Explanation of the author's statement: And his saying (… Blessed is the slave who takes the reins of his horse in the cause of Allah, his head disheveled, his feet dusty.

The Shaykh : He said: , or the reverse of the first. This man does not care about this world and does not concern himself with it; rather, he cares about the Hereafter and the establishment of the religion of Allah. So you find him always ready for jihad, taking the reins of his horse in the cause of Allah. And his saying: Is it from the good? It is a superlative name, the most excellent. "Aṭayyab" is for the masculine, and "Ṭūbā" is for the feminine. The meaning is that the most excellent state is for this man. It was also said that Ṭūbā is the name of a tree in Paradise. The first meaning is more general. This is like what some said regarding "Wail"; some said it is a word of warning, and some said it is a valley in Hellfire. And he said: meaning in jihad in the cause of Allah. The criterion for jihad in the cause of Allah is to fight so that the word of Allah is the highest, not to fight out of tribal loyalty, bravery, patriotism, or the like. However, if one fights out of patriotism with the intention of protecting his homeland because it is an Islamic homeland, then this is jihad in the cause of Allah. Likewise, if one fights to protect himself, his wealth, and his family, then as the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said, if he is killed defending them, he is a martyr.
He said: his head disheveled means that his head is disheveled from the dust in the cause of Allah. So he is a man who does not care about his body, nor does he care about his appearance, as long as this state results from obedience to Allah (Mighty and Majestic). Likewise, his feet are dusty from traveling in the cause of Allah, and this is proof that the most important thing for this man is jihad. As for his hair being clean, or his clothes being clean, or his bed being clean, he has no concern for that. For this reason, he said: the guard and the rear guard are not the front of the army. The guard is the one who guards the army, and the rear guard is to be in its rear. These two phrases have two meanings. The first meaning is that he does not care where he is placed; if he is in the guard and told to guard, he guards, and if he is in the rear guard and told to be in the rear guard, he is in the rear guard. He does not say: I am … a man, my rank is higher than this position, put me in the front or the like. No, he is where he is placed and does not care. It is also possible that the meaning is: if he is in the guard, he is in the guard in the sense that he guards and fulfills the duty of guarding, and likewise if he is in the rear guard. The hadith is suitable for both meanings, and both are correct and do not contradict each other, so it must be understood to include both.