Sabun Hadithan fi al-Jihad
- Author died
- 387 AH
- Editions
- مكتبة القرآن
Sabʿun Hadithan fi al-Jihad (Seventy Hadiths on Jihad), also known as Kitab al-Jihad wa-Sabʿun Hadithan fi al-Jihad, is a thematic hadith collection attributed to the Hanbali jurist and traditionist Ibn Battah (d. 387 AH / 997 CE), focusing on the virtues, rulings, and spiritual dimensions of military struggle and ribat.
Content and Structure
The work is organized into thematic chapters collecting Prophetic traditions with their respective texts, including:
- Jihad and the affirmation of its obligation (al-Jihād wa-taʾkīd wujūbih): contains narrations regarding the superiority of embarking on expeditions in the morning or evening in God's path, divine guarantees of paradise or returning safely with reward and spoils, the hundred elevated ranks prepared in Paradise for fighters, and the saying that the gates of Paradise lie beneath the shadows of swords.
- Sincerity of intention in jihad (Ikhlāṣ al-niyyah fī al-jihād): includes traditions emphasizing that fighting solely to ensure that God's word remains supreme earns the true reward, whereas participating for worldly gain or reputation invalidates compensation, alongside the foundational hadith that deeds are judged according to intentions.
- Spending in the way of God (al-Nafaqah fī sabīl Allāh): gathers hadiths regarding the multiplication of financial expenditure for the cause up to seven hundredfold, as well as the reward for outfitting a fighter or caring for his family in his absence.
- Garrison duty (al-Ribāṭ fī sabīl Allāh): focuses on the merit of stationed frontier duty (ribāṭ), stating that a single day and night of outpost guard exceeds fasting and praying an entire month, and spares the sentry the trial of the grave.
- Night-guarding (al-Ḥirāsah fī sabīl Allāh): presents traditions detailing the status of keeping watch in dangerous territories during the night.
Authorship and Publication
While attributed to Ibn Battah in bibliographical listings and modern printings, researchers such as Sulayman ibn Abd Allah al-Umayr have investigated its attribution and concluded that the text is not an independent original composition by Ibn Battah, but rather an abridgment (mukhtaṣar) of his larger, comprehensive work titled Kitāb al-Jihād. The text was published in Cairo in 1409 AH (1988–1989 CE).
Answer updated