other parts included in the generality of standing and possible. Among these is that we do not imitate these disbelievers. When we do so, we have realized a part of this jihad against the disbelievers in our selves. Many hadiths, numbering more than forty, are found in my book “The Muslim Woman’s Hijab in the Book and the Sunnah”, all revolving around one important issue in Islam: that the Muslim should not intentionally imitate the disbelievers in any of their clothing or customs, but in all of it. Some of these hadiths speak of the Muslim intentionally differing from the disbelievers even in things one might not think of. The most prominent of these is the saying of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), Sahih Ibn Hibban 10:473, or he said, Sunan Ibn Majah 3621Sahih (Darussalam) So the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) commanded the Muslim who has gray hair to intentionally differ from those who differ from him in religion by dyeing his beard, that is, with henna or similar dyes, on the condition of avoiding dyeing with black, based on the hadith in Muslim that when Abu Quhafah, the father of Abu Bakr al-Siddiq, came to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) after the conquest of Makkah, his beard was like thughamah, which is a white plant like cotton. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said to them, Musannaf Ibn Abi Shaybah 35:87. And he (peace and blessings be upon him) said in another hadith, . Thus, the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) commanded the Muslim in this hadith to intentionally differ from the People of the Book, let alone the other polytheists, by intentionally dyeing his beard so that he is distinguished in his personality from the disbeliever’s personality.
So the way is for the Muslim to fight the disbelievers with everything he is able to, especially what concerns his person, which does not require him to cooperate with others, let alone require him to rely on his state or government. It is a jihad confined to his own self and person.
With this, I believe that the way one can adhere to in order to reach the goal sought by all Islamic callers from various parties and associations, namely establishing the Muslim state, is that there is absolutely no way to it except the path of beginning with reforming souls and reforming individuals. This is the first brick laid for the edifice of the desired state. Otherwise, if these groups or parties continue to keep on asking for the establishment of the Muslim state from those who do not feel jealousy for Islam and do not adopt Islam, neither in belief nor in action, they are only asking for the thing from one who does not have it. And it was said long ago, “One who does not have a thing cannot give it”. So they themselves must begin by realizing what they can of the religious commands, including what we are discussing here: fighting the disbelievers by differing from them in their clothing, their customs, and their various tastes. And by that, we will be able to.
Fight the disbelievers with your tongues, your wealth, and your selves
جاهدوا المشركين بألسنتكم وأموالكم وأنفسكمSo we must note that this third type of jihad mentioned in the previous hadith,
Fight the disbelievers with your tongues, your wealth, and your selves
جاهدوا المشركين بألسنتكم وأموالكم وأنفسكمand your selves
وأنفسكمDiffer from the Jews and the Christians, for they do not dye their hair
خالفوا اليهود والنصارى فإنهم لا يصبغون شعورهمThe Jews and the Christians do not dye (their hair), so differ from them.
إن اليهود والنصارى لا يصبغون شعورهم فخالفوهمChange it with something and keep it away from black
غيّروه بشيء وجنّبوه السوادThere will be among my Ummah some people who dye with black like the crops of birds, and they will not smell the fragrance of Paradise
سيكون في أمّتي أقوام يصبغون بالسواد كحواصل الطير لا يريحون رائحة الجنةSo the way is for the Muslim to fight the disbelievers with everything he is able to, especially what concerns his person, which does not require him to cooperate with others, let alone require him to rely on his state or government. It is a jihad confined to his own self and person.
With this, I believe that the way one can adhere to in order to reach the goal sought by all Islamic callers from various parties and associations, namely establishing the Muslim state, is that there is absolutely no way to it except the path of beginning with reforming souls and reforming individuals. This is the first brick laid for the edifice of the desired state. Otherwise, if these groups or parties continue to keep on asking for the establishment of the Muslim state from those who do not feel jealousy for Islam and do not adopt Islam, neither in belief nor in action, they are only asking for the thing from one who does not have it. And it was said long ago, “One who does not have a thing cannot give it”. So they themselves must begin by realizing what they can of the religious commands, including what we are discussing here: fighting the disbelievers by differing from them in their clothing, their customs, and their various tastes. And by that, we will be able to.