The Book of Jihad: Allah the Exalted said: “And fight the mushrikin (those who associate partners with Allah) all together, just as they fight you all together, and know that Allah is with those who fear Him.” And He said:

The reader: In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
All praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and may peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and all his Companions.
He (may Allah have mercy on him) said: “The Book of Jihad. Allah the Exalted said:

And fight against the disbelievers collectively as they fight against you collectively. And know that Allah is with the righteous [who fear Him].

وقاتلوا المشركين كافة كما يقاتلونكم كافة واعلموا أن الله مع المتقين

[At-Tawbah 9:36]

And He said:

Fighting has been enjoined upon you while it is hateful to you. But perhaps you hate a thing and it is good for you; and perhaps you love a thing and it is bad for you. And Allah Knows, while you know not.

كتب عليكم القتال وهو كره لكم وعسى أن تكرهوا شيئًا وهو خير لكم وعسى أن تحبوا شيئًا وهو شر لكم والله يعلم وأنتم لا تعلمون

[Al-Baqarah 2:216]

And He said:

Go forth, whether light or heavy, and strive with your wealth and your lives in the cause of Allah

انفروا خفافا وثقالا وجاهدوا بأموالكم وأنفسكم في سبيل الله

[At-Tawbah 9:41]

And He said:

Indeed, Allah has purchased from the believers their lives and their properties [in exchange] for that they will have Paradise. They fight in the cause of Allah, so they kill and are killed. [It is] a true promise [binding] upon Him in the Torah and the Gospel and the Qur'an. And who is truer to his covenant than Allah? So rejoice in your transaction which you have contracted. And it is that which is the great attainment.

إن الله اشترى من المؤمنين أنفسهم وأموالهم بأن لهم الجنة يقاتلون في سبيل الله فيقتلون ويقتلون وعدًا عليه حقا في التوراة والإنجيل والقرآن ومن أوفى بعهده من الله فاستبشروا ببيعكم الذي بايعتم به وذلك هو الفوز العظيم

[At-Tawbah 9:111]

”.

The Shaykh : In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
The author, al-Nawawi (may Allah have mercy on him), said in his book *Riyad al-Salihin*: “The Book of Jihad”. Jihad is the verbal noun of *jahada*, and its meaning is exerting effort in combating the enemy. It is divided into three categories. The first category is the jihad of the self, the second is the jihad of the hypocrites, and the third is the jihad of the fighting disbelievers. As for the first, the second and third jihad are built upon it. Its meaning, the meaning of the jihad of the self, is compelling the self to perform the obligatory acts and leave the forbidden ones, because the self needs struggle and effort, for every person has two selves: a self that commands evil and a self that is at peace, which commands good. These two selves are always in conflict; the self that commands evil wants him to do evil, so it is *ammarah* (commanding). *Ammarah* is an intensive form, or a form meaning abundance, or that it is its nature and characteristic to command evil, just as you say *najjar* (carpenter) and *sannā'* (maker) and the like. So the two selves are always in conflict, and a person strives with his peaceful self against his self that commands evil. Try your self when you are about to do good; you will find another puller pulling you toward evil and discouraging you from good, saying, “If you do such and such, such and such will happen,” among the things that discourage good. So you are always in jihad, and the greatest thing a person strives his self in is sincerity to Allah (Mighty and Majestic) in acts of worship, in dealings, in seeking knowledge, in all circumstances. Some of the Salaf said: “I have not striven my self in anything as I have striven it in sincerity”, because a person’s heart may incline to regard the people, or his heart may incline to want a worldly display through an act of the Hereafter, or the like. So sincerity is severe and great, requiring great and severe effort. One word with sincerity saves its owner from the Fire and enters him into Paradise. For this reason, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: And he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: One word of sincerity leads its owner to this great degree: safety from the Fire and entry into Paradise. For this reason, the Salaf (may Allah have mercy on them) knew the value of sincerity and strived their selves in it, and they were eager for all their deeds to be pure for Allah (Mighty and Majestic). With sincerity to Allah, a person must follow the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family), because the sincere one in seeking to reach Allah must take the path that leads to Him, and there is no path that leads to Allah except the path of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him and his family). So it necessitates following. For this reason, it is said: sincerity to Allah the Exalted in intention, and sincerity to the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) in following. So the important point is that the jihad of the self is the foundation for the jihad of the hypocrites and the jihad of the fighting disbelievers. In fact, all deeds are built upon the jihad of the self. Here we remind you of a hadith narrated from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) that he said when he returned from Tabuk: “We have returned from the lesser jihad to the greater jihad”, meaning: the jihad of the self. This hadith has no basis and is not authentic from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family), but it is circulated among people, although it is among the hadiths that have no basis. Because sometimes hadiths become famous on the tongues of people that have no control and no authenticity, like some of them saying: “Love of the homeland is from faith”. This is not correct. Rather, love of the Islamic lands is from faith. As for the homeland, a person may travel from and emigrate from a land of disbelief to a land of Islam, and love for it is not from faith. Rather, the land of disbelief is hated, it and its people. As for the Islamic lands, love for them is from faith, whether they are your homeland or not. This is the first type of jihad, which is the jihad of the self, upon which the jihad of the hypocrites and the jihad of the fighters are built. The second is: the jihad of the hypocrites. The jihad of the hypocrites is also among the most difficult things, because the hypocrite is a hidden enemy, indeed he is the enemy in reality. Look at the saying of Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He): The word “they are the enemy” is a declarative sentence whose two sides of the predicate are definite, so it implies restriction, as if He said, “There is no enemy for you except the hypocrite.” The hypocrite, may Allah protect us from him, is among us; he prays, gives charity, fasts, and claims to be one of us, but he is a spy against us, against us. Perhaps he comes to one of the students of knowledge, attaches himself to him, and shows him love and affection. Then when his companions say to him, “When you go to them, what do you want with this man? Why are you sticking to him?” he says, “I took what he had...” and mocks him. And this, as it existed in the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family), exists in our time now. So how is the jihad of the hypocrite? The hypocrite cannot be fought with the sword, why? Because he appears to be from you and that he is a believer. For this reason, when the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) was asked for permission to kill the hypocrites, he refused to kill them and said: So his companions are Muslims in appearance, so we cannot draw the sword against him. But how is his jihad? By knowledge, debate, and freeing him from remaining in hypocrisy. Do not despair; do not say, “This is a hypocrite, when will he repent?” People have repented from among the hypocrites in the time of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), as Allah the Exalted said: Who are the hypocrites? And when is the pardon? By faith, by repentance from hypocrisy. So Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) may bestow upon the hypocrite and he may repent, so do not despair. Strive against him with knowledge, explanation, advice, and guidance, and warn him of the punishment. This is the jihad of the hypocrite. As for the jihad of the fighting disbeliever, that is what the author intended in this chapter, and he cited in it multiple verses and many hadiths, and its explanation will come, if Allah wills. And Allah knows best.