Irshad al-Ibad fi Fadl al-Jihad
- Author died
- 1272 AH
- Editions
- Dar al-Basha'ir al-Islamiyyah for Printing, Publishing, and Distribution
Irshad al-Ibad fi Fadl al-Jihad (Guiding the Servants on the Merit of Jihad) is a concise treatise on the virtues, religious obligations, and legal rulings of military struggle in Islam, written by the Damascene scholar Hasan al-Bitar (1206–1272 AH / 1791–1856 CE).
Occasion of Composition
The treatise was composed in late 1269 AH (c. 1853 CE), prompted by an imperial Ottoman decree issued by Sultan Abdülmecid I rallying the populace to arms after the Russian Empire encroached upon Ottoman territories. Inspired by reports transmitted from Ali ibn Abi Talib concerning the divine reward for inciting believers to fight in God's cause, al-Bitar compiled selections from classical Islamic scholarship to encourage Muslims to defend Islamic lands.
Structure and Contents
The author arranged the text into an introduction, two main chapters, and a conclusion:
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Introduction (Muqaddima): Outlines the legal status of jihad under Islamic jurisprudence. Al-Bitar explains that when non-Muslim forces remain within their own borders, jihad is a collective obligation (fard kifaya), satisfied by fortifying border outposts or by an expedition led by the ruler or his deputy at least once a year. However, when an enemy invades a Muslim territory or draws within traveling distance, resistance becomes an individual obligation (fard 'ayn) upon the local inhabitants and neighboring populations. He adds that rescuing a captured Muslim also constitutes an individual obligation.
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Chapter One (al-Bab al-Awwal): Focuses on urging and encouraging believers toward jihad. It cites relevant Quranic verses and prophetic traditions regarding the spiritual rank of martyrs (shuhada'), the merits of border defense (ribat), the maintenance of war mounts, and financial expenditure for the war effort. In this chapter, the author draws attention to the plight of Muslims in Algeria under colonial conquest, describing their suffering and captivity as a cautionary example against complacency.
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Chapter Two (al-Bab al-Thani): Analyzes the causes behind enemy aggression against Islamic lands. Al-Bitar attributes Muslim vulnerability to internal spiritual decay, disunity, the neglect of enjoining good and forbidding wrong, failure to execute legal prescribed penalties (hudud), attachment to worldly pleasures, and unlawful imitation of foreigners. He calls for sincere repentance (tawbah), military preparation, and obedience to the ruler, concluding with specific supplicatory prayers and reminders transmitted from early scholars and the Prophet ﷺ for times of combat.
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Conclusion (Khatima): Discusses the rulings of war spoils (ghanima), including the definition of booty, the conditions for claiming personal spoils from slain combatants (salab), the distribution of four-fifths of the booty among the combatants (differentiating between cavalry and infantry shares), and the division of the remaining fifth (khums), comparing Hanafi and Shafi'i legal opinions.
Manuscript and Publication
The text is preserved in a 16-folio manuscript held at the Zahiriyya Library in Damascus (MS 7166), written in the author's own hand. It was edited and annotated by Muhammad ibn Nasir al-Ajmi and published by Dar al-Basha'ir al-Islamiyya in Beirut in 1421 AH / 2000 CE as part of the Liqa' al-'Ashr al-Awakhir bi-l-Masjid al-Haram series.
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