The Intensi󰀈椀cation

and Reorientation of Sunni Jihad

Ideology in the Crusader Period
 Islamic History
and Civilization
Studies and Texts

Editorial Board
Sebastian Günther
Wadad Kadi

VOLUME 99

The titles published in this series are listed at brill.com/ihc

 The Intensi󰀈椀cation
and Reorientation of Sunni Jihad
Ideology in the Crusader Period

Ibn ʿAsākir of Damascus (1105–1176) and His Age,

with an Edition and Translation of Ibn ʿAsākir’s
The Forty Hadiths for Inciting Jihad

By
Suleiman A. Mourad
James E. Lindsay

LEIDEN • BOSTON
2013
Cover illustration: First page of Ibn ʿAsākir’s Forty Hadiths, dated 617 H/1221 ce (Ẓāhirīya Ms.,
Damascus; used with permission from Juma al-Majid Center for Culture and Heritage, Dubai).

This publication has been typeset in the multilingual “Brill” typeface. With over 5,100 characters
covering Latin, IPA, Greek, and Cyrillic, this typeface is especially suitable for use in the humanities.
For more information, please see www.brill.com/brill-typeface.

ISSN 0929-2403
ISBN 978-90-04-23066-8 (hardback)
ISBN 978-90-04-24279-1 (e-book)

Copyright 2013 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands.

Koninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints Brill, Global Oriental, Hotei Publishing,
IDC Publishers and Martinus Nijho󰀇f Publishers.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in
a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission from the publisher.

Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal use is granted by Koninklijke Brill NV
provided that the appropriate fees are paid directly to The Copyright Clearance Center,
222 Rosewood Drive, Suite 910, Danvers, MA 01923, USA.
Fees are subject to change.

This book is printed on acid-free paper.

 CONTENTS

List of Maps and Figures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii

Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix
Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xiii
Notes on Transliteration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xv

PART ONE
THE INTENSIFICATION AND REORIENTATION OF
SUNNI JIHAD IDEOLOGY IN THE CRUSADER PERIOD:
IBN ʿASĀKIR OF DAMASCUS (1105–1176) AND HIS AGE

I. Ibn ʿAsākir (1105–1176): Life and Career . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

1. Life, Education, and Career . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
2. Works . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

II. Jihad in Early Islamic History: An Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

1. Religion and Warfare . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
2. Jihad and Warfare in the Qurʾan. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
3. Jihad and Warfare in Islamic History before the Crusader
Period . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

III. Jihad Preaching in Damascus between the First and Second

Crusades . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
1. Al-Sulamī and His Book of Jihad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
2. The Sunni Damascene Establishment and Jihad Propaganda
after al-Sulamī . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
3. Was Ibn ʿAsākir Aware of al-Sulamī’s Book of Jihad? . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

IV. Ibn ʿAsākir and the Intensi󰀈椀cation and Reorientation of Sunni

Jihad Ideology in the Twelfth Century . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
1. Ibn ʿAsākir and Nūr al-Dīn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
2. Ibn ʿAsākir as Propagandist of Jihad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
3. The “Forty Hadiths” Genre . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
4. Ibn ʿAsākir’s Forty Hadiths and the Intensi󰀈椀cation and
Reorientation of Sunni Jihad Ideology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
vi contents

5. Aḥmad al-Ḥanafī of Aleppo, al-Wāsiṭī of Iraq, and al-Qāḍī

ʿIyāḍ of Morocco . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

V. The Forty Hadiths for Inciting Jihad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

1. The Manuscript . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
2. The Forty Hadiths’ Characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
3. Teachers from whom Ibn ʿAsākir Derived the Material for His
Forty Hadiths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
4. Ibn ʿAsākir’s Distinctive Vision of Jihad in His Forty Hadiths . . . 69
5. Quranic Passages in Ibn ʿAsākir’s Forty Hadiths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75

VI. Ibn ʿAsākir’s Forty Hadiths and the Intensi󰀈椀cation and

Reorientation of Sunni Jihad Ideology in Thirteenth-Century
Damascus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
1. The Colophons (Samāʿāt) on al-Birzālī’s Copy of Ibn ʿAsākir’s
Forty Hadiths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
2. What Do the Colophons Tell Us about Sunni Jihad
Propaganda in Thirteenth-Century Damascus? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95

VII. The Legacy of the Intensi󰀈椀cation and Reorientation of Sunni

Jihad Ideology since the Thirteenth-Century . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
1. Ibn Taymīya . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
2. The Early Modern Period. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
3. Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119

PART TWO
EDITION AND TRANSLATION OF
AL-ARBAʿŪN ḤADĪTHAN FĪ AL-ḤATHTH ʿALĀ AL-JIHĀD
(THE FORTY HADITHS FOR INCITING JIHAD)

Notes on the Arabic Edition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125

Notes on the English Translation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
Text and Translation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129

Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215
Index of Qurʾanic & Biblical References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222
 LIST OF MAPS AND FIGURES

Map 1. The Medieval Islamic World . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Map 2. The Central Islamic Lands in the Crusader Period . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Map 3. Medieval Damascus and the Umayyad Mosque compound
with study session locations indicated . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
Fig. 1. The courtyard of the Umayyad Mosque . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
Fig. 2. The prayer hall of the Umayyad Mosque and Tomb of St. John
the Baptist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
Fig. 3. The title page of the unique extant manuscript of Ibn ʿAsākir’s
Forty Hadiths for Inciting Jihad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
Fig. 4. The last folio of the text showing some of the colophons . . . . . . . . 103
 PREFACE

Sultan Nūr al-Dīn Zangī’s (d. 1174) occupation of Damascus in 1154, in the
wake of the Second Crusade’s failed attempt to conquer the city, represents
a major turning point in the Muslim response to the Crusades. Through-
out his reign, Nūr al-Dīn patronized religious scholars and ordered the
construction of an extensive network of religious and secular institutions
and monuments—mosques, minarets, schools, hospitals, city walls, for-
ti󰀈椀cations, etc.—in order to strengthen his hand in Syria and to further
enhance his religious and public image. Not surprisingly, Nūr al-Dīn’s gen-
erous patronage gained the sultan tremendous support both from Syrian
Sunni scholars and the Syrian Sunni masses for his jihad against the Franks
and his chief Muslim rivals the Shiʿi Fatimids in Egypt.
Nūr al-Dīn found in Ibn ʿAsākir (d. 1176) a particularly ardent defender
of Sunni Islam and commissioned the scholar to author a manual on jihad
for use in preaching and propaganda. Nūr al-Dīn also ordered that a school
for the study of Hadith and its sciences—which became known as Dār al-
Ḥadīth al-Nūrīya (Nūr al-Dīn’s House of the Study of Hadith) or Dār al-Sunna
(House of the Study of the Prophet’s Way of Life and Teachings)—be built
for his new scholarly ally. This school served as the intellectual epicenter of
Nūr al-Dīn’s jihad in Syria and Egypt. For centuries, it was one of the city’s
most prestigious centers for the study of Hadith.
The Intensi󰀇椀cation and Reorientation of Sunni Jihad Ideology in the Cru-
sader Period examines the important role of Ibn ʿAsākir, including his Forty
Hadiths for Inciting Jihad, in the intensi󰀈椀cation and reorientation of jihad
ideology in twelfth-century Damascus as part of Nūr al-Dīn’s two-fold reli-
gious and political agenda. First, there is the promotion of Islam against its
external enemies, the Christian Crusaders. Such an agenda against Chris-
tian forces was to be expected of any Muslim ruler in Syria since the initial
conquests of Byzantine lands in the seventh century. Second, there is the
promotion of Sunnism against its internal enemies, speci󰀈椀cally the Shiʿi
Fatimid regime in Egypt and their sympathizers in Syria. We argue that the
use of the ideology of jihad against “errant” or “deviant” Muslims begin-
ning in the eleventh and twelfth centuries represents a reorientation of the
jihad ideology in mainstream Islamic scholarship in that it is a departure
from the traditional scholarly aversion to identifying intra-Muslim disputes
and con󰀆lficts as jihads. Moreover, the dissemination of jihad as exclusively
x preface

centered on selected quranic verses and prophetic hadiths by Ibn ʿAsākir

and other scholars of the Crusader period also represents a reorientation
that goes against the attention to legal requirements and nuances that the
earlier scholarly tradition emphasized. Hence our title—The Intensi󰀇椀cation
and Reorientation of Sunni Jihad Ideology in the Crusader Period.
Part One: The Intensi󰀇椀cation and Reorientation of Sunni Jihad Ideology
in the Crusader Period: Ibn ʿAsākir (1105–1176) and His Age consists of seven
chapters that examine the process of the intensi󰀈椀cation and reorientation
of the doctrine of jihad in the Crusader period, the role of Ibn ʿAsākir and
other Sunni scholars in this process, and its lasting legacy in mainstream
Sunni thought. They also serve as an introduction to and commentary on
Ibn ʿAsākir’s Forty Hadiths for Inciting Jihad. Part Two is an edition of the
Arabic text of al-Arbaʿūn ḥaḍīthan fī al-ḥathth ʿalā al-jihād and an annotated
English translation of the Forty Hadiths for Inciting Jihad.
The 󰀈椀rst three chapters of The Intensi󰀇椀cation and Reorientation of Sunni
Jihad Ideology in the Crusader Period provide the historical background and
context for the subsequent four chapters. Chapter One is a brief survey of
Ibn ʿAsākir’s life, education, and career as well as the kinds of works that Ibn
ʿAsākir composed in Damascus, both prior to and after Nūr al-Dīn’s conquest
of the city in 1154. Chapter Two provides an overview of the ideology of jihad
and warfare in the Qurʾan and in Islamic history down to the eve of the
Crusader period. Chapter Three examines the initial e󰀇forts to preach jihad
in Damascus between the First and Second Crusades.
Chapter Four is devoted to the important role that Ibn ʿAsākir staked out
for himself in the intensi󰀈椀cation and reorientation of Sunni jihad ideology
in the wake of the Second Crusade as a propagandist for jihad on behalf
of his new patron, Nūr al-Dīn. The chapter speci󰀈椀cally focuses on the pop-
ular “forty hadiths” genre in medieval Islamic scholarship and the extent
to which Ibn ʿAsākir was able to employ this popular genre to transform
Muhammad into a jihad advocate and cast Islam as a religion that is focused
on the ful󰀈椀llment of the duty to wage jihad against God’s enemies—whether
the enemy without (Christian Crusaders) or the enemy within (errant or
heretical Sunni and Shiʿi Muslims).
Chapter Five examines four major themes that characterize Ibn ʿAsākir’s
distinctive vision of jihad in his Forty Hadiths: 1) the importance of jihad
as compared to other religious duties; 2) the punishments that await those
who neglect the duty of jihad; 3) the rewards that await those who undertake
jihad; and 4) the requirements that the jihad 󰀈椀ghters must ful󰀈椀ll before
waging jihad. Chapter Five concludes with a discussion of the role and
signi󰀈椀cance of quranic passages in Ibn ʿAsākir’s Forty Hadiths.
 preface xi

Based on a meticulous study of the colophons or records of speci󰀈椀c public

teaching sessions (samāʿāt) and ownership notes inscribed on the unique
manuscript of Ibn ʿAsākir’s Forty Hadiths, Chapter Six demonstrates that Ibn
ʿAsākir’s Forty Hadiths was an important text that continued to be studied
by major scholars in several important religious centers and schools in
Damascus from the 󰀈椀rst public teaching session at which it was read out in
1170 down to the 󰀈椀nal recorded public teaching session from the manuscript
in 1318. The colophons also attest to Ibn ʿAsākir’s enduring relevance and
impact in shaping the perception of the duty of jihad among the Sunni
religious elite in Damascus.
Chapter Seven argues that the intensi󰀈椀ed and reoriented jihad ideol-
ogy advocated by Ibn ʿAsākir in the twelfth century endured well into the
Ottoman period. Major thinkers and episodes addressed in this chapter
include Ibn Taymīya’s (d. 1328) denunciation of various Shiʿi sects in Syria
(including Druzes, Nuṣaryīs, Ismāʿīlīs, and Fatimids) as heretics or errant
Muslims; Ottoman-era fatwas in Syria against Druzes that invoke Ibn Tay-
mīya’s rulings; and the Ottoman Sheykh ul-Islam’s denunciations of the
Safavid Shahs in Iran (1501–1722).
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The journey of this book started in March 2003 in Middlebury, Vermont.

With generous support from Middlebury College, James Lindsay visited to
deliver a lecture. In a conversation afterwards in Suleiman Mourad’s living
room over Scottish tea, the idea for this book was born. Some priorities
intervened and circumstances beyond our control delayed the process, but
the project resumed.
One incurs many debts over the course of a project such as this. Juma
al-Majid Center for Culture and Heritage, Dubai, provided us with a copy of
the Ẓāhirīya manuscript of Ibn ʿAsākir’s al-Arbaʿūn ḥadīthan fī al-ḥathth ʿalā
al-jihād. Lara G. Tohme (Wellesley University) graciously allowed us to use
her photographs of the courtyard of the Umayyad Mosque and the interior
prayer hall of the Umayyad Mosque and Tomb of St. John the Baptist (page
101). Nasser Rabbat (MIT) kindly granted us permission to use his sketch
of the Umayyad Mosque compound (page 100) and so did Josef W. Meri
(Cambridge University) for his map of medieval Damascus (page 100).
Special thanks are also due to Joel Murray (Colorado State University) for
masterfully using Nasser’s sketch and Josef’s map to create an impressive
map of Medieval Damascus and the Umayyad Mosque compound that
identi󰀈椀es the eleven teaching sessions of Ibn ʿAsākir’s Forty Hadiths. Joel also
created two additional maps: the Medieval Islamic World; and the Central
Islamic Lands in the Crusader Period. Steven Holden generously provided
funding to produce the maps. James’s colleagues in the Colorado State
University history department faculty seminar provided helpful comments
on early drafts of chapters three, four, and 󰀈椀ve. Jack Gaioni and Heather
Keaney read a draft of the entire manuscript. Suleiman also read earlier
drafts of chapter 󰀈椀ve at faculty seminars at Smith and the Five Colleges. We
also presented various parts of this book at di󰀇ferent conferences. We are
truly appreciative and humbled by the thoughtful feedback and generous
comments as well as valuable tips to sources that many of our colleagues
gave at these venues, which strengthened the book and saved us a few
embarrassments.
Thanks are also due to our students at Smith and CSU who have carefully
read and critiqued drafts of various chapters in classes and seminars, and
have graciously tolerated our mildly obsessive musings about Ibn ʿAsākir
and his Forty Hadiths over the years.
xiv acknowledgements

Finally, we want to extend our gratitude to Paul M. Cobb (University of

Pennsylvania) who read the entire manuscript, and the anonymous readers
who reviewed the book for Brill. Their astute and valuable comments, sug-
gestions, and criticisms have made this a far better book than it would have
been otherwise. Of course, any errors are entirely our own.
 NOTES ON TRANSLITERATION

We have adopted the Arabic transliteration system used in the International

Journal of Middle East Studies (IJMES). The few exceptions include those
place names and other words that, based on their inclusion in the Oxford
English Dictionary, have already achieved acceptance in the English lan-
guage. Hence, place names such as Mecca, Medina, Baghdad, and Cairo;
words such as Sunni, Shiʿi, and Hadith (Hadith to indicate the sayings at-
tributed to Muhammad as a body or 󰀈椀eld of study, and hadith to signify
the individual saying); and dynastic names such as Rashidun, Umayyad,
Abbasid, Almohad, Almoravid, Fatimid, Mamluk, Ottoman, and Safavid are
rendered in their English forms and without diacritics. Only less well known
sects and groups are given in complete transliteration.
In order to minimize confusion for the reader who is unfamiliar with the
Arabic language, all personal names are rendered in the nominative case;
e.g., Ibn ʿAsākir’s patronym (kunya), Abū al-Qāsim, is always rendered as Abū
al-Qāsim even when we transliterate a passage in which it appears in the
genitive (Abī al-Qāsim) or accusative (Abā al-Qāsim) case.
Two common proper nouns are transliterated according to IJMES style,
but without diacritics—Muhammad and Qurʾan. When the name Muham-
mad refers to the prophet of Islam, it is rendered as Muhammad without
the dot underneath the h; similarly with the name of Ali when it refers to
Imam Ali. Qurʾan is rendered without the long dash above the a; the adjec-
tival form of Qurʾan is rendered straightforwardly as quranic (cf. Bible and
biblical).
In the Islamic tradition, it is customary to invoke blessings (ṣalawāt) on
Muhammad and other prophets after their names (e.g., ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi
wa-sallam; May God bless him and grant him peace). Rather than translate
the entire blessing each time one occurs, we have indicated that there is a
blessing in the original by simply giving the 󰀈椀rst letter of the blessing, (ṣ).
Finally, we have rendered all dates according to the Gregorian Christian
or Common Era calendar (ce). In the few cases where it was relevant to
include the Islamic Era dating system (ah) used in Islamic sources, espe-
cially pre-modern ones, we have included both the ah and the ce dates
separated by a slash; e.g. Saturday 7 Rajab 565/28 March 1170, the date of
the 󰀈椀rst public teaching session of Ibn ʿAsākir’s Forty Hadiths.
 PART ONE

THE INTENSIFICATION AND REORIENTATION OF

SUNNI JIHAD IDEOLOGY IN THE CRUSADER PERIOD:
IBN ʿASĀKIR OF DAMASCUS (1105–1176) AND HIS AGE
 chapter one

IBN ʿASĀKIR (1105–1176): LIFE AND CAREER

1. Life, Education, and Career

Ibn ʿAsākir, Abū al-Qāsim ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥasan, was the most notable 󰀈椀gure
of the ʿAsākir family (Banū ʿAsākir), whose members occupied prestigious
positions as judges and scholars of the Shā󰀈椀ʿī school of Sunni law in Dam-
ascus for close to three centuries (late eleventh to early fourteenth cen-
turies).1 Ibn ʿAsākir was born in 1105, six years after the Crusaders2 captured
Jerusalem, and died in 1176, two years after Saladin (Salāḥ al-Dīn) succeeded
Nūr al-Dīn as leader of Syria3 and Egypt.4 He started his pursuit of religious
education at the age of six,5 accompanying his father al-Ḥasan (d. 1125)
and brother Hibat Allāh (1095–1167) to the teaching seminars of several
renowned Damascene scholars at the Umayyad Mosque and the Amīnīya
School of Shā󰀈椀ʿī law.6 Since Ibn ʿAsākir’s mother was from the prestigious al-
Qurashī family which traced its genealogy back to the Umayyad dynasty, his
maternal lineage was fundamental to providing him easy access to the high
scholarly community of Damascus.7

1 This range is determined as starting with the active career of Ibn ʿAsākir’s father (who

was born in 1068 and died in 1125) and ending with a descendant of his brother, al-Qāsim
Ibn ʿAsākir (d. 1323), the last traceable scholar of the ʿAsākir family. Elissée󰀇f gives the range
1077–1261: Nikita Elissée󰀇f, La description de Damas d’Ibn ʿAsākir (Damascus: Institut Français
de Damas, 1959), xviii. (The date 1077 is given in Elissée󰀇f as 1177, obviously a typo).
2 The terms Crusaders and Franks will be used interchangeably.
3 Unless otherwise noted, we use the term Syria in the medieval sense of Bilād al-Shām—

which would include modern Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Israel, Palestinian territories, and parts
of southeastern Turkey.
4 It took some time before Saladin could establish himself as the legitimate and uncon-

tested successor to Nūr al-Din. On Saladin, see Malcolm Lyons and D.E.P. Jackson, Saladin:
The Politics of Holy War (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997); and Yaacov Lev, Sal-
adin in Egypt (Leiden: Brill Academic Publishers, 1999).
5 Ibn ʿAsākir attended a class in 1111 with Abū al-Wahsh Subayʿ ibn al-Muslim ibn ʿAlī

(d. 1115), and read parts of al-Khaṭīb al-Baghdādī’s Taʾrīkh Baghdād with Abū Turāb Ḥaydara
ibn Aḥmad ibn al-Ḥusayn al-Anṣārī (d. 1112): Ibn ʿAsākir, Taʾrīkh madīnat Dimashq, 80 vols.,
eds. ʿUmar ibn Gharāma al-ʿAmrawī and ʿAlī Shīrī (Beirut: Dār al-Fikr, 1995–2001), 13:466–467.
6 The Shā󰀈椀ʿī school is one of the four recognized schools of jurisprudence in Sunni Islam

and the most popular in Bilād al-Shām.

7 Elissée󰀇f, La description de Damas, xviii–xx; and James E. Lindsay, “Ibn ʿAsākir, His
4 chapter one

The political instability in Damascus, and Syria more broadly, in the

wake of the Crusaders’ invasion and the long-standing intra-Muslim rival-
ries and animosities certainly in󰀆lfuenced the young scholar’s choice to seek
higher religious education elsewhere in the Muslim world. Between 1126 and
1141, Ibn ʿAsākir embarked on two ambitious educational journeys that took
him to the most prestigious centers of Islamic learning in his day: Baghdad
(where he studied at the famous Niẓāmīya madrasa), the Hijaz (Mecca and
Medina), Kufa, and Islamic lands further East—Isfahan, Khurāsān, Tran-
soxiana, Merv, Nishapur, and Herat.8 But political instability at home does
not account for his choice entirely. In fact, one can easily imagine that Ibn
ʿAsākir—given his talents and the position of his family in the city—would
have undertaken similar travels in any case. For Ibn ʿAsākir’s distant travels
in search of religious knowledge during his twenties and thirties place him
󰀈椀rmly in the established educational tradition that is illustrated eloquently
by a hadith in which Muhammad is reported to have told his followers that
they should seek religious knowledge (ṭalab al-ʿilm) even unto China; that is,
to the ends of the earth.9 Ibn Khaldun (1332–1406), the famous fourteenth-
century scholar, eloquently articulated this sentiment as well:
A scholar’s education is greatly improved by traveling in quest of knowledge
and meeting the authoritative teachers of [his time].10
Near the end of his life, Ibn ʿAsākir composed a three-volume work enti-
tled Muʿjam al-shuyūkh (Glossary of Teachers) in which he describes more
than 1,621 male-teachers whom he had met and had studied with over the
course of his illustrious scholarly career;11 he composed a similar though

Taʾrīkh madīnat Dimashq, and its Usefulness for Understanding Early Islamic History,” in Ibn
ʿAsākir and Early Islamic History, ed. idem. (Princeton: Darwin Press, 2001), 3–7.
8 His 󰀈椀rst trip lasted from 1126 to 1131 (mostly spent in Baghdad, with an excursion to

Mecca and Medina to perform the pilgrimage), and his second lasted from 1134 to 1141 (mostly
spent in Iran and Central Asia): Elissée󰀇f, La description de Damas, xx–xxii.
9 On the practice of travel for religious knowledge in medieval Islam, see Sam Gellens,

“The Search for Knowledge in Medieval Muslim Societies: A Comparative Approach,” in Mus-
lim Travellers: Pilgrimage, Migration, and the Religious Imagination, eds. Dale F. Eickelman
and James Piscatory (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1990), 50–68.
10 Ibn Khaldun, The Muqaddimah, second edition, 3 vols., trans. Franz Rosenthal (Prince-

ton: Princeton University Press, 1967) 3:307.

11 See Ibn ʿAsākir, Muʿjam al-shuyūkh, 3 vols., ed. Wafāʾ Taqiy al-Dīn (Damascus: Dār

al-Bashāʾir, 2000). We cannot tell exactly the total number of teachers whom Ibn ʿAsākir
included in this book due to the loss of a number of folios from the end of the manuscript.
Al-Dhahabī (d. 1348) seems to have counted meticuliously the teachers in this book and
numbers them at 1636: al-Dhahabī, Siyar aʿlām al-nubalāʾ, 28 vols., eds. Shuʿayb al-Arnaʾūṭ et al
(Beirut: Muʾassasat al-Risāla, 1996), 20:556. In Taʾrīkh al-islām, al-Dhahabī gives the number as
 ibn ʿasākir (1105–1176): life and career 5

smaller Muʿjam for his 80-some female-teachers.12 Ibn ʿAsākir’s mastery of

a vast body of religious scholarship, especially in the 󰀈椀eld of Hadith, earned
him the honori󰀈椀c ḥā󰀇椀ẓ (Hadith memorizer). Consequently, Ibn ʿAsākir was
widely recognized in his day and after as the most learned and renowned
Damascene scholar of Hadith.

2. Works

Ibn ʿAsākir’s scholarly career 󰀆lfourished under Nūr al-Dīn’s patronage shortly
after the latter occupied Damascus in 1154. His many literary works pro-
vide important insights into the religious propaganda produced in support
of Nūr al-Dīn’s religious agenda and war e󰀇forts. Three important themes
dominate Ibn ʿAsākir’s writings, some of which were composed speci󰀈椀cally
to help de󰀈椀ne and shape Nūr al-Dīn’s religious and political agenda: (1) the
promotion of Islam against its external enemies, the Christian Crusaders; (2)
the promotion of Sunnism against its internal enemies, speci󰀈椀cally the Shiʿi
Fatimid regime in Egypt and their sympathizers in Syria; and (3) the promo-
tion of Ashʿarism against Ḥanbalism (the main Sunni theological divisions
in contemporary Damascus). Nūr al-Dīn was primarily concerned with the
󰀈椀rst two themes; the third was a peculiarity of Ibn ʿAsākir’s circle of Ashʿarī
colleagues, and re󰀆lfects Damascene intra-Sunni rivalry in the twelfth cen-
tury.
Three works in particular exhibit Ibn ʿAsākir’s e󰀇forts to shape and de󰀈椀ne
Nūr al-Dīn’s religious agenda. These best re󰀆lfect Ibn ʿAsākir’s religious per-
sona and his understanding of how the peculiarities of his own time should
a󰀇fect the future course of Islamic history. He was not only eager to educate a
generation of students on jihad and other religious topics; he also believed
that he had an obligation to author books that were more appropriate for
the circumstances of his time, and that re󰀆lfected his vision of Islamic his-
tory and Islamic teaching.
Ibn ʿAsākir’s magnum opus—Taʾrīkh madīnat Dimashq (The History of
the City of Damascus, or for simplicity History of Damascus)—is the largest
biographical dictionary ever produced by a medieval Muslim scholar. Ibn
ʿAsākir began his History of Damascus as a rather vague project in 1134

1300, which refers to those male-scholars who directly taught Ibn ʿAsākir Hadith (this number
therefore does not include those teachers also mentioned in the Muʿjam who recited for Ibn
ʿAsākir poetry, or from whom he received ijāza without having met them): see al-Dhahabī,
Taʾrīkh al-islām, 47 vols, ed. ʿUmar Tadmurī (Beirut: Dār al-Kitāb al-ʿArabī, 1987–1998), 40:72.
12 See al-Dhahabī, Siyar, 20:556. Al-Dhahabī states that he read this small book.
6 chapter one

(two decades prior to Nūr al-Dīn’s occupation of Damascus), but it was con-
ceived in its current titanic format and became a huge success owing to
Nūr al-Dīn’s patronage. The History of Damascus is primarily a biographi-
cal dictionary now published in a mostly complete edition in 74 volumes
plus indices (in 6 vols.). It celebrates the holiness of Syria, with Damascus
as its center,13 by documenting the lives and achievements of the notable
men and women (religious 󰀈椀gures, politicians, scholars, poets, etc.) who
lived in the region or merely passed through it, from the epoch of the bib-
lical patriarchs and matriarchs all the way down to Ibn ʿAsākir’s own. It is
one of the treasures of medieval Islamic historiography in that it preserves
extensive excerpts from hundreds of now-lost works authored by Muslim
historians and religious scholars before Ibn ʿAsākir’s day. Consequently it is
an extremely valuable source for understanding medieval Syria and Islamic
history.14
Ibn ʿAsākir organizes his 󰀈椀rst volume so as to demonstrate the unique
sacred space that is Syria, and to elevate its spiritual standing in relation to
other parts of the world. Ibn ʿAsākir includes numerous statements extolling
the merits of Syria in his introduction. The three hadiths below (two of
which are attributed to Muhammad himself) depict Ibn ʿAsākir’s basic argu-
ment rather pointedly:
Thawr ibn Yazīd (d. 770) said: “The holiest part of earth is Syria; the holiest
part of Syria is Palestine; the holiest part of Palestine is Jerusalem; the holiest
part of Jerusalem is the Temple Mount area; the holiest part of the Temple
Mount area is the Temple [al-masjid]; and the holiest part of the Temple is
the Dome [of the Rock].”15
The Messenger of God (ṣ) said: “All regions of the world will be destroyed forty
years before Syria.”16

13 That discourse on the holiness of Syria and Damascus in Islam preceded Ibn ʿAsākir

is illustrated by the case of al-Rabaʿī’s (d. 1052) Kitāb Faḍāʾil al-Shām wa-Dimashq: see Paul
M. Cobb, “Virtual Sacrality: Making Muslim Syria Sacred Before the Crusades,” Medieval
Encounters 8.1 (2002), 35–55.
14 On Ibn ʿAsākir’s Taʾrīkh madīnat Dimashq, see the studies in Lindsay (ed.), Ibn ʿAsākir

and Early Islamic History. See also Elissée󰀇f, La description de Damas, xxix–liii. On Ibn ʿAsākir’s
understanding of Syria as a holy space, see Zayde Antrim, “Ibn ʿAsākir’s Representations
of Syria and Damascus in the introduction to the Taʾrīkh madīnat Dimashq,” International
Journal of Middle East Studies 38 (2006), 109–129; eadem, Routes and Realms: The Power
of Place in the Early Islamic World (New York: Oxford University Press, 2012); and Nancy
Khalek, Damascus after the Muslim Conquest: Text and Image in Early Islam (New York: Oxford
University Press, 2011).
15 See Ibn ʿAsākir, Taʾrīkh, 1:152.
16 See Ibn ʿAsākir, Taʾrīkh, 1:194.
 ibn ʿasākir (1105–1176): life and career 7

The Messenger of God (ṣ) said: “Good is ten portions: nine in Syria and one in
the rest of the world. Evil is ten portions: one in Syria and nine in the rest of
the world. When the people of Syria become corrupt, there is no hope.”17
Ibn ʿAsākir’s emphasis on the sacredness of Syria is intended, in part, to
support his view that Syria should be protected from the Franks and any
other threats to his vision of proper Sunni orthodoxy. It is no surprise then
that in his biographies of Muslim rulers in Syria, including the Umayyad
Yazīd ibn Muʿāwiya,18 the Abbasid al-Maʾmūn,19 and his own patron sultan
Nūr al-Dīn,20 Ibn ʿAsākir highlights their accomplishments in waging jihad
on Syrian soil against the enemies of Islam.
Ibn ʿAsākir also devotes considerable attention to a large number of
pre-Islamic biblical sacred 󰀈椀gures, including Abraham, Sarah, Hagar, David,
Jesus, Mary, and John the Baptist, to name but a few. His is the only Muslim
biographical dictionary that features substantial biographical notices for
pre-Islamic sacred 󰀈椀gures outside the Tales of the Prophets (qiṣaṣ al-anbiyāʾ)
literature.21
A theme that emerges quite clearly in Ibn ʿAsākir’s History of Damascus is
that his choice of subjects and the narrative structure of his biographies—
reaching from Adam, to his recently deceased contemporaries—re󰀆lfect a

17 See Ibn ʿAsākir, Taʾrīkh, 1:154.

18 See Ibn ʿAsākir, Taʾrikh, 65:394–410. Yazīd (r. 680–683) was a problematic 󰀈椀gure due to
his excessive drinking and, most signi󰀈椀cantly, ordering the execution of imam al-Ḥusayn,
Muhammad’s grandson: On Ibn ʿAsākir treatment of Yazīd, see James E. Lindsay, “Caliphal
and Moral Exemplar? ʿAlī Ibn ʿAsākir’s Portrait of Yazīd ibn Muʿāwiya,” Der Islam 74 (1997),
250–278, and Chapter One, p. 10.
19 See Ibn ʿAsākir, Taʾrīkh, 33:275–341. Al-Maʾmūn (r. 813–833) was a problematic 󰀈椀gure in

medieval traditional Sunni discourse because of his institution of the inquisition (al-miḥna)
which lasted a few decades and witnessed the torture and execution of some important 󰀈椀g-
ures in Sunni genealogy. On the caliph al-Maʾmūn, see Tayyeb El-Hibri, Reinterpreting Islamic
Historiography: Harun al-Rashid and the Narrative of the ʿAbbasid Caliphate (New York: Cam-
bridge University Press, 1999), 95–142; Michael Cooperson, Classical Arabic Biography: The
Heirs of the Prophets in the Age of al-Maʾmun (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2000);
and idem, al-Maʾmun (Oxford: Oneworld, 2005).
20 See Ibn ʿAsākir, Taʾrīkh, 57:118–124; and Chapter Four, pp. 47–51.
21 On the Tales of the Prophets, see ʿArāʾis al-majālis fī qiṣaṣ al-anbiyāʾ or ‘Lives of the

Prophets’ as Recounted by Abū Isḥāq Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn Ibrāhīm al-Thaʿlabī, trans.
William Brinner (Leiden: Brill, 2002), and The Tales of the Prophets of al-Kisāʾī, trans. Wheeler
M. Thackston (Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1978). See also James E. Lindsay, “ʿAlī Ibn ʿAsākir as
a Preserver of Qiṣaṣ al-Anbiyāʾ: the Case of David ibn Jesse,” Studia Islamica 82 (1995), 45–82;
idem, “Sarah and Hagar in Ibn ʿAsākir’s Taʾrīkh madīnat Dimashq,” Medieval Encounters:
Jewish, Christian and Muslim Culture in Con󰀅luence and Dialogue, 10 (2008): 1–14; and Suleiman
A. Mourad, “Jesus According to Ibn ʿAsākir,” in Ibn ʿAsākir and Early Islamic History, ed. James
Lindsay (Princeton: Darwin Press, 2001), 24–43.
8 chapter one

chronological, thematic, and even moralistic continuity in his understand-

ing of Syria’s history. We see this explicitly in one of the ways he articulates
his vision of Syria’s past for his time. That is, the great 󰀈椀gures of Syria’s past
did not simply bless it by living in it or passing through it, they also stood
up to defend it when necessary. Ibn ʿAsākir’s unique depiction of Jesus pro-
vides some clues to this grand scheme in the presentation of his subjects.
Ibn ʿAsākir’s Jesus will return before the Day of Judgment as the Mahdī—the
Messiah 󰀈椀gure of Islamic eschatology—to kill the Antichrist (al-Dajjāl) at
the gates of Jerusalem, lead the Muslims to victory over their enemies, and
re-establish the triumph of Islam.22
In his biography of Jesus, Ibn ʿAsākir records a particularly interesting
prophecy that speaks directly to the troubling circumstances of his time and,
together with other traditions about the End of Times, highlights Jesus as
waging jihad in the path of God:
Son of the sheep-bearing [Ibn Ḥaml al-Ḍaʾn], a Byzantine, one of whose
parents is a demon, is about to come out against the Muslims leading 500,000
[soldiers] by land and [another] 500,000 by sea and disembarking between
Acre and Tyre. Then he will say: “People of the ships, come out from them,”
and he will order them [the ships] to be burnt. The Muslims will seek each
other’s help. Then they will 󰀈椀ght for a month, and [the Muslims] will 󰀈椀nd
no people to stand between them and Constantinople and Rome. While they
(the Muslims) are in that [situation], they will [hear] that the Antichrist
[al-Dajjāl] has taken over among their families. They will drop what is in
their hands and rush back. A famine will fall upon the people [the Muslims],
and while they are in this [situation], they will hear a voice from Heaven
[saying]: “Rejoice, help is coming to you.” They will say: “Jesus son of Mary has
descended.” They will rejoice in him, and he will rejoice in them, and they will
say [to him]: “[Lead us in] prayer, O Spirit of God,” and he will say [to them]:
“God has honored this [Muslim] community; therefore, no one should lead
their prayers except [one] of them.” … After Jesus 󰀈椀nishes [his prayer], he will
take his lance, go toward the Antichrist and kill him ….23

22 For a wide array of traditions on the Second Coming of Jesus, see Suleiman A. Mourad,

Sīrat al-sayīd al-masīḥ li Ibn ʿAsākir (Amman: Dār al-Shurūq, 1996), 234–282; and idem, “Jesus
According to Ibn ʿAsākir,” 31–37. There is no question in the Islamic tradition regarding the
veracity of Jesus’ Second Coming at the End of Days. But Ibn ʿAsākir’s depiction of Jesus as
the Mahdī is a minority opinion, as the general Muslim consensus was that the Mahdī would
come from Muhammad’s house. On the debate and identity of the Mahdī in medieval Islamic
scholarship, see Sandra Campbell, “Millennial Messiah or Religious Restorer: Re󰀆lfections
on the Early Islamic Understanding of the Term Mahdī,” Jusūr: the UCLA Journal of Middle
Eastern Studies 11 (1995): 1–11.
23 Mourad, Sirat al-sayid al-masih, 257–261; and idem, “Jesus According to Ibn ʿAsākir,”

31–32.
 ibn ʿasākir (1105–1176): life and career 9

This prophecy, which Ibn ʿAsākir attributes to the companion of Muham-

mad, ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀṣ (d. 684), is meant to explain the well-
known hadith regarding the coming of a revivi󰀈椀er of Islam at the beginning
of every century:
God will send this community a person who will renew its faith at the begin-
ning of every hundred years.24
Interestingly, the prophecy highlights several themes that are peculiar to
the Frankish presence in the Near East, and re󰀆lfect some editing done on
the part of Ibn ʿAsākir or his direct informant to adapt it to the challenges of
their own time. First, the Crusaders came by sea and over land, and their two
most powerful centers were Acre and Tyre.25 Second, the Frankish challenge
widened the divisions among Muslim leaders, especially in Syria and Egypt,
which created some sort of an eschatological hope for a Muslim leader to
emerge, reunite the Muslims, and defeat the Christians.26 Jesus is not that
leader, for his role in Islamic eschatology is clear: He will return to kill
the Antichrist, break the crosses, slaughter the pigs, end the jizya (poll-tax
on non-Muslims), making warfare against People of the Book and others
(e.g., Jews, Christians, Zoroastrians, etc.) licit; and thus usher in the Day of
Judgment. But it is the Muslims’ responsibility to prepare the conditions
for his return. Hence, in Ibn ʿAsākir’s opinion, it was incumbent upon the
Muslims to unite, obviously under the leadership of his patron Nūr al-Dīn.27
This eschatological expectation is reminiscent of the version of Pope
Urban II’s sermon at Clermont in 1095, recorded by Guibert of Nogent
(d. 1125), which raises similar eschatological hopes regarding the need to
liberate Jerusalem (Mother of Churches) in order to prepare the way for the
return of Christ and his battle with the Antichrist. According to Guibert’s
account, since the Antichrist is to do battle with Christians in Jerusalem, “if
Antichrist 󰀈椀nds there no Christians (just as at present when scarcely any

24 Abū Dāwūd, Sunan Abū Dāwūd, 4 vols., ed. Muḥammad M. ʿAbd al-Ḥamīd (Cairo:

al-Maktaba al-Tijārīya, 1951), 4:156 (no. 4291).

25 It was Tyre’s resistance to the attempts of Saladin to capture it in 1187 that allowed the

Franks to regroup and launch a counter o󰀇fensive with the Third Crusade, and consequently
remain in the Near East for additional 105 years, until 1291 when the Mamluk sultan al-Malik
al-Ashraf brought an end to the Frankish military presence.
26 We come across this eschatological tendency as well in al-Sulamī’s (d. 1106) Book of

Jihad: see Paul E. Chevedden, “The View of the Crusades from Rome and Damascus: The
Geo-Politics and Historical Perspectives of Pope Urban II and ʿAlī ibn Ṭāhir al-Sulamī,” Oriens
39 (2011): 297–299. For more on Sulamī, see Chapter Three, pp. 33–36.
27 For a fuller discussion of this prophecy, see Mourad, “Jesus According to Ibn ʿAsākir,”

31–35.
10 chapter one

dwell there), no one will be there to oppose him.”28 Of course, one should
not assume a connection between Guibert and Ibn ʿAsākir or any concrete
in󰀆lfuence of one on the other, for there was none. We are only pointing to
the similarity between Christian and Muslim apocalyptic and eschatological
religious literature and expectations at the time of the Crusades.29
Beside the Frankish challenge, Ibn ʿAsākir was very much concerned with
preserving what he considered the proper Sunni character of Islam, and
he did so as an eager and e󰀇fective advocate of Nūr al-Dīn’s jihad against
Sunni Islam’s internal enemies, primarily the Shiʿi Fatimids. In this respect,
one is struck by his eagerness to highlight the morality and religiosity of
his 󰀈椀gures, even the most problematic ones, such as the second Umayyad
caliph Yazīd, under whose rule al-Ḥusayn, the grandson of Muhammad
and the most important religious 󰀈椀gure (along with his father Ali) for the
Shiʿis, was slain in 680. Yazīd, in Ibn ʿAsākir’s History of Damascus, is a
righteous and pious ruler who, beside his eagerness to protect the lands of
Islam from the Byzantines, was also involved in the transmission of several
hadiths from the Prophet of Islam.30 In short, even in his biography of
this problematical ruler, Ibn ʿAsākir’s intent was to demonstrate the pivotal
role which Syria has played in his understanding of the past in which God
has intervened and acted at times to reward the righteous and punish the
wicked. Such a vision of the past is certainly not unique, and parallels that of
his many contemporaries, predecessors, and successors—whether Muslim,
Christian, or Jewish.
Ibn ʿAsākir authored several other less imposing religiously and politi-
cally motivated works. Some of these works were short collections of hadiths
attributed to Muhammad, his companions, and early notable Muslims cel-
ebrating the religious merits (faḍāʾil) of villages and localities in the vicinity
of Damascus, such as the famous Rabwa (Qurʾan 23:50), to which, according
to popular Islamic narratives, Jesus and Mary escaped from the Massacre of

28 Edward Peters, The First Crusade: The Chronicle of Fulcher of Chartres and Other Source

Materials, second edition (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1998), 35. For the
full text of Guibert of Nogent’s account of Urban II’s sermon at Clermont, see Peters, First
Crusade, 33–37.
29 See also Chevedden, “The View of the Crusades from Rome and Damascus.” The simi-

larity in apocalyptic language and imagery in Christian and Islamic religious literature is not
limited to the period of the Crusades, and also extends to Jewish religious literature. On Mus-
lim apocalyptic literature, see David Cook, Studies in Muslim Apocalyptic (Princeton: Darwin
Press, 2002); and idem, Contemporary Muslim Apocalyptic Literature (Syracuse: Syracuse Uni-
versity Press, 2005), 1–12.
30 On Ibn ʿAsākir’s presentation of the Umayyad caliph Yazīd, see Lindsay, “Caliphal and

Moral Exemplar?”
 ibn ʿasākir (1105–1176): life and career 11

the Innocents (Matthew 2:13–22).31 Like the History of Damascus, they show
the commitment of Ibn ʿAsākir to the promotion of Syria as a sacred space
dotted with burial sites and events associated with renowned Biblical and
Muslim 󰀈椀gures.
With respect to theology, he authored two impassioned defenses of the
Sunni theologian al-Ashʿarī (d. 935) and his school, both of which were
under attack by rival Sunni groups in Damascus, especially the Ḥanbalīs. The
two works are: Manāqib Ashʿarīya (Virtues of al-Ashʿarī and the Ashʿarīs) and
Tabyīn kadhib al-muftarī fī mā nasaba ilā al-imām Abī al-Ḥasan al-Ashʿarī
(Exposing the Slanderer’s Mendacity in What He Falsely Ascribed to Abū
al-Ḥasan al-Ashʿarī).32
Ibn ʿAsākir also composed two works that relate speci󰀈椀cally to sacred
space and jihad—Faḍl ʿAsqalān (The Merits of Ascalon) and al-Arbaʿūn
ḥadīthan fī al-ḥathth ʿalā al-jihād (The Forty Hadiths for Inciting Jihad).33
Faḍl ʿAsqalān is a collection of hadiths that celebrates Ascalon’s holiness to
Islam. It was written in reaction to the fall of the city to the Franks in 1153,
and served as an appeal for the Muslims to recapture it. This work is unfor-
tunately lost, thus we cannot fully understand the religious impact which
the fall of Ascalon had on Ibn ʿAsākir and his fellow scholars. However, the
brief excerpts from it that are preserved in Ibn ʿAsākir’s History of Damascus
do provide a few clues as to how the religious establishment drew on earlier
traditions promoting the sanctity of Ascalon as a means to rally the Mus-
lims to liberate it in the twelfth century. Some of the traditions on Ascalon’s
sacredness were quite well known in Syria prior to Ibn ʿAsākir’s time. In his
introduction to the History of Damascus, Ibn ʿAsākir includes a hadith in
which Muhammad identi󰀈椀es Ascalon as one of the four frontier-stations in

31 See al-Dhahabī, Siyar, 20:560–561. See also Khalek, Damascus after the Muslim Conquest.
32 For studies on these works by Ibn ʿAsākir, see August Ferdinand Mehren, Exposé de la
réforme de l’ islamisme commencée au IIIème siècle de l’ Hégire par Abou-ʾl-Hasan Ali el-Ashʿari
et continuée par son école avec des extraits du texte arabe d’Ibn Asâkir (Leiden: Brill, 1878);
and Richard Joseph McCarthy, The Theology of al-Ashʿarī (Beirut: Imprimerie Catholique,
1953), which includes an English translation of Ibn ʿAsākir’s Tabyīn (“Appendix II: Ibn ʿAsākir’s
Apology,” 145–207). We are suggesting the use of “nasaba” in the title instead of commonly
used “nusiba”. The assumption that the verb is in the passive form (nusiba) is wrong for its
subject is the slanderer (al-muftarī); hence what the slanderer wrongly ascribed.
33 This second work is also known as al-Arbaʿūn fī al-ijtihād fī iqāmat al-jihād (The Forty

Hadiths on the Obligation to Wage Jihad). Two previous editions of Ibn ʿAsākir’s al-Arbaʿūn fī
al-ḥathth ʿala al-jihād exist. The 󰀈椀rst by ʿAbd Allāh Ibn Yūsuf (Kuwait: Dār al-Khulafāʾ liʾl-Kitāb
al-Islāmī, 1984), and the second by Aḥmad ʿA. Ḥalwānī in his Ibn ʿAsākir wa-dawruh fī al-jihād
ḍidd al-Ṣalībiyīn fī ʿaḥd al-dawlatayn al-Nūrīya wa-l-Ayyūbīya (Damascus: Dār al-Fidā, 1991),
101–149.
12 chapter one

which the good Muslim ought to reside.34 Ibn ʿAsākir also relates the follow-
ing hadith that depicts Ascalon as a city sheltered by God from man-made
disasters:
A man came to the Prophet (ṣ) and said: “O Messenger of God (ṣ), I desire to
join a raid in the path of God.” The Prophet said: “Syria is your destination,
for God—Almighty—assured me that He looks after Syria and its people. In
Syria, stick to Ascalon, because when the Muslims start 󰀈椀ghting each other,
only the people of Ascalon will witness tranquility and prosperity.”35
One might observe here that the prophecy remained to be ful󰀈椀lled in Ibn
ʿAsākir’s day since the Franks’ capture of Ascalon in 1153 had led to the dis-
placement or massacre of the city’s Muslim population. But this is beside
the point. What is important to note is that Ibn ʿAsākir used such anec-
dotes to emphasize the priceless blessing that Muhammad had bestowed
on Ascalon, thus amplifying the Muslims’ failure to protect the city as well
as their obligation to liberate it and restore it to its rightful overlords.
Ibn ʿAsākir’s second work, al-Arbaʿūn ḥadīthan fī al-ḥathth ʿalā al-jihād
(The Forty Hadiths for Inciting Jihad), is a collection of forty hadiths attri-
buted to Muhammad that emphasize the duty and obligation to wage jihad.
Ibn ʿAsākir authored this work at the request of his patron Nūr al-Dīn as
well.36 Chapter Five below provides a detailed analysis of the content of Ibn
ʿAsākir’s Forty Hadiths for Inciting Jihad, while Chapter Six investigates the
Forty Hadiths for Inciting Jihad’s continued relevance to jihad propaganda in
thirteenth- and early fourteenth-century Damascus based on what we can
learn from the colophons inscribed at the end of the manuscript; Part Two is
an edition of the Arabic text of al-Arbaʿūn ḥaḍīthan fī al-ḥathth ʿalā al-jihād
and an annotated English translation of the Forty Hadiths for Inciting Jihad.37

There is no doubt that Ibn ʿAsākir was one of the most celebrated schol-
ars of medieval Islam, both in his own time and in subsequent centuries.
His exceptional prowess in Hadith scholarship and productivity were two
important factors that contributed to his fame. But it was his service to
his political patron Nūr al-Dīn, especially in shaping the sultan’s religious

34
See Ibn ʿAsākir, Taʾrīkh, 1:221.
35
See Ibn ʿAsākir, Taʾrīkh, 1:97.
36 Al-Dhahabī lists a second Book of Jihad by Ibn ʿAsākir, which must be a di󰀇ferent title

for the Forty Hadiths.

37 Unless otherwise noted, all citations of Ibn ʿAsākir’s Forty Hadiths will be to our trans-

lation (The Forty Hadiths for Inciting Jihad) and edition (al-Arbaʿūn ḥadīthan fī al-ḥathth ʿalā
al-jihād) below.
 ibn ʿasākir (1105–1176): life and career 13

agenda and the pursuit of the revival of Sunnism and its scholarship, as
we will see in subsequent chapters, that cemented Ibn ʿAsākir’s renowned
position in Sunni genealogy. Indeed, Ibn ʿAsākir, as a result of his exten-
sive educational travels and acquisition of books and licenses to transmit
them, played a key role in the “introduction” of major Sunni religious texts,
especially the canonical Hadith texts, to Damascus. This e󰀇fort not only was
central to the revivi󰀈椀cation of Sunni scholarship in the city, and by exten-
sion Syria, but also earned him such honori󰀈椀cs as the revi󰀈椀er and protector
of Sunnism.38 The renowned fourteenth-century Damascene Sunni scholar
al-Subkī (d. 1370) relates that when Ibn ʿAsākir’s mother became pregnant
with him, his father saw in a dream that he would beget a son “whom God
will employ to revivify Sunnism and bring an end to heresies” (aḥyā Allāhu
bihi al-sunna wa-amāta bihi al-bidʿa).39 It is against such an image and repu-
tation that one has to understand the contribution of Ibn ʿAsākir to Islamic
religious scholarship, especially in terms of his relevance and in󰀆lfuence on
later religious scholars and scholarship.

38 See al-Subkī, Ṭabaqāt al-shā󰀇椀ʿīya al-kubrā, 5 vols., ed. Muṣṭafā ʿAṭā (Beirut: Dār al-Kutub

al-ʿIlmīya, 1999), 4:140–141; and al-Dhahabī, Siyar, 20:566.

39 Al-Subkī, Ṭabaqāt al-shā󰀇椀ʿīya, 4:139; al-Subkī’s biography of Ibn ʿAsākir is in 4:137–143.

These sentiments are not unique to al-Subkī; we 󰀈椀nd them expressed by many notable
Sunni scholars, such as al-Dhahabī, Taʾrīkh al-islām, 40:70–82; idem, Siyar, 20:554–571; and
al-Sakhāwī, al-Iʿlān bi-l-tawbīkh li-man dhamm al-taʾrīkh, ed. Franz Rosenthal (Baghdad:
Maktabat al-Muthannā, 1963), 294.
 14

0°0'0" 20°0'0"E 40°0'0"E 60°0'0"E

ma

l
Ka
er

bo
Dn i ep To

R Ural

hi
n
a
e

lg
50°0'0"N 50°0'0"N

Vo
Aral
D on Sea
S yr
Da Da

Ca
n u be ry
a

s
Rome
Black Sea Transoxiana

pi
! Constantinople !

an
Manzikert Bukhara
Spain ! ! !
Sicily Samarqand

Se
Anatolia Khurasan Ox
Seville Edessa

a
!
us
! Tarsus ! Mosul
! Ja Marw !
! !

Tig
z Balkh
!

s ri
Nishapur
Medi Aleppo Eu
ira !
Ceuta
terra
Damascus
ph
Baghdad !
!
nean rat
Sea Tyre ! ! es ! Isfahan Herat
North Africa Ascalon
Syria ! Ghazna
! Iraq
! Basra
!! Jerusalem
Kufa
Cairo !
s

30°0'0"N Alexandria ! Iran 30°0'0"N

du

Tabuk
! In
Egypt Hijaz Sind
! Khaybar
! Medina
chapter one

THE MEDIEVAL ISLAMIC WORLD

R
Mecca
Author: J.G. Murray !! Arabian

ed
Ta'if Arabia Sea

Se

Nile
a
N
This map shows the locations

i ge
r
of places mentioned in the text.

e
n

il
B lu
a

eN
e

te N
i le c

hi
O

W
10°0'0"N e 10°0'0"N
nu n
Be
ia
: d
In
Uba n
gi
Congo
0 375 750 1,500 Kilometers

0°0'0" 20°0'0"E 40°0'0"E 60°0'0"E

Map 1. The Medieval Islamic World

 30°0'0"E 35°0'0"E 40°0'0"E 45°0'0"E

Ani
!
40°0'0"N
Firat Manzikert 40°0'0"N
Sivas !
! !
Erzurum
Anatolia M ura t
Kayseri
!
Malatya
! Amida Mayyafariqin Tabriz
Konya ! !
: ! Mar'ash
! Tigris
! Mardin
Edessa ! Nisibin !
Tarsus ! ! Maragha
! ! Harran
Mosul Daryacheh
Antioch Aleppo ! Irbil
! ! Raqqa ! Oroumich
!
Ja
! Ma`arrat al-Nu`man
zi
Nicosia ra
! ! ! Hama
35°0'0"N 35°0'0"N
Takrit
! Homs !
Famagusta Tripoli
!

Eu
Beirut Syria ph
! Damascus ra
Mediterranean Sea t es Baghdad
Tyre !
! ! Banyas !
Acre
! Hattin Karbala
Ceasaria ! ÄÄ Ayn Jalut !
Nablus
Jaffa ! ! !
Ramla Iraq
Damietta Ascalon ! ! Kufa
!
! Jerusalem
!
! Gaza ! Sh
Karak a tt
Alexandria a lA
! ra
Cairo Basra b
30°0'0"N ! 30°0'0"N

Egypt
Persian
THE CENTRAL ISLAMIC LANDS Gulf

Nile
IN THE CRUSADER PERIOD
Author: J.G. Murray
ibn ʿasākir (1105–1176): life and career

Landmarks

R
Ä Battle Hijāz

ed
! Major Center

S
25°0'0"N 25°0'0"N
!

ea
Minor Center Medina
! Town !
0 125 250 500 Kilometers

30°0'0"E 35°0'0"E 40°0'0"E 45°0'0"E

Map 2. The Central Islamic Lands in the Crusader Period

15
 chapter two

JIHAD IN EARLY ISLAMIC HISTORY: AN OVERVIEW

In the search to account for the persistence of the ideology of jihad in Islamic
thought, modern apologists and revivalists have disagreed over the essential
meaning of the term “jihad,” whether it should be understood to necessitate
violence and military conquest, and whether it is best understood as princi-
pally an interior spiritual struggle to be a better person.1 In some quranic
passages the meaning of jihad (or its derivatives) is clearly aggressive; in
others it is simply too vague to be de󰀈椀ned precisely. Some verses associate
conducting the duty with one’s soul or life (nafs); others with one’s personal
wealth (māl).2 The basic meaning of the word jihad (from the root j-h-d) is
to struggle against something or exert one’s e󰀇fort toward an objective, as
explained by Ibn Manẓūr (1230–1311), the celebrated thirteenth-century lex-
icographer.3 However, in a speci󰀈椀cally religious context, and as understood
and articulated by almost every Muslim religious scholar past and present,
including Ibn Manẓūr, jihad has one meaning: to exert one’s e󰀇fort in 󰀈椀ghting
the enemies of God by acts or by words.4

1 A range of these views are discussed in Reuven Firestone, Jihād: The Origin of Holy War

in Islam (New York: Oxford University Press, 1999), 3–4. See also Michael Bonner, Jihād in
Islamic History: Doctrines and Practice (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2006); David
Cook, Understanding Jihād (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2005); idem, Martyrdom
in Islam (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2008); Paul L. Heck, “Jihad Revisited,” Journal
of Religious Ethics 32.1 (2004): 95–128; Roy P. Mottahedeh and Ridwan al-Sayyid, “The Idea of
the Jihad in Islam before the Crusades,” in The Crusades from the Perspective of Byzantium and
the Muslim World, eds. Angeliki E. Laiou and R.P. Mottahedeh (Washington, DC: Dumbarton
Oaks, 2001), 23–29; Rudolph Peters, Jihād in Classical and Modern Islam (Princeton: Markus
Wiener, 1996); Emmanuel Sivan, Radical Islam: Medieval Theology and Modern Politics (New
Haven: Yale University Press, 1985); and Majid Khadduri, War and Peace in the Law of Islam
(Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1955).
2 See, for instance, Qurʾan 4:95, 8:72, 9:20, 9:41, and 9:88.
3 See Ibn Manẓūr, Lisān al-ʿarab, 15 vols. (Beirut: Dār Ṣādir, 1990), 3:135 (j-h-d).
4 See the survey of the primary sources discussed in Cook, Understanding Jihād. For the

disctinction between the broad and speci󰀈椀c meanings of Jihad, see also ʿAbd al-Raḥman
ibn Ḥamad Āl ʿUmar, al-Jihād (Riyad: Maṭābiʿ al-Qasīm, 1970), 4–5; Muḥammad N. Yāsīn,
Ḥaqīqat al-jihād fī al-islām (al-Naqra: Dār al-Arqam, 1984), 32–43; Saʿīd ibn ʿAlī al-Qaḥṭānī,
al-Jihād fī sabīl Allāh (Riyad: Maktabat al-Rushd, 1990), 5; and ʿUmar A. ʿUmar, al-Jihād fī sabīl
Allāh (Damascus: Dār al-Maktabī, 1999), 15. Some Muslim revisionists have proposed that
the greater and more superior jihad is the pursuit of science: see Muḥammad al-Nadawī,
 jihad in early islamic history: an overview 17

The question of whether jihad per se has an aggressive or military con-

notation is complicated by the fact that many of the most aggressive and
warlike passages in the Qurʾan use the root q-t-l (kill or 󰀈椀ght), rather than
j-h-d. What matters for our present discussion is that the rather obvious par-
allelism between two quranic phrases—jihād fī sabīl Allāh (waging jihad
in the path of God) and qitāl fī sabīl Allāh (󰀈椀ghting in the path of God)—
cemented the equation in Islamic religious thought between jihad and war-
fare. In fact, the phrase jihād fī sabīl Allāh came to mean “warfare against
in󰀈椀dels.”5 Before we turn our attention to the issue of jihad and warfare in
the Qurʾan and Islamic history before the Crusader period—especially as
warfare against the enemies of God—a few words on religion and warfare
in general are in order.

1. Religion and Warfare

As we often need to remind our students (and ourselves), the modern west-
ern discomfort with violence in the name of religion is just that—a modern
western discomfort. At the risk of a slight over-simpli󰀈椀cation, this discom-
fort tends to be rooted in the idea that true religion should be some sort
of vague personal private piety as exempli󰀈椀ed by an image of a benign and
paci󰀈椀stic Jesus. It is our contention that not only is this depiction of Jesus
inaccurate, but that the biblical narratives of ancient Israel provide much
better models for understanding Muhammad and his religious, political,
and military career than do the Gospel accounts of Jesus’ life and ministry.
This is due in part to the fact that, unlike the 󰀈椀rst-century world of imperial
Roman Judea and Galilee, both the ancient Israelite kingdom at Jerusalem
and the early Islamic umma at Medina emerged on the fringes of the empires
of their day.6

Ahamīyat al-jihād li-nahḍat al-ʿālam al-islāmī (Bangalore: Furqania Academy Trust, 1999),
9–13.
5 For an extensive discussion of jihad in the Qurʾan, see M.A.S. Abdel Haleem, “Qurʾanic

‘Jihād’: A Linguistic and Contextual Analysis,” Journal of Qurʾanic Studies 12 (2010): 147–166.
The signi󰀈椀cance of Abdel Haleem’s contribution is that he contextualizes the verses that call
for waging jihad against Muhammad’s and Islam’s enemies in the context of the quranic suras
where they occur, which make them limited in scope and applicability. But he acknowledges,
nevertheless, that traditional Muslim scholars never did this before. See also Ella Landau-
Tasseron, “Jihād,” in Encyclopaedia of the Qurʾān, ed. Jane Dammen McAuli󰀇fe (Leiden: Brill,
2001–2006), 3:35–43.
6 James E. Lindsay, “David Son of Jesse and Muḥammad Son of ʿAbd Allāh: Warlords, State

Builders, Paradigms of Piety,” in Historical Dimensions of Islam: Essays in Honor of R. Stephen

Humphreys, eds. James E. Lindsay and Jon Armajani (Princeton: Darwin Press, 2009), 3–13.
18 chapter two

In contrast to the modern western discomfort with violence in the name

of religion, it is our contention that the idea that brutality and bloodshed
could be an expression of piety is simply the natural order of things in
both the Hebrew Bible and the Qurʾan. To name only a few of the more
colorful biblical examples, Deborah eulogized Jael as “the most blessed of
tent-dwelling women” because she gave refuge to the Canaanite general,
Sisera, and then drove a tent stake through his head as he slept in her tent
(Judges 5:24–27). Samson killed a thousand Philistines with the jawbone of
an ass, and even more as he pulled the Philistine temple down upon himself
and his captors in his 󰀈椀nal act (Judges 15:15–16; 16:30). The Israelite prophet
Samuel had to hack the Amalekite king Agag to pieces because the Israelite
King Saul, in his disobedience to YHWH, had spared him (1 Samuel 15:33).7
David’s victory against Goliath and the Philistines was immortalized by the
women of Israel with tambourines and dancing as they sang:
Saul has slain his thousands;
David, his tens of thousands! (1Samuel 18:7)
The Qurʾan and the early Islamic historiographical tradition about the life of
Muhammad (sīra) are equally vivid in their praise of the slaughter of in󰀈椀dels
in the name of God. The tradition records that Muhammad participated in
at least 27 campaigns and deputized at least 59 others during the last ten
years of his life. It is no wonder that Muhammad’s earliest biographers refer
to this period as al-maghāzī (the raids). Each raid, each battle, and each
beheading is depicted as God’s messenger pursuing God’s agenda as set forth

7 The longstanding rivalry between Israel and Amalek that goes back to Exodus 17 is

invoked as part of Moses’ admonition to the Israelites at the end of their sojourn in the
desert: “Remember what Amalek did to you on your journey out of Egypt ….you shall blot
out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven …” (Deuteronomy 25:17–19). The story
of Esther at the end of the Bible’s narrative of Israelite history is in part a story of the revenge of
Saul’s decendants from the tribe of Benjamin against the decendants of Agag/Amalek. The
protagonist, Mordecai, is introduced as “Mordecai, son of Jair son of Shemei son of Kish, a
Benjaminite” (Esther 2:5) and Haman, his nemesis who seeks to have all the Israelites of Persia
killed, is introduced as “Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite” (3:1; emphasis added). In
the end, Mordecai has his revenge as Haman is “impaled on the stake that he had prepared
for Mordecai” (7:10) and “the Jews struck down all their enemies with the sword, slaughtering,
and destroying them, and did as they pleased to those who hated them. In the citadel of Susa
the Jews killed and destroyed 󰀈椀ve hundred people” (9:5–6). The ten sons of Haman were
then impaled, another three hundred persons were killed in Susa (9:14–15), and “the other
Jews who were in the king’s provinces also gathered to defend their lives, and gained relief
from their enemies, and killed seventy-󰀈椀ve thousand of those who hated them; but they laid
no hands on the plunder” (9:16). All biblical citations are from or based on the New Revised
Standard Version.
 jihad in early islamic history: an overview 19

in Qurʾan 8 (Sūrat al-Anfāl; The Spoils) which con󰀈椀rms that Muhammad’s

victory at Badr in 624ce resulted from divine assistance. Ibn Isḥāq (d. 767)
informs us that in the wake of his divinely aided victory at Badr, Muhammad
received the revelation,
﴾It is not 󰀈椀tting for a prophet to hold prisoners until he has made slaughter
(yuthkin) in the land.﴿8 (Qurʾan 8:67)
Ibn Isḥāq provides a particularly gruesome account of Muhammad’s treat-
ment three years later of the Banū Qurayẓa, one of the leading Jewish clans
in Medina that had rejected his claims to prophethood and vehemently
opposed his political authority in the town. After his victory at the Bat-
tle of the Trench (627), Muhammad “went out to the market of Medina …
and dug trenches in it. Then he sent for [the men of the Banū Qurayẓa]
and struck o󰀇f their heads in those trenches as they were brought to him
in batches …. There were 600 or 700 in all, though some put the 󰀈椀gure as
high as 800 or 900.”9 He then divided the property, women, and children of
the Banū Qurayẓa among the Muslims.10 The tradition tells us that Muham-
mad pursued similar policies against the Jews of Khaybar (628),11 the Banū
Thaqīf of Ṭāʾif (630),12 the Byzantines of Tabūk (631),13 and poets who sat-
irized him—essentially, any persons or groups who opposed him and his
absolute religious, political, and military authority.
Whether the narratives in Samuel and Kings, the Qurʾan, Ibn Isḥāq, etc.
are viewed as accurate historical accounts of the events they describe or as
myth as many modern western scholars argue, in both scriptural traditions,
the purpose of all this violence and bloodshed is to establish and maintain a
just society as de󰀈椀ned by God—whether this God was referred to as YHWH
or Allāh. While both world views are brutal, bloody, and barbaric, there is a
substantive di󰀇ference between the two that has far-reaching implications

8 Ibn Hishām, al-Sīra al-nabawīya, 4 vols., eds. Muṣṭafā al-Saqqā et al. (Beirut: Dār al-

Khayr, 1990), 2:240; and Ibn Isḥāq, The Life of Muhammad: A Translation of Ibn Isḥāq’s Sīrat
Rasūl Allāh, trans. Alfred Guillaume (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1955), 326–327. Unless
otherwise noted, all quranic citations are from or based on The Qurʾan, trans. Tarif Khalidi
(New York: Penguin, 2008). Khalidi translates yuthkhin as “achieved supremacy”. Guillaume
renders it “made slaughter:” Ibn Isḥāq, Life of Muḥammad, 326. The overwhelming majority
of exegetes explained yuthkhin to mean to slaughter the unbelievers.
9 Ibn Hishām, 3:189; and Ibn Isḥāq, Life of Muhammad, 464.
10 For Muhammad’s raid against the Banū Qurayẓa, see Ibn Hishām, 3:184–193; and Ibn

Isḥāq, Life of Muḥammad, 461–467.

11 Ibn Hishām, 3:255–267; and Ibn Isḥāq, Life of Muhammad, 510–519.
12 Ibn Hishām, 4:95–103; and Ibn Isḥāq, Life of Muhammad, 587–592.
13 Ibn Hishām, 4:125–135; and Ibn Isḥāq, Life of Muhammad, 602–609.
20 chapter two

for the subsequent development of each religious tradition. The Hebrew

Bible’s vision of a just society living in accordance with the Torah of YHWH
is limited by ethnicity and geography to the People of Israel, the Land of
Israel, and the Temple at Jerusalem where the God of Israel caused his name
to dwell. The vision articulated in the Qurʾan and the Sīra, though at 󰀈椀rst
thought to be restricted to the Arabs, came to have a much more ambitious
reach in that it is limited neither by ethnicity nor by geography. In other
words, it is to strive in the path of God (jihād fī sabīl Allāh) until the whole
world and its people are subjugated under Islamic authority and rule. Hence
the classical understanding of the commandment:
﴾Fight them (qātilūhum) until there is no longer sedition (󰀇椀tna), and the
religion is God’s.﴿14 (Qurʾan 2:193; 8:39)
As noted above, the political, religious, and social environment of the
Roman Empire in which Jesus (and other Jewish reform movements) oper-
ated did not o󰀇fer any possibility of establishing a religio-political state on
the model of ancient Israel as described in the Hebrew Bible or the found-
ing narratives of Muhammad’s career and the Islamic caliphate; though one
can say that the Jewish revolt of 70ce and the Bar Kokhba Revolt of 132–136
could qualify as failed attempts to establish such religio-political states. In
the fourth century, Jesus’ famous response to Pilate, “My kingdom is not of
this world” (John 18:36), was turned on its head. After Christianity was made
a legal religion under Constantine (r. 306–337), but especially after Theodo-
sius (r. 379–395) made it the o󰀇󰀈椀cial religion of the Empire—some 350 years
after the time of Jesus and the founding of Christianity—Roman emperors,
Christian bishops, and others were compelled to negotiate issues of Chris-
tian religion and political power in substantive ways that were unthinkable
in earlier centuries. This process was not a simple one at all, but by the
end of the fourth century Christianity had been transformed from a reli-
gion that at times had been persecuted by the Roman state into a religion
that the Roman state viewed as its mission to enforce, even to the point
of persecution and violence.15 In other words, “from the last quarter of the
fourth century on, it was militant interpretations of the Christian message
and mission that became normative both in imperial Roman policy and in

14 Khalidi translates 󰀇椀tna (which is usually translated as disorder, temptation, trial, sedi-

tion, civil strife, etc.) as “forced apostasy”: ﴾Fight them until there is no longer forced apos-
tasy, and the religion is God’s﴿ (Qurʾan 2:193; 8:39).
15 On this transformation, see H.A. Drake, Constantine and the Bishops: The Politics of

Intolerance (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2000).

 jihad in early islamic history: an overview 21

the imaginations of some Christian communities arrayed across the land-

scape of the late antique Mediterranean and Mesopotamia.”16 These militant
interpretations of the Christian message in “imperial Roman policy and in
the imaginations of some Christian communities” were in tension with St.
Augustine’s views articulated in his City of God.17 Nevertheless, the tension
was su󰀇󰀈椀ciently resolved by the eleventh century as the call and preaching
of the Crusades were spearheaded by the Popes and the Church of Rome.18

2. Jihad and Warfare in the Qurʾan

Sūrat al-Anfāl (Spoils; 8:1–75) and Sūrat al-Tawba (Repentance; 9:1–129) pro-
vide the principal quranic inspiration for warfare against in󰀈椀dels and what
the Qurʾan calls People of the Book—namely, Jews and Christians. Whether
these suras should be understood as descriptive, or even mythic, accounts of
Muhammad’s military con󰀆lficts after his hijra to Medina or as divine exhor-
tations to be heeded in perpetuity, they were the principal go-to suras of
the Qurʾan that every religious scholar invoked when stressing the duty of
jihad and extoling its virtues. Sūrat al-Anfāl asserts that Muhammad’s 󰀈椀rst
major military victory against his Meccan opponents at Badr in 624 was due
to divine aid. Muslim commentators generally date Sūrat al-Tawba to the
end of Muhammad’s career—after one of his last victories in an attack on
Byzantine opponents at Tabūk in 631. There are, of course, many other pas-
sages in the Qurʾan that address jihad and warfare. We have selected 󰀈椀ve
from Sūrat al-Tawba that occur repeatedly in medieval and modern treatises
on the obligation of jihad. These 󰀈椀ve passages convey the basic principles of
military jihad and its rewards; they predominantly implore Muhammad and
his followers with q-t-l (kill; 󰀈椀ght), though j-h-d (strive; struggle) is employed
as well.
The 󰀈椀rst passage articulates the covenant between God and the believer
in the context of sacred warfare.
﴾God has purchased from the believers their souls and their wealth and, in
exchange, the Garden shall be theirs. They 󰀈椀ght in the path of God [yuqātilūn
fī sabīl Allāh], they kill and are killed—a true promise from Him in the Torah,

16 Thomas Sizgorich, Violence and Belief in Late Antiquity: Militant Devotion in Christianity

and Islam (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2009), 5.

17 Augustine, The City of God against the Pagans, ed. and trans. R.W. Dyson (New York:

Cambridge University Press, 1998).

18 Jonathan Riley-Smith, The First Crusade and the Idea of Crusading (Philadelphia: Uni-

versity of Pennsylvania Press, 2009).

22 chapter two

the Evangel and the Qurʾan. Who is more truthful to his promise than God? So
be of good cheer regarding that business deal you transact. That is the greatest
of triumphs.﴿19 (Qurʾan 9:111)
The two most famous warfare passages—known as the sword verse (Qurʾan
9:5) and the jizya verse (Qurʾan 9:29)—speak of o󰀆fensive warfare against
idolaters, polytheists, and in󰀈椀dels. Note that Jews and Christians are placed
in this category despite many other passages in the Qurʾan that speak favor-
ably of those among the Jews and Christians who shall see paradise.20
﴾Once the sacred months are shorn, kill (fa-qtulū) the polytheists wherever
you 󰀈椀nd them, arrest them, imprison them, besiege them, and lie in wait for
them at every site of ambush. If they repent, perform the prayer and pay the
alms, let them go on their way: God is All-Forgiving, Compassionate to each.﴿
(Qurʾan 9:5)
﴾Fight [qātilū] those who do not believe in God or the Last Day, who do not
hold illicit what God and His Messenger hold illicit, and who do not follow
the religion of truth from among those given the Book, until they o󰀇fer up the
tribute [jizya], by hand, in humble mien.﴿ (Qurʾan 9:29)
Warfare is not only to be conducted o󰀇fensively against the idolaters, poly-
theists, and in󰀈椀dels, but also defensively against those who 󰀈椀ght against
Muhammad, his followers, and right religion in general:
﴾Will you not 󰀈椀ght [tuqātilūn] a people who broke their oath, who undertook
to drive out the Messenger, who commenced hostilities against you? Do you
fear them? God is more worthy of your fear, if you truly believe. Fight them
[qātilūhum] and God will punish them at your hands. He will humble them
and grant you victory over them. He will appease the hearts of a people who
believe. He will remove the anger from their breasts. And God shall restore to
His grace whomsoever He wills. And God is Omniscient, All-Wise.﴿
(Qurʾan 9:13–14)
Finally, the rewards awaiting those who wage jihad in the path of God
include gardens watered by running streams, in which they shall abide
forever:
﴾But the Messenger and the believers with him have waged jihad with their
properties [bi-amwālihim] and persons [wa-anfusihim]. These—to them

19 The twelfth-century scholar, Yūsuf ibn Dūnās al-Findalāwī, invoked this passage in his

󰀈椀ght against the Franks during the Second Crusade. See Chapter Three, pp. 36–37.
20 Fred M. Donner examines the relevant quranic passages on Jews and Christians in

“From Believers to Muslims: Confessional Self-identity in the Early Islamic Community,”

Al-Abhath 50–51 (2002–2003), 9–53; and idem, Muhammad and the Believers: At the Origins of
Islam (Cambridge: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2010).
 jihad in early islamic history: an overview 23

belong the 󰀈椀nest rewards. These shall truly gain success. God has readied for
them Gardens beneath which rivers 󰀆lfow, abiding therein for ever. This is the
greatest of triumphs.﴿21 (Qurʾan 9:88)
In addition to these and other quranic passages—e.g., ﴾Fighting [al-qitāl]
has been prescribed for you, although it is a matter hateful to you﴿ (Qurʾan
2:216)—Muslim scholars also appealed to a host of hadiths that extolled the
merits of jihad against the enemies of right religion, however de󰀈椀ned, and
the rewards that awaited those engaged in it. According to one such hadith,
a version of which is in Ibn ʿAsākir’s Forty Hadiths, Muhammad said:
If anyone is pleased with God as Lord, with Islam as religion and with Muham-
mad as messenger, paradise will be assured to him …. There is also something
else for which God will raise a servant in paradise a hundred degrees between
each two of which there is a distance like that between heaven and earth ….
[That is,] “Jihad in God’s path; jihad in God’s path; jihad in God’s path.”22

3. Jihad and Warfare in Islamic

History before the Crusader Period

Since Muhammad was the sole political, military, and religious leader of the
new umma (community) at Medina it is easy to see the relevance of the
preceding quranic passages to his immediate situation. By the time he died
in 632, Muhammad was the direct ruler of the Hijaz and had established
tributary alliances with a number of the outlying tribes in Arabia. After
Muhammad’s death, it fell to the 󰀈椀rst caliph Abū Bakr and his Rashidun,
Umayyad, and Abbasid successors to undertake the conquest and subjuga-
tion of Arabia and far beyond.23 And as they did, they sought and easily found
inspiration for their religious, political, and military policies in the life and
deeds of Muhammad, for
﴾In the Prophet of God you have an excellent example (uswa ḥasana) to
follow for one who seeks God and the Last Day, and who remembers God
often.﴿ (Qurʾan 33:21)
The Qurʾan and the sīra tradition view Muhammad’s military conquests—
whether against Mecca, Ṭāʾif, Tabūk, or the Jews of Medina and Khaybar—in

21 Khalidi translates jāhadū as: ﴾laboured hard﴿.

22 Al-Tibrizi, Mishkat al-Masabih, 3 vols., trans. James Robson (Lahore: S.M. Ashraf, 1963–
1965), 3:817. See also, Hadith 11 in Ibn ʿAsākir, Forty Hadiths, 149; and idem, al-Arbaʿūn, 148.
23 Fred M. Donner, The Early Islamic Conquests (Princeton: Princeton University Press,

1981); and Hugh N. Kennedy, The Great Arab Conquests: How the Spread of Islam Changed the
World We Live In (Philadelphia: Da Capo Press, 2007).
24 chapter two

much the same light as the biblical depiction of the wars that the ancient
Israelites fought against their enemies. The ridda wars against the tribes
of Arabia and the subsequent conquests of Syria, Iraq, Iran, Egypt, North
Africa, Spain, and Sind (roughly half of the lands of Christendom and the
entire Zoroastrian world) are also portrayed as divinely-aided vindications
of Muhammad’s mission and message. This vision of a perpetually expand-
ing Islamic Empire was eventually upset by Christian counter-attacks in
eleventh-century Spain, Sicily, and elsewhere, but especially by the Franks’
successes at Edessa, Antioch, and Jerusalem in the late 1090s that ushered
in two centuries of Crusader control of coastal Syria—a subject that we will
address in some detail in Chapter Three.
After his death, Muhammad’s followers used quranic verses and a host of
hadiths to form the basis for the ideology of jihad in the medieval Islamic
world. They inspired many of the faithful during the 󰀈椀rst century of con-
quests even as others were undoubtedly inspired merely by booty and glory
in battle. Once the frontiers of the new Islamic Empire were more or less
stabilized in the eighth century, the caliphs maintained an expansionist
jihad ideology by leading or ordering raids along the Syrian–Byzantine fron-
tier. Many a caliph strengthened his own religious and political credentials
by leading the raids himself, including the Abbasids Hārūn al-Rashīd (r.
786–809) and his son, al-Maʾmūn (r. 812–833), who died in Tarsus, in Asia
Minor, while conducting a jihad campaign against the Byzantines.24
But it was left to the scholars of Islam to de󰀈椀ne jihad as a religious
duty. In fact, most medieval and early modern legal treatises, including
the Hadith collections, contain several chapters on jihad and warfare that
incorporate the standard material from the Qurʾan and Hadith. The earliest
treatises speci󰀈椀cally on the topic of jihad were compiled by scholars who
themselves were jihad 󰀈椀ghters, such as Ibn al-Mubārak’s (d. 797) Kitāb
al-jihād (The Book of Jihad) and Abū Isḥāq al-Fazārī’s (d. in or after 802)
Kitāb al-siyar (The Book of Proper Comportment).25 Their interest in jihad
was not merely personal. They understood it as a religious duty to campaign,

24 On the involvement of Abbasid caliphs in jihad against the Byzantines, see Bonner,

Aristocratic Violence; Hugh Kennedy, The Early ʿAbbāsid Caliphate (London: Routledge, 1981);
and idem, Armies of the Caliphs. On the caliph al-Maʾmun, see El-Hibri, Reinterpreting Islamic
Historiography, 95–142; Cooperson, Classical Arabic Biography; and idem, al-Maʾmun.
25 See Bonner, Aristocratic Violence, 107–134; Deborah Tor, “Privatized Jihad and Public

Order in the Pre-Seljuq Period: The Role of the Mutatawwiʿa,” Iranian Studies 38.4 (2005):
555–573; and eadem, Violent Order: Religious Warfare, Chivalry, and the ʿAyyār Phenomenon
in the Medieval Islamic World (Würzburg: Ergon Verlag, 2007). Al-Fazārī’s book addresses
primarily the proper comportment of the jihad 󰀈椀ghter while on jihad.
 jihad in early islamic history: an overview 25

especially along the Byzantine frontiers, because, in their view, the caliphs
were neglecting their duty to wage the yearly jihad campaign, or at least not
doing enough towards it. These scholars were transformed by their followers
into saints, which in return empowered their militant vision of jihad and
established it as mainstream dogma in medieval Islamic religious thought.
Asceticism and jihad are joined explicitly in the person of Ibn al-Mubārak,
who not only penned The Book of Jihad, but also Kitāb al-zuhd (The Book
of Asceticism)—two of the earliest Islamic treatises on both subjects. The
linkage between asceticism and military jihad is illustrated most explicitly
in the following hadith attributed to Muhammad, which Ibn al-Mubārak
includes in his Book of Jihad:
Every community has its monasticism (rahbānīya), and the monasticism of
my community is jihad in the path of God.26
Most of the treatises and chapters on jihad argue that it is as obligatory on
all able-bodied Muslims as are the obligations to perform the ritual prayer
(ṣalāt), the pilgrimage (ḥajj), and to give alms (zakāt). However, we also
begin to see an interesting development in jihad theory, whereby some
scholars relegated jihad to a communal obligation. For instance, according
to the renowned jurist al-Shā󰀈椀ʿī (d. 820), after whom a Sunni school of law
(madhhab) was named and who himself was in󰀆lfuenced by jihad scholars
like al-Fazārī, the quranic statements on jihad
mean that the jihad, and rising up in arms in particular, is obligatory for
all able-bodied [believers], exempting no one, just as prayer, pilgrimage and
[payment of] alms are performed, and no person is permitted to perform
the duty for another, since performance by one will not ful󰀈椀ll the duty for
another.27
There is no doubt that, like most jurists and ideologues, al-Shā󰀈椀ʿī shows a
certain level of pragmatism regarding the applicability of the “binding” duty
of jihad by all able-bodied Muslims.28 For instance, he adds to the above
comment that the verses

26 Ibn al-Mubārak, Kitāb al-Jihād, ed. Nazīh Ḥammād (Beirut: Dār al-Nūr, 1971), 35–36

(nos. 15–16). On jihad as a manifestation of ascetic practice, see Sizgorich, Violence and Belief,
168–195.
27 Al-Shā󰀈椀ʿī, al-Risāla, ed. A. Muḥammad Shākir (Beirut: Dār al-Fikr, 1979), 363 (section

980). The English translation is taken from al-Sha󰀈椀ʿi, Islamic Jurisprudence: Shā󰀇椀ʿī’s Risāla,
trans. Majid Khadduri (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins Press, 1961), 84.
28 For an overview of this pragmatism on the part of some Sunni jurists before the

Crusader period, see Mottahedeh and al-Sayyid, “The Idea of the Jihad in Islam before the
Crusades.”
26 chapter two

may also mean that the duty of [jihad] is a collective [kifāya] duty di󰀇ferent
from that of prayer: Those who perform it in the war against the polytheists
will ful󰀈椀ll the duty and receive the supererogatory merit, thereby preventing
those who have stayed behind from falling into error.29
Nevertheless, al-Shā󰀈椀ʿī employs Sūrat al-Nisāʾ (Women, 4:97) to emphasize
that the two categories of people are not equal:
But God has not put the two [categories of men] on an equal footing, for He
said: Such believers who sit at home—unless they have an injury—are not the
equals of those who 󰀈椀ght in the path of God [al-mujāhidūn fī sabīl allāh] with
their possessions and their selves. God has given precedence to those who
󰀈椀ght [al-mujāhidūn] with their possessions and their selves over those who sit
at home. God has promised the best things to both, and He has preferred those
who 󰀈椀ght over those who sit at home by [granting them] a mighty reward.30
(Qurʾan 4:97)
As Muslim scholars honed their understanding of right religion, they
divided the world into two broad spheres—the Abode of Islam (dār al-
Islām; lit., the Abode of Submission or the Abode of Surrender to God) and
the Abode of War (dār al-ḥarb; also referred to as the Abode of Unbelief or
dār al-kufr)—in an e󰀇fort to clarify the role of jihad and warfare in Islam. The
Abode of Islam was comprised of those territories under Islamic political
domination. The Abode of War was everywhere else; the ultimate goal being
to subdue and transform the whole of the Abode of War into the Abode of
Islam.31 This division of the world into two spheres did not mean that all
Muslims were at all times engaged in a state of open warfare against the
Abode of War. Formal truces did exist. Moreover, for purely practical rea-
sons of inertia, military capability, and political calculation, expansion of
the borders of Islam waxed and waned over time. As the central authority of
the Abbasid caliphs ebbed in the late ninth century, petty states and princi-
palities on the frontiers took up the ideology of expansionist jihad in India,
Central Asia, Anatolia, Africa, and Spain.
There were plenty of internal bloody con󰀆lficts in the 󰀈椀rst Islamic cen-
turies as various Muslim armies fought other Muslim armies in order to
establish a particular vision of proper Islamic religion and government.
We see this in the civil wars that plagued the early Muslim community

29 Al-Shā󰀈椀ʿī, al-Risāla, 363 (section 981); and Khadduri, Islamic Jurisprudence, 84.
30 Al-Shā󰀈椀ʿī, al-Risāla, 363–364 (section 982); and Khadduri, Islamic Jurisprudence, 84.
31 Patricia Crone, God’s Rule: Six Centuries of Medieval Political Thought (New York:

Columbia University Press, 2004), 358–392.

 jihad in early islamic history: an overview 27

during the Rashidun (632–661) and the Umayyad caliphates (661–750).32 We

see this also in the Abbasid Revolution in the late 740s that established the
Abbasid caliphate, which endured until the Mongols sacked Baghdad in
1258.33 But rarely do we 󰀈椀nd these civil wars described as jihad; rather, they
were frequently (though not always) depicted as regrettable though neces-
sary uses of force to restore proper religious and political order—whether
Rashidun, Umayyad, or Abbasid. Groups that continued to oppose these
newly restored “legitimate” authorities, especially those who employed the
rhetoric of jihad against fellow Muslims, generally were not viewed as rep-
resentative of mainstream Islamic thought or practice. In fact, the articula-
tion of the doctrine of jihad in the pre-Crusader period was overwhelmingly
against its internal application against fellow Muslims—however rebellious
they may have been—lest the use of the rhetoric of jihad against enemies
within lead to chaos or 󰀇椀tna. This policy was, in part, a response to the most
dramatic example of this chaotic impulse represented by the beliefs and
bloody campaigns of the Khawārij (Seceders), which were viewed as beyond
the mainstream by nearly all parties.34
We certainly do not wish to give the impression that the ideology of jihad
was in any way abandoned after the initial conquests of the seventh and

32 On these civil wars, see Tayyeb El-Hibri, Parable and Politics in Early Islamic History:

The Rashidun Caliphs (New York: Columbia University Press, 2010); Wilferd Madelung, The
Succession to Muhammad: A Study of the Early Caliphate (New York: Cambridge University
Press, 1997); and Mahmoud Ayoub, The Crisis of Muslim History: Religion and Politics in Early
Islam (Oxford: Oneworld, 2003).
33 On the Abbasid revolution, see Elton Daniel, The Political and Social History of Khurasan

under ʿAbbāsid Rule, 747–820 (Minneapolis and Chicago: Bibliotheca Islamica, 1979); Jacob
Lassner, The Shaping of ʿAbbasid Rule (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1980); Kennedy,
Early ʿAbbāsid Caliphate; Moshe Sharon, Black Banners from the East: The Establishment of
the ʿAbbāsid State—Incubation of a Revolt (Jerusalem: Magnes Press, 1983); and Paul M. Cobb,
White Banners: Contention in ʿAbbasid Syria, 750–880 (Albany: State University of New York
Press, 2001).
34 The Khāwārij emerged as a group in the 󰀈椀rst Islamic century, and waged jihad against

any Muslims who, in their opinion, did not live up to God’s commandments. On the Khāwārij
in early Islamic history see Julius Wellhausen, The Religio-Political Factions in Early Islam,
trans. R.C. Ostle and S.M. Walzer (Amsterdam and Oxford: North-Holland Publishing Co.;
New York: American Elsevier Publishing Co., 1975); Paul L. Heck, “Eschatological Scriptural-
ism and the End of Community: The Case of Early Kharijism,” Archiv für Religiouswissenschaft
7 (2005): 137–152; Ibn Dhakwān, The Epistle of Sālim ibn Dhakwān, eds. and trans. Patri-
cia Crone and Fritz W. Zimmermann (New York: Oxford University Press, 2001). On Ibāḍī
Khārijism, see Elizabeth Savage, A Gateway to Hell; a Gateway to Paradise: The North African
Response to the Arab Conquest (Princeton: Darwin Press, 1997); and Valerie J. Ho󰀇fman, The
Essentials of Ibāḍī Islam (Syracuse: Syracuse University Press, 2011).
28 chapter two

eighth centuries.35 We are merely seeking to demonstrate that most Mus-

lim scholars tended to be uncomfortable with applying the ideology of jihad
against their fellow Muslims. There were a few cases where jihad against fel-
low Muslims was invoked in mainstream circles. For instance, the governor
of Egypt Aḥmad ibn Ṭūlūn (r. 868–884) rallied in 883 the Damascene and
Egyptian jurists to declare jihad against the Abbasid prince al-Muwa󰀇faq for
his coup to depose his brother, caliph al-Muʿtamid in Baghdad.36 But such
examples were the exception rather than the norm. As noted above, jihad
in early Islamic history was understood as a duty to 󰀈椀ght by various means
the enemies of God and Islam, and given the demographic and political
realities of the early centuries, the enemies of God and Islam were abun-
dant. They were largely perceived to be pagan and polytheist Arabs during
the early Rashidun period and subsequently Byzantines, Persians, Hindus,
and other peoples and states beyond the frontiers of the rapidly-expanding
Islamic Empire, not internal Muslim dissidents.
Even when jihad was clearly understood as a religious duty to 󰀈椀ght the
enemies without, the scholarly consensus gradually moved the discussion
about jihad to legal territory. Starting in the ninth century, manuals on
jihad raised numerous legal and juridical issues that frequently imposed
restrictions and established objections, such as the valid and invalid waging
of jihad and warfare in a potentially mind-numbing number of situations,
the treatment and rights of the enemy, the many tricks an enemy could
play to be immune from attack (even false conversion), and so forth. The
jurists, thus, placed the ideology of jihad under their control, technically
inaccessible to the non-scholarly classes; i.e., most of society.37
All this started to change by the eleventh century when we begin to see
the emergence of a Sunni revivalism and assertiveness in response to a num-
ber of factors. The internal factor is the so-called Shiʿi Century during which
the core territories of Islam were ruled by Shiʿi regimes—including the
Fatimids in Egypt and southern Syria (969–1171), the Ḥamdānids in Aleppo
and northern Syria (945–1004), and the Buyids in Mesopotamia, Iraq, and
Iran (945–1055). The principal external factor is a broad range of Christian
counter-attacks—the beginnings of the Christian Reconquista in Spain, the
Norman conquest of Sicily and southern Italy, and most important for our

35 See Christopher van der Krogt, “Jihad without Apologetics,” Islam and Christian-Muslim

Relations 21.2 (2010): 127–147.

36 See Michael Bonner, “Ibn Ṭūlūnʾ Jihad: The Damascus Assembly of 269/883,” Journal of

the American Oriental Society 130.4 (2010): 573–605.

37 See Mottahedeh and al-Sayyid, “The Idea of the Jihad in Islam before the Crusades.”
 jihad in early islamic history: an overview 29

purposes the Crusader conquests in northern Mesopotamia and Syria—

because of the challenge they posed to the Islamic heartland. A second
external factor is the renewed conquest of India under Maḥmūd of Ghazna
(d. 1030) and his successors that was explicitly depicted as a series of jihad
campaigns against the in󰀈椀del Hindus.38
We see this Sunni revivalist impulse in the context of the Fatimid pres-
ence in Syria and the threat that it (and that of their fellow travelers) posed
to Seljuk designs in the region even prior to the arrival of the Crusaders.
The Seljuk vizier, Niẓām al-Mulk (d. 1092), has much to say about the threat
to good order posed by Shiʿis in his own day, whether Rā󰀈椀ḍīs (his term for
medieval Nizārī Ismāʿīlīs, known in the west as the Assassins), Twelvers,
or Daylamīs (his term for the Buyids and their lingering supporters). To
provide but one example, he includes in his Book of Government a hadith
that advocates waging jihad against Rā󰀈椀ḍīs. According to the hadith, Ali
(Muhammad’s cousin and son-in-law and, according to Shiʿis, his legitimate
successor) and Fatima (Muhammad’s daughter and Ali’s wife, from whom
the Fatimid dynasty derived its name) came to see Muhammad one day.
The Prophet (upon him be prayers and peace) raised his head and said, “O
ʿAli, greeting to you, for you and your kinsmen will be in paradise. But after
you a people will rise up professing to love you, pronouncing the creed and
reciting the Qurʾan; and they will be called Ra󰀈椀di. If you 󰀈椀nd them wage holy
war against them for they are polytheists, that is, unbelievers.”39
That Niẓām al-Mulk had good reason to be suspicious of Rā󰀈椀ḍī intentions
was born out in 1092, when he was murdered by a Nizārī assassin.40 As we

38 C.E. Bosworth, The Ghaznavids: Their Empire in Afghanistan and Eastern Iran, 994–1040

(Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1963). See also, Ziauddin Barani’s fourteenth-centu-
ry Fatawa-i Jahandari, which invokes the legacy of Mahmūd of Ghazna in an explicit call for
jihad against Hindus in India: “Sons of Mahmud and kings of Islam! You should with all your
royal determination apply yourself to uprooting and disgracing in󰀈椀dels, polytheists, and men
of bad dogmas and bad religions, if you wish that you may not have to be ashamed before
God and his Prophets and that in your record of life—concerning what you have said and
done, the clothes you have worn, and the food you have eaten—they may write good instead
of evil.” In The Legacy of Jihad: Islamic Holy War and the Fate of Non-Muslims, ed. Andrew
G. Bostom (Amherst: Prometheus Books, 2005), 197; excerpted from Mohammad Habib, The
Political Theory of the Delhi Sultanate (Allahabad: Kitab Mahal, 1961), 46–47.
39 Rā󰀇椀ḍīs is a standard epithet used to refer to Shiʿis in general. Niẓām al-Mulk generally

uses it to refer to Nizārīs in his Book of Government. Nizam al-Mulk, The Book of Government
or Rules for Kings: The Siyar al-Muluk or Siyasat-Nama of Nizam al-Mulk, trans. Hubert Darke
(Richmond: Curzon Press, 2002), 163.
40 Niẓām al-Mulk’s assassination by a Nizārī has been brought into question: see James

Waterson, The Ismaili Assassins, A History of Medieval Murder (Yorkshire: Frontline Books,
2008).
30 chapter two

shall see in subsequent chapters, this Sunni revivalist impulse led to the
reinvigoration of the traditional ethos of jihad against the enemy without
(Crusaders) in Syria during the Crusader period under the patronage of Nūr
al-Dīn, but it also led to an intensi󰀈椀cation and reorientation of jihad ideol-
ogy directed against the enemy within (Shiʿis and other errant Muslims).
As an ardent advocate of Sunni supremacy, Niẓām al-Mulk repeatedly
extols Maḥmūd of Ghazna as the epitome of the wise and e󰀇fective Sunni
sultan in his Book of Government composed for his Seljuk patron, Malik
Shāh (d. 1092). Since e󰀇fective leadership is e󰀇fective leadership, Niẓām al-
Mulk could hardly ignore Maḥmūd’s paradigmatic example, even though
the Seljuk warlords, Tughril Beg (d. 1060) and Chaghri Beg (d. 1063), had
defeated Maḥmūd of Ghazna’s son, Masʿūd, at the Battle of Dandanqān in
1040. It is noteworthy that Maḥmūd’s rhetoric of jihad versus Hindus in
South Asia was invoked repeatedly by the Delhi Sultans (1206–1526) and
the Timurid/Mughal Emperors (1526–1707); similar rhetoric continues to be
invoked against Hindus and Shiʿis in the context of South Asia to this day.41

41 Yohanan Friedmann, Shaykh Ahmad Sirhindi: An Outline of His Thought and a Study

of His Image in the Eyes of Posterity (Montreal: McGill University Press, 1971); Peter Jackson,
The Delhi Sultanate: A Political and Military History (New York: Cambridge University Press,
1999); John F. Richards, The Mughal Empire (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1996); and
André Wink, al-Hind: The Making of an Indo-Islamic World, 3 vols. (Leiden: Brill, 1990–2004).
 chapter three

JIHAD PREACHING IN DAMASCUS BETWEEN

THE FIRST AND SECOND CRUSADES

During the 1060s, Muslim pastoral nomadic Turkomans legitimated their

raiding and pillaging along the Byzantine frontier with the ideology of jihad.
Like their Umayyad and Abbasid predecessors and the Ottomans some two
centuries later, they argued that they were ful󰀈椀lling a religious obligation
by striving in the path of God against the Byzantines—the preferred in󰀈椀del
enemy of Islam since the days of the early Islamic conquests.1 Not surpris-
ingly, the Byzantines viewed these Turkomans as nothing more than bar-
barian raiders. Matters came to a head in 1071 as the Byzantine emperor
Romanus Diogenes led several Byzantine columns eastward to deal with this
Turkic menace once and for all. Already on campaign in Syria, the Seljuk
sultan, Alp Arslan, turned his forces north to come to the aid of his fellow
Turkomans. A pitched battle between the two sides took place at Manzik-
ert, near Lake Van, in the summer of 1071. Alp Arslan’s forces were victorious
and Romanus Diogenes was taken captive; he was ultimately ransomed and
deposed. A disastrous defeat for the Byzantines, the Battle of Manzikert
marks the beginnings of the process by which Anatolia became Turkey.2
In 1095, Pope Urban II preached a sermon at Clermont, in southern
France, in which he called on the interminably feuding nobility of Western
Europe to turn their energies to the cause of Christ and his Church. Urban II
was by no means the 󰀈椀rst to call on them to use their military skills in aid
of their Byzantine Christian brothers who, since the Battle of Manzikert,
were increasingly threatened by Muslim Turkic marauders in eastern and

1 For a famous example of jihad preaching against the Byzantines, see Ibn Nubāta,

Diwān khuṭab minbarīya (Bombay: Molvi Mohammed bin Gulamrasul Surtis Sons, 1984);
Ibn Nubāta (d. 984) was the head preacher in Aleppo for the Twelver Shiʿi dynasty, the
Ḥamdānids (945–1004). On the Muslims’ view of the Byzantines, see Nadia Maria El-Cheikh,
Byzantium Viewed by the Arabs (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2004); Michael Bonner,
Aristocratic Violence and Holy War: Studies in the Jihad and the Arab–Byzantine Frontier (New
Haven: American Oriental Society, 1996); and Hugh Kennedy, The Armies of the Caliphs:
Military and Society in the Early Islamic State (London: Routledge, 2001).
2 See Carole Hillenbrand, Turkish Myth and Muslim Symbol: The Battle of Manzikert

(Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2007); and John Haldon, The Byzantine Wars (Stroud
Gloucestershire: The History Press, 2008).
32 chapter three

central Anatolia. In fact, Pope Gregory VII had proposed that he himself
lead a force of some 50,000 men to liberate their Eastern brethren in 1074.
More importantly, however, Urban II called on the Frankish nobility to take
up the cross of Christ and make an armed pilgrimage to Jerusalem in order
to redeem their Lord’s patrimony which had been stolen by the in󰀈椀del
Saracens some four centuries earlier.3 Four years after Urban II’s sermon,
Jerusalem was in the hands of the Crusaders; unfortunately for the Pope, he
died before the news reached Western Europe.4
The invasion of 1098–1099 is commonly referred to as the First Crusade.
Its direct consequence on the region is that it exposed a major area of the
Islamic heartland to non-Islamic rule for the 󰀈椀rst time since the Arabian
Islamic conquests four and one half centuries earlier. The Franks, as they
were referred to by the Muslims,5 were received by the Muslims in the Near
East with various degrees of indi󰀇ference, opportunism, complete rejection,
and ine󰀇fectual religious outcries. They became another regional player, and
within a very short period of time they were able to forge alliances with
several Muslim rulers in the region. In other words, the Muslims became
accustomed to the Crusaders’ presence as part of the military landscape, and
some leaders took advantage of the Franks’ military capabilities to enhance
their respective positions vis-à-vis fellow Muslim opponents.6 Yet, the rapid
success with which the Crusaders established themselves generated loud,
though at 󰀈椀rst ine󰀇fectual, calls for jihad from members of the Syrian Sunni
religious establishment—especially in Damascus—who believed that the
Frankish invasion would not have been possible or successful had Muslim
political and military leaders attended to their religious duty of waging jihad
against the Christian in󰀈椀dels.

3 Five versions of Pope Urban II’s speech at Clermont are translated in Edward Peters,

First Crusade, 25–37.

4 On the Crusades in Europe and the Near East, see Jonathan Riley-Smith, The Oxford

Illustrated History of the Crusades (New York: Oxford University Press, 1995); Carole Hillen-
brand, The Crusades: Islamic Perspectives (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1999); and
Thomas F. Madden, The New Concise History of the Crusades (New York: Rowman and Little-
󰀈椀eld, 2005).
5 It is the general belief among scholars of medieval Islam that the term faranj (Franks)

was used by the Muslims as a blanket reference to the Crusaders, without distinguishing
between their ethnic compositions: see for example Hillenbrand, The Crusades, 31. Recent
scholarship is suggesting that this was initially the way the Crusaders presented themselves
as a group in the sense of “descendants of” Charlemagne, king of the Franks; the Muslims
simply picked up the designation from them. See Matthew Gabriele, “The Provenance of the
Descriptio Qualiter Karolus Magnus: Remembering the Carolingians in the Entourage of King
Philip I (1060–1108) before the First Crusade,” Viator 39.2 (2008), 93–117, especially 115–116.
6 On this, see Hillenbrand, The Crusades, 76–84.
 jihad preaching in damascus 33

1. Al-Sulamī and His Book of Jihad

The earliest example of such angry religious jihad outcries is Abū al-Ḥasan
ʿAlī ibn Ṭāhir al-Sulamī’s (d. 1106) Book of Jihad. A few years after the fall
of Jerusalem, al-Sulamī took to the pulpit in the mosque of Bayt Lihyā on
the outskirts of Damascus to preach jihad. Given the potency of its subject,
the fact that al-Sulamī only preached his book at the Bayt Lihyā mosque
outside of Damascus requires some explanation. He may have decided to
preach on jihad at the Bayt Lihyā mosque because of the building’s two
important associations. First, it was originally a church that had been con-
verted into a mosque, possibly as early as the eighth century. Second, local
Damascene lore associates it with the temple where the quranic Abraham
had destroyed the idols that his people worshiped (e.g. Sūrat al-Anbiyāʾ;
Prophets 21:57–58).7 In both cases, the building stands as a physical reminder
of the victory of Islam over its enemies.
His preaching at the Bayt Lihyā mosque may have been a matter of poten-
tially wounded egos and jealously guarded turf as well; that is, al-Sulamī
may have refrained from preaching his book inside Damascus out of fear
of ill treatment by the authorities there, for he was not a Qurʾan scholar,
nor was he a jurist. His professional specialization was primarily in Arabic
grammar (naḥw),8 although like many scholars of his day, he was involved in
the transmission of Hadith. Nevertheless, al-Sulamī’s Book of Jihad follows
the basic format of earlier legal treatises on the topic—it includes chapters
on the duty of jihad as set forth in the Qurʾan and Hadith; it also includes
chapters on Islamic legal theory (uṣūl al-󰀇椀qh) and legal application (furūʿ
al-󰀇椀qh) that address issues such as how and who can wage jihad, how to
treat the enemy, how to divide the booty, etc. In this respect, al-Sulamī’s
denunciation of his fellow Muslims for their weakness and division (which

7 For al-Sulamī and his Book of Jihad, see the forthcoming study, edition, and translation

by Niall Christie, The Book of the Jihad of ʿAlī ibn Ṭāhir al-Sulamī (d. 1106): Text, Translation and
Commentary (Aldershot: Ashgate, In Press). We want to thank Niall for allowing us to use
a draft of his monograph and edition. See also Nial Christie and Deborah Gerish, “Parallel
Preaching: Urban II and al-Sulami,” Al-Masaq: Islam and the Medieval Mediterranean 15.2
(2003): 139–148; Nial Christie and Deborah Gerish, Preaching Holy War: Jihad and Crusade,
1095–1105 (Aldershot, UK: Ashgate, 2009); Niall Christie, “Motivating Listeners in the Kitab
al-Jihad of ʿAli ibn Tahir al-Sulami (d. 1106),” Crusades 6 (2007): 1–14; and Paul E. Chevedden,
“The View of the Crusades from Rome and Damascus,”.
8 This is how Ibn ʿAsākir speci󰀈椀es the professional career of al-Sulamī: see Ibn ʿAsākir,

Taʾrīkh, 43:4. Also, the poet Abū al-Fawāris Ṭarrād ibn ʿAlī al-Sulamī (d. 1126) emphasized
that he studied grammar with al-Sulamī: see al-Silafī (d. 1180), Muʿjam al-safar, ed. Sher
Muhammad Zaman (Islamabad: Islamic Research Institute, 1988), 121.
34 chapter three

had allowed the enemy to attack them and wrestle away their land) mim-
ics earlier jihad works that sought to rally their contemporaries to the cause
of jihad against the Byzantines.9 However, one suspects that it is precisely
because his book addresses the topic of jihad from the perspective of the
Qurʾan, Hadith, and jurisprudence, that al-Sulamī would not dare—or at
least the Damascene scholarly community would not allow him to—preach
it in the known scholarly circles inside the city, especially in a place like the
Umayyad Mosque or its adjacent structures. His choice of a rather marginal
mosque, one that was not among the known centers of religious education
in and around Damascus, allowed him to teach and preach away from the
condescending and possibly envious eyes of the city’s established Qurʾan,
Hadith, and legal scholars.
Al-Sulamī preached his Book of Jihad over a period of several months
between Ramaḍān 498/May 1105 and Muḥarram 499/October 1105.10 The
information gleaned from the four extant chapters of the book suggests that
after he 󰀈椀nished composing a particular chapter, he would hold a session in
the mosque of Bayt Lihyā where he read it to a very small group of religious
scholars.11 Essentially, we 󰀈椀nd the same three or four pupils attending each
session; the chapter that attracted the largest crowd was Chapter Eight
on the speci󰀈椀c circumstances of Muhammad and his companions 󰀈椀ghting
in󰀈椀dels, which may explain the grand total of eight scholars in attendance.
Of the nine pupils who attended at least one of al-Sulamī’s teaching sessions
at Bayt Lihyā only four are known from sources other than the colophons on
the manuscript; only two of these (and one of these was a relative) could be
considered scholars of any consequence.12
While al-Sulamī’s format and content are consistent with that of his pre-
decessors, his Book of Jihad does contain important internal and external

9 On Muslim attitudes towards the Byzantines, see Bonner, Aristocratic Violence; El-

Cheikh, Byzantium Viewed by the Arabs; and Kennedy, Armies of the Caliphs.
10 Chapter 2 was read in Ramaḍān 498 (May 1005) and in Dhū al-Qiʿda 498 (August 1105),

Chapters 8 and 9 in Dhū al-Qiʿda 498 (August 1105), and Chapter 12 in Muḥarram 499 (October
1105).
11 This observation is somewhat tentative given the fact that only a portion of al-Sulamī’s

book is preserved.
12 The nine who attended one or more of the four sessions are: Abū Muḥammad ʿAbd

al-Raḥmān ibn Aḥmad al-Sulamī (Chs. 2A, 8, 9, 12); Abū al-Ḥusayn Aḥmad ibn Salāma
al-Abbār (Chs. 2B, 8, 9, 12); Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥasan al-Kattānī (Chs. 8, 9, 12); Aḥmad
ibn ʿAbd al-Bāqī al-Qaysī (Chs. 8, 9, 12); Ḥassān ibn Aḥmad al-Anṣārī (Chs. 2A, 8); Abū
Muḥammad al-Ḥasan ibn Hibat Allāh al-Sarrāj (Chs. 2B, 8, 9); Abū ʿAlī al-Ḥasan ibn al-Qāsim
al-ʿĀbir li-l-Ruʾya (Chs. 2B, 8, 9); Yaʿlā ibn Ḥā󰀈椀ẓ al-Sarrāj (Ch. 8); Muẓẓa󰀇far ibn ʿAbd Allāh
al-Muqriʾ (Ch. 12). Only the 󰀈椀rst four are known.
 jihad preaching in damascus 35

themes that are unique to him. First, al-Sulamī places the blame for the mis-
erable political situation in Syria explicitly on the Muslims’ weak spiritual
condition.13 Hence, in his opinion, it was incumbent on the Muslims that
they undertake a spiritual puri󰀈椀cation—what he calls the “greater” interior
jihad—before they could take up the “lesser” military jihad and have any
hope of defeating and driving out the invaders. It is important to point out
here that al-Sulamī does not argue that the greater interior jihad is superior
to or better than the lesser military jihad, or that Muslims must abandon the
lesser military jihad for the greater spiritual jihad. In this respect, he is in
agreement with the mainstream Sunni view as set forth in Ibn al-Mubārak’s
(d. 797) Book of Jihad and Ibn ʿAsākir’s Forty Hadiths that proper military
jihad must be waged by morally good Muslims in order to be acceptable
before God.14
Second, al-Sulamī viewed the Crusades in Syria as a continuation of a
much larger and per󰀈椀dious Christian jihad campaign to seize the lands of
Islam that had started in Spain (al-Andalus) and Sicily, and had now reached
coastal Syria and Jerusalem. In other words, he recognizes the assault as an
example of Christian religious warfare against Islam and the Muslims. It is
important to note that al-Sulamī’s sentiments surely re󰀆lfected the views of at
least a portion of the religious scholars;15 however, they did not necessarily
re󰀆lfect those of all of Damascene society or its ruling elite. The fact that
al-Sulamī was the only person to author and teach a book on jihad in greater

13 Similarly to al-Sulamī, the chronicler al-ʿAẓīmī (d. after 1161) of Aleppo complains

that the depleated Crusaders defeated the mighty Muslim armies in Antioch due to the
Muslims’ bad intentions (li-sūʾi niyyātihim): see al-ʿAẓīmī, “La chronique abrégée d’al-ʿAẓīmī,”
ed. C. Cahen, Journal Asiatique 230 (1938): 373.
14 It has become common practice among modern apologists to argue that the traditional

Islamic position is that the “greater” spiritual jihad is superior to the “lesser” military jihad and
that it is su󰀇󰀈椀cient in and of itself—even to the exclusion of military jihad. As demonstrated
herein, such a position is without foundation in the classical sources—e.g., Qurʾan, canonical
hadith collections, treatises on jihad, etc. See also Christopher van der Krogt, “Jihad without
Apologetics;” and Cook, Understanding Jihad, 32–48. On the personal requirements that a
jihad 󰀈椀ghter must ful󰀈椀ll before he can wage jihad and receive its rewards, see Chapter Five,
pp. 73–75.
15 Ibn al-Athīr (d. 1233), and other later scholars repeated, the same view as that expressed

by al-Sulamī; namely, that the Crusades were an attack against Islam and Muslims that
started in Spain and Sicily and now had reached Islam’s heartland: see Ibn al-Athīr, al-
Kāmil fī al-taʾrīkh, 13 vols., ed. C.J. Tornberg (Beirut: Dār Ṣādir, 1966), 10:272–273; idem, The
Chronicle of Ibn al-Athir for the Crusading Period from al-Kamil 󰀈椀ʾl-Taʾrikh. Part 1. The Years
491–541/1097–1146: The Coming of the Franks and the Muslim Response, trans. D.S. Richards
(Aldershot: Ashgate, 2006), 1:13. Since Ibn al-Athīr could not have gotten this from al-Sulamī’s
book, it is fair to assume that it was a common view at the time among Sunni scholars in Syria,
Egypt, and Iraq.
36 chapter three

Damascus at the time (and even then only in Bayt Lihyā) suggests a level of
indi󰀇ference among some of the Damascene Sunni religious establishment
towards the Frankish invasion. After all, the city ultimately entered into an
alliance, albeit unstable at times, with the Franks that lasted until 1148, when
it was dissolved in the face of the failed attack of the Second Crusade against
Damascus.

2. The Sunni Damascene Establishment

and Jihad Propaganda after al-Sulamī

Although we know that al-Sulamī’s Book of Jihad was taught in 1113 in the
Umayyad Mosque of Damascus—that is, six years after his death—with a
few young scholars in the audience, we still lack even a general picture of
explicit jihad propaganda in Damascus, especially before sultan Nūr al-Dīn
captured the city in 1154. In other words, we know very little about anyone,
beside al-Sulamī, who was also preaching jihad and teaching it among the
city’s Sunni religious scholars. We do know, however, that a few religious
scholars actually took to the battle󰀈椀eld to wage jihad against the Franks. One
of the most notable cases is Yūsuf ibn Dūnās al-Findalāwī, a North African
jurist of the Mālikī school of Sunni law who came to reside in Damascus
following his pilgrimage to Mecca. Al-Findalāwī was killed on Saturday 6
Rabīʿ I 543/25 July 1148 in the village of Nayrab, which is in the foothills of
Mount Qāsyūn that overlooks Damascus from the northwest.
According to our sources, al-Findalāwī went out of the city on foot to wage
jihad (kharaja mujāhidan) against the Franks, and because of his old age, the
Muslim army’s general tried to deter him. Al-Findalāwī’s reply to the general
was that he had sold his soul to God and that God had accepted the sale, a
reference to Qurʾan 9:111:
﴾God has purchased from the believers their souls and their wealth and, in
exchange, the Garden shall be theirs. They 󰀈椀ght in the path of God, they kill
and are killed—a true promise from Him.﴿16
Although al-Findalāwī is remembered as “very zealous in his promotion/
defense of Sunnism” (mutaʿaṣṣib fī al-sunna) and also as a miracle-worker
and a saint-like 󰀈椀gure,17 we do not know what his speci󰀈椀c involvement in
Sunni religious agitation was, nor do we know his precise role in jihad

16 Ibn ʿAsākir, Taʾrīkh, 74:235.

17 Ibn ʿAsākir, Taʾrīkh, 74:234–236. See also Ibn al-Qalānisī, Dhayl Taʾrīkh Dimashq, ed.
H.F. Amedroz (Beirut: Maṭbaʿat al-Ābāʾ al-Yasūʿīyīn, 1908), 298.
 jihad preaching in damascus 37

propaganda. Another scholar who was killed as he fought against the Franks
during their attack on Damascus is a mystic named ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿAbd
Allāh al-Ḥalḥūlī (d. 1148). However, we know even less about him than about
al-Findalāwī.18
The preaching of al-Sulamī and the jihad of al-Findalāwī and al-Ḥalḥūlī
appear to be dramatic scholarly exceptions rather than the norm in the 󰀈椀rst
half of the twelfth century. In fact, if our only evidence were Ibn ʿAsākir’s
Forty Hadiths, it would appear that after al-Sulamī (d. 1106), formal preach-
ing of hadiths on jihad in Damascus simply did not occur—or at least very
rarely occurred—prior to Ibn ʿAsākir taking up the cause again nearly half
a century later. Of the forty hadiths that Ibn ʿAsākir includes in his book,
only one features a Damascene Hadith transmitter: Abū Muḥammad ʿAbd
al-Karīm ibn Ḥamza al-Sulamī (d. 1132).19 But even here, Abū Muḥammad
al-Sulamī is not Ibn ʿAsākir’s primary informant. Ibn ʿAsākir lists the trans-
mission of Abū Muḥammad al-Sulamī after that of another of his teachers,
the more notable Abū al-Qāsim Zāhir ibn Ṭāhir al-Mustamlī (d. 1139), whom
he had met in Nishapur, in eastern Iran. More importantly, the inclusion of
this transmission from Abū Muḥammad al-Sulamī (the lone Damascene in
the Forty Hadiths) seems to be based on the fact that he learned the hadith
from the famous al-Khaṭīb al-Baghdādī (d. 1071), whose Taʾrīkh Baghdād
(History of Baghdad) served as a model for Ibn ʿAsākir’s History of Dam-
ascus.20 Obviously, since al-Khaṭīb died almost three decades prior to Ibn
ʿAsākir’s birth, the two scholars never met in this world. Yet Ibn ʿAsākir was
keen to preserve every known tradition or historical anecdote transmitted
on al-Khaṭīb’s authority, leaving us a great deal of material that al-Khaṭīb
had collected but is otherwise not available in any other source.21

18 Ibn al-Qalānisī, Dhayl Taʾrīkh Dimashq, 298; idem, The Damascus Chronicle of the Cru-

sades: Extracted and Translated from the Chronicle of Ibn al-Qalanisi, trans. H.A.R. Gibb (Lon-
don: Luzac, 1932), 284; Yāqūt, Muʿjam al-buldān, 2:290; and al-Dhahabī, Taʾrīkh al-islām,
47 vols., ed. ʿUmar Tadmurī (Beirut: Dār al-Kitāb al-ʿArabī, 1987–1998), 37:149. Al-Dhahabī
derived his information about al-Ḥalḥūlī from Ibn ʿAsākir; al-Ḥalḥūlī’s entry in Ibn ʿAsākir’s
Taʾrīkh is lost. See also, Jean-Michel Mouton, “Yūsuf al-Fandalāwī, cheikh des malékites de
Damas sous les bourides,” Revue des Études Islamiques 51 (1983): 63–75.
19 See Hadith 18 in Ibn ʿAsākir, Forty Hadiths, 157; and idem, al-Arbaʿūn, 156. Abū Muḥam-

mad al-Sulamī is no relation to al-Sulamī, the author of Book of Jihad.

20 Al-Khaṭīb al-Baghdādī was one of Baghdad’s most celebrated Hadith scholars. He re-

sided in Damascus and Syria for close to ten years before he went back to his hometown.
21 Hadith 18 is the only case in Ibn ʿAsākir’s Forty Hadiths that features a transmission from

al-Khaṭīb al-Baghdādī. A comparable example to al-Khaṭīb al-Baghdādī is the celebrated

mystic and Hadith scholar al-Qushayrī (d. 1072), whom Ibn ʿAsākir could not have met, and
instead arranged to study his Hadith with his son ʿAbd al-Munʿim (d. 1138): see, for example,
Hadiths 4, 6, 11, 24.
38 chapter three

While the absence of Damascene scholars as primary informants for Ibn

ʿAsākir’s Forty Hadiths is intriguing, it is somewhat misleading since we do
know that several scholars were actively involved in jihad propaganda in
Damascus, especially with respect to the transmission of hadiths on jihad.
In fact, our witness to this activity is none other than Ibn ʿAsākir himself.
As already noted, Ibn ʿAsākir’s testimony does not come to us from his Forty
Hadiths. Even more intriguing is the fact that very little of it comes from
his History of Damascus, the most important source of information on the
members of the Damascene (and Syrian) religious community and their
scholarly genealogies down to Ibn ʿAsākir’s time. Rather, we 󰀈椀nd it tucked
away in his Muʿjam al-shuyūkh, an extensive list of more than 1621 male
teachers with whom Ibn ʿAsākir had studied over the course of his career.
We know from the Muʿjam al-shuyūkh that one particular group of his
teachers was involved in jihad propaganda. This coterie was comprised of
displaced Sunni scholars who had come to Damascus either as a direct
or indirect consequence of the First Crusade; that is, in the wake of the
capture or siege of their respective hometowns by the Franks. As one might
expect, these displaced scholars enthusiastically and zealously called upon
their fellow Sunnis in Damascus to rally to the cause of jihad in order to
drive the Crusaders from their home towns. The Jerusalemites in particular
may have viewed this as an opportunity not only to remove the Franks, but
also to reestablish Sunni control of their exclusively Islamic holy city which
had been contested by various Sunni and Fatimid rulers since the Fatimid
conquest of southern Syria in the 970s.22
The list below identi󰀈椀es ten of these displaced scholars (6 from Jerusalem,
3 from Tyre, 1 from Nablus) and their professional occupations while in
Damascus.
1. Abū Aḥmad ʿAbd al-Salām ibn al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAlī al-Ṣūrī (d. 1164) 󰀆lfed
Tyre following its capture by the Crusaders in 1124. He was the younger
brother of Abū al-Faraj Aḥmad below.23
2. Abū al-Faraj Aḥmad ibn al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAlī al-Ṣūrī (d. 1134) 󰀆lfed Tyre
following its capture by the Crusaders in 1124. He was appointed for
a time to lead the ritual prayers for rain (istisqāʾ) in Damascus during

22 On the transformation of Jerusalem into an exclusively Islamic holy city in Islamic

thought, see Suleiman A. Mourad, “The Symbolism of Jerusalem in Early Islam,” in Jerusalem:
Idea and Reality, eds. Tamar Mayer and Suleiman A. Mourad (New York: Routledge, 2008),
86–102.
23 Ibn ʿAsākir, Muʿjam, 1:579–580; and idem, Taʾrīkh, 36:200.
 jihad preaching in damascus 39

drought spells. He was involved in the transmission of hadiths on

jihad.24
3. Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī ibn ʿAsākir ibn Surūr al-Maqdisī (d. 1158) was a
lumber merchant. He came to Damascus on business, but could not
return to Jerusalem due to its capture by the Crusaders in July 1099.25
4. Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī ibn Yaḥyā ibn Rā󰀈椀ʿ al-Nābulusī (d. 1151) 󰀆lfed Nablus
following its capture by the Crusaders shortly after the fall of Jerusa-
lem. He worked as the muezzin of the Bāb al-Farādīs minaret in Dam-
ascus. He used to regularly attend Ibn ʿAsākir’s teaching seminars.26
5. Abū al-Faraj Ghayth ibn ʿAlī ibn ʿAbd al-Salām al-Ṣūrī (d. 1115) was the
chief preacher (khaṭīb) of Tyre. He 󰀆lfed to Damascus at an old age, and
lived with the family of Ibn ʿAsākir until his death. He was involved in
the transmission of hadiths on jihad.27
6. Abū al-Ḥusayn Yaḥyā ibn Tammām ibn ʿAlī al-Maqdisī (d. 1123) 󰀆lfed
Jerusalem after its capture by the Crusaders. He specialized in Qurʾan
recitation and was the preacher to the black-slave community in Dam-
ascus.28
7. Abū al-Ḥasan Jamīl ibn Tammām ibn ʿAlī al-Maqdisī (d. 1141) 󰀆lfed
Jerusalem after its capture by the Crusaders. He was a miller and
specialized in Qurʾan recitation. He was the younger brother of Abū
al-Ḥusayn Yaḥyā above.29
8. Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad ibn Barakāt al-Maqdisī (d. after 1126) was a
butter merchant who 󰀆lfed Jerusalem after its capture by the Crusaders.
He was involved in the transmission of hadiths on jihad.30
9. Abū al-Ḥusayn Muḥammad ibn Kāmil ibn Daysam al-Maqdisī (d. 1142)
󰀆lfed Jerusalem after its capture by the Crusaders. He served as a bureau-
crat in charge of merchandise control, and the Hall of Zakāt (dār al-
wikāla) in Damascus. He was involved in the transmission of hadiths
on jihad.31

24 Ibn ʿAsākir, Muʿjam, 1:25–26; and idem, Taʾrīkh, 71:65–66.

25 Ibn ʿAsākir, Muʿjam, 2:735–736; and idem, Taʾrīkh, 43:92–93. It is not known precisely
when he went to Damascus on business, but it is likely to have been prior to the Crusaders
arrival at the walls of Jerusalem.
26 Ibn ʿAsākir, Muʿjam, 2:769–770; and idem, Taʾrīkh, 43:272–273.
27 Ibn ʿAsākir, Muʿjam, 2:807; and idem, Taʾrīkh, 48:124–125.
28 Ibn ʿAsākir, Taʾrīkh, 64:99–100. The entry for Abū al-Ḥusayn al-Maqdisī is missing from

the printed edition of Ibn ʿAsākir’s Muʿjam due to the loss of a few folios from the manuscript.
29 Ibn ʿAsākir, Muʿjam, 1:221; and idem, Taʾrīkh, 11:255.
30 Ibn ʿAsākir, Muʿjam, 2:896; and idem, Taʾrīkh, 52:144–145.
31 Ibn ʿAsākir, Muʿjam, 2:1020–1022; and idem, Taʾrīkh, 55:116–117.
40 chapter three

10. Abū al-Fatḥ Naṣr ibn al-Qāsim ibn al-Ḥasan al-Maqdisī (d. 1145) spe-
cialized in Qurʾan recitation. He 󰀆lfed Jerusalem after its capture by
the Crusaders. He taught Ibn ʿAsākir the Qurʾan; Ibn ʿAsākir describes
him as “zealous in his promotion/defense of Sunnism” (mutaʿaṣṣib fī
al-sunna).32
Ibn ʿAsākir apparently knew these displaced scholars fairly well, and some
of them had direct impact on his religious education. As noted above, Abū
al-Fatḥ Naṣr al-Maqdisī (#10) taught him the Qurʾan. A second scholar,
Abū al-Faraj Ghayth al-Ṣūrī (#5), lived with Ibn ʿAsākir’s family in the early
twelfth century; his jihad propaganda had to have had some impact on Ibn
ʿAsākir, since the precocious boy was ten years old when al-Ṣūrī died.
In his Muʿjam al-shuyūkh, Ibn ʿAsākir provides a brief entry for each
teacher that is comprised of his name, the town where Ibn ʿAsākir met
him, and invariably a hadith that he related from him (in a few cases,
Ibn ʿAsākir lists a short poem by the teacher instead of a hadith). The
inclusion of the hadith is meant to highlight the prowess of that teacher
in Hadith transmission. Moreover, each hadith helps us to understand how
Ibn ʿAsākir remembered the career of that particular teacher. Since nearly
all of the hadiths on jihad in Ibn ʿAsākir’s Muʿjam al-shuyūkh are related
on the authority of these displaced scholars, it is reasonable to assume
that they were indeed involved in jihad propaganda in Damascus. As we
shall see, these displaced scholars signi󰀈椀cantly in󰀆lfuenced how Ibn ʿAsākir
understood the role of jihad in the twelfth century.33
One might expect that the hadiths on jihad that Ibn ʿAsākir relates in the
Muʿjam al-shuyūkh would be good candidates for his Forty Hadiths collec-
tion. While this assumption may well be plausible, Ibn ʿAsākir chose not to
include any of them in his Forty Hadiths. If Ibn ʿAsākir knew these men well
and if some of them had a substantial impact on him, why then are they and
the hadiths on jihad they transmitted not quoted in the Forty Hadiths? To
ask the question slightly di󰀇ferently: Why did Ibn ʿAsākir not include these
scholars who, according to his Muʿjam al-shuyūkh, had taught him hadiths
on jihad in his home town of Damascus (particularly displaced scholars #s 2,
5, 8, and 9)?34 Three hadiths from Ibn ʿAsākir’s Muʿjam al-shuyūkh may help
us answer these questions.

32 Ibn ʿAsākir, Muʿjam, 2:1194; and idem, Taʾrīkh, 62:40–41.

33 It is important to note here that the hadiths on jihad that some of these displaced
scholars related to Ibn ʿAsākir do not feature in their respective entries in his Taʾrīkh.
34 One can even ask why these hadiths on jihad are not included in the respective entries

for the displaced scholars in Ibn ʿAsākir’s Taʾrīkh.

 jihad preaching in damascus 41

(1) Ibn ʿAsākir transmits the following hadith on the authority of Abū al-
Ḥusayn Muḥammad al-Maqdisī (#9):
The Messenger of God (ṣ) said: “He who dies without having participated
in a raid [wa-lām yaghzū] or never considered joining a raid [against God’s
enemies] dies with some hypocrisy.”35
The content of this hadith certainly makes it a candidate for inclusion in the
Forty Hadiths. Yet Ibn ʿAsākir leaves it out, and includes instead a slightly
variant version.36

(2) Ibn ʿAsākir transmits the following hadith on the authority of Abū al-
Faraj Aḥmad al-Ṣūrī (#2):
The Messenger of God (ṣ) asked [his followers]: “Who among people is para-
mount?” They replied: “God and His Messenger know best.” He repeated that
three times. They said: “O Messenger of God, it is he who wages jihad in the
path of God with his wealth and life.” The Messenger of God (ṣ) then asked:
“Who comes after that?” They replied: “God and His Messenger know best.”
He said: “It is a believer who secludes himself in a mountain gorge, fears his
Lord, and spares people from his iniquity.”37
Ibn ʿAsākir includes a nearly identical version of this hadith in his Forty
Hadiths, but there it is transmitted on the authority of Abū ʿAbd Allāh
Muḥammad ibn al-Faḍl al-Faqīh (d. 1136), whom Ibn ʿAsākir had met in
Nishapur.38 Ibn ʿAsākir makes no mention in the Forty Hadiths that he also
learned the same hadith from Abū al-Faraj al-Ṣūrī, who, as noted earlier,
lived the last years of his life in the house of Ibn ʿAsākir’s family.

(3) In our third example, Ibn ʿAsākir relates from the mystic Sahl ibn al-
Ḥasan al-Bistāmī (d. 1141), whom he also knew in Damascus,39 a hadith on
the authority of the companion of Muhammad, Ibn Masʿūd (d. 653):
I asked the Messenger of God (ṣ): “Which of the religious practices is most
dear to God?” He replied: “To pray the prayer in its time.” I then asked: “And
what comes next?” He replied: “Honoring and taking care of one’s parents.” I
asked again: “And what comes next?” He replied: “Waging jihad in the path of
God.” Had I asked yet again, he would have answered me.40

35 Ibn ʿAsākir, Muʿjam, 2:1021.

36 See Hadith 20 in Ibn ʿAsākir, Forty Hadiths, 159; and idem al-Arbaʿūn, 158.
37 Ibn ʿAsākir, Muʿjam, 1:26.
38 See Hadith 7 in Ibn ʿAsākir, Forty Hadiths, 145; and idem, al-Arbaʿūn, 144.
39 Al-Bistāmī resided and died in Damascus: Ibn ʿAsākir, Taʾrīkh, 73:6–7.
40 Ibn ʿAsākir, Muʿjam, 1:400.
42 chapter three

This exact same hadith of the companion Ibn Masʿūd is found in the Forty
Hadiths, but there Ibn ʿAsākir chooses to transmit it on the authority of Abū
Bakr Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Bāqī al-Salamī al-Anṣārī (d. 1141), whom he had
met in Baghdad.41
These and other examples from the Muʿjam al-shuyūkh demonstrate that
Ibn ʿAsākir learned hadiths about jihad in Damascus from Damascene schol-
ars as well as from scholars who had been displaced by the Crusaders. Yet
none of their hadiths on jihad in his Muʿjam al-shuyūkh are included in his
Forty Hadiths on the authority of these or other contemporaries in Dam-
ascus. Somewhat surprisingly, too, Ibn ʿAsākir makes no mention whatso-
ever in his History of Damascus that these Syrian scholars from whom he
learned hadiths on jihad (according to his Muʿjam al-shuyūkh) were actu-
ally involved in teaching him hadiths on jihad. He does, however, in a few
cases mention in his History of Damascus that some of them taught others
hadiths on jihad.
So, how can we account for what appears to be an intentional exclusion
of Damascene and Syrian informants from his Forty Hadiths? It is our con-
tention that Ibn ʿAsākir’s decision to ignore his teachers in Damascus re󰀆lfects
his eagerness to demonstrate to his political patron Nūr al-Dīn, who com-
missioned the Forty Hadiths, as well as to his Damascene contemporaries
that his knowledge of Hadith was not only superior to any other’s in Damas-
cus, but also that he did not owe his expertise in Hadith to the Damascene
scholarly establishment. His obsession with his own image and his repu-
tation as unequalled in Hadith scholarship in Damascus required that he
ignore all his Damascene Hadith teachers who were involved in jihad pro-
paganda. His teachers in Damascus may have been fellow Syrians, but in his
mind, they were not his peers—at least on this subject. Ibn ʿAsākir’s sense
of superiority is evident as well in his treatment of al-Sulamī’s Book of Jihad.

3. Was Ibn ʿAsākir Aware of al-Sulamī’s Book of Jihad?

It is our contention that Ibn ʿAsākir was well aware of the fact that al-Sulamī
had transmitted hadiths on jihad; it is our contention as well that Ibn
ʿAsākir intentionally chose to ignore al-Sulamī’s role in his own scholarship
on the subject. In the entry for al-Sulamī in his History of Damascus, Ibn
ʿAsākir makes no mention of al-Sulamī’s involvement in jihad preaching

41 See Hadith 3 in Ibn ʿAsākir, Forty Hadiths, 137; and idem, al-Arbaʿūn, 136.
 jihad preaching in damascus 43

whatsoever; as far as Ibn ʿAsākir is concerned, al-Sulamī was a grammar-

ian (naḥawī).42 Since Ibn ʿAsākir does refer to al-Sulamī as a transmitter
of Hadith in several biographical entries for his own contemporaries who
had studied with al-Sulamī, one suspects that Ibn ʿAsākir also intentionally
chose to downplay the fact that al-Sulamī was even involved in the trans-
mission of Hadith in his entry dedicated to him.43
As for al-Sulamī’s Book of Jihad, Ibn ʿAsākir does not refer to it anywhere
in his own writings. However, there is compelling textual evidence that Ibn
ʿAsākir did indeed know of the work and that he knew of it from scholars
who were extremely important to his own intellectual formation. On the
cover folio of Chapter Two of the lone extant manuscript of al-Sulamī’s
Book of Jihad, it is recorded that the chapter was read on Monday, the
last day of Dhū al-Ḥijja 506/16 June 1113 in the Great Umayyad Mosque by
Abū Muḥammad ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Aḥmad ibn ʿAlī ibn Ṣābir al-Sulamī
(d. 1118),44 who had attended the sessions when al-Sulamī preached his book
in the mosque of Bayt Lihyā in 1105.
Four young apprentices were in the audience for Abū Muḥammad al-
Sulamī’s teaching session in the Umayyad Mosque, including his son ʿAbd
Allāh (d. 1180),45 Ibn ʿAsākir’s older brother Hibat Allāh ibn al-Ḥasan ibn
Hibat Allāh ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Ḥusayn (1095–1168) and Abū Manṣūr ʿAbd
al-Bāqī ibn Muḥammad al-Tamīmī (d. 1157).46 Hibat Allāh had a tremendous
impact on his younger brother, especially in terms of religious education. We
know from Ibn ʿAsākir’s own testimony that Hibat Allāh used to bring him
along to seminars when Ibn ʿAsākir was as young as 󰀈椀ve years old, which
enabled Ibn ʿAsākir to claim licenses and transmission rights from aged
scholars he otherwise could not have met. In addition, since Hibat Allāh
had made a study tour of the pious centers of religious education in Iraq,
Iran, and Central Asia between 1116 and 1118,47 he could advise his younger
brother about which scholars he should seek out as teachers when he made
study tours of many of the same places himself between 1126 and 1131 and
then again between 1134 and 1141.

42 See Ibn ʿAsākir, Taʾrīkh, 43:4.

43 For example, Ibn ʿAsākir states that his teacher Abū al-Ḥasan Jamīl ibn Tammām
al-Maqdisī (d. 1141) studied Hadith with al-Sulamī. See Ibn ʿAsākir, Taʾrīkh, 11:255.
44 On Abū Muḥammad al-Sulamī, see al-Dhahabī, Taʾrīkh al-islām, 35:317.
45 On ʿAbd Allāh al-Sulamī, see al-Dhahabī, Taʾrīkh al-islām, 40:214–215.
46 Ibn ʿAsākir, Taʾrīkh, 34:157–158 and 34:10–11.
47 Ibn ʿAsākir, Taʾrīkh, 73:361–362; and al-Dhahabī, Taʾrīkh al-islam, 39:181–183.
44 chapter three

Besides his brother Hibat Allāh, we also know that Ibn ʿAsākir stud-
ied Hadith with Abū Muḥammad al-Sulamī and Abū Manṣūr al-Tamīmī
(d. 1157); that is, the reader and two of the four members in the audience
when al-Sulamī’s Book of Jihad was read at the Umayyad Mosque in 1113.48
Consequently, one expects that Ibn ʿAsākir learned about The Book of Jihad
from his older brother, Hibat Allāh, and possibly from Abū Muḥammad al-
Sulamī or Abū Manṣūr al-Tamīmī. Since Ibn ʿAsākir was eight years old when
this teaching session occurred it is not improbable that this was one of those
times when he had tagged along with his older brother and heard the text
read with his own young ears.
Ibn ʿAsākir, in all likelihood, also learned of al-Sulamī’s Book of Jihad from
his maternal uncle, Abū al-Maʿālī Muḥammad ibn Yaḥyā al-Qurashī (d. 1143),
the Chief Judge of Damascus, and two of his own teachers, Ghayth ibn ʿAlī
al-Ṣūrī (d. 1115) and Jamīl ibn Tammām al-Maqdisī (d. 1141). All three related
hadiths to Ibn ʿAsākir that they themselves had studied with al-Sulamī.49 As
for Ghayth al-Ṣūrī, we know that he not only taught Ibn ʿAsākir a hadith on
jihad, but that when he came to Damascus after escaping Tyre, he resided
with Ibn ʿAsākir’s family, suggesting that it is not farfetched to speculate
that, in his own father’s home as a young boy, Ibn ʿAsākir may have heard
of al-Sulamī’s Book of Jihad from Ghayth.
These instances not only demonstrate that Ibn ʿAsākir met and studied
with scholars who had studied with al-Sulamī, they provide clear textual
evidence that some of his teachers were exposed to al-Sulamī’s Book of Jihad
and that Ibn ʿAsākir had studied hadiths speci󰀈椀cally on jihad with some of
them. Undoubtedly, Ibn ʿAsākir knew that al-Sulamī had authored The Book
of Jihad. That he chose to ignore it in his own scholarship is yet another indi-
cation of his sense of self importance. After all, if he deliberately ignored
established Damascene scholars’ transmissions of hadiths on jihad in his
Forty Hadiths, it should come as no surprise that he refused to acknowledge
al-Sulamī’s Book of Jihad as a work of serious scholarship. After all, al-Sulamī
was a lowly grammarian (naḥawī); Ibn ʿAsākir, as a lofty ḥā󰀇椀ẓ (Hadith mem-
orizer) and muḥaddith (Hadith scholar), was the leading Damascene scholar
of his generation.
Be that as it may, Ibn ʿAsākir still provides us with invaluable access to
the religious mood of the Sunni religious establishment in the early twelfth
century whose involvement in jihad propaganda might help us understand

48 Ibn ʿAsākir also relates a hadith that Abū Manṣūr al-Tamīmī related to him from

al-Sulamī. See Ibn ʿAsākir, Taʾrīkh, 56:231.

49 Ibn ʿAsākir, Taʾrīkh, 43:4, also in 11:255; and idem, Muʿjam, 1:221.
 jihad preaching in damascus 45

the religious atmosphere of Damascus prior to its capture by Nūr al-Dīn in

1154. Not only did these scholars in󰀆lfuence Ibn ʿAsākir (however incidentally
by his own account), their preaching also prepared the ground for the Dam-
ascene Sunni religious establishment and other city notables to view Nūr
al-Dīn as a possible savior as well as champion of Sunnism.50 The beginnings
of the intensi󰀈椀cation and reorientation of jihad doctrine in mainstream Syr-
ian Sunni discourse in the early twelfth century was already apparent in
al-Sulamī’s advocacy of spiritual puri󰀈椀cation as a prerequisite for physical
success on the battle󰀈椀eld and his perceptive identi󰀈椀cation of the Crusades
as part of a larger Christian campaign against the Muslims. Although we
know of only one instance in which his book was used to preach jihad after
his death, al-Sulamī’s Book of Jihad does re󰀆lfect the popularization of jihad
preaching in Damascus and Syria—especially as the angry reaction of reli-
gious scholars to the lack of motivation and will on the part of rulers and the
public to stand up and 󰀈椀ght the invading Crusaders.
As noted above, scholars and mystics such as al-Findalāwī and al-Ḥalḥūlī,
and a group of displaced Syrian scholars were involved in jihad activism and
preaching in Damascus between the First and Second Crusades. Ibn ʿAsākir
describes some of these scholars as “very zealous in his promotion/defense
of Sunnism” (mutaʿaṣṣib fī al-sunna), which in his view was a tremendously
high compliment and by no means pejorative. Indeed, these scholars were
the indispensable zealots who issued the clarion call to jihad that assured
the triumph of Sunnism against its many enemies—but especially against
the enemy without (Crusaders) and the enemy within (Shiʿis).
These displaced scholars’ e󰀇forts and religious fervor were celebrated
a few centuries later by Shams al-Dīn al-Sakhāwī (d. 1497), the famous
scholar of late Mamluk Cairo. In his al-Iʿlān bi-l-tawbīkh li-man dhamm
al-taʾrīkh (A Rebuke to the Disparager of History), al-Sakhāwī praises the
crucial role that Ibn ʿAsākir and a group of scholars, whom he calls “the
Jerusalemites,” played in the triumphant revivi󰀈椀cation of Sunnism.51 That is,
after two centuries of Shiʿi domination (in particular under Fatimid rule),
Sunnism gained the upper hand, which led to the empowerment of the
Sunni religious establishment in Damascus and Syria, and the liberation
of Egypt. While al-Sakhāwī does not say what speci󰀈椀c types of activities

50 The glori󰀈椀cation of Nūr al-Dīn and the Zangid dynasty as defenders of Islam against

internal (Shiʿi) and external (Crusaders) enemies was still being celebrated even after the
death of Nūr al-Dīn, as in the case of the Maqāmāt of Aḥmad b. Abū Bakr al-Rāzī, written in
Aleppo in 1178–1179: see Chapter Four, pp. 58–59.
51 Al-Sakhāwī, al-Iʿlān, 294.
46 chapter three

Ibn ʿAsākir and the Jerusalemites pursued, one can safely assume (on the
basis of the above discussion) that what earned them their distinctive rank
within Sunni genealogy was their direct involvement in the revivi󰀈椀cation
of Sunnism, including the promotion and dissemination of jihad ideology
during the Crusader period, which paved the way for Nūr al-Dīn, then
Saladin and the Ayyubids, and ultimately the Mamluk Sultans to secure the
Sunni domination over Syria and Egypt.52

52 Surely, al-Sakhāwī primarily means by the Jerusalemites such renowned 󰀈椀gures of

the Damascene religious establishment as ʿAbd al-Ghanī al-Maqdisī (d. 1204); Ibn Qudāma
(d. 1223), one of Saladin’s chief religious advisors; and Ḍiyāʾ al-Dīn al-Maqdisī (d. 1245), whose
ancestors 󰀆lfed Jerusalem after its capture by the Crusaders.
 chapter four

IBN ʿASĀKIR AND THE INTENSIFICATION AND REORIENTATION

OF SUNNI JIHAD IDEOLOGY IN THE TWELFTH CENTURY

1. Ibn ʿAsākir and Nūr al-Dīn

Ibn ʿAsākir’s service to sultan Nūr al-Dīn began shortly after the latter occu-
pied Damascus in 1154.1 Nūr al-Dīn became amir of Aleppo eight years earlier
(1146) after his father ʿImād al-Dīn Zangī—a Turkic warlord who had built
a successful career 󰀈椀ghting the Franks in northern Syria and southeastern
Anatolia—was murdered by one of his disgruntled slaves. Zangī is most
famous for having captured the county of Edessa in 1144, which was the
impetus for the Second Crusade (1146–1148).2 After his murder, Zangī’s lands
were divided up among his sons—Sayf al-Dīn (lit., the Sword of Religion)
was allotted Zangī’s eastern holdings, and Nūr al-Dīn (lit., the Light of Reli-
gion) received Aleppo and northern Syria. Nūr al-Dīn spent the early years
of his career consolidating his inheritance by 󰀈椀ghting other Turkic and Kur-
dish princes in north and central Syria and in Mesopotamia (al-Jazīra).
While the fall of Edessa was the pretext for the formation of the Second
Crusade, the men who arrived in the Near East in 1148 (two years after
Zangī’s demise) did not attempt to reclaim Edessa. Rather, they turned their
anger against Damascus based on the belief that if Damascus was captured,
then e󰀇fective Frankish rule over the entirety of Syria could be secured.3 The
subsequent failure to take Damascus proved to be a turning point in the
Muslim Counter-Crusade, for the popular mood in Damascus 󰀈椀rmly shifted
from perceiving the Franks as possible allies of convenience (󰀈椀rst against

1 Elissée󰀇f, La Description de Damas, xxii.

2 On the career of Zangī, see Carole Hillenbrand, “ ‘Abominable Acts’: The Career of
Zengi,” in The Second Crusade: Scope and Consequences, eds. Jonathan Phillips and Martin
Hoch (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2001), 111–132.
3 On the issues relating to the Second Crusade, see Giles Constable, “The Second Crusade

as Seen by Contemporaries,” Traditio 9 (1953), 213–279; Alan J. Forey, “The Second Crusade:
Scope and Objectives,” Durham University Journal 55 (1994), 165–175; and Martin Hoch, “The
Choice of Damascus as the Objective of the Second Crusade: A Re-evaluation,” in Autour de
la Première Croisade: Actes du Colloque de la Society for the Study of the Crusades and the Latin
East—Clermont-Ferrand, 22–25 Juin 1995, ed. Michel Balard (Paris: Sorbonne, 1996), 359–369.
48 chapter four

Zangī and then his son Nūr al-Dīn) to considering Nūr al-Dīn their savior
from the in󰀈椀del Frankish threat.4 This shift was rooted in a desire for a ruler
who would unify a divided Syria under the banner of Sunni Islam and who
would employ the strength of that unity to defeat the Franks and root out
any remaining political and sectarian divisions.
Accomplishing any of these goals was certainly no easy task given the
long-standing political and religious divisions among the Muslims in Syria.
Nevertheless, the dream of a Sunni restoration was a powerful and endur-
ing one in Damascus—the capital of the 󰀈椀rst truly Islamic Empire under
the Umayyad caliphs (661–750). But Nūr al-Dīn did not sit idly and wait
for the Damascene Sunni establishment to change its mood following the
failed siege of the city by the Franks in July 1148; he played an active role
in pushing them in his direction. The sultan sent one of his principal reli-
gious advisors, the jurist Burhān al-Dīn ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥasan al-Balkhī (d. 1153),
to Damascus to prepare the ground for him. Burhān al-Dīn was an avid sup-
porter of Nūr al-Dīn, who had earlier invited him to Aleppo to supervise the
reintroduction of Sunnism there and the reestablishment of the proper call
to prayer after close to a century and a half of Shiʿi rule;5 including the rule
of the famous Twelver Shiʿi dynasties, the Ḥamdānids (945–1004) and the
ʿUqaylids (1080–1086). Even after the Seljuk Turks seized control of Aleppo in
1086, a sizeable majority of the population had remained Shiʿis.6 Burhān al-
Dīn’s activities in Damascus attracted the attention of the city’s Būrid rulers
and led to his brief exile to a neighboring town.7 But in due course, Burhān
al-Dīn participated in the negotiation of the military settlement between
the Būrid governor of Damascus and Nūr al-Dīn, when the latter besieged
the city in the summer of 1151.
Six years after the failed Frankish siege of Damascus, the city fell to Nūr
al-Dīn in 1154; unfortunately for Burhān al-Dīn, he did not live to witness this
event. The Second Crusade’s attack was not the only reason that forced the

4 See Yaacov Lev, “The Jihad of Sultan Nur al-Din of Syria (1146–1174): History and Dis-

course,” Jerusalem Studies in Arabic and Islam 35 (2008): 227–284.

5 Ibn al-Qalānisī, Dhayl Taʾrīkh Dimashq, ed. H.F. Amedroz (Beirut: Maṭbaʿat al-Ābāʾ

al-Yasūʿīyīn, 1908), 316; idem, The Damascus Chronicle of the Crusades, 309–310; and Ibn
ʿAsākir, Taʾrīkh, 41:340.
6 On the Shiʿis in Aleppo at the time, see Henri M. Khayat, “The Šīʿite Rebellions in Aleppo

in the 6th A.H./12th A.D. Century,” Rivista degli Studi Orientali 46 (1971), 167–195. See also
Devin J. Stewart “The Maqāmāt of Aḥmad b. Abī Bakr b. Aḥmad al-Rāzī al-Ḥanafī and the
Ideology of the Counter-Crusade in Twelfth-century Syria,” Middle Eastern Literatures 11.2
(2008), 226.
7 Ibn ʿAsākir, Taʾrīkh, 41:340.
 ibn ʿasākir and sunni jihad ideology 49

Damascenes to end their alliance with the Franks (which had a󰀇forded them
some protection from Nūr al-Dīn) and to opt instead for an alliance with
Nūr al-Dīn as their only hope of protection from their former allies.8 One
should not underestimate the indirect political weight that Burhān al-Dīn’s
mission may have carried, especially given the tremendous in󰀆lfuence Sunni
scholars had over a sizable section of the Damascene public. The city’s
population was eventually eager for Nūr al-Dīn to take over and end the
social and political crisis. They even counted on him to bring an end to
natural disasters; such as the prolonged drought that broke as Nūr al-Dīn’s
army approached Damascus.9
Ever the pragmatic politician, Nūr al-Dīn maintained some of the tribu-
tary obligations his predecessors had established with the Franks; he also
concluded several peace treaties of his own. That he was willing (and astute
enough) to pursue such policies with his Frankish neighbors after his occu-
pation of Damascus re󰀆lfects how crucial it was for him to keep the Franks
at bay while he sought to consolidate his political control of the Muslim
provinces of Syria. In 1171—a decade and a half after Nūr al-Dīn occupied
Damascus—his protégé general, Saladin, toppled the Shiʿi Fatimid dynasty
in Egypt. For the 󰀈椀rst time in two centuries the name of the Abbasid caliph
in Baghdad, the symbolic head of Sunnism, was once again invoked in the
Friday prayers throughout Egypt.10
Nūr al-Dīn’s political and religious ambitions attracted Ibn ʿAsākir as well
as a large number of Syrian Sunni scholars, who saw him as the ideal candi-
date to liberate them from the Frankish menace and to reunite Syria after
centuries of intra-Muslim division and hostility. It is a tribute to Nūr al-
Dīn’s political skill that he could cement an alliance between Muslim politi-
cians and religious scholars around the ideology of jihad and the revival of
Sunni Islam in Syria and Egypt.11 Nūr al-Dīn employed in his army a host of

8 Martin Hoch, “The Price of Failure: the Second Crusade as a Turning-Point in the

History of the Latin East?” in The Second Crusade: Scope and Consequences, eds. Jonathan
Phillips and Martin Hoch (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2001), 180–200.
9 See, for instance, Ibn al-Qalānisī, Dhayl, 308–309; idem, The Damascus Chronicle of the

Crusades, 297; and al-Dhahabī, Taʾrīkh al-islām, 37:24.

10 The Abbasids at the time did not muster any real power outside Baghdad. Yet, they

remained, as caliphs, the symbolic leaders of Sunni Islam until the sack of Baghdad by the
Mongols in 1258. The Abbasid caliphate continued in Cairo, also with no real power except
to bestow upon the Mamluks the title of “sultan of Islam”, until the Ottoman invasion in 1517.
11 On the career of Nūr al-Din, see Nikita Elissée󰀇f, Nūr ad-Din: Un grand prince musulman

de Syrie au temps des croisades (511–569 H./1118–1174), 3 vols. (Damascus: Institut Français de
Damas, 1967); and Hillenbrand, The Crusades, 117–170.
50 chapter four

religious scholars and preachers whose sole function was to indoctrinate

and motivate the troops to jihad against the Franks and the Fatimids.12
Moreover, throughout his reign Nūr al-Dīn ordered the construction of an
extensive network of religious and secular institutions and monuments—
mosques, minarets, schools, hospitals, city walls, forti󰀈椀cations, etc. The in-
tention of these buildings and monuments was to strengthen the sultan’s
hand in Syria and to further enhance his religious and public image. These
structures are also extraordinary testimonies to Nūr al-Dīn’s use of propa-
ganda to advance his political and religious ambitions, as most of the dedi-
catory inscriptions on these buildings and monuments celebrate him as the
great jihad warrior.13 His building campaigns succeeded in gaining tremen-
dous support from the scholars and the Syrian Sunni masses and undoubt-
edly contributed to the revival of Sunnism in Syria.
Nūr al-Dīn found in Ibn ʿAsākir a particularly ardent defender of Sunni
Islam and ordered that a school for the study of Hadith—known both as
Dār al-Ḥadīth (House of the Study of Hadith) and Dār al-Sunna (House of
the Study of the Prophet’s Way of Life and Teachings)—be built for his new
scholarly ally. This school, constructed in 1170, later became known as Dār
al-Ḥadīth al-Nūrīya (Nūr al-Dīn’s House of Hadith). Ibn ʿAsākir shaped the
school into the intellectual epicenter of Nūr al-Dīn’s jihad propaganda. Its
output was deployed against the internal and external enemies of Sunni
Islam throughout Nūr al-Dīn’s realm, continuing long after its founder’s
death. Only a few traces of the building (notably the niche of the prayer hall)
remain in old Damascus in what is known as the ʿAṣrūnīya market area.14
In the biography of Nūr al-Dīn included in his History of Damascus, Ibn
ʿAsākir provides little information about the career of his patron except that
it was mostly spent 󰀈椀ghting the Franks and ending heresies. Nevertheless,
his words leave no doubt that he considered the triumph of Sunnism in Syria
and Egypt (a consequence of Nūr al-Dīn’s many wars against other Muslims)

12 See Elissée󰀇f, Nūr ad-Din, 3:735; and Hillenbrand, The Crusades, 119–122.
13 On the function of these buildings and monuments, see Yasser Tabbaa, “Monuments
with a Message: Propagation of Jihād under Nūr al-Din,” in The Meeting of Two Worlds: Cul-
tural Exchange between East and West during the Period of the Crusades, ed. Vladimir P. Goss
(Kalamazoo: Medieval Institute Publications, 1986), 223–240; idem, The Transformation of
Islamic Art during the Sunni Revival (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2001); Hillen-
brand, The Crusades, 122–131; and Daniella Talmon-Heller, Islamic Piety in Medieval Syria:
Mosques, Cemeteries and Sermons under the Zangids and Ayyubids (1146–1260) (Leiden: Brill,
2007).
14 Elissée󰀇f, La description de Damas, xxii–xxiii. See Qutayba al-Shihābī, Muʿjam Dimashq

al-tārīkhī (Damascus: Wizārat al-Thaqāfa, 1999), 1:274.

 ibn ʿasākir and sunni jihad ideology 51

to be Nūr al-Dīn’s most fundamental achievement, the highlight of his reign.

Ibn ʿAsākir memorializes the signi󰀈椀cance of Nūr al-Dīn’s capture of Aleppo
as follows:
[Nūr al-Dīn] reintroduced Sunnism and reestablished true religion, corrected
the heresy that they used to follow in the call for prayer, crushed the heretical
Shiʿis, and revivi󰀈椀ed the four Sunni schools of jurisprudence.15
Similarly, Ibn ʿAsākir celebrates Nūr al-Dīn’s ending two centuries of Shiʿi
Fatimid rule in Egypt:
Finally, Sunnism became triumphant in Egypt and the sermons were read
in the name of the Abbasid caliph after almost complete despair. God had
relieved the Egyptians from disaster, and ended their su󰀇fering. Therefore,
God is deserving of thanks for His graces, and for the success of conquests.16
These testimonies were written when Nūr al-Dīn was still alive, so presum-
ably Ibn ʿAsākir was expressing not only his sentiments toward the sultan
but also his allegiance to him. Yet one should not underestimate the tremen-
dous sense of empowerment that Ibn ʿAsākir and his fellow Sunni Dama-
scene scholars enjoyed during Nūr al-Dīn’s reign as a result of the sultan’s
exceptional generosity and sponsorship.17 Given the sultan’s success in uni-
fying the various parts of Syria and Egypt under his rule, along with his plan
for the revivi󰀈椀cation of Sunnism, the Sunni religious establishment’s expec-
tations of him had been realized beyond their wildest dreams. Hence their
words of praise re󰀆lfect a deep and sincere veneration of him for accomplish-
ing what they once may have thought was unattainable in their lifetimes.
Of course, they may also re󰀆lfect a certain degree of self glori󰀈椀cation as these
scholars were instrumental in shaping and promoting Nūr al-Dīn’s religious
agenda.

2. Ibn ʿAsākir as Propagandist of Jihad

We can safely assume that, as a leading Sunni scholar in Damascus, Ibn

ʿAsākir viewed the Frankish and Fatimid presence in Syria and Egypt as
having upset the natural order of things in which Sunnism should reign

15 See Ibn ʿAsākir, Taʾrīkh, 57:120. Nūr al-Dīn’s biography covers only seven pages in the

modern edition, which is not long if compared with simialr major 󰀈椀gures.
16 See Ibn ʿAsākir, Taʾrīkh, 57:123.
17 On the career of Nūr al-Dīn and his support and sponsorship of the Sunni religious

establishment in Syria, see Elissée󰀇f, Nūr ad-Dīn, 3:750–779.

52 chapter four

supreme. Hence we can also safely assume that Ibn ʿAsākir was at least sym-
pathetic to the ideology of and the obligation to engage in jihad prior to Nūr
al-Dīn’s occupation of Damascus in 1154. Indeed, we do know that Ibn ʿAsākir
was actively involved in jihad propaganda in 1150 or earlier, that is four years
prior to Nūr al-Dīn’s occupation of Damascus. In his History of Damascus, Ibn
ʿAsākir informs his readers that the amir ʿIzz al-Dawla ʿAlī ibn Murshid of the
Banū Munqidh clan had studied with him Ibn al-Mubārak’s (d. 797) Book of
Jihad.18 It is clear from Ibn ʿAsākir’s account that this was not a private tuto-
rial, but rather a series of teaching sessions which ʿIzz al-Dawla attended. Ibn
ʿAsākir adds that ʿIzz al-Dawla left Damascus, supposedly with his company,
to 󰀈椀ght the Franks in the area of Ascalon—the target of the Second Cru-
sade following the failure at Damascus—and achieved martyrdom there in
the summer of 1151.19 To what degree Ibn ʿAsākir’s preaching alone shaped
ʿIzz al-Dawla’s convictions and actions cannot be established here; in this
respect, it is not far fetched to postulate that ʿIzz al-Dawla learned from Ibn
ʿAsākir some of those hadiths that celebrate the religious merits of Ascalon.
The amir could have had other motivations to join the 󰀈椀ght for the liberation
of Ascalon, though jihad seems to have been the principal one. According
to the memoirs of his younger brother, the celebrated amir and poet Usāma
Ibn Munqidh (d. 1188),20 ʿIzz al-Dawla indeed left Damascus in late spring
of 1150 to join Usāma’s army, which was in need of troops to 󰀈椀ght the Cru-
saders in the area of Ascalon. More importantly for our purposes, Usāma
praises his brother as “one of the great cavaliers of the Muslims, who fought
for religion, not for worldly matters;” in other words, because he “was a truly
devout Muslim.”21

18 The Banū Munqidh were in control of the Shayzar castle, on the Orontes River to the

west of the city of Ḥama, and were particularly involved with Nūr al-Dīn’s Counter-Crusade.
19 Ibn ʿAsākir, Taʾrīkh, 43:239. On the Second Crusade’s plan to attack Ascalon after its

failed siege of Damascus, see Martin Hoch, “The Crusaders’ Strategy Against Fatimid Ascalon
and the ‘Ascalon project’ of the Second Crusade,” in The Second Crusade and the Cistercians,
ed. Michael Gervers (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1992), 119–128.
20 For the valuable memoirs of Usāma Ibn Munqidh, see Kitāb al-Iʿtibār (Baghdad: Makta-

bat al-Muthannā, 1964). For a recent English translation, see Usama Ibn Munqidh, The Book
of Contemplation: Islam and the Crusades, trans. Paul M. Cobb (London: Penguin, 2008); see
also the older translation An Arab-Syrian Gentleman and Warrior in the Period of the Cru-
sades: Memoirs of Usāmah ibn-Munqidh, trans. Philip Hitti (New York: Columbia University
Press, 1929). For Usāma, see Cobb, Usama Ibn Munqidh: Warrior-Poet in the Age of the Crusades
(Oxford: Oneworld, 2006).
21 See Usama Ibn Munqidh, The Book of Contemplation; 25–26. Usāma tried unsuccessfully

to get Nūr al-Dīn to help him raise an army, but the most he could get from the sultan was 25
horsemen: see Cobb, Usama, 35–37.
 ibn ʿasākir and sunni jihad ideology 53

The case of amir ʿIzz al-Dawla ʿAlī Ibn Munqidh strongly suggests the
direct in󰀆lfuence that Ibn ʿAsākir’s jihad preaching had on a very receptive
and even exploitable audience. More importantly, if this was the 󰀈椀rst time
Ibn ʿAsākir preached on jihad (and we certainly don’t know that it was), it
suggests a correlation between the failed Crusader attempt to seize Damas-
cus in 1148 and Ibn ʿAsākir actively joining the band of jihad propagandists.
The attack against his own hometown may well have palpably driven the
Crusader threat home and convinced him that he needed to become directly
involved in the dissemination of jihad ideology. It is worth noting here that
Ibn ʿAsākir must have had a license (ijāza) to teach Ibn al-Mubārak’s Book
on Jihad from his teacher Abū Ghālib Aḥmad ibn al-Ḥasan ibn al-Bannā
(d. 1133), whom he had met in Baghdad during his residency there between
1126 and 1131. In the Forty Hadiths, Ibn ʿAsākir quotes Ibn al-Mubārak’s Book
of Jihad three times, and each time through the same chain of transmis-
sion (isnād), which is the same chain of transmission that preserved the
only known manuscript of Ibn al-Mubārak’s Book of Jihad.22 That Ibn ʿAsākir
taught Ibn al-Mubārak’s Book of Jihad in 1150, also demonstrates that Ibn
ʿAsākir’s advocacy of an intensi󰀈椀ed and reoriented jihad ideology preceded
Nūr al-Dīn’s occupation of Damascus in 1154. The relationship between the
sultan and the scholar proved to be mutually bene󰀈椀cial to be sure. But one
suspects that Ibn ʿAsākir would have continued to preach and teach a rein-
vigorated jihad ideology in Damascus even if Nūr al-Dīn had not taken the
city and sought him out as a scholarly ally.
Since Ibn ʿAsākir composed his Forty Hadiths at the request of Nūr al-
Dīn, the book can be dated to anytime between 1154 and 1170, the year in
which the 󰀈椀rst colophon of the extant manuscript attests to a public teach-
ing session held in the presence of Ibn ʿAsākir himself. Unfortunately, there
are no extant manuscripts of Faḍl ʿAsqalān, but we do know that Ibn ʿAsākir
composed it in response to the Franks’ sacking the city in 1153, and appar-
ently at the request of Nūr al-Dīn as well. Hence it, too, could not have been
completed prior to 1154. As a renowned Sunni scholar, Ibn ʿAsākir enthusias-
tically embraced the jihad of the pen—though certainly not at the expense
of the more common vision of the jihad of the sword. While we do not have
any information regarding his involvement in the latter form of jihad or

22 See Hadiths 5, 14 and 40 in Ibn ʿAsākir, Forty Hadiths, 139, 141, 151, and 183; and idem,

al-Arbaʿūn, 138, 140, 150, and 182. Interestingly, the very 󰀈椀rst Hadith Ibn ʿAsākir quotes in the
biography of Ibn al-Mubārak in his Taʾrīkh is also from Ibn al-Mubārak’s Book of Jihad, and
features the same chain of transmission as in Hadiths 5, 14 and 40: see Ibn ʿAsākir, Taʾrīkh,
32:398 and compare it to Ibn al-Mubārak, Kitāb al-jihād, 40–41.
54 chapter four

that he preached to the army directly, Ibn ʿAsākir’s role among the schol-
arly elite was fundamental to Nūr al-Dīn’s success. As Nūr al-Dīn’s “minis-
ter of propaganda,” it was under Ibn ʿAsākir’s leadership that Nūr al-Dīn’s
House of Hadith became the institutional center for Nūr al-Dīn’s jihad pro-
paganda that Ibn ʿAsākir helped shape and disseminate against the internal
and external enemies of Sunni Islam throughout his realm.23 Hence, Ibn
ʿAsākir’s Forty Hadiths should be seen as one of the many texts he produced
as part of his personal mission to assure the propagation of right religion and
the success of jihad under the leadership of his patron, Nūr al-Dīn. Before we
turn our attention to Ibn ʿAsākir and the intensi󰀈椀cation and reorientation of
Sunni jihad ideology in twelfth-century Damascus, a few words on the “forty
hadiths” genre are in order.

3. The “Forty Hadiths” Genre

The scriptural building blocks of Islamic religion and scholarship are the
Qurʾan (which Muslims consider to be the very speech of God) and Hadith
(statements attributed to or about Muhammad). The Qurʾan is a relatively
short book and was the foundation of education; young boys were custom-
arily expected to memorize the entire text by the age of twelve or so. The
Hadith, on the other hand, represents a far larger and hence more di󰀇󰀈椀cult
body of literature to master. Moreover, since so many hadiths were known
to have been fabricated, scholars developed sophisticated criteria to sift
out those deemed to be unreliable. Nevertheless, even the hadiths deemed
to be authoritative numbered in the thousands.24 Consequently, the “forty
hadiths” genre was very popular in medieval Islamic scholarship, especially
among the lower classes of religious scholars and the educated masses pre-
cisely because the conciseness of such works made them easy to copy and
to memorize.
As one might expect, the religious impetus for the forty hadiths genre is in
fact a hadith (likely a fabricated one), which enjoins Muslims to memorize

23 Elissée󰀇f, La description de Damas, xxii–xxiii; and Hillenbrand, The Crusades, 127. See

also Chepter 6 where one of the teaching sessions of Ibn ʿAsākir’s Forty Hadiths was conducted
in Nūr al-Dīn’s House of Hadith on 17 February 1230.
24 On Hadith and Hadith criticism, see Ignaz Goldziher, “On the Development of the

Ḥadīth,” in Muslim Studies, 2 vols., trans. S.M. Stern and C.R. Barber (London: George Allen
and Unwin, 1967–1971), 2:17–251; G.H.A. Juynboll, Muslim Tradition: Studies in Chronology,
Provenance and Authorship of Early Ḥadīth (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1983); and
idem, Encyclopedia of Canonical Ḥadīth (Leiden: Brill, 2007).
 ibn ʿasākir and sunni jihad ideology 55

forty hadiths that help sustain either one’s own faith or that of the commu-
nity.25 And as was customary within the genre, Ibn ʿAsākir cites this hadith
at the beginning of his Forty Hadiths.
The Messenger of God (ṣ) said: “He who preserves forty hadiths that are
bene󰀈椀cial for the religious needs of my community will be resurrected on the
Day of Resurrection as a scholar. The scholar is ranked seventy ranks above
the worshiper; only God knows what is between each two ranks.”26
It was not uncommon for notable scholars to compile a forty hadiths collec-
tion that broadly addressed issues of faith and religious practice or focused
on a particular theme, such as asceticism, mysticism, or jihad. In addi-
tion to Ibn ʿAsākir’s Forty Hadiths for Inciting Jihad, notable examples of
the forty hadiths genre include Abū Bakr Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn al-
Ājurrī’s (d. 970) Kitāb al-arbaʿīn ḥadīth (The Book of Forty Hadiths), Abū Saʿd
ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿUmar al-Qushayrī’s (d. 1204) Kitāb al-arbaʿīn min masānīd
al-mashāyikh al-ʿishrīn ʿan al-aṣḥāb al-arbaʿīn (The Book of Forty Hadiths
from Forty Companions of the Prophet Muhammad Extracted from the
Twenty Authoritative Hadith Collections), Abū al-Faraj Muḥammad ibn
ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Muqriʾ al-Wāsiṭī’s (d. 1221) Kitāb al-arbaʿīn fī al-jihād
wa-l-mujāhidīn (The Book of Forty Hadiths on Jihad and Jihad Fighters),
and Abū al-Faḍl ʿAbd al-Raḥīm ibn al-Ḥusayn al-ʿIrāqī al-Miṣrī’s (d. 1403)
Kitāb al-arbaʿīn al-ʿushārīya (The Book of Forty Hadiths, Each with a Chain
of Authorities that Include Ten Generations of Transmitters).27 The most
famous of the forty hadiths genre is undoubtedly al-Nawawī’s (d. 1277) al-
Arbaʿīn al-Nawawīya (al-Nawawī’s Forty Hadith).28

4. Ibn ʿAsākir’s Forty Hadiths and the Intensification

and Reorientation of Sunni Jihad Ideology

One can argue that Ibn ʿAsākir’s Forty Hadiths, like al-Sulamī’s Book of Jihad,
o󰀇fers very little if anything that is new on the subject of jihad. Indeed, the

25 On the authenticity of this hadith, see An-Nawawī’s Forty Ḥadīth, trans. Ezzedin Ibrahim

and Denys Johnson-Davies (Jakarta: The Holy Koran Publishing House, n.d.), 21.
26 See Ibn ʿAsākir, Forty Hadiths, 135; and idem, al-Arbaʿūn, 134. See also al-Wāsiṭī, Kitāb

al-arbaʿīn fī al-jihād wa-l-mujāhidīn wa-yalīh kitāb al-arbaʿīn al-ʿushārīya, ed. Badr ibn ʿAbd
Allāh al-Badr (Beirut: Dār Ibn Ḥazm, 1992), 19; An-Nawawī’s Forty Ḥadīth, 19–21.
27 On these authors and their forty hadiths collections, see Abū Bakr al-Ājurrī, Kitāb

al-arbaʿīn ḥadīth wa-yalīh kitāb al-arbaʿīn min masānīd al-mashāyikh al-ʿishrīn ʿan al-aṣḥāb
al-arbaʿīn, ed. Badr ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Badr (al-Riyāḍ: Maktabat Aḍwāʾ al-Salaf, 2000); and
al-Wāsiṭī, Kitāb al-arbaʿīn fī al-jihād wa-l-mujāhidīn.
28 See An-Nawawī’s Forty Ḥadīth.
56 chapter four

forty hadiths that he includes in his collection were already quite famous.
Moreover, most of them were very well documented in the earliest major
Hadith collections that date to the eighth and ninth centuries. Yet simply
stating the obvious ignores an important aspect of originality in Ibn ʿAsākir’s
Forty Hadiths that should not be overlooked. That is, although Ibn ʿAsākir
includes well known material, he did not write a traditional treatise on jihad.
Given the broad range of his expertise and erudition, he easily could have
produced a masterpiece on jihad that followed the traditional rubric. One
can surmise then that Nūr al-Dīn intentionally avoided asking his minister
of propaganda to compose such a book because a collection of hadiths was
much more easily exploitable as religious propaganda for inciting his Sunni
Muslim subjects to take up the cause of jihad.
But what could a collection of forty hadiths o󰀇fer that a comprehen-
sive traditional work on jihad could not? The answer to this question can
be found in the constraints of the two genres. A traditional legal treatise
necessarily had to address the numerous legal and juridical issues that fre-
quently imposed restrictions and raised objections. With respect to jihad,
these would include the valid and invalid waging of jihad and warfare in a
potentially mind-numbing number of situations, the treatment and rights
of the enemy, the many tricks an enemy could play to be immune from
attack, including false conversion to Islam, and so forth. Ibn ʿAsākir’s stroke
of genius is that by adopting the forty hadiths model he was able to avoid
these kinds of issues altogether. By producing a manual that only contained
hadiths, some of which allude to quranic verses that stress the duty of jihad,
Ibn ʿAsākir was able to strip the Sunni jihad doctrine of its legal and juristic
edi󰀈椀ce and re-center it on an unambiguous and 󰀈椀rm foundation of divine
and prophetic instructions.
In short, Ibn ʿAsākir’s Forty Hadiths transforms Muhammad into a jihad
advocate and casts Islam as a religion that emphasizes the duty to wage
jihad above all others. As a leading Shā󰀈椀ʿī scholar and Hadith authority
in his day, Ibn ʿAsākir was well aware of hadiths in which Muhammad is
said to have emphasized the superiority of other religious duties to jihad
and warfare as well as others that stressed the superiority of dealing with
enemies by peaceful means rather than by 󰀈椀ghting. Nevertheless, since the
Forty Hadiths does not engage legal or juridical issues in a formal sense, his
audience could take any one of the forty hadiths and argue for its immediate
applicability against an entire spectrum of real or contrived enemies. After
all, none of the forty hadiths specify when, how, or precisely against whom
it ought to be properly applied. In this respect, Ibn ʿAsākir contributes to
the intensi󰀈椀cation and reorientation of Sunni jihad ideology away from
 ibn ʿasākir and sunni jihad ideology 57

the more restricted view in mainstream Islamic scholarship that generally

held that jihad 1) was not applicable against fellow Muslims, and 2) was
principally concerned with the legal sensitivities and nuances of properly
carrying out the obligation to wage jihad.
Ibn ʿAsākir knew full well how his Sunni target audience ought to respond
to his Forty Hadiths. After all, Sunnism was built upon the foundation of the
quranic command to ﴾obey God and His Messenger.﴿29 Consequently, his
Forty Hadiths proved to be an excellent jihad propaganda manual. Those
who responded to its call and joined the ranks of jihad 󰀈椀ghters must have
been convinced that they were simply and obediently following in the
footsteps of the ﴾excellent example﴿—the Messenger of God.30 In other
words, if Muhammad could be turned into an icon and exemplar of jihad,
then individual Sunni Muslims should aspire to imitate his example, for
their salvation depended on emulating the Messenger of God’s example.
While this might seem like an obvious point, Ibn ʿAsākir’s emphasis on jihad
as the sine qua non of Sunnism in his day enhances his intensi󰀈椀ed and
reoriented argument for jihad against errant Muslims (principally Shiʿis who
in his view do not follow proper “orthodoxy”), but also against the traditional
in󰀈椀del Christian enemies of Islam who not only resided in the Dār al-Ḥarb
on the northern frontier of Syria, but who now controlled Islamic sacred
space within the Dār al-Islām itself.
Ibn ʿAsākir establishes his intensi󰀈椀ed and reoriented doctrine of jihad in
the introductory paragraphs of his Forty Hadiths.

29 The command to ﴾obey God and His Messenger﴿ occurs frequently in the Qurʾan,

including twice in Sūrat al-Anfāl (The Spoils; 8:20 and 46) and once in Sūrat al-Tawba
(Repentance; 9:71). Since Sūrat al-Anfāl and Sūrat al-Tawba are two of the most frequently
cited suras for the doctrine of jihad and warfare, we have included Qurʾan 8:20, 45–46, and
9:71 here.
﴾O believers, obey God and His Messenger, and do not turn away from him even while
listening. Be not like those who say ‘We hear’ but do not hear﴿ (Qurʾan 8:20).
﴾O believers, when you meet a 󰀈椀ghting party, stand 󰀈椀rm and mention God often—
perhaps you will prevail. Obey God and His Messenger, and do not quarrel, or else you will
falter and your spirit will 󰀆lfag﴿ (Qurʾan 8:45–46).
﴾The believers, male and female, are friends of one another. They command to virtue
and forbid vice. They perform the prayers and pay the alms, and they obey God and His
Messenger. These—God shall show them mercy. God is Almighty, All-Wise﴿ (Qurʾan 9:71).
30 ﴾In the Prophet of God you have an excellent example (uswa ḥasana) to follow for one

who seeks God and the Last Day, and who remembers God often﴿ Sūrat al-Aḥzāb (Allied
Troops; 33:21).
It is worth noting that Muslim commentators consider Sūrat al-Aḥzāb to have been
revealed in the context of the Battle of the Trench (627), after which 600–900 of the men of
the Medinese Jewish clan, the Banū Qurayẓa, were beheaded and the women and children
enslaved: Ibn Hishām, 2:240; and Ibn Isḥāq, Life of Muhammad, 326–327.
58 chapter four

[Nūr al-Dīn, t]he just king, the ascetic, the jihad 󰀈椀ghter, and the garrisoned-
warrior … expressed his desire that I collect for him forty hadiths relating to
jihad that have clear texts and uninterrupted sound chains of transmission so
that they could stimulate the valiant jihad 󰀇椀ghters, … and stir them up to truly
perform when they meet the enemy in battle, as well as incite them to uproot
the unbelievers and tyrants who, because of their unbelief, have terrorized the
land and proliferated oppression and corruption—may God pour on them all
types of torture, for He is all-watching.31
Ibn ʿAsākir’s unidenti󰀈椀ed “enemy, unbelievers, and tyrants” were so mal-
leable that Nūr al-Dīn could de󰀈椀ne them as any persons or groups (Sunnis,
Shiʿis, Crusaders, heretics, etc.) that suited his purpose. In short, Ibn ʿAsākir’s
Forty Hadiths provided the righteous banner under which Nūr al-Dīn could
conduct his military campaigns. “The just king, the ascetic, the jihad 󰀈椀ghter,
and the garrisoned-warrior” could militantly emulate Muhammad and heed
his summons to jihad in the path of God by 󰀈椀ghting anyone he deemed an
enemy, an unbeliever, or a tyrant. It should come as no surprise, then, that
Nūr al-Dīn spent most of his career 󰀈椀ghting other Muslim rulers—Sunnis as
well as Shiʿis—in Syria, northern Mesopotamia, and Egypt. Consequently,
the sultan sought clear, straightforward, and comprehensible hadiths to
incite the troops and the public at large to ful󰀈椀ll the highly prized religious
duty of jihad against God’s enemies.
As we shall see in Chapter Six, numerous public teaching sessions of
the Forty Hadiths were held in important religious centers in Damascus
including Nūr al-Dīn’s House of Hadith and the Umayyad Mosque between
1170 and 1318. Consequently, the evidence suggests that a great many Syrian
Sunnis—scholars and potential jihad 󰀈椀ghters—were quite amenable to Ibn
ʿAsākir’s intensi󰀈椀ed and reoriented vision of jihad. Had this not been the
case Ibn ʿAsākir and other advocates of militant jihad in Syria and elsewhere
would not have had such an enduring impact on the development of Sunni
jihad ideology and practice.

5. A mad al-Ḥanafī of Aleppo,

al-Wāsiṭī of Iraq, and al-Qāḍī ʿIyāḍ of Morocco

The intensi󰀈椀cation and reorientation of Sunni jihad ideology and propa-

ganda was not limited to Damascus, as is evidenced by the poetry of Aḥmad
ibn Abū Bakr al-Ḥanafī of Aleppo (d. after 1180), a collection of forty hadiths

31 Ibn ʿAsākir, Forty Hadiths, 133; and idem, al-Arbaʿūn, 132. Emphasis added.
 ibn ʿasākir and sunni jihad ideology 59

on jihad by al-Wāsiṭī of Iraq (d. 1221), and the sermons of al-Qāḍī ʿIyāḍ
ibn Mūsā al-Yaḥsūbī of Morocco (d. 1149). As one might expect, al-Ḥanafī’s
poetry echoed Ibn ʿAsākir’s sentiments, suggesting that by now this mood
had become widespread among Sunni scholars in Syria, especially those
active in political circles. Al-Ḥanafī’s poetry also addressed the speci󰀈椀c con-
cerns of the Sunni political and religious establishment in Aleppo, which
viewed itself as threatened by the neighboring Crusader states, but even
more so by the Shiʿi population in the city, which had 󰀆lfourished during
nearly two centuries of Shiʿi rule (905–1086). The standing of the Sunni
scholarly classes began to improve in the wake of the Sunni Seljuks’ occu-
pation of the city in 1086, but especially when Nūr al-Dīn became amir of
the city in 1146, after which he, according to Ibn ʿAsākir,
reintroduced Sunnism and reestablished true religion, corrected the heresy
that they used to follow in the call for prayer, crushed the heretical Shiʿis, and
revivi󰀈椀ed the four Sunni schools of jurisprudence.32
It should come as no surprise then that Nūr al-Dīn’s policies in Aleppo
did not sit well with the city’s Shiʿi residents, or that they staged several
rebellions and uprisings.33
In a poem, written between 1178 and 1179 during the reign of Nūr al-Dīn’s
son, sultan al-Malik al-Ṣāliḥ, al-Ḥanafī eloquently conveys contemporary
Sunni anti-Crusader and anti-Shiʿi sentiments in Aleppo. In it he calls upon
his fellow Sunnis to wage jihad against the Crusaders, but also against the
Nizārī Ismāʿīlīs (i.e. Assassins) and the Twelver Shiʿis, for all were despised
enemies of Sunni Islam. Al-Ḥanafī’s poetry represents a potent example of
the transformation and intensi󰀈椀cation of Sunni jihad ideology and propa-
ganda against internal and external enemies (Shiʿis and Crusaders) that had
begun to take root among Sunni religious scholars in the twelfth century.34
Another example of jihad preaching in the late twelfth century features
an Iraqi merchant named Abū al-Faraj Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān
al-Wāsiṭī (d. 1221), who was known in Hadith circles.35 During his visit to
Damascus, which occurred after 1189, al-Wāsiṭī was inspired to author a
collection of forty hadiths on jihad entitled The Forty Hadiths on Jihad

32 See Ibn ʿAsākir, Taʾrīkh, 57:120.

33 On the Shiʿis in Aleppo see Robert W. Crawford, A History of Aleppo, 478–579 (1085–1183),
Ph.D. Dissertation, Princeton University 1955; and Henri M. Khayat, “The Šīʿite Rebellions in
Aleppo.”
34 On the poems of al-Ḥanafī as an example of jihad ideology in the Crusader period, see

Stewart, “The Maqāmāt of Aḥmad b. Abī Bakr,” 211–232.

35 On al-Wāsiṭī, see al-Dhahabī, Taʾrīkh al-islām, 44:422–423.
60 chapter four

and Jihad Fighters. Al-Wāsiṭī must have left a copy of his book behind
in Damascus when he returned to Iraq, since the sole extant manuscript
remains in Damascus, and like Ibn ʿAsākir’s Forty Hadiths it was housed in
the Ẓāhirīya Library. Unfortunately a large black ink spot covers part of the
date and location of al-Wāsiṭī’s teaching session, which makes it impossible
to determine precisely the month and year that al-Wāsiṭī composed and
taught his book, but from the rest of the colophon we do know that he taught
it sometime during the 1190s in a school built by Nūr al-Dīn, known as Nūr
al-Dīn’s Small School (al-madrasa al-nūrīya al-ṣughrā), which was adjacent
to the Citadel of Damascus.36
It is noteworthy that while al-Wāsiṭī’s teaching session only included a
few people, one of those in attendance was ʿAlī ibn al-Muẓa󰀇far al-Nushbī
(d. 1258), who was then in his mid-thirties and at the beginning of his
career in Hadith scholarship. More importantly for our purposes ʿAlī ibn
al-Muẓa󰀇far al-Nushbī was the scholar who read out the text of Ibn ʿAsākir’s
Forty Hadiths in the teaching session in 1229 described in Colophon 8. As
discussed in detail in Chapter Six, ʿAlī ibn al-Muẓa󰀇far al-Nushbī was 60
years old when he read out the text in the presence of Ibn ʿAsākir’s nephew,
al-Ḥasan ibn Muḥammad, and two other scholars who had been present
at previous teaching sessions in which Ibn ʿAsākir himself taught the Forty
Hadiths.
Almost all of the hadiths in al-Wāsiṭī’s collection are also found in Ibn
ʿAsākir’s Forty Hadiths, either verbatim or with minor variations. They focus
on the same themes as Ibn ʿAsākir’s Forty Hadiths discussed in Chapter Five.
So the issue here, again, is not one of originality. Rather, the signi󰀈椀cance of
al-Wāsiṭī’s example is that it attests to the general religio-political mood in
Damascus as the epicenter of jihad propaganda against Shiʿis and Franks
in the Crusader period. Scholars—even scholars visiting from Iraq—were
inspired to author and teach books on jihad, and the public was eager to
study such texts. As a Sunni from Iraq, al-Wāṣiṭī certainly brought with
him a suspicion of, if not the overt hostility to Shiʿism that characterized
Seljuk policies towards the Iraqi Shiʿi populations and practices that their
Buyid Shiʿi predecessors had explicitly patronized and encouraged. It is
noteworthy as well that al-Wāsiṭī’s lone extant manuscript features a sec-
ond colophon that attests to a teaching session held on Monday, 9 Dhū
al-Ḥijja 658/15 November 1260—two months after the Battle of ʿAyn Jālūt
(3 September 1260) at which the Egyptian Mamluks defeated the Mongols
in the Jezreel Valley in Lower Galilee.

36 For the text, see al-Wāsiṭī, Kitāb al-arbaʿīn, 19–91.

 ibn ʿasākir and sunni jihad ideology 61

It is worth noting that the second teaching of al-Wāsiṭī’s book occurred

in a period that witnessed tremendous sectarian and political upheaval in
Damascus. Following the Mongols’ capture of the city in January 1260,37 the
local Christians felt a sense of empowerment and committed acts of vio-
lence against a number of Muslim scholars and religious sites.38 When the
news of the Mamluks’ defeat of the Mongols reached Damascus, the Mus-
lims went on a rampage, killing Christians and desecrating and burning
a number of Christian houses and churches.39 One month after his vic-
tory at ʿAyn Jalūt, the Mamluk sultan Quṭuz was assassinated (23 October
1260) by his general and soon-to-be successor, Baybars. One month later,
sultan al-Ẓāhir Baybars’s protégé staged a coup in Damascus (12 November
1260) and gave himself the honori󰀈椀c title al-Malik al-Mujāhid (the Jihad-
Fighting Ruler).40 Consequently, the teaching of al-Wāsiṭi’s Forty Hadiths,
which occurred three days after the coup, could very well have been trig-
gered by these events, re󰀆lfecting another case of intensi󰀈椀ed and reoriented
jihad propaganda organized to address particular religious and political cir-
cumstances.
On the far western shores of the Mediterranean, the celebrated Moroc-
can jurist and chief judge of the Mālikī school of Sunni law, al-Qāḍī ʿIyāḍ ibn
Mūsā al-Yaḥsūbī (d. 1149), passionately advocated a reinvigorated version of
jihad as well. In a series of sermons (khuṭab; sing. khuṭba)—preached on
behalf of his political patrons the Almoravids (al-Murābiṭūn) at the great
mosque of Ceuta (Sabta) on the Moroccan coast between 1142 and 1143—al-
Qāḍī ʿIyāḍ urged his fellow Sunni Muslims to wage jihad against the ene-
mies of Islam. Since there was no Shiʿi presence to speak of in Morocco or
al-Andalus, and since the Christian Reconquista had been dramatically suc-
cessful in Sicily in the late eleventh century and continued apace in Spain—
both of which al-Sulamī had argued were fronts in the larger Christian jihad
against the lands of Islam—one would expect that al-Qāḍī ʿIyāḍ preached
jihad against the Christians across the Strait of Gibraltar. Somewhat surpris-
ingly, he ignored the Christian threat entirely and summoned his audience
to wage jihad against the militantly Sunni Almohads (al-Muwaḥḥidūn), the
opponents of his political patrons the equally militant Sunni Almoravids (al-
Murābiṭūn). Rather opportunistically, if not out of simple craven cynicism,

37 The Mongols captured Damascus, without a 󰀈椀ght, after its Ayyubid ruler al-Malik

al-Nāṣir 󰀆lfed the city: see al-Dhahabī, Taʾrīkh al-islām, 48:50–51.

38 See al-Dhahabī, Taʾrīkh al-islām, 48:59–60.
39 See al-Dhahabī, Taʾrīkh al-islām, 48:62.
40 See al-Dhahabī, Taʾrīkh al-islām, 48:66.
62 chapter four

once the Almohads defeated the Almoravids in 1146, al-Qāḍī ʿIyāḍ quickly
changed his political allegiance and became an enthusiastic propagandist
for the Almohads, against whom he had preached jihad only a few years
previously.41

Two other examples of jihad works from Crusader-era Damascus also con-
󰀈椀rm that the intensi󰀈椀ed and reoriented jihad had become normative among
the members of the Sunni religious establishment. They are Taqīy al-Dīn
ʿAbd al-Ghanī ibn ʿAbd al-Wāḥid al-Jammāʿīlī’s (d. 1204) Tuḥfat al-ṭālibīn fī al-
jihād wa-l-mujāhidīn (The Seekers’ Delight on Jihad and Jihad Fighters)42 and
Aḥmad ibn ʿAbd al-Wāḥid al-Bukhārī’s (d. 1226) Faḍl al-jihād wa-l-mujāhidīn
(The Merits of Jihad and Jihad Fighters).43 Both were renowned Ḥanbalī
scholars of Hadith; their families had escaped to Damascus from Jerusalem
following its capture by the Crusaders.

41 See the sermon in ʿAbd al-Salām Shaqqūr, al-Qāḍī ʿIyāḍ al-adīb: al-adab al-maghribī fī ẓil

al-Murābiṭīn (Rabat: Dār al-Fikr al-Maghribī, 1983), 360–362. On Qāḍī ʿIyāḍ’s jihad preaching
and shifting allegiances, see Linda G. Jones, “A Case of Medieval Political ‘Flip-Flopping’?:
Shifting Allegiances in the Sermons of Qadi ʿIyad,” in Medieval Preaching and Political Society,
ed. Franco Morenzoni (Turnhout: Brepols, 2013 forthcoming). We want to thank Linda for
allowing us to use a draft of her paper. On the Almoravids (1062–1147) and the Almohads
(1130–1269), see Ronald A. Messier The Almoravids and the Meanings of Jihad (Santa Barbara:
Praeger, 2010); Allen J. Fromherz, The Almohads: The Rise of an Islamic Empire (London:
I.B. Tauris, 2010).
42 The book exists in one manuscript in the old Ẓāhirīya library. On him see al-Dhahabī,

Taʾrīkh, 42:442–461.
43 The book exists in one manuscript in the old Ẓāhirīya library. On him see al-Dhahabī,

Taʾrīkh, 45:143–144.
 chapter five

THE FORTY HADITHS FOR INCITING JIHAD

1. The Manuscript

Ibn ʿAsākir’s Forty Hadiths has survived in a volume originally housed at the
Ẓāhirīya Library, and now in the possession of the Asad Library in Dam-
ascus.1 The volume is a majmūʿ (short manuscripts arranged and bound
together), which contains a number of works. Ibn ʿAsākir’s text dates from
617/1221. It is the third work in this majmūʿ, and covers folios 67a–81b. Judg-
ing from the colophons, the manuscript was studied by a large number of
individuals in several important religious centers and schools in and around
Damascus between 1170 and 1318. The 󰀈椀rst teaching session (samāʿ) was held
by Ibn ʿAsākir in a private garden in the town of Mizza—now a western
suburb of Damascus—in the year 1170. This suggests that Ibn ʿAsākir had
󰀈椀nished compiling the Forty Hadiths before 1170; since the work was com-
missioned by Nūr al-Dīn, the sultan must have received directly from Ibn
ʿAsākir a presentation copy before Ibn ʿAsākir started teaching the book.
Four years later, in 1174, Ibn ʿAsākir taught the text at the Umayyad Mosque.
Interest in the text was greatest in the third decade of the thirteenth cen-
tury. Six teaching sessions were held between 1221 and 1230 at the Umayyad
Mosque (1221), at the Khātūnīya School (1227),2 at the Zāwiya (lit., corner-
hall) of Naṣr al-Maqdisī (1227),3 at the Umayyad Mosque again (1227 and

1 The Ẓāhirīya reference is majmūʿ lugha 40. The Ẓāhirīya Library collection was moved

to the Asad Library.

2 The Khātūnīya School was built by the widow of Nūr al-Dīn, al-Khātūn ʿIṣmat al-Dīn, in

1175, and is located inside old Damascus; it should be distinguished from another Khātūnīya
School outside the city: see Qutayba al-Shihābī, Muʿjam Dimashq al-tārīkhī, 3 vols. (Damas-
cus: Wizārat al-Thaqāfa, 1999), 2:180–181.
3 The Zāwiya of Naṣr al-Maqdisī (d. 1096), who was a famous Hadith scholar and mystic,

was located in the western corner of the Umayyad Mosque compound. It was constructed in
1089, and named after the prominent Shā󰀈椀ʿī jurist Naṣr ibn Ibrāhīm al-Maqdisī, who taught
there after his relocation to Damascus from Jerusalem in 1087. It was also known as the
madrasa (school) of the celebrated theologian al-Ghazālī (d. 1111), who taught there during
his few years stay in Damascus starting in 1096: see al-Shihābī, Muʿjam Dimashq al-tārīkhī,
2:200.
64 chapter five

1229), and at Nūr al-Dīn’s House of Hadith in 1230.4 The 󰀈椀nal teaching session
was in 1318, at the house of ʿAbd Allāh ibn Aḥmad Ibn al-Muḥibb (d. 1336).5
Interestingly, the period between 1227 and 1230 coincides with the Crusade
of Frederick II, suggesting that Ibn ʿAsākir’s Forty Hadiths continued to be
instrumental in jihad propaganda among the Damascene scholarly commu-
nity well into the Ayyubid period.6 The fact that the 󰀈椀nal reading occurred
in 1318 con󰀈椀rms that it continued to play a crucial role in promoting the ide-
ology and mentality of jihad in Damascus during the 󰀈椀nal century of the
Frankish presence in the Middle East, as well as during the decades prior
to the Mongol Il-Khans’ conversion to Islam in 1295 and the eventual estab-
lishment of peace between the Il-Khans in Iran and Iraq, and the Mamluks
in Syria and Egypt in 1320.7 (The history of the extant manuscript of Ibn
ʿAsākir’s Forty Hadiths, including the dates, locations, and names of schol-
ars and others who studied the text, as well as the dates and identities of the
manuscript’s copyist and owners will be discussed in detail in Chapter Six.)
A few other manuscripts of Ibn ʿAsākir’s Forty Hadiths must have existed,
though none is extant except for two hardly-legible folios remaining from
a lost manuscript.8 The original owner of the only extant manuscript of the
Forty Hadiths acknowledges that he copied the text from the manuscript
that belonged to Ibn ʿAsākir. Moreover, several testimonies in the colophons,
discussed in Chapter Six, show that those who studied the Forty Hadiths
with Ibn ʿAsākir or at later occasions made copies of the text for their own
respective purposes.

2. The Forty Hadiths’ Characteristics

Ibn ʿAsākir’s introduction to the Forty Hadiths provides valuable informa-

tion for understanding contemporary religious propaganda and the inter-

4See Chapter Six, pp. 87–92.

5On ʿAbd Allāh Ibn al-Muḥibb, see al-Dhahabī, Taʾrīkh al-islām, 53:326–327.
6 See Chapter Six, pp. 95–99. On Frederick II’s Crusade and presence in the Latin East,

see Jonathan Riley-Smith, The Crusade: A History (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2005),
137–182. See also Madden, New Concise History of the Crusades, 155–164. On the Ayyubid
period in Syria, see R. Stephen Humphreys, From Saladin to the Mongols: The Ayyūbids of
Damascus, 1193–1260 (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1977).
7 On the con󰀆lfict in Syria between the Mamluk Sultanate and the Mongol Il-Khans,

see Reuven Amitai, Mongols and Mamluks: The Mamluk-Īlkhānid War, 1260–1281 (New York:
Cambridge University Press, 1995).
8 The two folios are included in a majmūʿ ḥadīth 234/46, also originally at the Ẓāhirīya

Library, and now housed at the Asad Library.

 the forty hadiths for inciting jihad 65

connectedness of political opportunism and religious discourse under Nūr

al-Dīn. Ibn ʿAsākir states that Nūr al-Dīn:
the just king, the ascetic, the jihad 󰀈椀ghter, and the garrisoned-warrior—may
God grant him success in that which is proper, assist him in ful󰀈椀lling what is
best for people, grant him favor against the recalcitrants, exalt him in victory
with his army, and support him with aid—expressed his desire that I collect
for him forty hadiths relating to jihad that have clear texts and uninterrupted
sound chains of transmission so that they could stimulate the valiant jihad
󰀈椀ghters, the ones with strong determination and mighty arms, with sharp
swords and piercing spears, and stir them up to truly perform when they meet
the enemy in battle, and incite them to uproot the unbelievers and tyrants
who, because of their unbelief, have terrorized the land and proliferated
oppression and corruption—may God pour on them all types of torture, for
He is all-watching. So I hastened to ful󰀈椀ll his desire and collected for him
what is suitable for the people of learning and inquiry. I especially exerted
a tremendous e󰀇fort in collecting them in the hope that I should receive the
reward [from God] for enlightening and guidance.9
It seems that when Ibn ʿAsākir referred to those who “have terrorized the
land and proliferated oppression and corruption,” he had in mind not only
the Franks but also several Muslim military leaders, both Sunnis and Shiʿis,
who he believed were responsible for the disunity, turmoil, and weakness of
Muslim Syria. If this supposition is correct, it could explain why he does not
name any of them explicitly. Yet, what is more interesting for our purposes is
that Nūr al-Dīn believed that Ibn ʿAsākir’s Forty Hadiths was even necessary
for propaganda purposes; that is, that it should be read to the troops and the
public in order to incite them to properly ful󰀈椀ll such a highly prized religious
obligation as jihad. Since the sultan obviously did believe that there was a
need for such motivation, it is understandable that he sought hadiths that
were clear, straightforward, and comprehensible to as broad an audience
as possible. And since he spent most of his career battling fellow Muslim
chieftains, he wanted to legitimize his campaigns as jihads against Muslims
and Franks alike. Ibn ʿAsākir obviously expected a reward from his patron
for authoring the Forty Hadiths, which very likely came in the form of Nūr
al-Dīn constructing and endowing for Ibn ʿAsākir the prestigious House of
Hadith. But as he clari󰀈椀es in his opening statement, he was also keen on
receiving the eternal rewards bestowed by God on those who embraced the
responsibility of properly guiding and enlightening the Muslim community.

9 Ibn ʿAsākir, Forty Hadiths, 133; and idem, al-Arbaʿūn, 132.

66 chapter five

The epithets which Ibn ʿAsākir uses for Nūr al-Dīn in his introduction—
the just (al-ʿādil), the ascetic (al-zāhid), the jihad 󰀈椀ghter (al-mujāhid), and
the garrisoned warrior (al-murābiṭ)—are reminiscent of the inscriptions
on monuments built during Nūr al-Dīn’s reign. Whether on monumental
inscriptions or in Ibn ʿAsākir’s introduction, these epithets were intended to
extol Nūr al-Dīn as a ruler who devoted his reign and life to the service of
his creator by waging jihad in the path of God, rather than as a ruler who
chased after temporal wealth and pleasures.10
Unlike al-Sulamī’s lengthy Book of Jihad or Ibn al-Mubārak’s (d. 797)
much earlier work by the same title,11 Ibn ʿAsākir was not concerned with
producing a comprehensive work on jihad. His Forty Hadiths is simply a brief
collection of forty hadiths. He does not preface his collection with any of the
quranic material that one usually 󰀈椀nds at the beginning of works on jihad,
though it is important to note that some of the hadiths he quotes invoke
quranic verses that must have been very familiar to the audience. More
importantly, Ibn ʿAsākir does not provide any commentary on these hadiths
apart from the occasional short note regarding a hadith’s authenticity or to
clarify certain terms. Ibn ʿAsākir simply and dutifully ful󰀈椀lled the request of
his sultan and patron Nūr al-Din. Nevertheless, his Forty Hadiths can also
be viewed, as discussed in Chapter Three, as an assertion of his sense of
scholarly superiority vis-à-vis his Syrian contemporaries.
Ibn ʿAsākir’s Forty Hadiths is an explicit testimony to the vast knowledge
he had acquired as a result of his extensive travels to major centers of reli-
gious learning in the eastern parts of the medieval Islamic world. In other
words, the Forty Hadiths constitutes a kind of curriculum vitae in which Ibn
ʿAsākir displays the names of his most distinguished teachers who were also
notable scholars of Hadith. It should come as no surprise then that most of
the hadiths in Ibn ʿAsākir’s compilation are also found in the major Hadith
compilations, including Mālik ibn Anas’s (d. 795) Muwaṭṭaʾ, Aḥmad ibn Ḥan-
bal’s (d. 855) Musnad, al-Bukhārī’s (d. 870) Ṣaḥīḥ, and Muslim ibn al-Ḥajjāj’s

10 On examples of inscriptions that depict Nūr al-Dīn in this way, see Hillenbrand, The

Crusades, 122–127; and Tabbaa, “Monuments with a Message.”

11 In the case of Ibn al-Mubārak’s Book of Jihad, it includes 262 reports, most of which are

hadiths. At the beginning, the reports feature references to the Qurʾan, discussed in terms of
the reasons of their revelation as connected to jihad against the enemies of Muhammad. The
bulk of the book is hadiths attributed to Muhammad or some of his Companions who were
involved in military campaigns during the Prophet’s life or the conquests of Syria. The book
also features traditions attributed to later Muslim 󰀈椀gures who were involved in jihad against
the Byzantines in northern Syria and southern Anatolia.
 the forty hadiths for inciting jihad 67

(d. 875) Ṣaḥīḥ. But except for a very few cases, Ibn ʿAsākir provides indepen-
dent chains of transmission that allow him to bypass these texts and thus
claim a certain level of originality and mastery that could not have been
achieved had he either copied the hadiths from these major Hadith collec-
tions or related them on the authority of the authors of these collections.
Here too, one can detect a subtly disguised sense of self-aggrandizement in
the manner in which Ibn ʿAsākir cites his distinguished and almost exclu-
sively non-Damascene authorities for each of the forty hadiths.

3. Teachers from whom Ibn ʿAsākir Derived

the Material for His Forty Hadiths

While Ibn ʿAsākir readily admits that the forty hadiths in his collection can
be found in the major Hadith collections, it would have been a great embar-
rassment to him had he simply copied the hadiths from these texts; after
all, anyone could copy from books in a library. As a respected ḥā󰀇椀ẓ (dis-
tinguished Hadith memorizer), Ibn ʿAsākir is keen to present his personal
license to transmit each of these hadiths, which he received from notable
scholars he had met on his sojourns in Iraq, Iran, and Central Asia—e.g.,
Baghdad, Isfahan, Nishapur, and Herat. By showcasing that he had studied
with pious and prestigious scholars in the leading centers of religious schol-
arship of his day and that he had independent access to these hadiths from
what was available in Damascus, Ibn ʿAsākir extends a powerful message to
the sultan as well as to his Damascene colleagues regarding his command
of, and quali󰀈椀cations in, the discipline of Hadith.
Below is a list of the teachers on whose authority Ibn ʿAsākir relates the
hadiths in his Forty Hadiths. The list is arranged according to the town where
he met his teachers. In a few cases, Ibn ʿAsākir indicates that he learned
a particular hadith from more than one notable scholar during his travels;
these hadiths are indicated with an asterisk (*). As the table demonstrates,
Ibn ʿAsākir reports that he learned 17 of the hadiths in Baghdad, 11 in Nisha-
pur, 10 in Isfahan, 3 in Herat, and only 1 in Damascus—and this apparently
because the Damascene scholar had learned it from one of Ibn ʿAsākir’s
scholarly heroes: al-Khaṭīb al-Baghdādī.12

12 See Chapter Three, p. 37 for a discussion of the scholarly connections between al-Khaṭīb

al-Baghdādī, Abū Muḥammad ʿAbd al-Karīm ibn Ḥamza al-Sulamī, and Abū al-Qāsim Zāhir
ibn Ṭāhir al-Mustamlī.
68 chapter five

1. Baghdad (17 hadiths)

– Abū ʿAlī al-Ḥasan ibn al-Muẓa󰀇far ibn al-Ḥasan Ibn al-Sibṭ (d. 1129):
no. 35*.
– Abū Bakr Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAlī al-Faraḍī (d. 1132): no. 30.
– Abū Bakr Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Bāqī al-Anṣārī (d. 1141): nos. 3, 32.
– Abū Ghālib Aḥmad ibn al-Ḥasan ibn Aḥmad Ibn al-Bannā (d. 1133):
nos. 5, 14, 35*, 40.
– Abū al-Maḥāsin Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn ibn Muḥammad Ibn al-
Ṭabarī (d. after 1131): no. 37*.
– Abū Naṣr Aḥmad ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Aḥmad (d. 1130): no. 35*.
– Abū Naṣr Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Malik al-Asadī (d. 1137):
no. 16.
– Abū al-Qāsim Hibat Allāh ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Wāḥid al-Shay-
bānī (d. 1131): nos. 2, 15, 23, 33.
– Abū al-Qāsim Ismāʿīl ibn Aḥmad ibn ʿUmar Ibn al-Samarqandī
(d. 1142): nos. 1, 29, 34, 37*.
– Abū Sahl Muḥammad ibn Ibrāhīm ibn Muḥammad ibn Saʿdawayh
al-Isfahānī (d. 1136): no. 20.

2. Nishapur (11 hadiths)

– Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad ibn al-Faḍl ibn Aḥmad al-Faqīh (d. 1136):
nos. 7, 8, 39.
– Abū Muḥammad Hibat Allāh ibn Sahl ibn ʿUmar al-Faqīh (d. 1138):
nos. 9, 28.
– Abū al-Muẓa󰀇far ʿAbd al-Munʿim ibn Abū al-Qāsim ʿAbd al-Karīm ibn
Huwāzin al-Qushayrī (d. 1138): nos. 4, 6, 11, 24.
– Abū al-Qāsim Zāhir ibn Ṭāhir al-Mustamlī (d. 1138): nos. 18*, 25.

3. Isfahan (10 hadiths)

– Abū ʿAbd Allāh al-Husayn ibn ʿAbd al-Malik al-Adīb (d. 1138): the intro-
ductory hadith and nos. 10, 17, 19*, 21, 27, 38.
– Abū al-Qāsim Ghānim ibn Khālid ibn ʿAbd al-Wāḥid (d. 1144): no. 19*.
– Abū al-Qāsim Ismāʿīl ibn Muḥammad ibn al-Faḍl al-Ḥā󰀈椀ẓ (d. 1141):
nos. 12, 26, 36.

4. Herat (3 hadiths)
– Abū Bakr Aḥmad ibn Yaḥyā ibn al-Ḥasan (d. after 1131): nos. 13*, 22*,
31*.
 the forty hadiths for inciting jihad 69

– Abū al-Faḍl Muḥammad ibn Ismāʿīl ibn al-Fuḍayl (d. 1139): nos. 13*, 22*,
31*.
– Abū al-Mahāsin Asʿad ibn ʿAlī Ibn al-Muwa󰀇faq (d. 1149): nos. 13*, 22*,
31*.
– Abū al-Waqt ʿAbd al-Awwal ibn ʿIsā ibn Shuʿayb (d. 1158): nos. 13*, 22*,
31*.

5. Damascus (1 hadith)
– Abū Muḥammad ʿAbd al-Karīm ibn Ḥamza al-Sulamī (d. 1132): no. 18*.

4. Ibn ʿAsākir’s Distinctive Vision

of Jihad in His Forty Hadiths

Four major themes characterize Ibn ʿAsākir’s Forty Hadiths: 1) the impor-
tance of jihad as compared to other religious duties; 2) the punishments
that await those who neglect the duty of jihad; 3) the rewards that await
those who undertake jihad; and 4) the requirements that the jihad 󰀈椀ghters
must ful󰀈椀ll before waging jihad.

Importance
The 󰀈椀rst theme that Ibn ʿAsākir highlights engages the signi󰀈椀cance of jihad
in comparison to Islam’s other religious duties. He establishes the impor-
tance of jihad with the 󰀈椀rst three hadiths, which he relates on the authority
of the companions: Abū Hurayra, Abū Dharr al-Ghifārī, and ʿAbd Allāh ibn
Masʿūd.
(Hadith 1) The Messenger of God (ṣ) was asked: “Which aspect of belief is the
best?” He replied: “The belief in God—glory and greatness belong to Him.” He
was asked again: “And what comes next?” He replied: “Next is jihad in the path
of God—glory and greatness belong to Him.” He was asked again: “And what
comes next?” He replied: “An accepted pilgrimage.”13
(Hadith 2) I [Abū Dharr] asked: “O Messenger of God, which of the religious
practices is the best?” He replied: “Belief in God and jihad in His path.” I
asked again: “O Messenger of God, what is the best manumission?” He replied:
“Those who are most valued for their owners and most expensive.” I said: “If
I can’t 󰀈椀nd any?” He replied: “Help a neglected poor person or feed a fool.” I
asked: “If I can’t a󰀇ford it?” He replied: “Do not show people you are annoyed
with them; this is a charitable gift on behalf of your own soul.”14

13 Ibn ʿAsākir, Forty Hadiths, 135; and idem, al-Arbaʿūn, 134.

14 Ibn ʿAsākir, Forty Hadiths, 135; and idem, al-Arbaʿūn, 134.
70 chapter five

(Hadith 3) I [Ibn Masʿūd] asked the Messenger of God (ṣ): “Which of the
religious practices is most dear to God—glory and greatness belong to Him?”
He replied: “To pray the prayers in their time.” I then asked: “And what comes
next?” He replied: “Honoring and taking care of one’s parents.” I asked again:
“And what comes next?” He replied: “Waging jihad in the path of God.” Had I
asked even again, he would have answered me.15
Ibn ʿAsākir’s intent with these hadiths is not to create confusion as to which
religious duties are more important than others. Rather, it is to emphasize
the crucial importance of the duty of jihad, which according to these hadiths
is very dear to God and to His messenger, Muhammad.
The virtues of jihad are further clari󰀈椀ed by Ibn ʿAsākir with other hadiths,
which appear to make jihad surpass all other religious obligations. Accord-
ing to Abū Hurayra,
(Hadith 8) A man came to the Prophet (ṣ) and asked: “O Messenger of God,
teach me something that equals waging jihad in the path of God?” The
Prophet replied: “I cannot 󰀈椀nd any. Can you, when the jihad 󰀈椀ghter goes out
to 󰀈椀ght in the path of God enter the mosque, pray ceaselessly and fast contin-
uously?” The man replied: “That I cannot do.” Abū Hurayra added: “Even the
wanderings of the jihad 󰀈椀ghter’s horse earn him good deeds.”16
Similarly, according to the companion ʿImrān ibn Ḥuṣayn,
(Hadith 13) The Messenger of God (ṣ) said: “Lining up for a battle in the path
of God is worthier than 60 years of worship.”17
Obviously, Ibn ʿAsākir’s intent is not to argue that no religious duty is the
equal of jihad; he was far too astute a scholar to make such an argument. But
these hadiths should be understood in the context of stressing the virtues of
jihad (however hyperbolically), rather than actually establishing it as the
most noble religious duty. This is not to say that the average person who
heard the preaching of such hadiths might not believe that jihad was indeed
the most noble of all religious duties.

Punishments
The second theme in Ibn ʿAsākir’s Forty Hadiths focuses on the punishments
that await the person who neglects the obligation to wage jihad against
Islam’s enemies. Ibn ʿAsākir is here referring to those Muslims who willfully

15 Ibn ʿAsākir, Forty Hadiths, 137; and idem, al-Arbaʿūn, 136.

16 Ibn ʿAsākir, Forty Hadiths, 145; and idem, al-Arbaʿūn, 144.
17 Ibn ʿAsākir, Forty Hadiths, 151; and idem, al-Arbaʿūn, 150.
 the forty hadiths for inciting jihad 71

ignored jihad entirely or argued against it. Lest anyone think that the obliga-
tion to wage jihad may have been limited to Muhammad’s generation or the
initial conquest era, Ibn ʿAsākir includes a hadith that removes all doubt—
the divinely ordained obligation to wage jihad is everlasting. According to
the companion Anas ibn Mālik,
(Hadith 16) The Messenger of God (ṣ) said: “He who conducts a raid in the
path of God—glory and greatness belong to Him—has rendered all his sub-
mission to God—glory and greatness belong to Him—as in ﴾Whoso wishes,
let him believe;﴿—in God’s reward—﴾whoso wishes, let him blaspheme. To
the wicked We have prepared a Fire﴿ (Qurʾan 18:29).” Anas said: “O Messenger
of God, now that we have heard this hadith from you, who would dare aban-
don jihad and stay behind?” The Messenger of God (ṣ) replied: “He whom God
has cursed and is angry with; God has prepared for him a gruesome punish-
ment. For at the end of days, there will appear a group of people who do not
believe in jihad. God took an oath upon Himself that everyone who says that
will be tortured like no other sinful human being.”18
As noted in Chapter One, the theme of the end of days occurs frequently
in Ibn ʿAsākir’s writings, especially in the biography of Jesus in his History
of Damascus.19 Given the imminent threat posed by the Franks and the
division and discord among Muslims in Ibn ʿAsākir’s day, one is left to
ponder whether he was asserting that the situation in Syria approximated
the conditions that would lead to Jesus’ second coming. Why else would he
be interested in such a hadith unless he intended to use it against those
Muslims who were endangering Muslim Syria and making it easy for the
Christians to occupy and control it by neglecting the divinely ordained duty
of jihad that had been so important to the 󰀈椀rst generations of Muslims?20

Rewards
Ibn ʿAsākir’s third theme addresses the rewards that are amassed by those
who wage jihad. According to the following hadith, the work of a jihad
󰀈椀ghter, unlike that of other believers, multiplies over the years; it is as though
the jihad 󰀈椀ghter’s e󰀇forts accrue a kind of interest from the time of his death
until the Day of Judgment when he appears before his Lord. According to
the companion Faḍāla ibn ʿUbayd,
(Hadith 21) The Messenger of God (ṣ) said: “The deeds of the dead person are
sealed, except those of the garrisoned warrior in the path of God whose deeds
18 Ibn ʿAsākir, Forty Hadiths, 153, 155; and idem, al-Arbaʿūn, 152, 154.
19 See Chapter One, pp. 8–9. See also Mourad, “Jesus According to Ibn ʿAsākir,” 24–43.
20 As noted earlier, al-Sulamī also invokes this eschatological tendency in his Book of Jihad:

see Chapter One, footnote 26.

72 chapter five

accumulate rewards until the Day of Resurrection and who will also be saved
from the torment of the grave.”21
Yet, the rewards from jihad are not limited to the 󰀈椀ghters who actually kill
or are killed in battle. In certain respects, all Muslims can bene󰀈椀t from
jihad, provided they contribute to it in some way. According to the following
hadith, every arrow used in the battle󰀈椀eld admits not only the jihad 󰀈椀ghter
to heaven, but also the laborer who manufactured it and the individual who
paid for its workmanship. The companion ʿUqba ibn ʿĀmir said,
(Hadith 29) I heard the Messenger of God (ṣ) say: “God will admit into
Paradise three men for every arrow: the one who makes it and hopes it is used
for something good, the one who donates it to be used in the path of God, and
the person who shoots it in the path of God. …”22
Here, Ibn ʿAsākir is seeking to rally the entire society to gather around
the jihad 󰀈椀ghters and help ful󰀈椀ll the conditions for a successful jihad in
whatever way they could; in a similar hadith quoted by Ibn ʿAsākir, the
heavenly rewards extend to those who keep horses to be used in jihad.23
Ibn ʿAsākir knew full well that it was critically important to maintain a
supportive society around the jihad 󰀈椀ghters. According to Hadith 29 cited
above, the artisans and the benevolent individuals who provided for the
jihad 󰀈椀ghter’s needs were also waging jihad against the enemies of right
religion. The following hadith demonstrates as well the signi󰀈椀cance of the
entire society’s endorsement and sponsorship of those individuals who
leave their families and communities behind in order to ful󰀈椀ll their duty
to engage in jihad. According to the companion Abū Umāma al-Bāhilī,
(Hadith 20) The Messenger of God (ṣ) said: “He who does not participate in a
raid, sponsor a raider, or take care of a raider’s family, God will strike him with
the calamity of the Day of Resurrection.”24
Whereas Hadith 29 promises the positive rewards of jihad to those who
contribute in some way to the cause of jihad, Hadith 20 indirectly engages
the positive rewards by emphasizing the negative punishments that await
those who do not participate in jihad by engaging the enemy or who do
not contribute in kind, whether by sponsoring the expenses of a soldier or
pledging to look after his family.25

21 Ibn ʿAsākir, Forty Hadiths, 159; and idem, al-Arbaʿūn, 158.

22 Ibn ʿAsākir, Forty Hadiths, 169; and idem, al-Arbaʿūn, 168.
23 See Hadith 28 in Ibn ʿAsākir, Forty Hadiths, 167, 169; and idem, al-Arbaʿūn, 166, 168.
24 Ibn ʿAsākir, Forty Hadiths, 159; and idem, al-Arbaʿūn, 158.
25 These hadiths are reminiscent of similar practices in Europe during the later Crusades,
 the forty hadiths for inciting jihad 73

These particular hadiths raise the question of the role of scholars in the
service of jihad. Theoretically, they are neither artisans who manufacture
weapons or other items needed by the troops, nor are they wealthy mer-
chants who are in a position to donate money to the army or subsidize the
troops’ families. Do scholars, then, have a role in jihad other than joining the
ranks and 󰀈椀ghting? Here, one expects Ibn ʿAsākir who was never involved in
physical jihad himself to 󰀈椀nd a hadith that celebrates the scholars’ input in
this process. As if on cue, he records the following hadith on the authority
of the companion Anas ibn Mālik:
(Hadith 31) The Messenger of God (ṣ) said: “Fight the polytheists with your
wealth, with your lives, and with your tongues.”26
It is the jihad of the tongue, or, to put it more accurately, the jihad of the
pen that Ibn ʿAsākir was engaged in. As a scholar, his contribution was to
produce and preach literature that could be used to spread the culture of
jihad. By so doing, even the scholar who labored in his school or mosque
could receive the rewards of jihad.

Requirements
Ibn ʿAsākir’s fourth theme treats the personal requirements that a 󰀈椀ghter
must ful󰀈椀ll before he can wage jihad and receive its rewards. Ibn ʿAsākir
addresses this explicitly in the 󰀈椀nal hadith in his collection—a hadith that
was especially popular in the development of jihad ideology and ascetic
practice in the 󰀈椀rst centuries of Islam.27 According to the companion ʿUtba
ibn ʿAbd al-Salamī,
(Hadith 40) The Messenger of God (ṣ) said: “The slain-dead are of three types.
One is a believer who exerts his life and wealth waging jihad in the path of
God—glory and greatness belong to Him—and when he meets the enemy
in battle he 󰀈椀ghts them until he is killed. He is a tested martyr whose abode
will be the Tent of God, underneath His Throne; nothing separates him from
prophets except their rank of prophethood. Another is a believer, having
already committed transgressions and sins, who exerts his life and wealth
waging jihad in the path of God, and when he meets the enemy in battle

where the redemption of vows for cash to sponsor certain expeditions was encouraged by
the papacy. On redemption of vows for cash, see Simon Lloyd, “The Crusading Movement,
1096–1274,” in The Oxford Illustrated History of the Crusades, 49–50. Obviously, this compar-
ison requires further examination, especially in that each case has its own context in its
respective religious tradition and emerges out of distinct discourses.
26 Ibn ʿAsākir, Forty Hadiths, 171; and idem, al-Arbaʿūn, 170.
27 Sizgorich, Violence and Belief, 168–195.
74 chapter five

he 󰀈椀ghts them until he is killed. His transgressions and sins are cleansed,
for the sword puri󰀈椀es from sins. He will also be admitted to Paradise from
whichever gate he chooses, for Paradise has eight gates, and Hell has seven
gates with some deeper than others. And a third is a hypocrite who exerts his
life and wealth waging jihad in the path of God—glory and greatness belong
to Him—and when he meets the enemy in battle he 󰀈椀ghts them until he is
killed. He is in Hell, because the sword does not wipe out hypocrisy.”28
The three categories in this hadith well re󰀆lfect the Muslim society of Syria
and Egypt in Ibn ʿAsākir’s day (and arguably, any day): pious, semi-pious,
and hypocrites. Jihad is a salvation for the 󰀈椀rst two groups, but never for
the last. This hadith echoes Ibn ʿAsākir’s endorsement and justi󰀈椀cation for
pious and semi-pious Muslims to cleanse their society from the hypocrites.29
It also reminds us of the two types of jihad addressed by al-Sulamī: the
greater “spiritual” jihad (al-jihād al-akbar) against one’s desires, and the
lesser “military” jihad (al-jihād al-aṣghar) against Islam’s enemies. If the
individual does not undergo the jihad of piety 󰀈椀rst, he does not have a
chance of receiving the rewards of the jihad of the sword; his e󰀇forts are in
vain.30 Conversely, the jihad of piety necessarily leads the pious to heed the
Prophet’s words: “Fight the polytheists with your wealth, with your lives, and

28 Ibn ʿAsākir, Forty Hadiths, 183; and idem, al-Arbaʿūn, 182. Ibn al-Mubārak includes a

version of Hadith 40 in his Book of Jihad: see Chapter Four, note 22.
29 For a short discussion of the debate over the concept of hypocrisy in the Islamic

tradition, see Suleiman A. Mourad, “Hypocrisy,” Encyclopedia of Islamic Political Thought,

eds. Gerhard Böwering, Patricia Crone, Wadad Kadi, Devin Stewart, and M. Qasim Zaman
(Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2012).
30 In his Book of Asceticism, Ibn al-Mubārak employs the following hadith to vividly

establish the principle that proper intent and genuine piety are absolutely necessary for one’s
actions to be worthy of reward on the Last Day:
[Abū Hurayra] said … I heard the Prophet of God say, “When it is resurrection day, God
will manifest himself to his servants so that he may pass judgment among them, and the
whole community will be on its knees. First shall be the man who knows the Qurʾan by heart
and God the Exalted will say to him, “My servant? Has not what I revealed to my Prophet
instructed you?” And he will say, “Yes, O Lord.” And God will say, “What then do you know
of what I taught you?” The man will say, “O Lord, I am subsumed in it day and night.” And
God shall say, “You lie.” And the angels shall say to him, “You lie. Nay, rather, you want it said,
‘So and so is a reciter of the Qurʾan,’ and so it was said. But go away, for you have no place
among us today.” Then a possessor of property will be sent down and God will say to him,
“My servant? Have I not pampered you? Have I not given preference to you? Have I not been
generous to you?” And the man will turn to him and say, “Yes. O Lord.” And God will say, “What
then do you know of what I sent down to you?” And he shall shay, “O Lord, I was a source of
mercy, and I gave alms and I gave and I gave.” And God shall say, “You lie.” And the angels
shall say to him, “You lie. Nay, rather, you desired that it be said, ‘So and so is generous,’ and
this was said. But go away, for there is nothing for you among us this day.” And a man who
had been killed will be sent forth, and God shall say, “My servant! Why were you killed?” And
 the forty hadiths for inciting jihad 75

with your tongues” (Hadith 31). Ibn ʿAsākir’s emphasis is not limited to the
mere ful󰀈椀llment of the religious duty of jihad; it is clear that his emphasis
here is that a jihad 󰀈椀ghter must also be an authentic Muslim.31 In other
words, he cannot be a hypocrite or a heretic such as a Shiʿi Fatimid caliph in
Egypt or one of his followers.

5. Quranic Passages in Ibn ʿAsākir’s Forty Hadiths

Hadith 16 discussed above is one of six hadiths in Ibn ʿAsākir’s Forty Hadiths
that include explicit passages from the Qurʾan and hence serve as brief com-
mentaries on the respective verses. Four of the six hadiths in Ibn ʿAsākir’s
Forty Hadiths refer to Medinan verses (Hadiths 4, 5, 28, and 39); two refer to
Meccan verses (Hadiths 16 and 26). It is important to note that Ibn ʿAsākir’s
target audience was very familiar with the text of the Qurʾan; moreover, the
scholars who attended the teaching sessions listed in the colophons dis-
cussed in Chapter Six certainly would have memorized each of the Qurʾan’s
114 suras or chapters when they were children. Therefore, even a brief qur-
anic phrase would have brought to mind the entirety of the sura from which
it came.32
We see this most explicitly in Hadith 5, which cites the Medinan Sūrat
al-Ṣa󰀆f (The Ranks; 61:1–2):
He [Muhammad] recited to us: ﴾Glorifying God is all that exists in the heavens
and earth—Almighty, All-Wise. O believers, why do you say what you do not
do?﴿ from the beginning to the end.
That is, according to Hadith 5, Muhammad recited the entirety of Sūrat
al-Ṣa󰀆f (The Ranks; 61:1–14), which speci󰀈椀cally declares that

the man shall say, O Lord, for you I was killed, on your path.” And God the Most High will say,
“You lie.” And the angels will say to him, “You lie. Nay, rather, you desired it should be said,
‘So and so is courageous,’ and so it was said. But go away, for there is no place for you among
us today.”
Ibn al-Mubārak, Kitāb al-Zuhd wa-l-raqāʾiq, ed. Ḥabīb Raḥmān al-Aʿzamī (Beirut: Dār
al-Kutub al-ʿIlmīya, 1998), 162–164 (no. 469). This hadith and Ibn al-Mubārak’s version of
Hadith 40 above are cited and analyzed in Sizgorich, Violence and Belief, 182–183.
31 Ibn ʿAsākir furnishes another hadith that emphasizes the same point: see Hadith 6 in

Ibn ʿAsākir, Forty Hadiths, 141, 143; and idem, al-Arbaʿūn, 140, 142.
32 See the notes to Hadiths 4, 5, 16, 18, 26, 28, and 39 in Part Two: Edition and Translation of

The Forty Hadiths for Inciting Jihad, where we provide a fuller context for the quranic passages
cited in these hadiths.
76 chapter five

﴾God loves those who 󰀈椀ght [yuqātilūn] in His cause in a battle-line, like
an edi󰀈椀ce, impenetrable﴿. And that for those who 󰀈椀ght in His way, ﴾He
shall forgive you your sins and admit you into Gardens beneath which rivers
󰀆lfow, and pure habitations in the Gardens of Eternal Abode—and that is the
greatest of triumphs! And yet another bounty, beloved by you, will He grant
you: victory from God and an imminent conquest.﴿
Hadith 4 cites the Medinan Sūrat al-Tawba (Repentance; 9:20) to emphasize
that jihad against the enemies of God is superior to other very important
religious practices such as providing water for pilgrims or caring for the
Sacred Mosque at Mecca:
﴾Are you indeed equating provision of water to pilgrims and caring for the
Sacred Mosque with one who believes in God and the Last Day, and wages
jihad [jāhad]33 in the cause of God? They are not equal in the sight of God,
and God guides not the evildoers.﴿
Ibn ʿAsākir’s audience would have known very well that Muslim commen-
tators dated Sūrat al-Tawba to the end of Muhammad’s career—after his
victory at Tabūk (630ce)—and that it was one of the most important foun-
dational texts for the ideology of jihad and warfare in the path of God.
Hadith 28 cites the 󰀈椀nal verses of the brief Medinan Sūrat al-Zilzāl (The
Earthquake; 99:7–8) to describe the glorious rewards for those engaged in
jihad in the path of God:
﴾Whoso has done an atom’s worth of good shall see it; whoso has done an
atom’s worth of evil shall see it.﴿
Hadith 39 cites one verse from the very lengthy Medinan Sūrat Āl ʿImrān
(The House of Amram; 3:169) to the same end, but also to encourage those
who mourn their fellow Muslims who were slain in battle:
﴾Do not imagine those killed in the path of God to be dead. Rather, they are
alive with their Lord, Enjoying His bounty.﴿
Again, Ibn ʿAsākir’s audience knew well that Muslim commentators were
agreed that this portion of Sūrat Āl ʿImrān refers to the Battle of Uḥud (625)
in which the Meccans, led by Abū Sufyān, had defeated Muhammad and
killed many of his followers a mere one year after Muhammad’s miraculous
victory against his Meccan opponents at the Battle of Badr (624) memorial-
ized in Sūrat al-Anfāl (The Spoils; 8:1–75), which along with Sūrat al-Tawba
(Repentance; 9:1–129) contain the foundational material on jihad and war-
fare in the Qurʾan.

33 Khalidi translates jāhad as: ﴾labours hard﴿.

 the forty hadiths for inciting jihad 77

That four of the six hadiths with explicit quranic content incorporate
verses that Muslim scholars traditionally date to the Medinan period should
come as no surprise, for it was in the Medinan period that Muhammad’s
role changed dramatically from what it had been during the Meccan phase
of his career. No longer was his primary role that of prophetic warner and
summoner to belief in the one God and the Last Day. As the sole political,
military, and religious leader of Medina he was now required to 󰀈椀ght and
subdue the enemies of God—whether in Medina, Mecca, Khaybar, Ṭāʾif,
Tabūk, or elsewhere—and impose his religious, social, and political order
on his new umma.
The fact that Ibn ʿAsākir included hadiths on jihad that invoke Meccan
verses does, however, require some explanation. The two Meccan suras
explicitly cited in the Forty Hadiths also draw on quranic passages that
address the themes of eternal rewards and punishments, but in a much
more general sense—Hadith 16 cites Sūrat al-Kahf (The Cave; 18:29); Hadith
26 Sūrat al-Qamar (The Moon; 54:55). Hadith 18 should be added to the
“Meccan sura” category as well. The companion Abū Hurayra said,
(Hadith 18) I heard the Messenger of God (ṣ) say: “An hour spent standing in
the path of God in wait for the enemy is worthier than spending the entire
Night of Power worshiping at the Black Stone (of the Kaʿba).”34
Although Hadith 18 does not include a speci󰀈椀c quranic verse, it is an obvious
reference to the brief Meccan Sūrat al-Qadr (The Power; 97:1–5):
﴾We sent it down in the Night of Power! But how can you know what is the
Night of Power? The Night of Power is better than a thousand months. In it, the
angels and the Spirit are sent swarming down, by their Lord’s leave, attending
to every command. Peace is it that Night, till the break of dawn.﴿
While the three Meccan suras—Sūrat al-Kahf (The Cave; 18), Sūrat al-Qamar
(The Moon; 54), and Sūrat al-Qadr (The Power; 97)—do not speak to the
issue of jihad or warfare speci󰀈椀cally, Ibn ʿAsākir had no reservation what-
soever about employing hadiths that incorporated these verses in the ser-
vice of jihad and warfare in the path of God. Sūrat al-Qadr is frequently
cited as an explicit proof for the authenticity of the Qurʾan as revelation;
since according to the Islamic tradition, Muhammad received the 󰀈椀rst rev-
elation of the Qurʾan on laylat al-qadr (Night of Power).35 What is impor-
tant for our purposes here is that Ibn ʿAsākir includes Hadith 18 not to

34 See Ibn ʿAsākir, Forty Hadiths, 157; and idem, al-Arbaʿūn, 156.
35 See, for example, Ibn Hishām, 1:192–193; and Ibn Isḥāq, Life of Muhammad, 111.
78 chapter five

invoke the authority of the Qurʾan as revelation, but speci󰀈椀cally to bol-

ster his case that “An hour spent standing in the path of God in wait for
the enemy is worthier than spending the entire Night of Power worshiping
at the Black Stone (of the Kaʿba).”
Hadith 16 invokes the punishment for evildoers with the brief passage:
﴾To the wicked We have prepared a Fire.﴿ (Qurʾan 18:29)
Hence Anas’s response: “O Messenger of God, now that we have heard this
hadith from you, who would dare abandon jihad and stay behind?” Not
surprisingly, we learn that while there will be those who dare to aban-
don jihad, God has reserved a special and torturous punishment just for
them. As noted above, the mere mention of this verse to Ibn ʿAsākir’s audi-
ence would have brought to mind the continuation of the Meccan Sūrat
al-Kahf (The Cave; 18:29–31), which expands on the horri󰀈椀c eternal punish-
ments for the evildoers, but also the glorious eternal rewards for the righ-
teous:
﴾Say: ‘The truth has come from your Lord. Whoso wishes, let him believe;
Whoso wishes, let him blaspheme.’ To the wicked We have prepared a Fire,
with its wall surrounding it. When they cry out for help, they are helped to
water resembling molten metal, scorching their faces. Wretched that drink
and wretched that place of rest. As for those who believed and performed
good deeds—We waste not the wage of one righteous in works. To them
belong the Gardens of Eden, beneath which rivers 󰀆lfow, and in which they
shall be decked with bracelets of gold, and shall wear green raiment of silk
and brocade, reclining therein on couches. Happy that reward and happy that
place of rest.﴿
The juxtaposition of this Meccan passage—when Muhammad was not in a
position to actually wage jihad or warfare against his opponents—with the
theme of jihad only served to enhance the immediacy of the obligation to
wage jihad on its hearers, especially in the context of Nūr al-Dīn’s jihad that
Ibn ʿAsākir helped shape and disseminate.
Since Hadith 26 is principally concerned with the rewards that await the
various categories of jihad 󰀈椀ghters, we could have included it in our dis-
cussion of the rewards theme in Ibn ʿAsākir’s Forty Hadiths above; however,
it too calls to mind the horrors of the eternal punishments that await the
wicked. Hadith 26 describes three categories of martyrs and their rewards.
The second category is for the
man who goes to wage jihad with his life and wealth, and seeks to kill but not
to get killed. If he dies or is killed, he will be transported to the presence of
God in the company of Abraham, the friend of the Merciful: ﴾In an assembly
of virtue, and with a mighty King.﴿ (Qurʾan 54:55)
 the forty hadiths for inciting jihad 79

While Hadith 26 invokes this passage to describe God’s omnipotence

as well as the reward that awaits the second category of jihad 󰀈椀ghter, Ibn
ʿAsākir’s audience would have been well aware that the preceding verses
of the Meccan Sūrat al-Qamar (The Moon; 54:40–55) are concerned with
the 󰀈椀ery punishments visited upon Pharaoh and the ancient Egyptians
because of their willful rejection of God’s warnings and signs in the distant
past:
﴾And We made the Qurʾan easy to remember, but is there anyone to recall it to
mind? To the people of Pharaoh came warnings, but they cried lies to all Our
wonders, so We seized them like the seizure of one Almighty, All-Powerful.
Are the blasphemers among you better than all these? Or do you possess some
safe-conduct in ancient Scripture? Or do they claim that victory lies in their
number? Their number shall be defeated and turn tail. Indeed the Hour is
their appointed time, and the Hour shall be still more calamitous and bitter!
The wicked are sunk in error and madness. A Day will come when they shall
be dragged into the Fire, on their faces: ‘Taste the touch of the gate of hell!’
We have created all things in due measure, and Our command is but a single
word, like the twinkling of an eye. We have destroyed your like, but is there
anyone to recall it to mind? All they have done is in ancient Scriptures, and
all of it, small or great, is recorded. The pious are amidst Gardens and rivers,
in an assembly of virtue, and with a mighty King.﴿

Hadith 6 deserves mention here as well. While it does not include any
speci󰀈椀c quranic passages, Hadith 6 does invoke the authority of Jesus son
of Mary and John son of Zechariah (St. John the Baptist), both of whom
are important prophetic characters in the Qurʾan and the Islamic tradition.
In fact, Hadith 6 is by far one of the lengthiest hadiths of Ibn ʿAsākir’s
Forty Hadiths—more than twice the length of all but one of the remaining
thirty nine. Moreover, it follows Hadiths 1–5, all of which emphasize the
superiority of jihad to other religious obligations. According to Hadith 6,
God commanded John to abide by 󰀈椀ve words and to command the Israelites
to abide by them as well. Jesus son of Mary told him that he needed to
do what God said or he would do it for him. Fearing that he would be
tortured or swallowed into the ground if Jesus were to issue the command
to the Israelites before he did, John summoned the people to the Temple
in Jerusalem until it was so full that many sat on the terraces. John then
proceeded to preach to the Israelites that God had commanded him to abide
by 󰀈椀ve words and that God had also commanded him to inform them that
they, too, should abide by them. The 󰀈椀ve were: to worship God alone, to pray,
to fast, to give alms, and to remember God constantly, “for that is like a man
whose enemy is close on his trail and who reaches an impenetrable fortress
and forti󰀈椀es himself in it. Similar is the servant, for he is only forti󰀈椀ed from
80 chapter five

Satan by the constant remembrance of God—glory and greatness belong to

Him.” Hadith 6 concludes with Muhammad commanding his community to
follow 󰀈椀ve things as well:
“I, too, command you to abide by 󰀈椀ve which God has commanded me: mem-
bership in the community, hearing, obeying, making the migration [to Islam],
and waging jihad in the path of God—glory and greatness belong to Him.
Whoever distances himself from the community, even for an arm’s length,
casts o󰀇f the tie of Islam from his head unless he comes back, and whoever
uses the supplication of the pre-Islamic Age of Ignorance is in the companies
of Hell.” He was asked: “Even if he prays and fasts?” The Prophet replied: “Even
if he prays and fasts. Make sure you use God’s supplication as a result of which
God called the believing Muslims the worshipers of God.”36
Ibn ʿAsākir’s inclusion of a hadith that invokes the authority of Jesus son of
Mary in the cause of jihad reinforces his apocalyptic vision of Jesus as the
Mahdī, who as an infant took refuge in Damascus with his mother during
what is known in the Gospels as the Massacre of the Innocents (Matthew
2:13–22) and who will return to Damascus at his second coming.37 More-
over, that this hadith invokes the authority of Jesus son of Mary and John
son of Zechariah as predecessors and vindicators of Muhammad’s message
only serves to strengthen Muhammad’s words that 󰀈椀ghting in the path of
God (especially against the per󰀈椀dious deniers of Jesus son of Mary’s and
John son of Zechariah’s pure Islamic monotheism, the in󰀈椀del Christian Cru-
saders) is an essential component of being a believing Muslim and a true
worshiper of God. Finally, the fact that Hadith 6 is primarily devoted to the
words and deeds of John son of Zechariah certainly would not have been
lost on Ibn ʿAsākir’s Sunni Syrian target audience or anyone who heard the
Forty Hadiths publicly taught at the Umayyad Mosque in view of John son
of Zechariah’s tomb, which is within the main prayer hall where 󰀈椀ve of the
eleven teaching sessions of the extant manuscript took place.38 (See 󰀈椀gure
on page 101.)
Taken together, Hadiths 4, 5, 6, 16, 18, 26, 28, and 29 make it abundantly
clear that not only should the glorious quranic rewards of Paradise forever

36 See Ibn ʿAsākir, Forty Hadiths, 143; and idem, al-Arbaʿūn, 142.
37 As with Ibn ʿAsākir’s depiction of Jesus as the Mahdī, his identi󰀈椀cation of Jesus’ and
Mary’s refuge as well as Jesus’ second coming with Damascus are minority positions: Mourad,
“Jesus According to Ibn ʿAsākir,” 27–28. On Ibn ʿAsākir’s identi󰀈椀cation of Jesus as the Mahdī,
see Chapter One, p. 8.
38 See Chapter Six for a discussion of teaching sessions 2, 3, 5, 7, and 8. Ibn ʿAsākir

was present at teaching session 2, which took place at the Umayyad Mosque on Friday 29
Ramaḍān/3 May 1174.
 the forty hadiths for inciting jihad 81

motivate the faithful to wage jihad in the path of God, but so too should
the reticent laggards be motivated by the gruesome punishments visited on
those ancients who rejected God’s warnings and signs—whether revealed
through Abraham, Moses, Jesus, or John—even until the end of days, which
in Ibn ʿAsākir’s mind may well have been his own.39

39 Obviously, Ibn ʿAsākir could have selected hadiths that invoked the authority of other

prophets mentioned in the Qurʾan, but none would have carried more weight than Abraham,
Moses; and speci󰀈椀cally in the context of Damascus and the Umayyad Mosque, Jesus and John
the Baptist.
 chapter six

IBN ʿASĀKIR’S FORTY HADITHS AND THE

INTENSIFICATION AND REORIENTATION OF SUNNI JIHAD
IDEOLOGY IN THIRTEENTH-CENTURY DAMASCUS

As noted in the previous chapter, Ibn ʿAsākir’s Forty Hadiths has survived in
a unique manuscript originally housed at the Ẓāhirīya Library in Damascus.1
The text itself dates from 617/1221. Judging from the colophons and owner-
ship notes on this unique manuscript, Ibn ʿAsākir’s Forty Hadiths received
a great deal of attention from the Damascene scholarly community during
Ibn ʿAsākir’s lifetime and for more than a century and a half after his death.
Although we do not have any information regarding its use in army bar-
racks or battle󰀈椀elds, the colophons show that the Forty Hadiths was taught
to a large number of individuals in several important religious centers and
schools in Damascus between 1170 and 1318. Several of these individuals were
counted among the most signi󰀈椀cant scholars of the city when they attended
these teaching sessions; others would be counted among their number later
in life. Some of the colophons mention children who were brought by their
fathers to hear a reading of the Forty Hadiths and receive a license (ijāza) to
teach and transmit the text when they grew up and became scholars; one of
these children was a 󰀈椀ve year old girl!2 Although we do not know whether
the Forty Hadiths was available in other parts of Syria or the Muslim world,
the broad interest of Damascene scholars in the text con󰀈椀rms that it played
an important role in promoting the ideology and mentality of jihad in Dam-
ascus during the 󰀈椀nal century of the Frankish presence in the Middle East
as well as the decades prior to the Mongol Il-Khans’ conversion to Islam in
1295 and the eventual establishment of peace between Il-Khans in Iran and
Iraq and the Mamluks in Syria and Egypt in 1320.

1 The manuscript is found in a majmūʿ (short manuscripts arranged and bound together

in a single volume). Ibn ʿAsākir’s text is the third work in this volume, and covers folios 67a–
81b. The Ẓāhirīya reference is majmūʿ lugha 40. The Ẓāhirīya Library collection was moved to
the Asad Library.
2 On the trend of taking children, including girls, to attend seminars by aging scholars, in

order to receive ijāzas, see Jonathan Berkey, The Transmission of Knowledge in Medieval Cairo:
A Social History of Islamic Education (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1992), 32–33.
 ibn ʿasākir’s forty hadiths and the sunni jihad ideology 83

The extant manuscript of the Forty Hadiths was copied by a notable

Hadith scholar named Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad ibn Yūsuf al-Birzālī in
Dhū al-Ḥijja 617/February 1221. Originally from Seville (Ishbīlya) in Muslim
Spain, al-Birzālī left his hometown, probably with the intent of making
the pilgrimage to Mecca. He arrived 󰀈椀rst in Alexandria in 1205, and then
in Mecca in 1208. After a sojourn in the eastern Muslim world, primarily
for the study of Hadith, he settled in Damascus in 1213 and was appointed
imam of a local mosque and then head-professor of Hadith at the Ibn
ʿUrwa school of Hadith, which was located just outside the eastern gate
of the Umayyad Mosque compound.3 Al-Dhahabī enumerates al-BirzāIī’s
many skills, including his beautiful handwriting; indeed, the manuscript
was copied in an elegant North African (maghribī) hand.4 Al-Birzālī died
while on a visit to the northern Syrian city of Ḥama in 1239,5 leaving a family
in Damascus whose members became distinguished scholars, especially
his great-grandson Abū Muḥammad al-Qāsim ibn Muḥammad (d. 1339)—a
proli󰀈椀c author in his own right and holder of the chair of Hadith at Nūr
al-Dīn’s House of Hadith,6 the school and chair that Nūr al-Dīn had endowed
for Ibn ʿAsākir.

1. The Colophons (Samāʿāt) on al-Birzālī’s

Copy of Ibn ʿAsākir’s Forty Hadiths

The eleven colophons on this unique manuscript o󰀇fer very rich informa-
tion about the teaching and transmission of the text, and subsequently its
usefulness for and impact on religious scholars in Damascus. The 󰀈椀rst four
colophons were inscribed in al-Birzālī’s hand; he copied the 󰀈椀rst two from
Ibn ʿAsākir’s original manuscript. The remaining colophons were inscribed
by other individuals. Each colophon names the scholar who was present to
teach the text; in the case of the 󰀈椀rst two colophons, this was Ibn ʿAsākir

3 This school of Hadith (dār al-ḥadīth al-ʿurwīya) was built in 1220 by Sharaf al-Dīn

Muḥammad ibn ʿUrwa al-Mawṣilī (d. 1223): see al-Dhahabī, Taʾrīkh al-islām, 44:510; and
al-Shihābī, Muʿjam Dimashq al-tārīkhī, 1:271.
4 Ḥalwānī describes the handwriting as eastern, which is a mistake on his part: see Ḥal-

wānī, Ibn ʿAsākir wa-dawruh, 96. Since Ḥalwānī’s remarks about the text and manuscript are
invariably mistaken, they will be ignored from now on. ʿAbd Allāh ibn Yūsuf also mistak-
enly identi󰀈椀es the handwriting as that of Ibn ʿAsākir’s nephew al-Ḥasan ibn Muḥammad: Ibn
ʿAsākir, al-Arbaʿūn, ed. ʿAbd Allāh ibn Yūsuf, 39.
5 On Muḥammad al-Birzālī, see al-Dhahabī, Taʾrīkh al-islām, 46:307–308.
6 On al-Qāsim al-Birzālī, see al-Dhahabī, Taʾrīkh al-islām, 53:359–361.
84 chapter six

himself, and for the other colophons, it was one or more of his students.
The role of the teacher in one of these sessions was to answer any questions
the students might raise about the material. He also ful󰀈椀lled another very
important function; at the conclusion of the teaching session, he conferred
the license (ijāza) to those in attendance so that they could later teach and
transmit the text to others.
Each colophon also names the scholar who read out the text of the Forty
Hadiths during the teaching session, the people in attendance, the person
who inscribed the colophon, the location of the teaching session, and its
exact date. One should note here that the colophons do not register the
names of all the people in the audience. Rather, only those persons deemed
worthy of inclusion—such as scholars, students, and 󰀈椀gures of some social
status—were identi󰀈椀ed.7 Since it was customary for lower-status Dama-
scenes to sit curiously and listen to teaching sessions on a host of subjects,
such persons were either never mentioned in the colophons of al-Birzālī’s
manuscript or were simply referred to as others (e.g. colophons 2 and 10);
this is especially the case if the teaching session was held in a non-restricted
space such as the spacious Umayyad Mosque.
As was customary, some students copied the text as it was read out
to them and then veri󰀈椀ed their copies against the manuscript that was
used by the reader to assure the accuracy of their transcription. In this
respect, these colophons attest to the presence of other copies of the Forty
Hadiths that were kept by those who studied it, either with Ibn ʿAsākir or
later. Unfortunately, except for al-Birzālī’s manuscript, none of these copies
appears to have survived.8
One more important issue is worth noting here. The eleven colophons
show that the teaching and transmission of Ibn ʿAsākir’s Forty Hadiths was
taken very seriously by the Damascene scholarly community. By the twelfth
century, it had become common for scholars to confer licenses to teach and
transmit texts to their students without necessarily teaching them those
texts—either texts that they had authored themselves, or that they had
studied and for which they had been awarded a license to teach and

7 On the etiquette of teaching and learning in medieval Islam, see Christopher Melchert,

“The Etiquette of Learning in the Early Islamic Study Circle,” in Law and Education in Medieval
Islam: Studies in Memory of George Makdisi, eds. Joseph E. Lowry, Devin J. Stewart, and
Shawkat M. Toorawa (London: The E.J.W. Gibb Memorial Trust, 2004), 33–44.
8 Except for the two hardly-legible folios that o󰀇fer no information in terms of where and

when the manuscript from which they were taken was copied, who owned it, or who studied
it: see Chapter Five, footnote 8.
 ibn ʿasākir’s forty hadiths and the sunni jihad ideology 85

transmit. We see this in colophon 7, where the teacher extended the license
to include all of what he had studied, not just Ibn ʿAsākir’s Forty Hadiths.
The eleven colophons on al-Birzālī’s manuscript demonstrate that the strict
standards of teaching and awarding of licenses from earlier centuries were
almost always followed when it came to these teaching sessions of Ibn
ʿAsākir’s Forty Hadiths.

Colophon 1
According to the 󰀈椀rst colophon, the 󰀈椀rst teaching session was conducted in
Ibn ʿAsākir’s presence. The book was read out by his elder son, al-Qāsim, in
a private garden owned by two of his nephews in the town of Mizza—now
a western suburb of Damascus—on Saturday 7 Rajab 565/28 March 1170. All
but one of the free persons in attendance were relatives of Ibn ʿAsākir: his
son al-Ḥasan; his grandson Muḥammad ibn al-Qāsim; his maternal cousin
ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Sulṭān ibn Yaḥyā al-Qurashī and his two sons ʿAbd
a-Wāḥid and ʿAbd Allāh (along with his slave Yāqūt ibn ʿAbd Allāh); his
brother-in-law Muḥammad ibn Saʿīd ibn Ḥamza al-Tamīmī and his son
al-Faḍl; his nephews Aḥmad, ʿAbd Allāh, ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, Naṣr Allāh, ʿAbd
al-Raḥīm, and al-Ḥasan (all sons of Ibn ʿAsākir’s brother Muḥammad). The
lone non-relative non-slave present was the farmer who was in charge of the
garden.
Three of the notables who attended the 󰀈椀rst teaching session of the
Forty Hadiths were in󰀆lfuential in Damascene scholarship. Ibn ʿAsākir’s son
al-Qāsim (d. 1203) was one of Damascus’s prominent scholars in his own
right. He inherited his father’s prestigious chair of Hadith scholarship at Nūr
al-Dīn’s House of Hadith and is said to have taught Hadith to a huge number
of scholars who went on to occupy crucial teaching and juristic positions
in and beyond the city.9 Ibn ʿAsākir’s maternal cousin, ʿAbd al-Raḥmān
al-Qurashī (d. 1202),10 was chief judge of Damascus. Ibn ʿAsākir’s nephew,
ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Muḥammad (d. 1223), subsequently became a leader of
the Shā󰀈椀ʿī jurists in Syria and simultaneously occupied two very prestigious
chairs: one at the Taqawīya School (the most in󰀆lfuential legal school during
his time in Damascus);11 and the other at the Ṣāliḥīya School in Jerusalem
(established and lavishly-endowed by Saladin following his capture of the
city).12

9 On al-Qāsim Ibn ʿAsākir, see al-Dhahabī, Taʾrīkh al-islām, 42:471–473.

10 On ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Qurashī, see al-Dhahabī, Taʾrīkh al-islām, 42:354–355.
11 On the Taqawīya School, built in 1178, see al-Shihābī, Muʿjam Dimashq al-tārīkhī, 2:175.
12 On ʿAbd al-Raḥmān Ibn ʿAsākir, see al-Dhahabī, Taʾrīkh al-islām, 44:500–503.
86 chapter six

Colophon 1 was originally inscribed by Ibn ʿAsākir’s nephew, al-Ḥasan

ibn Muḥammad (d. 1230), who made a great reputation for himself as a
Hadith scholar, and followed his uncle and cousin al-Qāsim as chair of
Hadith scholarship at Nūr al-Dīn’s renowned House of Hadith in Damascus.13
Colophon 1 was copied into the current manuscript by al-Birzālī.

Colophon 2
A second teaching session of the Forty Hadiths was held on Friday 29 Rama-
ḍān 569/3 May 1174 at the Umayyad Mosque also in the presence of Ibn
ʿAsākir. The text was read out to a large crowd of scholars and students.
Thirty-one of those in attendance were deemed worthy of being named;
the rest were referred to as “others.” The reader was one of Ibn ʿAsākir’s
closest students, Bahāʾ al-Dīn al-Ḥasan ibn Hibat Allāh Ibn Ṣaṣrā (d. 1190),14
whose brother, the later renowned chief judge Shams al-Dīn al-Ḥusayn ibn
Hibat Allāh Ibn Ṣaṣrā (d. 1228), was also in attendance.15 Two nephews of
Ibn ʿAsākir were present: Naṣr Allāh ibn Muḥammad and ʿAbd al-Raḥīm
ibn Muḥammad, who had also been present at the 󰀈椀rst teaching session.
They brought with them their nephew, Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad ibn Muḥam-
mad (d. 1245), who was four years old.16 Also present were two young boys
who went on to become notable Hadith scholars and play a crucial role in
the transmission of the Forty Hadiths: Abū Muḥammad ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn
Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan al-Ṣāliḥī (d. 1242) who was six years old;17 and
Abū Ṭāhir Ibrāhīm ibn Barakāt ibn Ibrāhīm al-Khushūʿī (d. 1243) who was
eleven years old.18 This second colophon was originally inscribed by another
student of Ibn ʿAsākir named Abū Bakr Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhāb
al-Anṣārī (d. 1230), who became a notable Hadith scholar,19 and then was
copied into the current manuscript by al-Birzālī.

On the basis of Colophons 1 and 2, it can be established that the lone extant
manuscript of the Forty Hadiths was transcribed and owned by al-Birzālī. It

13 On al-Ḥasan Ibn ʿAsākir, see al-Dhahabī, Taʾrīkh al-islām, 45:280–282.

14 On al-Ḥasan Ibn Ṣaṣrā, see al-Dhahabī, Taʾrīkh al-islām, 41:237–238.
15 On al-Ḥusayn Ibn Ṣaṣrā, see al-Dhahabī, Taʾrīkh al-islām, 45:248–250.
16 On Muḥammad Ibn ʿAsākir, see al-Dhahabī, Taʾrīkh al-islām, 47:201–202.
17 On ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz al-Ṣāliḥī, see al-Dhahabī, Taʾrīkh al-islām, 46:440–441. In colophon

two, al-Birzālī identi󰀈椀es him as the son (which ought to be understood as grandson) of Abū
Muḥammad al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAlī ibn Abīya. He repeats this in colophon six (ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn
al-Ḥasan).
18 On Ibrāhīm al-Khushūʿī, see al-Dhahabī, Taʾrīkh al-islām, 46:429–430.
19 On Muḥammad al-Anṣārī, see al-Dhahabī, Taʾrīkh al-islām, 45:294.
 ibn ʿasākir’s forty hadiths and the sunni jihad ideology 87

must have been copied from an original manuscript that was Ibn ʿAsākir’s
own copy, the one used by his son al-Qāsim to read the text during the 󰀈椀rst
teaching session. Ibn ʿAsākir’s nephew al-Ḥasan inscribed Colophon 1 on
this original manuscript; in fact, al-Birzālī writes that he copied the text of
Colophon 1 from the one written in al-Ḥasan’s own hand. Ibn ʿAsākir then
took this manuscript to the second teaching session held at the Umayyad
Mosque where Colophon 2 was inscribed on it by his student, Abū Bakr
al-Anṣārī.20 Unfortunately, this original manuscript appears to have been
lost.
More importantly, if the manuscript that al-Birzālī copied was indeed Ibn
ʿAsākir’s own copy, then the 󰀈椀rst colophon actually attests that he 󰀈椀nished
authoring the Forty Hadiths before 1170, and that the 󰀈椀rst two teachings of
the Forty Hadiths were held during Nūr al-Dīn’s lifetime; Nūr al-Dīn died on
15 May 1174, apparently of a heart attack while playing polo.

Colophon 3
A third colophon is inscribed on the right margin of folio 79b, above Colo-
phons 1 and 2. It attests to a third teaching session held on Saturday 25 Dhū
al-Ḥijja 617/20 February 1221 at the Umayyad Mosque. The text was read out
by al-Birzālī in the presence of Ibn ʿAsākir’s nephew al-Ḥasan ibn Muḥam-
mad, who had attended the 󰀈椀rst teaching session and inscribed the original
󰀈椀rst colophon. Colophon 3 was inscribed by al-Birzālī himself.
Al-Birzālī’s inscription of this colophon on the right margin, across from
the end of the Forty Hadiths text and above Colophons 1 and 2, indicates
that he is presenting here his own license; that is, how he received the text
as well as his right to teach and transmit it. Colophon 3 also shows that
since al-Birzālī was the reader in the third teaching session, he must have
already copied the text from Ibn ʿAsākir’s original manuscript, including
Colophons 1 and 2,21 and brought his copy to the teaching session, which was
supervised by Ibn ʿAsākir’s nephew, al-Ḥasan. In other words, he must have
made arrangements to copy the Forty Hadiths himself and then requested
a private session to study it with al-Ḥasan in order to receive the license.

20 Obviously, it was a matter of prestige that one of Ibn ʿAsākir’s students would register

the names of those in attendance. As happens in major modern universities, it is the humble
graduate assistant who takes attendance and not the lofty professor.
21 There is no way that al-Birzālī could have known about the 󰀈椀rst and second reading

sessions without access to the original manuscript, which would have included Colophons
1 and 2. According to al-Dhahabī, al-Birzālī reported that he was born in Seville around 1181:
Taʾrīkh al-islām, 46:307.
88 chapter six

That this was a privately held meeting is further con󰀈椀rmed by the fact that
there were only three people in attendance at the third teaching session.
Furthermore, Colophon 3 attests that Ibn ʿAsākir’s original manuscript must
have passed to the possession of his nephew al-Ḥasan; one can postulate
that it 󰀈椀rst passed from Ibn ʿAsākir to his son al-Qāsim and then to his
nephew al-Ḥasan, all of whom occupied the chair of Hadith at Nūr al-Dīn’s
prestigious House of Hadith.

Colophon 4
A fourth teaching session was held on Friday 9 Rabīʿ I 624/26 February
1227 at the Khātūnīya School of Hadith.22 As in the third teaching session,
the Forty Hadiths was read out by al-Birzālī, who also inscribed Colophon
4. This indicates that Ibrāhīm al-Khushūʿī, who had attended the second
teaching session with Ibn ʿAsākir, was present in order to teach and confer
the license on those in attendance so that they could transmit the text to
others. Al-Khushūʿī brought along a grandson. Al-Birzālī also names three
scholars who were present, among them Abū Ḥāmid Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī
al-Maḥmūdī, known as Ibn al-Ṣābūnī (1207–1281), who became chair of
Hadith at Nūr al-Dīn’s House of Hadith.23 Present as well was al-Birzālī’s son,
Yūsuf, who was then 󰀈椀ve years old.24

Colophon 5
A 󰀈椀fth teaching session was held on Friday 22 Rabīʿ I 624/12 March 1227
at the Umayyad Mosque; that is, two weeks after the fourth session. The
text was read out by al-Birzālī, using his own copy, in the presence of Abū
Bakr Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhāb al-Anṣārī, who had attended the sec-
ond teaching session with Ibn ʿAsākir and wrote Colophon 2; here, too,
al-Anṣārī’s presence was important for the teaching of the text and confer-
ring of the license to transmit it, especially since he was one of Ibn ʿAsākir’s
closest students. In attendance at this 󰀈椀fth session were six people, includ-
ing al-Birzālī’s 󰀈椀ve-year old son, Yūsuf, and two of al-Anṣārī’s grandsons—
Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad (d. 1284), who went on to become a renowned

22 The Khātūnīya School was built in 1175 by Nūr al-Dīn’s widow al-Khātūn ʿIṣmat al-Dīn,

and is located inside old Damascus; it should be distinguished from another Khātūnīya
School outside the city: see al-Shihābī, Muʿjam Dimashq al-tārīkhī, 2:180–181.
23 On Ibn al-Ṣābūnī, see al-Dhahabī, Taʾrīkh al-islām, 50:368–369.
24 Yūsuf, al-Birzālī’s son, became a Hadith scholar and imam of Fulūs mosque in Dam-

ascus. He died in 1245 at the age of 23, leaving a son named Muḥammad (d. 1300) who also
became a Hadith scholar: see al-Dhahabī, Siyar aʿlām al-nubalāʾ, 23:57.
 ibn ʿasākir’s forty hadiths and the sunni jihad ideology 89

judge;25 and ʿAbd Allāh ibn Aḥmad (d. 1275), who became a Hadith scholar.26
Also in attendance was Ibn al-Ṣābūnī, who wrote the colophon.

Colophon 6
A sixth teaching session was held on Tuesday 26 Rabīʿ I 624/16 March
1227 at the Zāwiya (corner hall) of Naṣr al-Maqdisī, in the western corner
of the Umayyad Mosque compound.27 Here, too, the reader was al-Birzālī.
ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz al-Ṣāliḥī, Ibn ʿAsākir’s student who had attended the second
teaching session 53 years earlier (in 1174) was also present for the teaching
session and the conferring of the license to transmit the text. Three more
individuals were in the audience, including al-Birzālī’s son Yūsuf, and Ibn
al-Ṣābūnī. The scribe is not named in this colophon, but the handwriting is
exactly the same as in Colophon 5, which indicates that Colophon 6 was also
inscribed by Ibn al-Ṣābūnī.

Colophon 7
A seventh major teaching session was held at the Umayyad Mosque on
Friday 13 Ṣafar 626/12 January 1229. Al-Birzālī read out the text in the pres-
ence of Abū Bakr al-Anṣārī, who had attended the second teaching session
and inscribed Colophon 2; he also had supervised the 󰀈椀fth teaching ses-
sion. In attendance were 47 individuals, among them al-Birzālī’s son Yūsuf
(now 7 years old) and brother-in-law, and a number of notable jurists and
Hadith scholars, most of whom brought along their sons and slaves. The
colophon was inscribed on al-Birzālī’s manuscript by Ibrāhīm ibn ʿUmar ibn
ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz al-Qurashī (d. 1264), a great-grandson of Ibn ʿAsākir’s maternal
cousin, ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Qurashī, who was a notable chief judge in Dam-
ascus.28
One interesting observation about this teaching session is the presence
of two great-grandsons of ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Aḥmad ibn Ṣābir al-Sulamī,
who had taught al-Sulamī’s Book of Jihad at the Umayyad Mosque in 1113,
which their grandfather ʿAbd Allāh had attended as well.29 That the great-
grandsons of ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Sulamī were eager to learn about the
topic of jihad from Ibn ʿAsākir’s Forty Hadiths rather than from their own

25 On Muḥammad al-Anṣārī, see al-Dhahabī, Taʾrīkh al-islām, 51:157–158.

26 On ʿAbd Allāh al-Anṣārī, see al-Dhahabī, Taʾrīkh al-islām, 50:154–155.
27 On the Zāwiya of Naṣr al-Maqdisī, see Chapter Five, footnote 3.
28 On Ibrāhīm al-Qurashī, see al-Dhahabī, Taʾrīkh al-islām, 49:142.
29 See Chapter Three, pp. 43–44.
90 chapter six

great-grandfather’s transmission of al-Sulamī’s Book of Jihad is indicative

of the popularity of Ibn ʿAsākir’s Forty Hadiths vis-à-vis similar works in
thirteenth-century Damascus. This also suggests that by the thirteenth cen-
tury al-Sulamī’s Book of Jihad was either unknown or out of circulation
among the circles of religious education in Damascus.

Colophon 8
An eighth major teaching session was held over two meetings at the Umay-
yad Mosque; only the date of the second meeting (8 Jumādā I 626/4 April
1229) is noted in the colophon. The 󰀈椀rst meeting covered the 󰀈椀rst half of the
text (beginning–hadith 20), and the second covered the rest (hadiths 21–40).
The text was read out by the 60-year-old Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī ibn al-Muẓa󰀇far
al-Nushbī (d. 1258)30 in the presence of two scholars who had been present
at previous teaching sessions at which Ibn ʿAsākir was present: Ibn ʿAsākir’s
nephew, al-Ḥasan ibn Muḥammad had attended the 󰀈椀rst teaching session
and had taught the text and conferred the license during the third teach-
ing session; Ibrāhīm al-Khushūʿī had attended the second teaching session
and had taught the text and conferred the license during the fourth teaching
session. They were joined for the second meeting of this eighth teaching ses-
sion by ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz al-Ṣāliḥī, who had attended the second teaching session
with Ibn ʿAsākir and had taught the text and conferred the license during the
sixth teaching session. Obviously, there was no pedagogical requirement to
have three teachers preside over this eighth teaching session and confer the
license to transmit the text. What their presence suggests is that since Ibn
ʿAsākir was recognized as the most celebrated Hadith scholar that Damascus
had produced, reputable scholars were eager to partake in the teaching of his
works. More importantly, it attests that Ibn ʿAsākir’s Forty Hadiths was very
popular in Damascene scholarly circles—and jihad preaching in general—
and that to teach his book was considered as ful󰀈椀lling a notable religious
duty. In other words, the scholars who taught it were convinced that they
were waging jihad, albeit the jihad of the pen.31
The audience of the 󰀈椀rst meeting included twenty individuals who were
joined by nine more individuals for the second meeting. The colophon
was inscribed by Ibrāhīm ibn ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz al-Qurashī, the same
person who inscribed Colophon 7.

30 On Abū al-Ḥasan al-Nushbī, see al-Dhahabī, Taʾrīkh al-islām, 48:277–278.

31 For the jihad of the pen, see Chapter Four, pp. 53–54, and Chapter Five, p. 73.
 ibn ʿasākir’s forty hadiths and the sunni jihad ideology 91

Since Colophon 8 does not feature al-Birzālī’s name, he did not attend
either meeting of the eighth teaching session; likely he was away from Dam-
ascus.32 However, since Colophon 8 is inscribed on his own manuscript, it
is evident that someone had borrowed it from him so that it could be read
out to and copied by the students in the audience. The person who bor-
rowed it was possibly al-Nushbī, who read out the text in the two meetings;
even more likely it may have been Ibrāhīm al-Qurashī, who inscribed both
Colophons 7 and 8. Given that al-Birzālī entrusted al-Qurashī to write down
Colophon 7, it is very plausible that he instructed him to take the manuscript
to the Umayyad mosque so that a teaching session in the presence of three
notable students of Ibn ʿAsākir (Ibn ʿAsākir’s nephew al-Ḥasan ibn Muḥam-
mad and students Ibrāhīm al-Khushūʿī and ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz al-Ṣāliḥī) could be
held; after all, al-Birzālī’s o󰀇󰀈椀ce was just outside the Umayyad Mosque. In
addition, al-Birzālī was well aware that such events and colophons would
magnify the value and uniqueness of his manuscript.

Colophon 9
A ninth major teaching session was held at Nūr al-Dīn’s House of Hadith on
Sunday 2 Rabīʿ II 627/17 February 1230. The text was read out in the pres-
ence of Ibn ʿAsākir’s grand-nephew, Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad ibn Muḥam-
mad, who had attended the second teaching session with Ibn ʿAsākir when
he was four years old. In the audience were 33 individuals, among them
al-Birzālī himself and his son, Yūsuf (now 8 years old). There were also a
number of distinguished scholars, among them Abū al-Ḥasan al-Nushbī,
who was the reader during the eighth teaching session, and Ibn al-Ṣābūnī,
who had attended the seventh teaching session. That several prominent
scholars should be in the audience is explained by the fact that the reader
was Khālid ibn Yūsuf al-Nābulusī (d. 1265), who at the time occupied the
very prestigious chair of Hadith at Nūr al-Dīn’s House of Hadith,33 though
he had not yet received a license to transmit the text. The colophon was
inscribed by Muḥammad ibn Abū Jaʿfar ibn ʿAlī al-Faraḍī (d. 1243),34
who brought along his son Muḥammad, then two years old. Also present
was a 󰀈椀ve year old girl named Hadīya,35 who was brought by her father

32 It is also possible that he was unable to attend because he had taken ill or was otherwise

incapacitated.
33 On Khālid al-Nābulusī, see al-Dhahabī, Taʾrīkh al-islām, 49:145–147.
34 On Muḥammad al-Faraḍī, see al-Dhahabī, Taʾrīkh al-islām, 47:202–203.
35 Hadīya (d. 1285) became a Hadith scholar in her own right, and among her students
92 chapter six

Ibrāhīm al-Qurashī, who inscribed Colophons 7 and 8. Here, too, Colophon 9

shows that the manuscript was still in al-Birzālī’s possession, and that he was
indeed eager to add to the value and uniqueness of his manuscript by adding
colophons to his manuscript of the Forty Hadiths that featured recognized
scholars as well as repeated teaching sessions of the text.

Colophon 10
A tenth teaching session was held on Friday 21 Shawwāl 633/27 June 1236 at
the Kallāsa School, which was adjacent to the western side of the Umayyad
Mosque compound.36 The text was read out by al-Birzālī in the presence of
Ibrāhīm al-Khushūʿī, who had also taught the text and conferred the license
at the fourth and eighth teaching sessions; al-Khushūʿī, as noted earlier,
received his own license directly from Ibn ʿAsākir during the second teach-
ing session. The colophon was inscribed by Yūsuf ibn al-Ḥasan ibn Badr ibn
al-Ḥasan ibn al-Nābulusī, who had also attended the ninth teaching ses-
sion. Yūsuf al-Nābulusī writes that he copied the colophon into al-Birzālī’s
manuscript from his own copy, and that he only included the names of eight
individuals who attended this tenth teaching session; he also remarks that
he left out many more for the sake of brevity. In this respect, Colophon 10
con󰀈椀rms that the manuscript was still in al-Birzālī’s possession and that
another copy of the Forty Hadiths existed, namely Yūsuf al-Nābulusī’s own
copy.

Ownership Note 1
On the title page of the manuscript, above the title, there is an ownership
note attesting that al-Birzālī’s manuscript passed to the possession of Abū
Bakr ibn ʿUmar ibn Abū Bakr Ibn al-Sallār (d. 1316), who was a well-reputed
scholar and poet. Abū Bakr Ibn al-Sallār does not specify how he acquired
the manuscript. We do know, however, that al-Birzālī’s great-grandson al-
Qāsim ibn Muḥammad (d. 1339) was among Ibn al-Sallār’s students.37 So it
is possible that Ibn al-Sallār acquired it from al-Qāsim or al-Qāsim’s father.

were al-Birzālī’s great-grandson al-Qāsim (on him see footnote 37 below) and the famous
Hadith scholar of Damascus, Jamāl al-Dīn al-Mizzī (d. 1341): see al-Dhahabī, Taʾrīkh al-islām,
51:207.
36 On the Kallāsa School of Hadith, built during the reign of Nūr al-Dīn in 1160, see

al-Shihābī, Muʿjam Dimashq al-tārīkhī, 2:206.

37 As noted above, al-Qāsim ibn Muḥammad became a proli󰀈椀c author in his own right

and occupied the chair of Hadith at Nūr al-Dīn’s House of Hadith, the school and chair
 ibn ʿasākir’s forty hadiths and the sunni jihad ideology 93

Colophon 11
An eleventh colophon is inscribed on the title page of the manuscript. It
attests to an eleventh teaching session held on Wednesday 8 Rabīʿ I 718/10
May 1318 in the house of ʿAbd Allāh ibn Aḥmad Ibn al-Muḥibb (d. 1336),38
who read it out in the presence of al-Qāsim ibn Muẓa󰀇far ibn Maḥmūd
(1231–1323), a great-grandson of Ibn ʿAsākir’s brother Muḥammad.39 In the
audience at this eleventh teaching session was Ibn al-Muḥibb’s son Muḥam-
mad (1313–1387),40 who went on to become a celebrated jurist and scholar of
Hadith. Muḥammad Ibn al-Muḥibb, who inscribed this colophon, indicated
that there were many others present at this teaching session as well.
The colophon also states that al-Qāsim had studied the Forty Hadiths with
ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz al-Ṣāliḥī, the student of his great-uncle who had been present at
the second teaching session, and who had also been involved in the teaching
and transmission of the text (teaching sessions six and eight). At 󰀈椀rst, one
might ask why al-Qāsim, a notable member of the ʿAsākir family, did not
possess a license to transmit the text from one of his relatives. The answer
to this question is simple. The precise chain of transmission provided in this
colophon is the shortest con󰀈椀rmed link to Ibn ʿAsākir: between al-Qāsim
(d. 1323) and his great-uncle Ibn ʿAsākir (d. 1176) there is only one individual,
ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz al-Ṣāliḥī. In Hadith transmission, the shortest con󰀈椀rmed link
is the most prominent, especially if it also features a prominent scholar.
For all practical purposes, al-Qāsim must have had other licenses from
his father or grandfather, but those would have provided longer links. The
colophon therefore attests that al-Qāsim had studied the text with ʿAbd
al-ʿAzīz al-Ṣāliḥī at a location and time unknown to us, and thus that he must
have possessed a copy of the text.
Consequently, we can posit that the Forty Hadiths was taught and preach-
ed in Damascus at occasions and locations other than what we know from
the colophons of the only extant manuscript and that ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz al-Ṣāliḥī
was much more involved in the teaching and transmission of the Forty
Hadiths than the three sessions attested to in the colophons on this unique

that Nūr al-Dīn had endowed for Ibn ʿAsākir. On al-Qāsim al-Birzālī, see al-Dhahabī, Taʾrīkh
al-islām, 53:359–361. On Abū Bakr Ibn al-Sallār, see al-Ṣafadī, al-Wāfī bi-l-wafayāt, 30 vols.,
several editors (Wiesbaden: Franz Steiner, 1962–2004), 10:239–240; and Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī,
al-Durar al-kāmina fī aʿyān al-māʾa al-thāmina, 4 vols. (Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmīyah, 1993),
1:451–452.
38 On ʿAbd Allāh Ibn al-Muḥibb, see al-Dhahabī, Taʾrīkh al-islām, 53:326–327.
39 On al-Qāsim Ibn ʿAsākir, see al-Dhahabī, Taʾrīkh al-islām, 53:207–208.
40 On Muḥammad Ibn al-Muḥibb, see Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī, al-Durar al-kāmina, 3:465.
94 chapter six

manuscript. The eleventh colophon also testi󰀈椀es to the continued interest

in Ibn ʿAsākir’s Forty Hadiths and its relevance and usefulness to the religious
circles in Damascus nearly three decades after the last Frankish outpost in
Syria had been removed in 1291. Even after their conversion to Islam in 1295,
the Mongol Il-Khans were the Mamluks’ primary foe in Syria and would
remain so for another 󰀈椀fteen years. Hence it is noteworthy that this teach-
ing session was held two years prior to the formal establishment of peace
between the Mamluks and Il-Khans in 1320.
That this eleventh colophon is inscribed on the title page also indicates
that the ownership of this manuscript of the Forty Hadiths passed after
the death of Ibn al-Sallār in 1316 to ʿAbd Allāh Ibn al-Muḥibb, who soon
after arranged and hosted a teaching session in his own house in 1318 with
al-Qāsim Ibn ʿAsākir so that he, and his son, could receive the license to
transmit the text. In due course, ownership of the manuscript passed to his
son, Muḥammad Ibn al-Muḥibb.

Ownership Note 2
A second ownership note on the title page is inscribed directly beneath
Colophon 11. It attests that the manuscript came to the possession of a cleric
named ʿAlī al-Mawṣilī, who possibly lived in the eighteenth or nineteenth
century.

Copying Note
Finally, there is a note at the end of the manuscript, below Colophon 10,
inscribed by Muḥammad Ṣādiq al-Māliḥ, who identi󰀈椀es himself as a scribe
at the Public Library in Damascus, a reference to the Ẓāhirīya Library that
was initially built as a school for religious sciences in 1279 by order of
the Mamluk sultan al-Ẓāhir Baybars and later transformed into a library.41
Al-Māliḥ writes that he transcribed this manuscript in 1911, which means
that a copy of the Forty Hadiths was made in 1911, but that it has either been
lost, is in a private library, or is possibly mis-catalogued in a public library.
This copying note together with ownership note 2 show that this unique
manuscript of the Forty Hadiths was bequeathed by the cleric al-Mawṣilī
to the Ẓāhirīya Library, possibly some time in the eighteenth or nineteenth
century.

41 On al-Ẓāhirīya, see al-Shihābī, Muʿjam Dimashq al-tārīkhī, 1:194–195.

 ibn ʿasākir’s forty hadiths and the sunni jihad ideology 95

2. What Do the Colophons Tell Us about

Sunni Jihad Propaganda in Thirteenth-Century Damascus?

The colophons and ownership notes on the only surviving manuscript of

Ibn ʿAsākir’s Forty Hadiths reveal that the work received tremendous atten-
tion from the Damascene Sunni scholarly community, especially during the
Crusader period. That so many Hadith scholars and jurists were eager to
study it and receive the license to teach it demonstrates that it must have
signi󰀈椀cantly contributed to and shaped their understanding of jihad as a
religious duty as well as to their understanding of how they should motivate
the masses to ful󰀈椀ll this essential duty. In addition, many prominent centers
of religious learning, especially Hadith scholarship, were venues for the dis-
semination of the Forty Hadiths and its vision of jihad. Since we are dealing
with two categories of learned men (Hadith scholars and jurists) who had
traditionally presented themselves as the guardians of the proper Muslim
way of life as established by Muhammad, it is also the case that Ibn ʿAsākir’s
work set the example for them not only of how the Prophet of Islam taught
about jihad, but also how he would have reacted to an onslaught against
Muslims and Islamic territory such as they witnessed in their own day. In
this way, the Forty Hadiths is an excellent window onto Muslim religious
propaganda and activism in the Crusader period. It is a document that rep-
resented for Muslim religious scholars the model that had been established
by Muhammad and which should be followed and emulated. They may not
have hurried to join the ranks and 󰀈椀ght the Crusaders themselves, but Ibn
ʿAsākir’s Forty Hadiths must have stimulated and incited their preaching of
jihad and the way that they presented it as a binding duty on the local Sunni
population in Damascus and Syria at large.
Moreover, it is noteworthy that the colophons and dates of teaching
sessions 3 and 4–9 of the Forty Hadiths, held in 1221 and 1227–1230 at di󰀇ferent
important locations in Damascus, coincide with the Fifth Crusade and the
Crusade of Frederick II, respectively.42 These teaching sessions demonstrate
that Ibn ʿAsākir’s Forty Hadiths was not taught simply for the purpose of
scholarly curiosity; rather, it was instrumental for the preaching of jihad
as a direct response to renewed Crusader challenges well into the Ayyubid
period when the local Sunni political and religious establishments were
eager to rally the Damascene Sunni population time and again to 󰀈椀ght new

42 For an overview of the Fifth Crusade and the Crusade of Frederick II, see Madden, New

Concise History of the Crusades, 155–164; and Jonathan Riley-Smith, The Crusades: A Short
History (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2005), 145–151.
96 chapter six

waves of Crusaders. Moreover, those who occupied the chair of Hadith at

Nūr al-Dīn’s House of Hadith took a very active role in the dissemination of
jihad ideology, especially with respect to the teaching of Ibn ʿAsākir’s Forty
Hadiths; consequently, one can see the direct link between the position and
jihad propaganda in Damascus.
Teaching sessions 4–6, held in February and March 1227, are especially
instructive since Frederick’s army did not arrive until October 1227 (Fred-
erick himself did not arrive at the port of Acre until September 1228). One
could surmise that since these teaching sessions preceded the Crusade of
Frederick II, they could not be a response to it. But this is not the case;
the Damascenes were very well aware of the pending arrival of the Crusade
of Frederick II, and, more importantly, they knew about it from Freder-
ick himself. For well before he even left Europe, the emperor had sent an
envoy to al-Muʿaẓẓam (d. 1227) to learn what the Ayyubid ruler of Dam-
ascus might o󰀇fer should he change his plans and not attack Damascus.
Al-Muʿaẓẓam contemptuously dismissed Frederick’s overture, and informed
the emperor’s envoy: “Tell your master I am not like the rest; the only thing
I have for him is the sword.”43

One might assume that al-Muʿaẓẓam could count on the help of his brother,
al-Kāmil (d. 1238), the Ayyubid sultan in Egypt. But such fraternal assistance
was not in the cards, since it was al-Kāmil who had sent an envoy to Fred-
erick in 1226 with the o󰀇fer to cede Jerusalem to him in exchange for his
attacking al-Muʿaẓẓam instead of Egypt. Essentially, when Frederick sent his
ambassador to al-Muʿaẓẓam in 1227, it was to ascertain whether he could
get a better deal than the one o󰀇fered by al-Kāmil. Since all of these develop-
ments occurred while Frederick was still in Europe, what we are dealing with
here is a complex interconnected political reality: a power struggle among
the Ayyubid princes in Egypt and Syria, and its subsequent impact on the
Ayyubids’ relationship with the Crusaders and by extension on jihad propa-
ganda in Syria.44
However, al-Muʿaẓẓam’s contemptuous reply to the envoy of Frederick II
may have been nothing more than posturing. One very important contem-
porary source records a backroom deal not reported in other Muslim chron-
icles. According to al-Muʿaẓẓam’s close advisor and chief jihad propagan-
dist, Sibṭ ibn al-Jawzī (d. 1257), before al-Kāmil and Frederick negotiated the

43 Sibṭ Ibn al-Jawzī, Mirʾāt al-zamān, 8:643; and al-Dhahabī, Taʾrīkh al-islām, 45:23–24.
44 On the negotiation between Frederick II, al-Kāmil, and al-Muʿaẓẓam, see Madden, New
Concise History of the Crusades, 157–158.
 ibn ʿasākir’s forty hadiths and the sunni jihad ideology 97

terms of the surrender of Jerusalem, “al-Muʿaẓẓam concluded a treaty with

the emperor giving the latter the area between the Jordan River and the sea,
and the villages between Jerusalem and Ja󰀇fa.”45 In other words, if Sibṭ Ibn
al-Jawzī’s report is accurate, al-Kāmil may have agreed to unfavorable terms
precisely because al-Muʿaẓẓam had previously made a treaty with Frederick.
It goes without saying that the relationship among the Ayyubid agnates
was quite dismal. Indeed, Saladin’s Ayyubid confederation had started to
crumble as soon as he died and his sons and generals split the empire among
themselves. The Ayyubid center of gravity was in Cairo where the sultan
resided; the major cities of Syria and Mesopotamia (al-Jazīra) were divided
among various Ayyubid and Seljuk princes.46 At the time of the Fifth Crusade
and the Crusade of Frederick II, which overlap with teaching sessions 3
and 4–9, the two brothers were locked in a bitter contest for control of the
Ayyubid confederation: al-Muʿaẓẓam planned to seize the o󰀇󰀈椀ce of sultan
for himself, and al-Kāmil, certain of these plans, worked to undermine his
brother’s position.47
Al-Muʿaẓẓam worried as much about his brother’s designs as he feared
the looming threat of Frederick. And the Sunni religious establishment in
Damascus had long been ready to lend him a hand with jihad propaganda.
For instance, when he was besieging the southern coastal city of Caesarea
during the Fifth Crusade in 1219, al-Muʿaẓẓam sent a letter to Sibṭ Ibn al-
Jawzī commanding the celebrated Ḥanafī jurist to rally the Damascene Sun-
nis to jihad (taḥrīḍ al-nās ʿalā al-jihād). Sibṭ Ibn al-Jawzī indeed read the
letter in the Umayyad Mosque and followed it with a 󰀈椀ery jihad sermon,
but his e󰀇forts failed to generate the anticipated result.48 Teaching sessions
3 and 4–6, therefore, can be viewed not only as part of al-Muʿaẓẓam’s city
wide campaign to preach jihad in the context of the Fifth Crusade and the
Crusade of Frederick II, but also to rally the Damascenes against his brother
al-Kāmil.
Since al-Muʿaẓẓam took ill with dysentery and died suddenly in Novem-
ber 1227, teaching sessions 7–8 re󰀆lfect the continuing e󰀇forts of his successor:

45 Sibṭ Ibn al-Jawzī, Mirʾāt al-zamān, 8:654. Even though al-Kāmil was the sultan of the

Ayyubid dynasty, Palestine was under the jurisdiction of al-Muʿaẓẓam.

46 For a detailed study of the Ayyubid period in Syria, see Humphreys, From Saladin to the

Mongols.
47 Since al-Muʿaẓẓam took ill with dysentery and died suddenly in November 1227, teach-

ing sessions 7–9 re󰀆lfect the continuing e󰀇forts of his successors. On the relationship between
al-Kāmil and his brother al-Muʿaẓẓam, see Humphreys, From Saladin to the Mongols, 155–192.
48 Sibṭ Ibn al-Jawzī, Mirʾāt al-zamān, 8:604; and al-Dhahabī, Taʾrīkh al-islām, 44:31. See also

Humphreys, From Saladin to the Mongols, 165.

98 chapter six

his son al-Nāṣir Dāwūd (d. 1258). This also explains why so many notable
religious scholars in Damascus were eager to preside over or attend these
teaching sessions of Ibn ʿAsākir’s Forty Hadiths, the most notable of which
is teaching session 8 attended by twenty-nine individuals over the course
of two meetings in April 1229, one month after al-Kāmil had allowed Fred-
erick II to enter Jerusalem.49 Since both sessions were held in the spacious
Umayyad Mosque, one should add to the twenty-nine individuals named
in colophon 8 many lower-status Damascenes, temporary residents, visi-
tors from neighboring towns and cities, etc., who were present to hear the
preaching of jihad from the famous Forty Hadiths for Inciting Jihad that had
been authored by Damascus’ most noteworthy Hadith scholar—Ibn ʿAsākir.
The scholars and others who attended the seven teaching sessions held in
response to the Fifth Crusade and the Crusade of Frederick II clearly wanted
to be seen in a favorable light by the Ayyubid rulers of Damascus, who ral-
lied the scholarly community to preach jihad in the hope of stimulating the
masses to take up the banner of jihad.
But there is more to teachings sessions 7–8 than mere anger in reaction to
al-Kāmil’s handing over Jerusalem to Frederick. For these sessions coincide
with a period when al-Nāṣir Dāwūd was desperately 󰀈椀ghting for his political
survival in Damascus. Al-Kāmil and his other brother al-Ashraf had con-
cluded an agreement to swap territories: al-Kāmil would get al-Jazīra from
al-Ashraf in return for helping his sibling get Damascus from their nephew
al-Nāṣir Dāwūd. Seeing that his estate would be reduced to utter insigni󰀈椀-
cance, al-Nāṣir Dāwūd readied himself for a 󰀈椀ght. It is no surprise then to see
that he was eager to rally the Damascene Sunni religious scholars and pop-
ulace against his uncles. In addition to the preaching of Ibn ʿAsākir’s Forty
Hadiths, Sibṭ Ibn al-Jawzī relates that al-Nāṣir Dāwūd ordered him to preach
on the merits (faḍāʾil) of Jerusalem.
Al-Nāṣir Dāwūd instructed me that I should sit in the Mosque of Damascus
and deliver a sermon on what befell Jerusalem. I could not reject his order,
knowing that since good faith requires defending Islam I had to honor his
request. I sat in the Mosque of Damascus and al-Nāṣir Dāwūd came and sat by
the door of ʿAlī’s mausoleum. It was a momentous day; not a single Damascene
failed to attend.50

49 On the Treaty of Ja󰀇fa and Fredrick II’s brief sojourn in the Holy Land and Jerusalem,

see: Madden, New Concise History of the Crusades, 159–164; Riley-Smith, The Crusades: A Short
History, 145–151; Humphreys, From Saladin to the Mongols, 202–204; and Hillenbrand, The
Crusades: Islamic Perspectives, 216–222.
50 Sibṭ Ibn al-Jawzī, Mirʾāt al-zamān, 8:654.
 ibn ʿasākir’s forty hadiths and the sunni jihad ideology 99

Obviously, al-Nāṣir Dāwūd was not simply interested in the religious mer-
its of Jerusalem (a minor 󰀈椀eld of religious scholarship),51 or for that matter
merely to rally the Muslims to liberate the holy city. Rather, his presence at
the Umayyad Mosque of Damascus as Sibṭ Ibn al-Jawzī preached on the mer-
its of Jerusalem was a clear attempt to showcase for the Damascene Sunni
religious establishment his uncle al-Kāmil’s per󰀈椀dious actions toward Islam
and the Muslims in handing over Jerusalem to Frederick. In part, because
the liberation of Jerusalem had been the center-piece of Nūr al-Dīn and Sal-
adin’s jihad against the Crusaders, this cunning move by al-Nāṣir Dāwūd
was met with an emotional and tearful reception in Damascus. But unfor-
tunately for al-Nāṣir Dāwūd, he did not have the 󰀈椀nancial or military means
to resist his uncles’ machinations. Having left his treasury in the care of
his uncle al-Ashraf, he was forced to capitulate in June 1229, and settle for
an appointment as emir of Karak (in Transjordan) and its area.52 Teaching
session 9 was held at Nūr al-Dīn’s House of Hadith in February 1230 after
al-Ashraf had consolidated his control over Damascus.
As this analysis shows, teaching sessions 7 and 8 were directly related to
the bitter internecine intrigues among the Ayyubid rulers and less so with
immanent Crusader threats. The preaching of jihad in Damascus was now
conducted as a tool in intra-Muslim (intra-Sunni) and intra-family rivalry.

51 On the Faḍāʾil of Jerusalem, see Mourad, “Symbolism of Jerusalem.”

52 Later in his career, al-Nāṣir Dāwūd had a momentous accomplishment when he con-
quered Jerusalem in December 1239. On him, see Joseph Drory, “Al-Nāṣir Dāwūd: A Much
Frustrated Ayyūbid Prince,” Al-Masāq 15:2 (2003): 161–187.
 100

Medieval Damascus
Author: J.G. Murray
Town of Bayt Lihya
: "
Nur al-Din
Bab al-Faradis Cemetary

Note: Teaching Session 11

E House of ‘Abd Allah ibn Ahmad Ibn al-Muhibb
^ Damascus, Location Unknown.

Bab al-Salam Bab Tuma

! !

Umayyad Mosque Bab al-Faradis

!
© Nasser Rabbat "
Used by permission. Ruqayya (great-granddaughter of Muhammad)
Bab al-Faraj
!
E Teaching Sessions: 2, 3, 5, 7, 8 Citadel # "# #
^ Zawiya of Nasr al-Maqdisi 6 ¬
«
Town of Mizza # Umayyad
¬
«1 # Mosque Area
!
Bab Sharqi
Sufi Cemetery

"
chapter six

Ibn Taymiya

! Bab Kaysan !
Bab al-Jabiya

Ibn 'Urwa Bab al-Saghir

Zahiriya School
School of Hadith !
and Library 10
¬
#
«
Kallasa School
" Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziya "
# #
Landmarks
Saladin Ibn ‘Asakir "
" ! Gate
Mu`awiya ibn Abu Sufyan Bab al-Saghir Cemetery
Umayyad # School
Mosque "
" Bilal al-Habashi (Companion of Muhammad) " Tomb
"
¬
«9# Sukayna (great-granddaughter of Muhammad)
1 Teaching Session
Nur al-Din's Fatima (great-granddaughter of Muhammad)
¬
«
House of Hadith
4
¬
«
#
Khatuniya School * Map Adapted from Meri, The Cult of Saints among Muslims and Jews in Medieval Syria

Map 3. Medieval Damascus and the Umayyad Mosque compound with study session locations indicated
ibn ʿasākir’s forty hadiths and the sunni jihad ideology 101

Fig. 1. The courtyard of the Umayyad Mosque

(© Lara G. Tohme; used by permission).

Fig. 2. The prayer hall of the Umayyad Mosque and Tomb of St.
John the Baptist (© Lara G. Tohme; used by permission).
102 chapter six

Fig. 3. The title page of the unique extant manuscript of Ibn ʿAsākir’s
Forty Hadiths for Inciting Jihad (Ẓāhirīya Ms., Damascus; used with
permission from Juma al-Majid Center for Culture and Heritage, Dubai).
 ibn ʿasākir’s forty hadiths and the sunni jihad ideology

Fig. 4. The last folio of the text showing some of the colophons (Ẓāhirīya Ms., Damascus;
103

used with permission from Juma al-Majid Center for Culture and Heritage, Dubai).
 chapter seven

THE LEGACY OF THE INTENSIFICATION AND REORIENTATION

OF SUNNI JIHAD IDEOLOGY SINCE THE THIRTEENTH CENTURY

As noted in the preceding chapters, Ibn ʿAsākir’s Forty Hadiths and other
works of the period such as al-Sulamī’s Book of Jihad, al-Wāsiṭī’s Forty Hadiths
on Jihad and Jihad Fighters, and al-Ḥanafī’s poetry demonstrate that an
intensi󰀈椀cation and reorientation of jihad ideology had taken root in main-
stream Sunni religious discourse in response to the Christian conquests in
Spain, Sicily, and Syria as well as in reaction to the so-called Shiʿi century.
Since these and other Sunni scholars in Syria believed that the Christian
attacks of the tenth and eleventh centuries were only successful because
of the internal political divisions and religious weaknesses in the Muslim
lands, they advocated jihad against the enemies within who were respon-
sible for this deplorable state that had enabled the Christian successes. In
this respect, Ibn ʿAsākir and his contemporaries departed from the earlier
mainstream Sunni discourse on jihad, which discouraged its use against fel-
low Muslims and which was more focused on legal nuances than on simple
imitation of selected quranic verses and prophetic hadith.
Al-Sulamī argued that spiritual purity—rooted in sound religious beliefs
and practices—was an essential prerequisite for any hope of success in the
jihad of the battle󰀈椀eld. Later Sunni jihad propagandists, partly on their own
initiative but also with the backing of the political leadership, cemented
this intensi󰀈椀cation and reorientation by expanding the ideology of jihad to
include direct and indirect attacks against other Muslim groups, especially
Shiʿis. Their powerful jihad preaching incorporated the more restrictive
religious view that a proper Sunnism must reign supreme in the lands of
Islam in order to defeat the Christian invaders—whether Christian princes
in Spain, Normans in Sicily, or Crusaders in Syria. Therefore, any Muslim
sects that fell outside the boundaries of this proper Sunnism (Twelver Shiʿis,
Fatimids, Nizārī Ismāʿīlīs, Nuṣayrīs, Druzes, etc.) were considered enemies
within and had to be fought under the same righteous banner of jihad that
was to be conducted against the enemies without—the Christian invaders.
(As noted in Chapter Four, al-Qāḍī ʿIyāḍ of Morocco was eager to de󰀈椀ne
fellow Sunni Muslims as enemies within as well, but it is unclear that he
was motivated by anything other than mere opportunism.)
 the legacy of sunni jihad ideology 105

The political and religious circumstances of the cities and regions in

which these scholars lived certainly shaped their religious and ideological
convictions. At the same time, the rulers of Damascus, Aleppo, North Africa,
Spain, and elsewhere were equally culpable in this intensi󰀈椀cation and reori-
entation of jihad ideology for it is they who commissioned the production
and dissemination of much of this militant Sunni jihad propaganda for their
own political bene󰀈椀t. Yet, describing the peculiar historical circumstances
which spawned this material only takes us so far. While it certainly helps us
better understand the intensi󰀈椀cation and reorientation of Sunni jihad ideol-
ogy during the Crusader period, it does not explain how or why this ideology
remained normative in Sunni religious discourse long after the last Crusader
outpost in Syria fell in 1291.
It is our contention that the operative issue here is the emerging Sunni
consensus that religious renewal and reform were necessary to turn the tide
of Christian military success as well as to overcome the prior domination of
the Shiʿi century. As noted above, since Sunnism was built upon the founda-
tion of the frequent quranic admonition to ﴾obey God and His Messenger﴿
(Qurʾan 8:20, 45–46; 9:71),1 it was only logical for some Sunni scholars to
blame their current misfortunes on the Muslims’ failure to heed God’s com-
mands and the example of His Messenger. Consequently, as religious schol-
ars turned to the Qurʾan and the life of Muhammad for guidance on how
to respond e󰀇fectively to the crisis created by the successes of the Recon-
quista and Crusader invasion of Muslim lands, they consistently gravitated
to the militant quranic passages from the Medinan phase of Muhammad’s
career and hadiths that advocated jihad and warfare against unbelievers. As
this material was preached to receptive audiences in Syria and elsewhere,
many were convinced that their own salvation depended on their embrac-
ing Islam’s militant message as communicated in God’s word (Qurʾan) and
Muhammad’s example (Sunna, or Hadith), especially as the exemplar of
jihad and warfare against the enemies of right religion. These factors con-
tributed to the intensi󰀈椀cation and reorientation of jihad ideology as nor-
mative and its persistence in Sunni religious discourse even though some
Sunnis may not have favored it.
The Crusades and Reconquista contributed to a shift within mainstream
Sunni Islam that also impacted on perceptions of Islamic identity. As Sunni
religious scholars became less cautious and more assertive—even aggres-
sive—in declaring who was a proper Muslim and who was not, the duty of

1 On this common quranic phrase, see Chapter Four, note 30.

106 chapter seven

waging jihad against clearly de󰀈椀ned enemies within and without gained an
enduring legitimacy. In other words, an intensi󰀈椀ed jihad rhetoric became
normative in Sunni religious thought, and to some extent became the sine
qua non of the Islamic persona. That is, as the duty to wage jihad against
God’s enemies, however de󰀈椀ned, became an essential component in main-
stream Sunni discourse, it was easily invoked in any circumstance that could
be depicted as approximating—however tendentiously—to the types of
challenges that Muhammad faced in Medina, that the early community
faced during the Rashidun period, or that the Muslims faced during the Cru-
sades and Reconquista.
The defeat of the last Crusader outpost by al-Malik al-Ashraf Khalil’s
forces in 1291 did not mark the end of perceived or real external threats to
Sunnism. The Muslim rulers of Syria and Egypt had to factor potential Cru-
sader attacks into their foreign policy calculations down to the Mamluk con-
quest of Cyprus in 1426;2 the Byzantine frontier still in󰀆lfamed the jihadists’
imagination as it had since the seventh century; but the in󰀈椀del Mongol Il-
Khans to the east posed the most formidable military threat. Even after their
conversion to Islam in 1295, the Mongol Il-Khans were the Mamluks’ primary
foe in Syria and would remain so until the formal establishment of peace
between the Mamluks and Il-Khans in 1320.3 In addition, the internal threat
to Sunni supremacy posed by various Shiʿi sects continued to be a very real
concern, especially for many Sunni religious scholars.

2 The physical and intellectual threat of the Crusades is exhibited in the exchange

between Ibn Taymīya and the anonymous writer from Cyprus in 1310s: see David Thomas.
“Apologetic and Polemic in the Letter from Cyprus and Ibn Taymiyya’s Jawāb al-ṣaḥīḥ li-
man baddala dīn al-Masīḥ,” in Ibn Taymiyya and His Times, eds. Yossef Rapoport and Sha-
hab Ahmed (Karachi: Oxford University Press, 2010), 247–265; and idem, “Christian-Muslim
Misunderstanding in the Fourteenth Century: The Correspondence between Christians in
Cyprus and Muslims in Damascus,” in Towards a Cultural History of the Mamluk Era, eds. Mah-
mouad Haddad, Arnim Heinemann, John L. Meloy, and Souad Slim (Beirut: Orient Institut,
2010), 13–30. On the Frankish threat to Syria and Egypt after the expulsion of the Crusaders in
1291, see Peter Edbury, “The Latin East, 1291–1669,” in Oxford Illustrated History of the Crusades,
294–325; see also the survey in Norman Housley, “The Crusading Movement, 1274–1700,” in
Oxford Illustrated History of the Crusades, 260–293. On the Crusader sack of Alexandria in
1365, see Ibn al-ʿImād al-Ḥanbalī, Shadharāt al-dhahab fī akhbār man dhahab, 8 vols. (Beirut:
Dār al-Masīra, 1979), 6: 208.
3 R. Stephen Humphreys, “Ayyūbids, Mamlūks, and the Latin East in the Thirteenth

Century,” Mamlūk Studies Review, 3 (1998), 1–17. See also Amitai, Mongols and Mamluks.
 the legacy of sunni jihad ideology 107

1. Ibn Taymīya

The prominent Ḥanbalī jurist and theologian Ibn Taymīya (1263–1328) was
once asked his opinion about the legality of con󰀈椀scating Christian churches
in Cairo and elsewhere. In his response, which is preserved in his Kitāb
al-jihād (Book of Jihad; part of the massive collection of his legal opinions),
Ibn Taymīya digressed into a vituperative discussion of various Shiʿi sects
in which he declared that Nizārī Ismāʿīlīs (also known then as Assassins),4
Nuṣayrīs (also known as ʿAlawīs), and Druzes
are not Muslims [khārijīn ʿan sharīʿat al-islām] in the judgment of all the
sects of Islam, that is in the opinion of the scholars, rulers and public of
the Ḥanafīs, Mālikīs, Shā󰀈椀ʿīs, Ḥanbalīs, and others. Fighting them is there-
fore lawful [qitālahum kāna jāʾizan]. [The scholars] even speci󰀈椀ed that their
genealogy is false and that their ancestor was ʿUbayd Allāh ibn Maymūn al-
Qaddāḥ,5 who was not from the lineage of the Messenger of God. The scholars
also wrote about them many a compilation, such as the testimonies of Abū
al-Ḥasan al-Qudūrī, the imam of the Ḥanafīs;6 Abū Ḥāmid al-Isfarāyīnī, the
imam of the Shā󰀈椀ʿīs;7 judge Abū Yaʿlā, the imam of the Ḥanbalīs;8 and Abū
Muḥammad ibn Abī Zayd, the imam of the Mālikīs.9 Judge Abū Bakr ibn

4 Ibn Taymīya’s terminology is normative of that time. He uses the term Ismāʿīlī to mean

the Nizārīs, famously known at that time as al-Ḥashshāshūn, from which the European term
Assassin is derived.
5 Famous as al-Mahdī biʾllāh (r. 909–934), he was the founder and 󰀈椀rst caliph of the

Fatimid dynasty in North Africa (d. 934). The Ismāʿīlīs believe his genealogy goes back to the
prophet Muhammad: see Farhad Daftary, The Ismāʿīlīs: Their History and Doctrines, Second
Edition (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007), 126–128 and 507 (genealogy); Heinz
Halm, The Empire of the Mahdi: The Rise of the Fatimids, trans. Michael Bonner (Leiden: Brill,
1996), 141–159; and Paul E. Walker, Exploring an Empire: Fatimid History and its Sources (Lon-
don: I.B. Tauris, 2002), 17–39. See also al-Qāḍī Abū Ḥanīfa al-Unʿmān ibn Muḥammad, Iftitāh
al-daʿwa wa-ibtidāʾ al-dawla, ed. Wadad Kadi (Beirut: Dār al-Thaqāfa, 1970), 231–276; and
idem, Founding the Fatimid State: The Rise of an Early Islamic Empire. An Annotated English
Translation of al-Qāḍī al-Nuʿmān’s Iftitāḥ al-Daʿwa, trans. Hamid Haji (London: I.B. Tauris,
2006), 202–229.
6 Abū al-Ḥasan Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad al-Qudūrī (d. 1037) was a notable jurist who

became during his lifetime the leader of the Ḥanafīs in Iraq, which was the most prestigious
position in Ḥanafī circles: see al-Dhahabī, Taʾrīkh al-islām, 29:211–213.
7 Abū Ḥāmid Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad al-Isfarāyīnī (d. 1016) was the most notable Shā󰀈椀ʿī

jurist of Baghdad, and left a great legacy especially in Iraq, Khurāsān, and Syria: see al-
Dhahabī, Taʾrīkh al-islām, 28:135–137.
8 Abū Yaʿlā Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad Ibn al-Farrāʾ (d. 1165) was a highly regarded

Ḥanbalī jurist from Baghdad, who was also highly esteemed by Ḥanbalīs elsewhere: see
al-Dhahabī, Taʾrīkh al-islām, 38:313–314.
9 Abū Muḥammad ʿAbd Allāh ibn Abī Zayd (d. 999) was an extremely in󰀆lfuential Mālikī

jurist in Qayrawān (now in Tunisia) and North Africa, who was nicknamed the small Mālik
108 chapter seven

al-Ṭayyib authored a book about the secretive Qarāmiṭīs and named it Expos-
ing the Secrets and Unveiling the Hidden.10 Those of them—the Ismāʿīlīs [Nīzā-
rīs], Nuṣayrīs, Druzes, and others like them—who live in Muslim lands have
aided the Mongols in their war against the Muslims. Indeed, Hülegü’s vizier,
al-Nuṣayr [Naṣīr al-Dīn] al-Ṭūsī,11 was one of their imams. Those are the most
notorious enemies of Muslims and Muslim rulers.
The Rā󰀈椀ḍīs [al-Rā󰀇椀ḍa] come next, for they ally themselves with whoever
󰀈椀ghts the Sunnis.12 They allied with the Mongols and with the Christians.
Indeed, there was in the coastal areas a truce between the Rā󰀈椀ḍīs and the
Franks. The Rā󰀈椀ḍīs would ship to Cyprus Muslim horses and armor, as well
as captive soldiers of the sultan and other 󰀈椀ghters and young warriors. When
the Muslims defeat the Mongols, they mourn and are saddened, but when
the Mongols defeat the Muslims, they celebrate and rejoice. They are the
ones who advised the Mongols to kill the [Abbasid] caliph and massacre
the people of Baghdad [1258]. Indeed, it was the Rā󰀈椀ḍī vizier of Baghdad
Ibn al-ʿAlqamī13 who, through deception and trickery, conspired against the
Muslims and corresponded with the Mongols to incite them to conquer Iraq,
and instructed people not to 󰀈椀ght them.
Those knowledgeable about Islam know that the Rā󰀈椀ḍīs favor the enemies
of religion.14 When they [the Fatimids] were the rulers of Cairo, they had
once a Jewish vizier,15 and another time an Armenian Christian vizier.16 The

(to compare him to the founder of this Sunni madhhab, Mālik ibn Anas) for his expertise and
fame: see al-Dhahabī, Taʾrīkh al-islām, 27:183–184.
10 Abū Bakr Muḥammad ibn al-Ṭayyib Ibn al-Bāqillānī (d. 1013) was a celebrated jurist

and theologian in Baghdad, and was nicknamed “sword of Sunnism” (sayf al-sunna) for the
signi󰀈椀cance of the many refutations and admonitions that he authored and preached against
the enemies of traditional Sunnism (i.e., several Shiʿi sects and the Muʿtazila theological
school): see al-Dhahabī, Taʾrīkh al-islām, 28:88–90.
11 Naṣīr al-Dīn al-Ṭūsī (d. 1274) was a tremendously in󰀆lfuential Shiʿi philosopher, math-

ematician and astronomer who became a close advisor to Hülegü and was rewarded with a
generous appointment as head of the famous Marāgha observatory: see Encyclopedia of Islam,
New Edition (Leiden: Brill, 1954–2003), 10:746–747; and al-Ṭūsī’s own autobiography Contem-
plation and Action: the Spiritual Autobiography of a Muslim Scholar, ed. and trans. Seyyed
H. Badakhchani (London: I.B. Taurus, 1998).
12 A standard epithet to describe Shiʿis in general.
13 Muʾayyid al-Dīn Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad Ibn al-ʿAlqamī (d. 1259) was the Shiʿi

vizier of the last Sunni ʿAbbasid Caliph al-Mustaʿṣam (r. 1242–1258) in Baghdad. For another
negative Sunni assessment of Ibn al-ʿAlqamī where he is described as “the pig” (al-khinzīr),
see al-Dhahabī, Taʾrīkh al-islām, 48:290–292.
14 Here he is using al-Rā󰀇椀ḍa to refer speci󰀈椀cally to the Fatimids.
15 This is a reference to Ibn Killis (d. 991), who was vizier under the Fatimid caliph al-ʿAzīz

biʾllāh (r. 975–996). A convert from Judaism, Ibn Killis had a major role in the promotion of
Ismāʿīlī scholarship: see Daftary, The Ismāʿīlīs, 176–178.
16 This must be a reference to Bahrām (d. 1140), the Armenian Christian general who,

during the reign of the Fatimid caliph al-Ḥā󰀈椀ẓ (r. 1130–1149), held the powerful o󰀇󰀈椀ce of “vizier
 the legacy of sunni jihad ideology 109

Christians became in󰀆lfuential as a result of that Armenian Christian, and built

numerous churches in Egypt during the reign of those hypocrite Rā󰀈椀ḍīs. They
[the Christians] would even dare to declare in the heart of Cairo that who-
ever curses or blasphemes [against Islam] is rewarded with a dinar and a
measure of grain. Also in their days, the Christians conquered the coastal
region of Syria from the Muslims, until it was reconquered by Nūr al-Dīn and
Saladin. In their days too, the Crusaders attacked Bilbis and defeated them.
They are hypocrites [munā󰀇椀qūn], and the Christians are their advocates. God
does not support the hypocrites who befriend the Christians. They petitioned
Nūr al-Din to send them help, so he sent to them Asad al-Dīn [Shīrkūh]
and his nephew Saladin. When the conquering jihad 󰀈椀ghters [al-ghuzāt al-
mujāhidūn] reached Egypt, the Rā󰀈椀ḍīs rose with the Christians to 󰀈椀ght the
Muslim jihad-seekers, and then events unfolded, which people know, until
Saladin killed their military leader Shāwar. Then Islam and Sunnism reigned
supreme, and the hadiths of the Messenger of God were read again in pub-
lic, such as the collections of al-Bukhārī, Muslim, and similar ones. Also, the
traditions of the four imams were reestablished, and people would bless the
rightly guided caliphs. Before then, they [the Egyptians] were the most evil of
people. Among them were groups who worshipped the planets and practiced
astrology, and unbelievers who worshiped time and believed neither in the
hereafter, heaven or hell, nor in the exigency of praying, paying alms, fasting,
and making the pilgrimage. Best among them were the Rā󰀈椀ḍīs, who are the
worst people among those who follow the direction of prayer [sharr al-ṭawāʾif
al-muntasibīn ilā al-qibla].17
When Ibn Taymīya refers to Muslims he means Sunnis—those who, in his
opinion, follow the true and proper Islam.18 In the 󰀈椀rst paragraph of the
above fatwa, Shiʿis such as Nizārī Ismāʿīlīs, Nuṣayrīs, and Druzes earned
Ibn Taymīya’s approbation for their errant beliefs and their false claims

of the sword” (1135–1137) and was honored with the title “sword of Islam” (sayf al-islām) even
though he never converted: Daftary, The Ismāʿīlīs, 212. It could also be a reference to the
in󰀆lfuential vizier Badr al-Jamālī (d. 1094), who was also originally Armenian but converted to
Islam and served the Fatimid caliph al-Mustanṣir biʾllāh (r. 1036–1094): see Daftary, Ismāʿīlīs,
194–195. Badr al-Jamālī, who was succeeded by his son, transformed the o󰀇󰀈椀ce of vizier
to become in control of all key facets of rule, thus turning the Fatimid caliphs to mere
󰀈椀gureheads: see Daftary, The Ismāʿīlīs, 211–212. The policies of Badr al-Jamālī and Bahrām
encouraged large numbers of Armenians to immigrate to Fatimid Egypt: see Marius Canard,
“Notes sur les Arméniens en Égypte à l’ époque Faṭimite,” Annales de l’Institut d’Études
Orientales 13 (1955):143–157; and Seta Dadoyan, The Fatimid Armenians (Leiden: Brill, 1997),
106–178.
17 Ibn Taymīya, Majmūʿ al-fatāwā, 22 vols. (36 pts.), ed. Muṣṭafā ʿAṭā (Beirut: Dār al-Kutub

al-ʿIlmīya, 2000), 16 (pt. 28): 279–280.

18 The chapter on Ibn Taymīya and Jihad in Peters’s Jihad does not seriously engage Ibn

Taymīya’s call for jihad against errant Muslims, nor does it specify what Ibn Taymīya means
by Muslims: see Peters, Jihad, 43–54.
110 chapter seven

of kinship with Muhammad—both of which were part of standard Sunni

anti-Shiʿi polemics. However, what irked him most was their traitorous
aiding of “the Mongols in their war against the Muslims,” even to the point
that one of their imams, Naṣīr al-Dīn al-Ṭūsī, served as Hülegü’s vizier. Ibn
Taymīya unambiguously proclaims his militant sentiments against these
Shiʿi sects in his Qitāl ahl al-baghī (Fighting the People of Falsehood):
There is no doubt that waging jihad against these people and imposing on
them the legal punishments are the utmost forms of obedience and ful󰀈椀ll-
ment of religious obligation.19
One gets the impression, that Ibn Taymīya used his condemnation of Nizārī
Ismāʿīlī, Nuṣayrī, and Druze per󰀈椀dy in his fatwa merely to get warmed
up for the real target of his contempt—the Rā󰀈椀ḍīs—because they “ally
themselves with whoever 󰀈椀ghts the Sunnis,” including the Mongols and the
Christians. Ibn Taymīya uses the term al-Rā󰀇椀ḍa similarly to how Niẓām
al-Mulk uses it in his Book of Government.20 At times he uses it to refer to
Shiʿis in general; e.g., his condemnation of the “Rā󰀈椀ḍī vizier of Baghdad
Ibn al-ʿAlqamī who, through deception and trickery, conspired against the
Muslims and corresponded with the Mongols to incite them to conquer Iraq,
and instructed people not to 󰀈椀ght them.” Other times he uses it to refer to
the Shiʿi Fatimid caliphs, who ruled Egypt and parts of Syria and the Hijaz
from 969 until 1171.
Ibn Taymīya’s criticisms of the Fatimids paint them in especially dark
terms. Not only were they Rā󰀈椀ḍīs, they violated Shariʿa and turned the
natural order of things on its head by having a Jewish and a Christian vizier
in authority over Muslims, allowing the construction of churches, and even
allowing Jews and Christians to defame Islam. Thankfully, in Ibn Taymīya’s
opinion, they petitioned Nūr al-Dīn for assistance, which ultimately led to
their demise at the hands of the righteous jihad 󰀈椀ghters, Shīrkūh and his
nephew Saladin, and the restoration of proper Sunnism to Egypt. That he
concludes his comments about the Rā󰀈椀ḍī Fatimids by referring to them
as “the most evil among those who follow the direction of prayer” seems
to indicate that Ibn Taymīya did in fact tolerate the Fatimids’ claim to be
Muslims, but only as Muslims of the worst sort. Moreover, his reference to
the Fatimids as hypocrites reminds us of Hadith 40 in Ibn ʿAsākir’s Forty

19 Ibn Taymīya, Majmūʿ al-fatāwā, 19 (pt. 35):77.

20 See Chapter Two, pp. 29–30. For Ibn Taymīya’s explicit and detailed refutation and
condemnation of Twelver Shiʿis see his Minhāj al-sunna al-nabawīya fī naqd kalām al-shīʿa
al-qadarīya (Riyad: Jāmiʿat al-Imām Muḥammad ibn Saʿūd al-ʿIlmīya, 1986).
 the legacy of sunni jihad ideology 111

Hadiths, discussed in Chapter Five, where the hypocrite has no hope of

salvation even if he wages jihad against God’s enemies and is killed in the
process.
Ibn Taymīya concedes that Sunni Muslim jurists before him rarely justi-
󰀈椀ed killing or waging jihad against fellow Muslims on the basis of dogmatic
or political di󰀇ference; he argues simply that they were wrong not to do so.21
Since Ibn Taymīya was such a notable representative of mainstream Sunni
Islam in his day and after, despite the condemnation that he received dur-
ing his life and posthumously especially from Shā󰀈椀ʿī scholars in Syria and
Egypt,22 one is tempted to ask whether his passionate call to wage jihad
against errant Muslims was unprecedented in Sunni scholarship or whether
his argument represents a new development in jihad doctrine. As should be
evident from our discussion in Chapters Three and Four, Ibn Taymīya bears
no responsibility for initiating this development, for the intensi󰀈椀cation and
reorientation of Sunni jihad ideology was well under way by the time he
arrived on the scene. Members of the mainstream Sunni political and reli-
gious establishment in Syria, most notably Ibn ʿAsākir, had advocated the
reinvigoration of jihad ideology in the wake of the First and Second Cru-
sades (a century and a half before Ibn Taymīya embarked on his scholarly
career) in order to unify the Sunni Muslims of Syria and to 󰀈椀ght the external
and internal enemies of God and Islam—the in󰀈椀del Christian invaders and
the heretical Shiʿis, respectively.
We are not arguing that Ibn Taymīya did not contribute signi󰀈椀cantly
to the intensi󰀈椀cation of Sunni jihad ideology. Rather, we emphasize that
since Ibn Taymīya was born in the mid-thirteenth century, he was raised
in a political and religious milieu that was already deeply saturated with
a reanimated jihad doctrine and extensive jihad propaganda. During Ibn
Taymīya’s lifetime very few people could have had any signi󰀈椀cant personal
experience of the Fatimid caliphate. After all, it had been overthrown by
Saladin in 1171, nearly ninety years before Ibn Taymīya was born. Saladin’s
successors, the Sunni Ayyubid sultans—for whom the ideology of jihad was
a principal claim to legitimacy—were deposed a decade or so prior to Ibn

21 Ibn Taymīya, Majmūʿ al-fatāwā, 16 (pt. 28):217.

22 On Ibn Taymīya’s complicated legacy in Sunnism, see Khaled El-Rouayheb, “From Ibn
Ḥajar al-Haytamī (d. 1566) to Khayr al-Dīn al-Ālūsī (d. 1899): Changing Views of Ibn Taymiyya
among non-Ḥanbalī Sunni Scholars,” in Ibn Taymiyya and His Times, eds. Yossef Rapoport and
Shahab Ahmed (Karachi: Oxford University Press, 2010), 269–318. Classical Sunni scholars
who condemned Ibn Taymīya did so in reaction to his Ḥanbalī theology, especially his
defence of tahsbīh (emphatic anthropomorphism), but never his jihad advocacy.
112 chapter seven

Taymīya’s birth by the even more militant Sunni Mamluk sultans whom he
periodically served.
Ibn Taymīya’s arguments and rhetoric echo—very aggressively to be
sure—normative beliefs in his day that re󰀆lfected what many among the
Sunni religious establishment believed to be the true teachings of God in his
revelation (the Qurʾan) and those of his prophet Muhammad. Ibn Taymīya’s
passionate advocacy of jihad doctrine simply reinforced the long-standing
view that the enemies of Islam included the Crusaders (the enemy with-
out) in addition to Shiʿis, the recently and insu󰀇󰀈椀ciently Islamized Mongol
Il-Khans, and other errant Muslims (the enemy within). It should be noted
that not only was Ibn Taymīya the premier jihad advocate of his day, his
anti-Shiʿi animus led him to participate in the 1305 jihad campaign of the
governor of Damascus against the Shiʿis of the coastal region and mountain
range of modern day Lebanon.23
Denise Aigle argues that Ibn Taymīya’s fatwa is in part a response to and
call for jihad against the Il-Khans in the wake of Öljeitü’s conversion from
Sunnism to Shiʿism in 1309, and his moves to gain control over the Hijaz
where the two holiest sites of Islam (Mecca and Medina) are located. If
Aigle’s dating of this fatwa is correct, Ibn Taymīya’s detailed diatribe against
the long-since deposed Fatimids (1171) takes on additional meaning; for if
Öljeitü were to succeed, it would represent a return to the unacceptable—
even contemptible—status quo that had obtained under the Fatimids.24
The question remains: can we make a clear connection between Ibn
ʿAsākir’s Forty Hadiths and Ibn Taymīya’s own jihad advocacy? Based on
the colophons discussed on Chapter Six, it is clear that ten of the eleven
teaching sessions of the Birzālī manuscript occurred prior to Ibn Taymīya’s
birth in 1263. Nor does his name appear on the list of attendees at the lone
teaching session held during Ibn Taymīya’s lifetime—the eleventh and 󰀈椀nal
teaching session held on Wednesday 8 Rabīʿ I 1718/10 May 1318 in the house

23 See for instance, Ṣāliḥ ibn Yaḥyā, Tārīkh Bayrūt, eds. Francis Hours and Kamal Salibi

(Beirut: Dar al-Machreq, 1969), 27; Kamal Salibi, Muntalak Tārikh Lubnān (New York: Cara-
van, 1979), 134–135; and Henri Laoust, “Remarques sur les expéditions de Kisrawan sous les
premiers mamelouks,” Bulletin du Musée de Beyrouth 4 (1942): 101–103. See also Ibn Taymīya’s
letter to the Mamluk sultan al-Mālik al-Nāṣir in 1300 celebrating the victory of the campaign
against the Druzes and Rā󰀈椀dīs, in which Ibn Taymīya repeats sentiments against them similar
to the ones discussed earlier: Ibn Taymīya, Majmūʿ al-fatāwā, 16 (pt. 28): 179–184.
24 Denise Aigle, “The Mongol Invasions of Bilād al-Shām by Ghāzān Khān and Ibn Tay-

mīyah’s Three ‘Anti-Mongol’ Fatwas,” Mamlūk Studies Review 11.2 (2007): 89–120. See also
Thomas Ra󰀇f, Remarks on an Anti-Mongol Fatwā by Ibn Taymiyya (Leiden: Brill, 1973).
 the legacy of sunni jihad ideology 113

of ʿAbd Allāh ibn Aḥmad Ibn al-Muḥibb (d. 1336).25 Further investigation
is required to determine whether Ibn Taymīya was acquainted with any
of the attendees or if he notes in any of his own writings that he in fact
was aware of Ibn ʿAsākir’s Forty Hadiths. Nevertheless, it is our contention
that the apparent lack of textual evidence for Ibn Taymīya crediting Ibn
ʿAsākir with any role in his own intellectual formation with respect to jihad
advocacy may in part be attributed to the long-standing Shā󰀈椀ʿī-Ḥanbalī
animosities and tensions in Damascus and the fact that Ibn ʿAsākir was an
ardent Shā󰀈椀ʿī and Ashʿarī;26 whereas Ibn Taymīya was an ardent Ḥanbalī
whose alleged anthropomorphic views put him at odds with his Ashʿarī
opponents—landing him in a Damascus prison for a year in 1306.
In any case, it is safe to assume that since Ibn Taymīya was a native of
Ḥarrān who spent most of his active career in Damascus, he could hardly
have been unaware of Ibn ʿAsākir’s monumental History of Damascus or the
vital role he played in the scholarly life of Damascus in the twelfth century.
Indeed, Ibn Taymīya was well aware of Ibn ʿAsākir’s History of Damascus
and other works.27 He was especially fond of Ibn ʿAsākir’s Tabyīn kadhib al-
muftarī (Exposing the Slanderer’s Mendacity) for the simple reason that Ibn
ʿAsākir praised in it the theological unity of early Sunnis (namely Ashʿarīs
and Ḥanbalīs) against their adversaries; a unity that was shattered by the
schism between the Ashʿarīs and Ḥanbalīs in Baghdad in 1077.28 Moreover,
Ibn Taymīya could not have been unaware of Nūr al-Dīn’s political and schol-
arly alliance with Ibn ʿAsākir and his important role in Nūr al-Dīn’s pro-
motion of Islam against its external enemies, the Christian Crusaders, and
his promotion of Sunnism against its internal enemies, speci󰀈椀cally the Shiʿi
Fatimid regime in Egypt and their sympathizers in Syria—the focus of much
of his vitriol in the fatwa cited above.
Consequently, Ibn Taymīya’s reasons for apparently ignoring Ibn ʿAsākir’s
Forty Hadiths may parallel Ibn ʿAsākir’s reasons for ignoring al-Sulamī’s Book
of Jihad in his own work. Whereas Ibn ʿAsākir ignored al-Sulamī because of
his sense of intellectual superiority to the lowly grammarian who merely

25 On ʿAbd Allāh Ibn al-Muḥibb, see al-Dhahabī, Taʾrīkh al-islām, 53:326–327.

26 On Ibn ʿAsākir’s defense of the Sunni theologian al-Ashʿarī (d. 935) and his school, see
Chapter One, p. 11.
27 See Ibn Taymīya, Majmūʿ al-fatāwā, 19 (pt. 35): 161, and 9 (pt. 16): 192.
28 See Ibn Taymīya, Majmūʿ al-fatāwā, 2 (pt. 3): 128, and 2 (pt. 4): 12. On the schism, see Ibn

al-Jawzī, al-Muntaẓam fī taʾrīkh al-mulūk wa-l-umam, eds. Muḥammad ʿA.-A. ʿAṭā and Muṣṭafā
ʿA.-A. ʿAṭā (Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmīya, 1995), 16:181–183. On Ibn ʿAsākir’s Tabyīn kadhib
al-muftarī, see Chapter One, footnote 32.
114 chapter seven

preached at the Bayt Lihyā mosque on the outskirts of Damascus;29 Ibn

Taymīya’s apparent neglect of Ibn ʿAsākir’s Forty Hadiths may simply be the
case of a proud and learned Ḥanbalī scholar from Ḥarān ignoring the work
of his proud and learned Damascene predecessor precisely because he was
a Shā󰀈椀ʿī and an Ashʿarī.30 But it could also be due to the simple fact that Ibn
ʿAsākir’s Forty Hadiths is not one of the canonical Sunni Hadith collections.
By Ibn Taymīya’s day, the use of isnāds (chains of transmission) had been
discontinued in favor of citing directly the author of the canonical Hadith
collection where a given hadith is found, even though a scholar might have
󰀈椀rst learned about it from a source like Ibn ʿAsākir’s. It is worth noting that
both Ibn ʿAsākir and Ibn Taymīya found their 󰀈椀nal resting place outside the
walls of Damascus—Ibn ʿAsākir in the Bāb al-Ṣaghīr Cemetery; Ibn Taymīya
in the Ṣūfī Cemetery.31

2. The Early Modern Period

One cannot dismiss Ibn Taymīya’s vituperative condemnation of Shiʿis as

unrepresentative of mainstream Sunni religious thought or as hyperbolic
polemics intended to rouse Sunni Muslims to resist anticipated Crusader
attacks or the Il-Khan Öljeitü after he had converted from Sunnism to
Shiʿism in 1309; nor can one argue that his views had little impact on later
Sunni scholars, especially in the Middle East. Indeed, Ibn Taymīya’s fat-
was became so important to Sunni discourse that nearly every major Sunni
chief judge in Damascus and elsewhere in Syria and other parts of the Mus-
lim world in later centuries invoked them to justify and legitimize military
campaigns against the Druzes. For example, according to the eighteenth-
century Damascene chronicler Ibn Jumʿa al-Maqarrī (d. after 1743), Khur-
ram Pasha, the sixteenth-century Ottoman governor of Syria, asked that Ibn
Taymīya’s fatwa be reissued in mid-November 1523 because of its theolog-
ical and juridical relevance to his attempts to bring the Druzes in Mount
Lebanon to heel. Ibn Jumʿa reproduced Ibn Taymīya’s fatwa and the names
of eleven notable jurists and scholars who concurred with it:

29 On Ibn ʿAsākir’s attitude toward al-Sulamī, see Chapter Three, pp. 42–45.
30 Incidentally, when Ibn ʿAsākir died, the eminent Ḥanbalī jurist ʿAbd al-Ghanī al-Maq-
disī (d. 1204) expressed his regret for not having studied with him due to the animosity
between the Ashʿarīs and Ḥanbalīs, which lasted till Ibn Taymīya’s day and even centuries
after: see al-Dhahabī, Siyar, 20:568.
31 See map of Medieval Damascus on p. 100.
 the legacy of sunni jihad ideology 115

Thanks be to God, the Guide to the Truth. The unbelief of these people
[Druzes and Nuṣayrīs] is something over which the Muslims have no dis-
agreement. Indeed, whoever doubts this is himself an unbeliever. They do
not have the status of the People of the Book or the polytheists; indeed they
are more heretical than the Sabaeans, the Jews, and the Christians. They are
adulterers [zunāt], and their repentance [tawba] is not to be accepted. They
must be killed wherever they may be found,32 and cursed whenever they are
mentioned. Their scholars and elders must be killed so that they do not mis-
lead others. It is forbidden to sleep in their houses, walk alongside them in
the streets, and attend their funerals when a death occurs. Moreover, Muslim
rulers are forbidden to enforce on them the legal duties that God has com-
manded. Help is sought from Him, and reliance is on Him; He utters the Truth
and guides the way.33
Probably the most potent sentiment in Ibn Jumʿa’s quotation is the call for
Muslim governors in Syria not to enforce the laws of Islam on the Druzes, for
according to Shariʿa, the laws of Islam can only be enforced on Muslims and
legally protected, though inferior, dhimmīs (Jews, Christians, Zoroastrians,
etc.).34 Therefore, the only legitimate recourse against Druzes is jihad.35
According to Ibn Jumʿa, notable jurists who concurred with Ibn Taymīya
included Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī (d. 1448), the most celebrated Hadith scholar
and Shā󰀈椀ʿī jurist of his day in Mamluk Egypt, and Ibn Qāḍī ʿAjlūn (d. 1548),
the Shā󰀈椀ʿī chief judge of Damascus, who during the 󰀈椀nal years of Mam-
luk rule presided over the four schools of Sunni law in Damascus.36 Since
Khurram Pasha was already preparing to campaign against the Druzes when
he asked that the fatwa be reissued, his 󰀈椀rst major encounter with them
occurred only a few short days after his wish was granted.37 Ibn Taymīya’s

32 This is an obvious reference to Qurʾan 2:191 and 9:5, ﴾kill (fa-qtulū) the polytheists

wherever you 󰀈椀nd them﴿.

33 See Ibn Jumʿa, Kitāb al-bāshāt wa-l-quḍāt, in Wulāt Dimashq fī al-ʿahd al-ʿuthmānī, ed.

Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn al-Munajjid (Damascus: no publisher, 1949) 6–7.

34 See Yohanan Friedmann, Tolerance and Coercion in Islam: Interfaith Relations in the

Muslim Tradition (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2003), 54–86.

35 As noted in Chapter Two, similar sentiments can be found in Ziauddin Barani’s four-

teenth-century Fatawa-i Jahandari, which invokes the legacy of Maḥmūd of Ghazna in an

explicit call for jihad against Hindus in India: “Sons of Mahmud and kings of Islam! You should
with all your royal determination apply yourself to uprooting and disgracing in󰀈椀dels, poly-
theists, and men of bad dogmas and bad religions, if you wish that you may not have to be
ashamed before God and his Prophets and that in your record of life—concerning what you
have said and done, the clothes you have worn, and the food you have eaten—they may write
good instead of evil.” In Bostom, The Legacy of Jihad, 197; excerpted from Habib, The Political
Theory of the Delhi Sultanate, 46–47.
36 See the list of names in Ibn Jumʿa, Kitāb al-bāshāt wa-l-quḍāt, 7.
37 See Ibn Ṭūlūn, Iʿlām al-warā bi-man wulliya nāʾiban min al-atrāk bi-dimashq al-shām
116 chapter seven

fatwa was also embraced by the most in󰀆lfuential Ottoman jurist of the sev-
enteenth century, the Ḥanafī scholar Khayr al-Dīn al-Ramlī (d. 1671), whose
opinions were sought by Ottoman sultans and grand viziers, as well as local
governors in Syria, Palestine, and Egypt.38
A similar endorsement can be found in al-Muḥibbī’s (d. 1699) biography
of Fakhr al-Dīn Maʿn (d. 1635), the famous Druze amir who ruled Mount
Lebanon in the early seventeenth century, and who at one point ruled nearly
all of Syria save Damascus and a few other major inland cities. In his detailed
and extensive discussion of the Druzes and their heretical views, al-Muḥibbī
includes the names of seven prominent Sunni jurists who declared that the
Druzes, as well as the Nuṣayrīs and Ismāʿīlīs, were unbelievers. Although
al-Muḥibbī lifted his words from Ibn Taymīya’s fatwa, he presents them as if
they had been expressed independently by seven jurists, only one of whom
was Ibn Taymīya. It is important to note that al-Muḥibbī did not list these
seven scholars’ names simply because they were impressive and in󰀆lfuential
men; he also wanted to highlight the legal schools to which these powerful
jurists belonged in order to demonstrate that his opinion that Druzes were
heretics was normative among major scholars from all schools of Sunni
law—Mālikī, Shā󰀈椀ʿī, Ḥanafī, and Ḥanbalī.39 In due course, and much to the
Ottomans’ delight, Fakhr al-Dīn was tracked down, arrested, and ultimately
executed in Istanbul in 1635.40
That Ibn Taymīya’s fatwas were repeatedly invoked against Druzes and
Nuṣayrīs by later Sunni scholars, some of whom were the most in󰀆lfuen-
tial judges and legal scholars of their day, demonstrates convincingly that
the intensi󰀈椀ed and reoriented Sunni jihad against Shiʿis advocated in the
twelfth century by Ibn ʿAsākir and more than a century later by Ibn Taymīya
had become in every sense normative in Sunni Islam. There is no doubt
that scholars appealed to his authority in response to Ottoman governors
who were almost always acting on the Ottoman sultans’ orders to repress

al-kubrā, ed. Muḥammad A. Duhmān (Damascus: Wizārat al-Thaqāfa wa-l-Irshād al-Qawmī,

1964), 241–242. Ibn Ṭūlūn (d. 1546) repeats the same condemnation of the Druzes, and records
the celebratory mood of the Sunni religious circles and Damascene public when “three loads
of Druze heads” were brought to the city and that Druze books were burned.
38 See al-Ramlī, al-Fatāwā al-khayrīya, 2 vols. (Cairo: al-Maṭbaʿa al-Maymūna, 1893), 2:25.
39 Al-Muḥibbī, Khulāṣat al-athar fī aʿyān al-qarn al-ḥādī ʿashar (Beirut: Dār Ṣādir, no date),

3:268–269.
40 On Fakhr al-Dīn and the problematic relationship between the Ottomans and the

Druzes, see Abdul-Rahim Abu-Husayn, “The Long Rebellion: the Druzes and the Ottomans,
1516–1697,” Archivum Ottomanicum 19 (2001): 165–192.
 the legacy of sunni jihad ideology 117

local rebellious groups—speci󰀈椀cally the long 󰀈椀ght against the Druzes that
lasted nearly two centuries (1516–1697).41
Prior to the Ottoman conquest of Syria (1516) and Egypt (1517), and their
subsequent moves against the Druzes and Nuṣayrīs in Mount Lebanon and
Syria, the Ottomans faced a very real threat on their eastern 󰀆lfank—the
Safavid state (1501–1722) recently established under Shah Ismail. In addition
to a formidable military threat on the east, Shah Ismail and his Qizilbash
followers represented a religious and ideological threat as well, based on
the Safavids’ claims to semi-divine status and Shah Ismail’s imposition of
Twelver Shiʿism on his newly conquered lands. This Ottoman-Safavid con-
󰀆lfict continued down till the early eighteenth century when the Safavids
were overrun by a warlord regime from Afghanistan.42
One of the ways that the Ottomans legitimated their o󰀇fensives against
the Safavids was to develop a sophisticated propaganda that accused the
Safavids and their Qizilbash followers of in󰀈椀delity (kufr) and apostasy (irti-
dād). In a letter to Shah Tahmasb before the Nakhichevan campaign in
1553, sultan Süleyman I (r. 1520–1557) describes the Shah’s followers in the
following manner: “The in󰀈椀delity (kufr) and apostasy (irtidād) of the mis-
chief makers (ehli fesad) who follow and obey you is clearly known.”43 For
as Shiʿis they necessarily rejected the Ottomans’ Sunni Islam and cursed
the Rashidun caliphs whom the Sunnis viewed as beyond reproach. It was
the Ottoman Sultan who stood as the champion of Sunnism and bulwark
against the Shiʿi Safavid heretics to the East. Consequently, the celebrated
sixteenth-century Ottoman jurist Ebu s-Suʿud Efendi (c. 1490–1574), who for
twenty nine years, mostly under sultan Süleyman, occupied the most power-
ful post of Sheykh ul-Islam, could unabashedly declare the Ottoman-Safavid
con󰀆lficts to be legitimate jihad:

41 See Abu-Husayn, “The Long Rebellion.” See also idem, Provencial Leaderships in Syria

1575–1650 (Beirut: American University of Beirut, 1985); and idem, “The Unknown Career of
Ahmad Maʿn (1667–1697),” Archivum Ottomanicum 17 (1999): 241–247.
42 Roger Savory, Iran Under the Safavids (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1980);

and Andrew J. Newman, Safavid Iran: Rebirth of a Persian Empire (New York: I.B. Tauris, 2006).
43 See Mustafa Çelebi Celâlzade (d. 1567), Ṭabakāt ül-Memālik ve Derecāt ül-Mesālik, ed.

Petra Kappert (Wiesbaden: Franz Steiner, 1981), f. 459a. We thank Colin Imber for providing
us with a translation of this citation. See also Colin Imber, “The Persecution of the Ottoman
Shiites according to the Mühimme defterleri, 1565–1585,” Der Islam 56 (1979): 245–273; Nabil
al-Tikriti, “Kalam in the Service of the State: Apostasy and the De󰀈椀ning of Ottoman Islamic
Identity,” in Legitimizing the Order: Ottoman Rhetoric of State Power, eds. Hakan T. Karateke
and Maurus Reinkowski (Leiden: Brill, 2005), 131–149; and Markus Dressler, “Inventing Ortho-
doxy: Competing Claims for Authority and Legitimacy in the Ottoman-Safavid Con󰀆lfict,” in
Legitimizing the Order, 151–173.
118 chapter seven

(10) Is it licit according to the shariʿa to 󰀈椀ght the followers of the Safavids? Is the
person who kills them a holy warrior, and the person who dies at their
hands a martyr?
Answer: Yes, it is a great holy war and a glorious martyrdom.
Another question: Assuming that it is licit to 󰀈椀ght them, is this simply
because of the rebellion and enmity against the [Ottoman] Sultan of the
People of Islam, because they drew the sword against the troops of Islam,
or what?
Answer: They are both rebels and, from many points of view, in󰀈椀dels.44
While Ebu s-Suʿud considered the Safavids to be in󰀈椀dels, he quali󰀈椀ed their
in󰀈椀delity somewhat in his ruling on the treatment of women captured in
the wars against the Safavids, wherein he de󰀈椀nes these female prisoners as
apostates:
(13) According to a tradition related from Abu Hanifa, it is permissible to take
captive a female apostate before she reaches the realm of war. … Is it
permissible to act according to this tradition?
Answer: Yes.
If women are taken prisoner in accordance with this tradition, are their
services licit, and is intercourse with them licit according to the shariʿa?
Answer: All their services are licit, but they are apostates. Intercourse with
them is not licit until they accept Islam.45
Ebu s-Suʿud does not explicitly draw on the Ḥanbalī Ibn Taymīya or other
medieval jurists in these anti-Safavid fatwas; as the Ḥanafī Sheykh ul-Islam
and hence the highest religious authority in the Ottoman Empire he did not
need to, but the tenor of his rulings is certainly in keeping with the Ottoman
fatwas in Syria that incorporate Ibn Taymīya’s fatwas against Druzes and
Nuṣayrīs. In short, Persia under the Safavids was indeed the Abode of War,
for the Safavids were guilty of in󰀈椀delity (kufr) and apostasy (irtidād). Not
only was their blood licit, but it was obligatory on the People of Islam (that
is, the Sunnis) to wage jihad against them and subjugate them.46

44 Colin Imber, Ebu’s-Suʿud: The Islamic Legal Tradition (Stanford: Stanford University

Press, 1997), 86.

45 Imber, Ebu’s-Suʿud, 88.
46 See also Norman Itzkowitz, Ottoman Empire and Islamic Tradition (Chicago: The Uni-

versity of Chicago Press, 1972), 69.

 the legacy of sunni jihad ideology 119

3. Conclusion

As demonstrated herein, the Crusader conquests were one of the major

factors that contributed to the intensi󰀈椀cation and reorientation of Sunni
jihad ideology in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. After the Crusaders
had been driven from Syria in 1291, the focus of Sunni jihad operations
against Christendom in the eastern Mediterranean shifted to fending o󰀇f
naval attacks on coastal Syria and Egypt, but also to territorial conquest in
Anatolia and southeastern Europe, principally under the Ottomans. There
was no need for Ottoman scholars to issue fatwas legitimizing warfare
against the Byzantines or other Christian princes on the western front, for
they had been the preferred in󰀈椀del enemy of Islamic jihad 󰀈椀ghters since
the 󰀈椀rst generation of the conquests in the seventh century. Moreover,
Mehmed II’s sack of Constantinople in 1453 only whetted the Ottoman
appetite for further conquests of European Christian strongholds, which
continued till the end of the seventeenth century. In fact, it was only when
the Ottomans began to encounter setbacks in Europe that they had to call
for fatwas to demonstrate why it was legitimate to cease their o󰀇fensives
and cede Muslim lands to in󰀈椀del Christian rulers via formal treaties such
as the Treaty of Karlowitz in 1699. It should come as no surprise, then, that
Sunni Ottoman religious scholars appealed to the precedent of Muham-
mad’s treaty with Mecca, the Treaty of Ḥudaybīya (628), in which he agreed
to cease hostilities with the city in order to regroup and renew the 󰀈椀ght
another day.47 That Muhammad subjugated the city two years later only
proved the wisdom of his agreement. Unfortunately for the Ottomans, his-
tory did not repeat itself as the Empire gradually lost more and more terri-
tory to Christian as well as Muslim opponents until the Empire was no more,
the last remnant being the Republic of Turkey established in the wake of the
First World War.48
Political factors notwithstanding, the intensi󰀈椀cation and reorientation of
jihad ideology became normative in Sunni religious thought as mainstream
Sunni scholars started to adopt it and promote it as part of their strategy
to combat threats to the revivi󰀈椀cation of Sunnism and the restoration of
Sunni supremacy after the periodic domination of the Islamic heartlands—

47 Itzkowitz, Ottoman Empire and Islamic Tradition, 101.

48 See Bernard Lewis’s classic study, The Emergence of Modern Turkey, third edition
(Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2002). Ertuğrul Osman, the last surviving
grandson of Sultan Abdul-Hamid II, passed away on 23 September 2009, at the age of 97. He
was known as the “Last Ottoman.”
120 chapter seven

Syria, Egypt, and Iraq—by various Shiʿi, Crusader, and/or Mongol Il-Khan
regimes during the eleventh, twelfth, thirteenth, and fourteenth centuries.
That this reinvigorated jihad ideology subsequently inspired Sunni scholars
and rulers throughout the Mamluk and Ottoman periods should come as
a surprise to no one. The fact that Ebu s-Suʿud’s published rulings do not
explicitly draw on Ibn Taymīya reinforces our argument that the intensi-
󰀈椀cation and reorientation of jihad ideology advocated by Niẓām al-Mulk,
Ibn ʿAsākir, and Ibn Taymīya had become thoroughly mainstream in Sunni
Islamic thought in the Ottoman period.49
Modern Sunni radical thought owes a great deal to this medieval inten-
si󰀈椀cation and reorientation of jihad ideology, too,50 as even a cursory survey
of the jihadist literature demonstrates.51 However, unlike their medieval and

49 This is not to say that Shiʿism does not share some of these tendencies. See, for instance,
al-Ḥurr al-ʿĀmilī’s Kitāb al-Jihād, which is vol. 11 of his Wasāʾil al-shīʿa ilā taḥṣīl masāʾil al-
sharīʿa, 20 vols., ed. Muḥammad al-Rāzī (Beirut: Dār Iḥyāʾ al-Turāth al-ʿArabī, 1990). Al-Ḥurr
al-ʿĀmilī (1624–1693) was born in what is today southern Lebanon, and like many Shiʿi schol-
ars of his time, left to Safavid Iran where he became the paramount Twelver Shiʿi authority
in Hadith (sayings attributed to Muhammad and the twelve Shiʿi imams). He validates under
the banner of jihad the 󰀈椀ghting and killing of “corrupt” Muslims, which for him was legit-
imized by imam Ali’s 󰀈椀ghting of his Muslim opponents: see his section in Kitāb al-Jihād on
“󰀈椀ghting the people of corruption” in al-Ḥurr al-ʿĀmilī, Wasāʾil al-shīʿa, 11:59–63. On al-Ḥurr
al-ʿĀmilī, see Meir M. Bar Asher, “Ḥorr-e ʿĀmeli,” in Encyclopaedia Iranica (New York: Ency-
clopaedia Iranica Foundation, 1985–present), 12:478–479.
50 Jonathan Riley-Smith argues that the bitter memory of the Crusades among modern

Muslims as the 󰀈椀rst wave of oppressive European colonialism is a recently invented memory
rooted in nineteenth-century European anti-colonialist Crusades scholarship. He argues
that this historiography has been internalized primarily because it reinforces modern Arab
nationalist and Islamist grievances and worldviews: The Crusades, Christianity, and Islam
(New York: Columbia University Press, 2008). While there is much to commend Riley-Smith’s
thesis, it should be clear from what we have argued herein that the Franks’ successes at
Edessa, Antioch, and Jerusalem in the late 1090s that ushered in two centuries of Crusader
control of coastal Syria were a major factor in the intensi󰀈椀cation and reorientation of Sunni
jihad ideology, Sunni revivalism and vision of orthodoxy, and the escalation of intellectual
and military hostilities among Muslims (especially Sunnis and Shiʿis).
51 For examples of the theological and juridical reasoning of modern Sunni jihadists that

draw on the Qurʾan, hadiths on jihad, as well as the thought of Ibn Taymīya and other classi-
cal scholars, see Sayyid Qutb, “Jihad in the Cause of God,” in Milestones: Maʿalim 󰀇椀ʾl-tareeq, ed.
A.B. al-Mehri (Birmingham: Maktabah Booksellers, 2006), 63–86; Ḥasan al-Bannā, “Kitāb al-
Jihad,” in Milestones, 217–240; Abdallah Azzam, Join the Caravan; Osama Bin Laden, Messages
to the World: The Statements of Osama bin Laden, ed. Bruce Lawrence, trans. James Howarth
(London: Verso, 2005); Shmuel Bar, Warrant for Terror: Fatwās of Radical Islam and the Duty of
Jihad (Lanham: Rowman & Little󰀈椀eld, 2006); Raymond Ibrahim (ed. and trans.), The Al Qaeda
Reader (New York: Doubleday, 2007); Gilles Kepel and Jean-Pierre Milelli (eds.), Al Qaeda in
Its Own Words, trans. Pascale Ghazaleh (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2008). Many
of the writings of modern jihadists thinkers have been translated into English and are posted
online at various scholarly and jihadist websites.
 the legacy of sunni jihad ideology 121

Ottoman predecessors, who primarily targeted Shiʿis as Sunnism’s internal

enemies, some modern Sunni radicals are quite eager to cast their net far
wider and to include also a great number of their fellow Sunnis.52 Although
many modern Muslim scholars have criticized the arguments of contem-
porary jihad propagandists as a uniquely modern radicalization of jihad
ideology, their criticism fails to acknowledge the medieval origins of this
discourse or the fact that in󰀆lfuential 󰀈椀gures such as Hasan al-Banna, Sayyid
Qutb, and ʿAbdallah ʿAzzam, along with their disciples, are quite cognizant
of their ideology’s medieval roots and which they regularly invoke in their
writings.53 They enthusiastically appeal to many of the hadiths included in
Ibn ʿAsākir’s Forty Hadiths;54 they frequently refer to Ibn Taymīya’s fatwas
on combating errant or hypocritical Muslims.55 Modern jihadists embrace

52 Jon Armajani, Modern Islamist Movements: History, Religion, and Politics (Chichester:

Wiley-Blackwell, 2011).
53 See for example, Mahmud Muhammad Taha, The Second Message of Islam, ed. and

trans. Abdullahi Ahmed an-Naʿim (Syracuse: Syracuse University Press, 1987); Abdullahi
Ahmed an-Naʿim, Toward and Islamic Reformation (Syracuse: Syracuse University Press,
1990); Abdulaziz Sachedina, The Islamic Roots of Democratic Pluralism (New York: Oxford
University Press, 2001); Khaled Abou el-Fadl, Rebellion and Violence in Islamic Law (Cam-
bridge: Cambridge University press, 2001); and idem, The Great Theft: Wrestling Islam from
the Extremists (New York: HarperSanFrancisco, 2005). In his Arguing the Just War in Islam
(Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2007), John Kelsay advocates the approach of schol-
ars such as Abou el-Fadl, Abdullahi Ahmed an-Naʿim, Mahmud Muhammad Taha, and Abd
al-Aziz Sachedina. See Ella Landau-Tasseron’s critique of Kelsay’s approach in her, “Is Jihād
Comparable to Just War? A Review Article,” Jerusalem Studies in Arabic and Islam 34 (2008):
535–550; see also van der Krogt, “Jihad without Apologetics.”
54 While we have found no evidence that modern militant jihadists have been directly

in󰀆lfuenced by Ibn ʿAsākir’s Forty Hadiths, it is abundantly clear that they know Ibn ʿAsākir’s
work and role. Indeed, Ibn ʿAsākir’s Forty Hadiths (the 1984 Kuwait edition by ʿAbd Allāh ibn
Yūsuf) is among the jihad works that are shared on jihadists’ websites. But because Ibn ʿAsākir
was not a theorist per se, and given the practice in Hadith scholarship to cite the authoritative
Hadith collections, even when one learns of a hadith from other sources, Ibn ʿAsākir’s Forty
Hadith and similar works do not get referenced in modern literature on jihad. Yet, modern
jihad theorists and jihadists enthusiastically appeal to many of the same hadiths which are
included in Ibn ʿAsākir’s Forty Hadiths, and which also feature in the authoritative eighth- and
ninth-century Sunni Hadith collections, in several other small hadith collections on jihad
from the Crusader period, as well as in the writings of Ibn Taymīya and his disciples.
55 See, for instance, the Egyptian jihadist Muhammad ʿAbd al-Salam Faraj (executed in

1982), who invokes Ibn Taymīya’s fatwa in his treatise entitled “The Neglected Duty;” that is,
the neglected duty of jihad: see Roxanne Euben and Muhammad Qasim Zaman (eds.), Prince-
ton Readings in Islamist Thought (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2009), pp. 321–343.
Similarly, Sayyid Qutb invokes the views on jihad of both Ibn Taymīya and his notable dis-
ciple Ibn Qayyim al-Jawzīya (d. 1350): see, for instance, Sayyid Qutb, “Jihad in the Cause of
God,” 63 and 74 (Ibn Qayyim), 308 and 315 (Ibn Taymīya). On the claim that these jihadists
“misunderstand” and “abuse” Ibn Taymīya, see Mona Hassan, “Modern Interpretations and
122 chapter seven

the same methodology of jihad advocacy that Ibn ʿAsākir helped set up and
actively disseminate and that Ibn Taymīya did much to solidify. Moreover,
like their medieval and early-modern predecessors, modern Sunni jihadists
are quite certain that it is they who are the “authentic” Muslims, for it is
they and they alone who simply and dutifully “obey God and his messenger.”
In this respect, they are not interested in the speci󰀈椀c circumstances and
environments that produced the views of Ibn ʿAsākir, Ibn Taymīya, and
other medieval jihad advocates. Rather, they see them as a󰀇󰀈椀rmers of the
“true” teachings of Islam, and thus independent of the vicissitudes of Islamic
history.

Misinterpretations of a Medieval Scholar: Apprehending the Political Thought of Ibn Tay-

miyya,” in Ibn Taymiyya and His Times, eds. Rapoport and Ahmed, pp. 338–366.
 PART TWO

EDITION AND TRANSLATION OF

AL-ARBAʿŪN ḤADĪTHAN FĪ AL-ḤATHTH ʿALĀ AL-JIHĀD
(THE FORTY HADITHS FOR INCITING JIHAD)
 NOTES ON THE ARABIC EDITION

We have endeavored to present the Arabic text of al-Arbaʿūn ḥadīthan fī

al-ḥathth ʿalā al-jihād as it appears in the sole extant copy that al-Birzālī
made from Ibn ʿAsākir’s autograph. Consequently, we have not tried to force
the Arabic text to conform to how these forty hadiths may appear in the
major Hadith compilations (for which there are no proper critical editions
in any case).
Since Arabic grammar is far from an exact science, and since exceptions
to the rules abound, there are instances in the text in which the grammar
and spelling appear to be incorrect. We believe that because the text was
originally composed and copied by Damascenes, preserving these gram-
matical “errors” as well as orthographical “errors” such as malāyika (‫)ﻣﻼﯾﻜﺔ‬
instead of malāʾika (‫)ﻣﻼﺋﻜﺔ‬, māya (‫ )ﻣﺎﯾﺔ‬instead of māʾa (‫)ﻣﺎﺋﺔ‬, ya-Rasūl Allāh
(‫ )ﯾَﺮﺳﻮل ﷲ‬instead of yā-Rasūl Allāh (‫)󰈍 رﺳﻮل ﷲ‬, etc. maintains the Dama-
scene feel of the text.
We have, however, made a few emendations for the purpose of clari󰀈椀ca-
tion. The principal examples of these editorial changes have to do with the
spelling of proper names and the use of punctuation. Since it was common
for medieval copyists to transcribe proper names without the long vowel ā
(alif), names like Isḥāq, Ismāʿīl, Ibrāhīm, Mālik, ʿUthmān, Sufyān, Sulaymān,
ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, etc., were almost always written with a short vowel. We
have reintroduced the alif in these names.
Punctuation is used sporadically throughout the manuscript, though
consistently at the end of each hadith. We have introduced commas and
full-stops to make the text read more smoothly. We have also introduced
question marks and exclamation marks as necessary to clarify the meaning.
Verses from the Qurʾan have been placed in bold face between ﴾ ﴿, with
the sura and verse numbers noted in the footnotes. In each case where Ibn
ʿAsākir states that a hadith can be found in one or more of the major Hadith
collections, we have included the precise reference to the various collections
in the notes.
Finally, the text was compared to the printed edition prepared by Aḥmad
ʿA. Ḥalwānī, which was published on pages 101–149 of his Ibn ʿAsākir wa-
dawruh fī al-jihād ḍidd al-ṣalībīyīn fī ʿahd al-dawlatayn al-nūrīya wa-l-ayyū-
bīya (Damascus: Dār al-Fidāʾ, 1991); we referred to it as (‫)ﻣﻄﺒﻮﻋﺔ‬. All 101
mistakes—whether mis-readings, additions or deletions—that appear in
126 notes on the arabic edition

Ḥalwānī’s edition were noted in the footnotes. We have not noted any of
the mistakes in the colophon (samāʿ) section since there are too many to
list.
 NOTES ON THE ENGLISH TRANSLATION

We have endeavored to provide an English translation of Ibn ʿAsākir’s Forty

Hadiths that is both faithful to the meaning of the Arabic original and the
conventions of English. Since readers can readily refer to the Arabic text on
the facing page, we have only occasionally inserted an Arabic word or phrase
to clarify the translation.
Each hadith is comprised of two parts—the isnād (the chain of scholars
on whose authority each hadith was transmitted) and the matn (the text of
the hadith itself). Isnads are essentially medieval Arabic footnotes; however,
since they are placed at the beginning of the matn rather than in small print
at the bottom of the page or at the end of a chapter or book, they are very di󰀇-
󰀈椀cult to ignore. Hence we have formatted the English translation di󰀇ferently
than the Arabic original in order to make the text read more smoothly.
First, we have used a dash (—) instead of the various technical terms in
the isnads that indicate precisely how so-and-so learned the hadith from
so-and-so. We have, of course, retained any references to where the transmis-
sion occurred. Readers who wish to know which terms Ibn ʿAsākir employed
can 󰀈椀nd them in the Arabic text on the facing page.
Second, each matn is set o󰀇f from its isnad as a block quote. Readers who
wish to skip the “footnotes” and move straightway to the “substance” of each
hadith can certainly do so. For a discussion of what we can learn from Ibn
ʿAsākir’s isnads see Chapter Five, pp. 67–69.
Third, in medieval Arabic prose it is customary to use the verb qāl (in its
various forms that account for the gender of the speaker or speakers) in a
hadith or narrative report to mean that someone literally said something.
Sometimes we have translated qāl as said. But often the expression is used
in the hadith to indicate a pause, in which case we rendered it as comma,
semicolon, or full stop. In a few cases, the expression indicates that someone
asked someone something, in which case we translated it as asked; or that
someone replied to a question by someone else, in which case we translated
it as replied.
Finally, we have placed all the colophons (samāʿāt) and ownership notes
on al-Birzālī’s manuscript immediately after the English translation of The
Forty Hadiths for Inciting Jihad—though as indicated in the notes, some of
the colophons and ownership notes occur at various places on the manu-
script—at the end of the text, in margins, and even on the title page.
128 notes on the english translation

A few comments about the colophons (samāʿāt) and the technical termi-
nology employed in them are in order here. The term we have translated as
colophon is samāʿ (pl. samāʿāt), derived from the Arabic root s-m-ʿ, having
to do with hearing. In the case of the samāʿāt on al-Birzālī’s copy of the Forty
Hadiths, the colophons record the names of those who “heard” the text at a
particular teaching session, but they indicate much more than merely being
present to hear something.
The colophons list the scholars and students who were present at a
particular teaching session in which Ibn ʿAsākir’s Forty Hadiths for Inciting
Jihad was read out by a scholar in the presence of and publicly taught by
a scholar who was authorized to confer a license or diploma (ijāza) that
certi󰀈椀ed that those who studied the text with him were quali󰀈椀ed to teach
it to others.
The colophons also record the date and location of the teaching sessions,
indicating that, unlike al-Sulamī’s (d. 1106) Book of Jihad, Ibn ʿAsākir’s Forty
Hadiths continued to be read out and studied frequently by leading Dam-
ascene scholars for nearly a century and a half after its composition. The
󰀈椀rst study session occurred in Ibn ʿAsākir’s presence in 1170; the 󰀈椀nal public
reading of al-Birzālī’s unique manuscript occurred in 1318.
Each colophon on Birzālī’s copy of the manuscript is basically one rather
long run-on sentence. We have retained that format in the Arabic edition
below; however, we have altered the format in the English translation to
make it easier for the reader to distinguish the names of the participants
in the teaching sessions.
The scholars listed in the colophons are identi󰀈椀ed by a variety of titles,
all of which indicate an advanced level of training in Islamic religious schol-
arship. We have translated each of these titles into English as follows: ʿālim
(scholar), faqīh (jurist), ḥā󰀇椀ẓ (Hadith memorizer [lit., great memorizer of
religious scholarship, but especially Hadith]), kātib (scribe), khaṭīb (mosque
preacher), qāḍī (judge), and shaykh (respected teacher).
For a discussion of what we can learn from the colophons and ownership
notes, see Chapter Six, especially pp. 95–99.
TEXT AND TRANSLATION
 ‫أﻻرﺑﻌﻮن ﺣﺪﯾﺜًﺎ ﰲ اﳊّﺚ ﻋﲆ اﳉﻬﺎد‬
‫ﻋﻦ رﺳﻮل ﷲ ﺻّﲆ ﷲ ﻋﻠﯿﻪ وﺳّﲅ ﻣﺘّﺼ󰏨 إﻻﺳـﻨﺎد‬

‫ﺗﺼﻨﯿﻒ‬

‫اﳊﺎﻓﻆ ٔاﰊ اﻟﻘﺎﰟ ﻋﲇ ﺑﻦ اﳊﺴﻦ ﺑﻦ ﻫﺒﺔ ﷲ اﻟﺸﺎﻓﻌﻲ‬

 The Forty Hadiths for Inciting Jihad
related from the Messenger of God (ṣ)
with complete chains of transmission

Authored by the Hadith memorizer Abū al-Qāsim

ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥasan ibn Hibat Allāh al-Shā󰀈椀ʿī
‫‪67b‬‬ ‫ﺑﺴﻢ ﷲ اﻟﺮﺣﲈن اﻟﺮﺣﲓ ﺻّﲆ ﷲ ﻋﲆ ﺳـّﯿﺪ󰈋 ﶊ ّﺪ وا ٓ󰏳 وﺳّﲅ‬
‫اﶵﺪ 󰏯 راﻓﻊ اﻟﺴـﺒﻊ اﻟﺸﺪاد‪ ،‬و󰈈ﺳﻂ أﻻرض ﲢﳤﺎ ﰷﳌﻬﺎد‪ ،‬وﻣﺜّﺒﳤﺎ ﺑﺮاﺳـﯿﺎت اﳉﺒﺎل وأﻻﻃﻮاد‪،‬‬
‫وﺟﺎﻋﻠﻬﺎ ٔاﻣﺎﻛﻦ ﻻ ﲤﯿﺪ ﰷٔﻻو󰈉د‪ ،‬اﳌّﲋﻩ ﻋﻦ اّﲣﺎذ اﻟﺼﺎﺣﺒﺔ وأﻻوﻻد‪ ،‬اﳌﺘﻌﺎﱄ ﻋﻦ 󰈇ﺳﺘﻨﺠﺎد 󰈈ﻟﴩﰷء‬
‫وأﻻﻧﺪاد‪ٔ .‬اﲪﺪﻩ ﻋﲆ ﻧﻌﻤﻪ اﻟﱵ ﻻ ﲢﴡ 󰈈ﻟﺘﻌﺪاد‪ ،‬ؤاؤﻣﻦ ﺑﻪ ٕاﳝﺎن ﻣﻦ وّﺣﺪﻩ ﻋﻦ أﻻﺿﺪاد‪ .‬ؤاﺷﻬﺪ‬
‫ٔان ﻻ ٕا󰏳 ٕاّﻻ ﻫﻮ ﻣﺒﺪع اﳊﯿﻮان واﶺﺎد‪ ،‬ﺷﻬﺎدة ٔاﺟﻌﻠﻬﺎ ذﺧﺮًا ﻟﯿﻮم اﳌﻌﺎد‪ .‬ؤاﺷﻬﺪ ٔاّن ﶊ ّﺪًا ﻋﺒﺪﻩ‬ ‫‪٥‬‬
‫ورﺳﻮ󰏳 اﻟﻬﺎدي ٕاﱃ اﻟﺮﺷﺎد‪ ،‬واﻟﻔﺎﰌ ﺳﺒﯿﻞ اﳊّﻖ ﺑﻌﺪ إﻻﻧﻘﻔﺎل وإﻻﻧﺴﺪاد‪ ،‬وا󰏲ﺘﺎر ﻣﻦ اﻟﻌﱰة اﻟﻄﺎﻫﺮة‬
‫واﻟﺴﺎدة أﻻﳎﺎد‪ ،‬ﺻّﲆ ﷲ ﻋﻠﯿﻪ وﻋﲆ ا ٓ󰏳 ؤاﲱﺎﺑﻪ ﺻﻼة داﳝﺔ ٕاﱃ ﯾﻮم اﻟﺘﻨﺎد‪.‬‬

‫ٔاّﻣﺎ ﺑﻌﺪ‪ ،‬ﻓٕﺎّن اﳌ󰏮 اﻟﻌﺎدل اﻟﺰاﻫﺪ ا󰏱ﺎﻫﺪ اﳌﺮاﺑﻂ—وﻓ ّﻘﻪ ﷲ ﻟﻠﺴﺪاد‪ ،‬ؤاﻋﺎﻧﻪ ﻋﲆ اﻟﻘﯿﺎم ﲟﺼﺎﱀ‬
‫اﻟﻌﺒﺎد‪ ،‬ؤاﻣّﺪﻩ ﺑﻔﻀ󰏴 ﺑﺼﺎﱀ أﻻﻣﺮاد‪ ،‬ؤاﻋّﺰ ﻧﴫﻩ ﲜﻨﺪﻩ‪ ،‬وﺷّﺪ ٔازرﻩ 󰈈ٔﻻﻣﺪاد—ٔاﺣّﺐ ٔان ٔاﲨﻊ 󰏳‬
‫‪ٔ ١٠‬ارﺑﻌﲔ ﺣﺪﯾﺜًﺎ ﰲ اﳉﻬﺎد ﺗﻜﻮن واﲵﺔ اﳌﱳ ﻣﺘّﺼ󰏨 إﻻﺳـﻨﺎد‪ ،‬ﲢﺮﯾﻀًﺎ ﻟﻠﻤﺠﺎﻫﺪﯾﻦ أﻻﺟﻼد ؤاوﱄ‬
‫اﳍﻤﻢ اﻟﻌﺎﻟﯿﺔ واﻟﺴﻮاﻋﺪ اﻟﺸﺪاد وذوي اﳌﺮﻫﻔﺎت اﳌﺎﺿﯿﺔ وأﻻﺳـﻨّﺔ اﳊﺪاد‪ ،‬ﻟﯿﻜﻮن ﳍﻢ ﲢﻀﯿﻀًﺎ ﻋﲆ‬
‫اﻟﺼﺪق ﻋﻨﺪ اﻟﻠﻘﺎء واﳉﻼد وﲢﺮﯾﻀًﺎ ﻋﲆ ﻗﻠﻊ ذوي اﻟﻜﻔﺮ واﻟﻌﻨﺎد‪ ،‬ا󰏫ﯾﻦ ﻃﻐﻮا ﺑﻜﻔﺮﱒ ﰲ اﻟﺒﻼد‬
‫ؤاﻛﱶوا ﻓﳱﺎ ﻣﻦ اﻟﺒﻐﻲ واﻟﻔﺴﺎد‪ ،‬ﺻّﺐ ﻋﻠﳱﻢ رﺑ ّﻨﺎ ﺳﻮط ﻋﺬاب ٕاﻧ ّﻪ ﻟﺒﺎﳌﺮﺻﺎد‪ .‬ﻓﺴﺎرﻋﺖ ٕاﱃ اﻣﺘﺜﺎل ﻣﺎ‬
‫‪68a‬‬ ‫اﻟﳣﺲ ﻣﻦ اﳌﺮاد‪ ،‬وﲨﻌﺖ 󰏳 | ﻣﺎ ﯾﺮﺗﻀﯿﻪ ٔاﻫﻞ اﳌﻌﺮﻓﺔ وإﻻﻧﺘﻘﺎد‪ ،‬واﺟﳤﺪت ﰲ ﲨﻌﻬﺎ ﻏﺎﯾﺔ إﻻﺟﳤﺎد‬
‫‪ ١٥‬رﺟﺎء ٔان ﳛﺼﻞ ﱄ ٔاﺟﺮ اﻟﺘﺒﺼﲑ وإﻻرﺷﺎد‪ .‬وﷲ اﳌﻮﻓ ّﻖ ﻟﻠﺼﻮاب ﰲ إﻻﺻﺪار وإﻻﯾﺮاد‪ ،‬واﳌﺴّﺪد‬
‫ﰲ أﻻﻗﻮال ﰲ إﻻﺳﻬﺎب وإﻻﻗﺘﺼﺎد‪.‬‬

‫اﻟﻌﺎﻟﯿﺔ )ﺳﺎﻗﻄﺔ ﻣﻦ ﻣﻄﺒﻮﻋﺔ(‬ ‫‪ ٨‬ﻟﻠﻤﺪاد )ﻣﻄﺒﻮﻋﺔ( ‪ ٩‬ؤاﻣﺮﻩ )ﻣﻄﺒﻮﻋﺔ( ‪ ٩‬أﻻﻣﺪاد )ﻣﻄﺒﻮﻋﺔ( ‪١١‬‬
67b In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate; May God bless our
lord Muhammad and his family and grant them peace.
Thanks be to God, who lifted up the seven securely 󰀈椀xed heavens, spread
the earth beneath them as a vast expanse, fastened it securely to the 󰀈椀rm
mountains and hills, and partitioned them into stable places like 󰀈椀xed
poles. Far removed is He from having a female consort or progeny, or from
seeking the aid of associates and peers. I thank Him for the countless gifts
that He bestowed, and believe in Him like a true monotheist. I testify that
there is no god but Him, the Creator of the beasts and things; I make
this testimony as a provision for myself on the Day of Resurrection. I
also testify that Muhammad is His servant and messenger, who guides
to righteousness and opens the way of truth after being blocked and
closed, the chosen one from the pure family and glorious masters—may
God eternally bless him, his family, and his companions until the Day of
Assembly.1
The just king, the ascetic, the jihad 󰀈椀ghter, and the garrisoned warrior—
may God grant him success in that which is proper, assist him in ful󰀈椀lling
what is best for people, grant him favor against the recalcitrants, exalt him
in victory with his army, and support him with aid—expressed his desire
that I collect for him forty hadiths relating to jihad that have clear texts and
uninterrupted sound chains of transmission so that they might stimulate
the valiant jihad 󰀈椀ghters, the ones with strong determination and mighty
arms, with sharp swords and piercing spears, and stir them up to truly
perform when they meet the enemy in battle, and incite them to uproot
the unbelievers and tyrants who, because of their unbelief, have terrorized
the land and proliferated oppression and corruption—may God pour on
them all types of torture, for He is all-watching. So I hastened to ful󰀈椀ll his
68a desire and collected for him | what is suitable for the people of learning
and inquiry. I especially exerted a tremendous e󰀇fort in collecting them
in the hope that I should receive the reward [from God] for enlightening
and guidance. God is the Guide to accuracy in what one initiates and com-
pletes, and the Director to right expression, be it thorough or succinct.

1 In an Islamic context, the Day of Judgment is referred to as the Day of Resurrection,

that is when the dead are resurrected for the 󰀈椀nal Judgment, or as the Day of Assembly,
that is after being resurrected, they will assemble for the 󰀈椀nal Judgment.
 ‫‪134‬‬ ‫‪edition and translation‬‬

‫ٔاﺧﱪ󰈋 ٔاﺑﻮ ﻋﺒﺪ ﷲ اﳊﺴﲔ ﺑﻦ ﻋﺒﺪ اﳌ󰏮 أﻻدﯾﺐ ﺑﺎٔﺻﳢﺎن ٔا󰈋 ٔاﺑﻮ اﻟﻘﺎﰟ ٕاﺑﺮاﻫﲓ ﺑﻦ ﻣﻨﺼﻮر ٔا󰈋‬
‫ٔاﺑﻮ ﺑﻜﺮ ﶊ ّﺪ ﺑﻦ ٕاﺑﺮاﻫﲓ ﺑﻦ اﳌﻘﺮىء ٔا󰈋 ٔاﺑﻮ ﯾﻌﲆ ٔاﲪﺪ ﺑﻦ ﻋﲇ ﺛﻨﺎ ﲻﺮو ﺑﻦ ﺣﺼﲔ ﻋﻦ ٔاﺑﻦ ﻋﻼﺛﺔ‬
‫ﻋﻦ ﺧﺼﯿﻒ ﻋﻦ ﳎﺎﻫﺪ ﻋﻦ ٔاﰊ ﻫﺮﯾﺮة ﻗﺎل‪ :‬ﻗﺎل رﺳﻮل ﷲ ﺻّﲆ ﷲ ﻋﻠﯿﻪ وﺳّﲅ‪ :‬ﻣﻦ ﺣﻔﻆ ﻋﲆ‬
‫ٔاّﻣﱵ ٔارﺑﻌﲔ ﺣﺪﯾﺜًﺎ ﻓ󰍥 ﯾﻨﻔﻌﻬﻢ ﻣﻦ ٔاﻣﺮ دﯾﳯﻢ ﺑُﻌﺚ ﯾﻮم اﻟﻘﯿﺎﻣﺔ ﻣﻦ اﻟﻌﻠﲈء‪ ،‬وﻓﻀﻞ اﻟﻌﺎﱂ ﻋﲆ اﻟﻌﺎﺑﺪ‬
‫ﰻ درﺟﺘﲔ‪.‬‬‫ﺳـﺒﻌﲔ درﺟﺔ ﷲ ٔاﻋﲅ ﲟﺎ ﺑﲔ ّ‬ ‫‪٥‬‬

‫اﳊﺪﯾﺚ أﻻّول‬
‫ٔاﺧﱪ󰈋 ٔاﺑﻮ اﻟﻘﺎﰟ ٕاﺳﲈﻋﯿﻞ ﺑﻦ ٔاﲪﺪ ﺑﻦ ﲻﺮ اﺑﻦ اﻟﺴﻤﺮﻗﻨﺪي ﺑﺒﻐﺪاد ٔا󰈋 ٔاﺑﻮ اﳊﺴﲔ ٔاﲪﺪ ﺑﻦ ﶊ ّﺪ‬
‫ﺑﻦ اﻟﻨﻘّﻮر ﺛﻨﺎ ﻋﯿﴗ ﺑﻦ ﻋﲇ ﺑﻦ ﻋﯿﴗ ٕاﻣﻼًء ﺛﻨﺎ ﻋﺒﺪ ﷲ اﺑﻦ ﶊ ّﺪ ﺑﻦ ﻋﺒﺪ اﻟﻌﺰﯾﺰ اﻟﺒﻐﻮي ﺛﻨﺎ‬
‫ﻣﻨﺼﻮر ﺑﻦ ٔاﰊ ﻣﺰاﰘ ﺛﻨﺎ ٕاﺑﺮاﻫﲓ ﺑﻦ ﺳﻌﺪ ﻋﻦ اﻟﺰﻫﺮي ﻋﻦ ٔاﺑﻦ اﳌﺴﯿ ّﺐ ﻋﻦ ٔاﰊ ﻫﺮﯾﺮة ﻗﺎل‪ :‬ﺳُـﺌﻞ‬
‫‪ ١٠‬رﺳﻮل ﷲ ﺻّﲆ ﷲ ﻋﻠﯿﻪ وﺳّﲅ‪ٔ :‬اي إﻻﳝﺎن ٔاﻓﻀﻞ؟ ﻗﺎل‪ٕ :‬اﳝﺎن 󰈈󰏯 ﻋّﺰ وﺟ ّ‬
‫ﻞ‪ .‬ﻗﯿﻞ‪ّ :‬ﰒ ﻣﺎذا؟ ﻗﺎل‪:‬‬
‫ﰗ ﻣﱪور‪.‬‬ ‫ّﰒ اﳉﻬﺎد ﰲ ﺳﺒﯿﻞ ﷲ ﻋّﺰ وﺟّﻞ‪ .‬ﻗﯿﻞ‪ّ :‬ﰒ ﻣﺎذا؟ ﻗﺎل‪ّ :‬‬
‫رواﻩ ﻣﺴﲅ ﰲ ﲱﯿﺤﻪ ﻋﻦ ﻣﻨﺼﻮر‪.‬‬

‫اﳊﺪﯾﺚ اﻟﺜﺎﱐ‬
‫ٔاﺧﱪ󰈋 ٔاﺑﻮ اﻟﻘﺎﰟ ﻫﺒﺔ ﷲ ﺑﻦ ﶊ ّﺪ ﺑﻦ ﻋﺒﺪ اﻟﻮاﺣﺪ اﻟﺸﯿﺒﺎﱐ ﻗﺎل‪ٔ :‬ا󰈋 ٔاﺑﻮ ﻋﲇ اﳊﺴﻦ ﺑﻦ ﻋﲇ ﺑﻦ‬
‫‪68b‬‬ ‫‪ ١٥‬ﶊ ّﺪ اﻟﳣﳰﻲ ٔا󰈋 ٔاﺑﻮ ﺑﻜﺮ ٔاﲪﺪ ﺑﻦ ﺟﻌﻔﺮ ﺑﻦ ﲪﺪان | اﻟﻘﻄﯿﻌﻲ ﺛﻨﺎ ﻋﺒﺪ ﷲ ﺑﻦ ٔاﲪﺪ ﺑﻦ ﶊ ّﺪ ﺑﻦ ﺣﻨﺒﻞ‬
‫ﺣّﺪﺛﲏ ٔاﰊ ﺛﻨﺎ ﺳﻔﯿﺎن ﺛﻨﺎ ﻫﺸﺎم اﺑﻦ ﻋﺮوة ﻋﻦ ٔاﺑﯿﻪ ﻋﻦ ٔاﰊ ﻣﺮاوح ﻋﻦ ٔاﰊ ذّر ﻗﺎل‪ :‬ﻗﻠﺖ ﯾَﺮﺳﻮل‬
‫ﷲ ٔاّي اﻟﻌﻤﻞ ٔاﻓﻀﻞ؟ ﻗﺎل‪ٕ :‬اﳝﺎن 󰈈󰏯 و󰏄ﺎد ﰲ ﺳﺒﯿ󰏴‪ .‬ﻗﻠﺖ‪ :‬ﯾَﺮﺳﻮل ﷲ ﻓﺎّٔي اﻟﺮﻗﺎب ٔاﻓﻀﻞ؟‬
‫ﻗﺎل‪ٔ :‬اﻧﻔﺴﻬﺎ ﻋﻨﺪ ٔاﻫﻠﻬﺎ ؤاﻏﻼﻫﺎ ﲦﻨًﺎ‪ .‬ﻗﺎل‪ :‬ﻓٕﺎن ﱂ ٔاﺟﺪ؟ ﻗﺎل‪ :‬ﺗﻌﲔ ﺿﺎﯾﻌًﺎ ٔاو ﺗﺼﻨﻊ ٔﻻﺧﺮق‪ .‬ﻗﺎل‪ :‬ﻓٕﺎن‬
‫ﱂ ٔاﺳـﺘﻄﻊ؟ ﻗﺎل‪ :‬ﺗﻜ ّﻒ ٔاذاك ﻋﻦ اﻟﻨﺎس ﻓٕﺎ ّﳖﺎ ﺻﺪﻗﺔ ﺗﺼّﺪق ﲠﺎ ﻋﻦ ﻧﻔﺴﻚ‪.‬‬

‫‪ ٢‬اﳌﻘﺮي )ﻣﻄﺒﻮﻋﺔ( ‪ ٢‬ﺑﻦ )ﻣﻄﺒﻮﻋﺔ( ‪ٔ ٢‬اﰊ )ﻣﻄﺒﻮﻋﺔ( ‪ ٥‬درﺟﺔ ودرﺟﺔ )ﻣﻄﺒﻮﻋﺔ( ‪ ٧‬ﺑﻦ ٔاﲪﺪ )ﺳﺎﻗﻄﺔ ﻣﻦ‬
‫ﻂ اﻟﱪزاﱄ(‪ٔ .‬اﰊ )ﻣﻄﺒﻮﻋﺔ( ‪ ١٢‬ﲱﯿﺢ ﻣﺴﲅ‪ ،‬ﻛﺘﺎب إﻻﳝﺎن )󰈈ب إﻻﳝﺎن‬
‫ﻣﻄﺒﻮﻋﺔ( ‪ ٩‬اﺑﻦ )ﰲ ﻫﺎﻣﺶ ا󰏲ﻄﻮﻃﺔ ﲞ ّ‬
‫ّ‬
‫󰈈󰏯 ٔاﻓﻀﻞ أﻻﻋﲈل(‪ ١٥ ٦٢ :١ ،‬اﻟﻘﻄﯿﻔﻲ )ﻣﻄﺒﻮﻋﺔ( ‪ ١٥‬ﺑﻦ ﶊﺪ )ﺳﺎﻗﻄﺔ ﻣﻦ ﻣﻄﺒﻮﻋﺔ( ‪ ١٩‬ﺻﺪﻗﺔ )ﺳﺎﻗﻄﺔ‬
‫ﻣﻦ ﻣﻄﺒﻮﻋﺔ(‬
 the forty hadiths for inciting jihad 135

Abū ʿAbd Allāh al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAbd al-Malik al-Adīb, in Isfahan—Abū

al-Qāsim Ibrāhīm ibn Manṣūr—Abū Bakr Muḥammad ibn Ibrāhīm ibn
al-Muqriʾ—Abū Yaʿlā Aḥmad ibn ʿAlī—ʿAmr ibn Ḥuṣayn—Ibn ʿUlātha—
Khuṣayf—Mujāhid—Abū Hurayra, who said:
The Messenger of God (ṣ) said: “He who preserves forty hadiths that are
bene󰀈椀cial for the religious needs of my community will be resurrected on
the Day of Resurrection as a scholar. The scholar is ranked seventy ranks
above the worshiper; only God knows what is between each two ranks.”

Hadith 1
Abū al-Qāsim Ismāʿīl ibn Aḥmad ibn ʿUmar ibn al-Samarqandī, in Bagh-
dad—Abū al-Ḥusayn Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn al-Naqqūr—ʿĪsā ibn ʿAlī
ibn ʿĪsā—ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz al-Baghawī—Man-
ṣūr ibn Abū Muzāḥim—Ibrāhīm ibn Saʿd—al-Zuhrī—Abū al-Musay-
yib—Abū Hurayra, who said:
The Messenger of God (ṣ) was asked: “Which aspect of belief is the best?”
He replied: “The belief in God—glory and greatness belong to Him.” He was
then asked: “And what comes next?” He replied: “Next is jihad in the path of
God—glory and greatness belong to Him.” He was asked again: “And what
comes next?” He replied: “An accepted pilgrimage.”
Muslim related this in his Ṣaḥīḥ—Manṣūr.2

Hadith 2
Abū al-Qāsim Hibat Allāh ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Wāḥid al-Shay-
bānī—Abū ʿAlī al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAlī ibn Muḥammad al-Tamīmī—Abū Bakr
68b Aḥmad ibn Jaʿfar ibn Ḥamdān | al-Qaṭīʿī—ʿAbd Allāh ibn Aḥmad ibn
Muḥammad ibn Ḥanbal—my father [Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal]—Sufyān—
Hishām ibn ʿUrwa—his father [ʿUrwa ibn al-Zubayr]—Abū Murāwiḥ—
Abū Dharr, who said:
I asked: “O Messenger of God, which of the religious practices are the best?”
He replied: “Belief in God and jihad in His path.” I then asked: “O Messenger
of God, what is the best manumission?” He replied: “Those who are the most
valued by their owners and the most expensive.” I said: “If I can’t 󰀈椀nd any?”
He replied: “Help a neglected poor person or feed a fool.” I asked: “If I can’t
a󰀇ford it?” He replied: “Do not show people you are annoyed with them; this
is a charitable gift on behalf of your own soul.”

2 Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, Kitāb al-īmān (bāb al-īmān biʾllāh afḍal al-aʿmāl) [Book of Faith (Chap-

ter on faith in God, which is the most noble of religious practices)], 1:62.
 ‫‪136‬‬ ‫‪edition and translation‬‬

‫ﻣﺘّﻔﻖ ﻋﲆ ّ‬
‫ﲱﺘﻪ‪.‬‬
‫رواﻩ اﻟﺒﺨﺎري ﻋﻦ ﻋﺒﯿﺪ ﷲ ﺑﻦ ﻣﻮﳻ ﻋﻦ ﻫﺸﺎم‪ ،‬ورواﻩ ﻣﺴﲅ ﻋﻦ ٔاﰊ اﻟﺮﺑﯿﻊ وﺧﻠﻒ ﺑﻦ ﻫﺸﺎم‬
‫ﲪﺎد ﺑﻦ زﯾﺪ ﻋﻦ ﻫﺸﺎم‪ .‬وﻛﺬا ﻗﺎل ﰲ اﳊﺪﯾﺚ ﺿﺎﯾﻌًﺎ 󰈈ﻟﻀﺎد‪.‬‬
‫ﻋﻦ ّ‬

‫اﳊﺪﯾﺚ اﻟﺜﺎﻟﺚ‬
‫‪ٔ ٥‬اﺧﱪ󰈋 ٔاﺑﻮ ﺑﻜﺮ ﶊ ّﺪ ﺑﻦ ﻋﺒﺪ اﻟﺒﺎﰶ أﻻﻧﺼﺎري ﺑﺒﻐﺪاد ٔا󰈋 ٔاﺑﻮ ﶊ ّﺪ اﳊﺴﻦ ﺑﻦ ﻋﲇ اﳉﻮﻫﺮي ٔا󰈋 ٔاﺑﻮ‬
‫اﳊﺴﲔ ﶊ ّﺪ ﺑﻦ اﳌﻈﻔّﺮ اﳊﺎﻓﻆ ٔا󰈋 ٔاﺑﻮ ﺑﻜﺮ ﶊ ّﺪ ﺑﻦ ﶊ ّﺪ ﺑﻦ ﺳﻠ󰍥ن ﺑﻦ اﳊﺎرث ﺛﻨﺎ ﺷﯿﺒﺎن ﺑﻦ‬
‫ﻓﺮوخ ﺛﻨﺎ ﻋﺒﺪ اﻟﻌﺰﯾﺰ ﺑﻦ ﻣﺴﲅ اﻟﻘﺴﻤﲇ ﺛﻨﺎ ٔاﺑﻮ ٕاﲮﺎق اﳍﻤﺪاﱐ ﻋﻦ ٔاﰊ أﻻﺣﻮص ﻋﻦ ﻋﺒﺪ ﷲ‬
‫ﺑﻦ ﻣﺴﻌﻮد ﻗﺎل‪ :‬ﻗﻠﺖ‪ :‬ﯾَﺮﺳﻮل ﷲ ٔاّي أﻻﻋﲈل ٔاﺣّﺐ ٕاﱃ ﷲ ﻋّﺰ وﺟّﻞ؟ ﻗﺎل‪ٔ :‬ان ﺗﺼّﲇ اﻟﺼﻠﻮات‬
‫ﳌﻮاﻗﯿﳤﺎ‪ .‬ﻗﻠﺖ‪ّ :‬ﰒ ٔاّي؟ ﻗﺎل‪ :‬ﺑّﺮ اﻟﻮا󰏩ﯾﻦ‪ .‬ﻗﻠﺖ‪ّ :‬ﰒ ٔاّي؟ ﻗﺎل‪ :‬اﳉﻬﺎد ﰲ ﺳﺒﯿﻞ ﷲ‪ .‬وﻟﻮ اﺳﱱدﺗﻪ‬
‫‪ ١٠‬ﻟﺰادﱐ‪.‬‬

‫ٔاﺧﺮﺟﻪ اﻟﺒﺨﺎري وﻣﺴﲅ ﰲ ﲱﯿﺤﻬﲈ ﻣﻦ ﺣﺪﯾﺚ ٔاﰊ ﲻﺮو اﻟﺸﯿﺒﺎﱐ ﻋﻦ ٔاﺑﻦ ﻣﺴﻌﻮد رﴈ ﷲ‬
‫ﻋﻨﻪ‪.‬‬

‫اﳊﺪﯾﺚ اﻟﺮاﺑﻊ‬
‫‪68a rep.‬‬ ‫ٔاﺧﱪ󰈋 ٔاﺑﻮ اﳌﻈﻔّﺮ ﻋﺒﺪ اﳌﻨﻌﻢ ﺑﻦ أﻻﺳـﺘﺎذ إﻻﻣﺎم ٔاﰊ اﻟﻘﺎﰟ | ﻋﺒﺪ اﻟﻜﺮﱘ ﺑﻦ ﻫﻮازن ٔا󰈋 ٔاﰊ ٔا󰈋 ٔاﺑﻮ‬
‫‪ ١٥‬ﻧﻌﲓ ﻋﺒﺪ اﳌ󰏮 ﺑﻦ اﳊﺴﻦ أﻻزﻫﺮاﱐ ٔا󰈋 ٔاﺑﻮ ﻋﻮاﻧﺔ ﯾﻌﻘﻮب ﺑﻦ ٕاﲮﺎق اﳊﺎﻓﻆ ﺛﻨﺎ ٔاﺑﻮ ﺑﻜﺮ ﶊ ّﺪ ﺑﻦ‬
‫ﻋﺒﺪ اﻟﺮﺣﲈن اﺑﻦ أﻻﺷﻌﺚ ا󰏩ﻣﺸﻘﻲ وﻣﻮﳻ ﺑﻦ ﺳﻌﯿﺪ ا󰏩ﻧﺪاﱐ ؤاﺑﻮ ﺣﺎﰎ اﻟﺮازي ؤاﺑﻮ ٕاﺳﲈﻋﯿﻞ‬

‫‪ ٢‬ﲱﯿﺢ اﻟﺒﺨﺎري‪ ،‬ﻛﺘﺎب اﻟﻌﺘﻖ )󰈈ب ‪ٔ :٢‬اي اﻟﺮﻗﺎب ٔاﻓﻀﻞ(‪) ١٤٨ :٥ ،‬رﰴ ‪ ٣ (٢٥١٨‬ﲱﯿﺢ ﻣﺴﲅ‪ ،‬ﻛﺘﺎب‬
‫إﻻﳝﺎن )󰈈ب إﻻﳝﺎن 󰈈󰏯 ٔاﻓﻀﻞ أﻻﻋﲈل(‪ ٣ ٦٢ :١ ،‬ﺻﺎﻧﻌًﺎ 󰈈ﻟﺼﺎد )ﻣﻄﺒﻮﻋﺔ( ‪ٔ ١١‬اﰊ ﲻﺮو اﻟﺸﯿﺒﺎﱐ ﻋﻦ )ﺳﺎﻗﻄﺔ‬
‫ﻣﻦ ﻣﻄﺒﻮﻋﺔ( ‪ ١٢‬ﲱﯿﺢ اﻟﺒﺨﺎري‪ ،‬ﻛﺘﺎب اﳉﻬﺎد واﻟﺴﲑ )󰈈ب ‪ :١‬ﻓﻀﻞ اﳉﻬﺎد واﻟﺴﲑ(‪) ۳ :٦ ،‬رﰴ ‪(٢٧٨٢‬؛ ﲱﯿﺢ‬
‫ﻣﺴﲅ‪ ،‬ﻛﺘﺎب إﻻﳝﺎن )󰈈ب إﻻﳝﺎن 󰈈󰏯 ٔاﻓﻀﻞ أﻻﻋﲈل(‪ ١٤ ٦٢-٦۳ :١ ،‬اﻟﺮﰴ ﻣﻜّﺮر ﰲ ٔاﻋﲆ اﻟﻮرﻗﺔ ﻣﻦ اﻟﻮرﻗﺔ‬
‫اﻟﺴﺎﺑﻘﺔ ﺑﺴﺒﺐ ﺧﻄﺎٔ ﰲ ﺗﺮﻗﲓ ٔاوراق ا󰏲ﻄﻮﻃﺔ ‪ ١٦‬ا󰏩ﻧﺪاﰄ )ﻣﻄﺒﻮﻋﺔ(‬
 the forty hadiths for inciting jihad 137

All agree on the soundness of this. Al-Bukhārī related it—ʿUbayd Allāh

ibn Mūsā—Hishām.3 Muslim also related it—Abū al-Rabīʿ and Khalaf ibn
Hishām—Ḥammād ibn Zayd—Hishām.4 This is how it appears in the
hadith: ḍāʾiʿ (neglected poor person) with ḍ.

Hadith 3
Abū Bakr Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Bāqī al-Anṣārī, in Baghdad—Abū Mu-
ḥammad al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAlī al-Jawharī—Abū al-Ḥusayn Muḥammad ibn al-
Muẓa󰀇far al-Ḥā󰀈椀ẓ—Abū Bakr Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad ibn Sulaymān
ibn al-Ḥārith—Shaybān ibn Farrūkh—ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn Muslim al-Qas-
malī—Abū Isḥaq al-Hamadānī—Abū al-Aḥwaṣ—ʿAbd Allāh ibn Masʿūd,
who said:
I asked the Messenger of God (ṣ): “Which of the religious practices is most
dear to God—glory and greatness belong to Him?” He replied: “To pray the
prayers in their time.” I then asked: “And what comes next?” He replied:
“Honoring and taking care of one’s parents.” I asked again: “And what comes
next?” He replied: “Waging jihad in the path of God.” Had I asked yet again,
he would have answered me.
Al-Bukhārī and Muslim authenticated this in their Ṣaḥīḥs—Abū ʿAmr
al-Shaybānī—Ibn Masʿūd, may God be pleased with him.5

Hadith 4
68a rep. Abū al-Muẓa󰀇far ʿAbd al-Munʿim ibn al-Ustādh al-Imām Abū al-Qāsim |6
ʿAbd al-Karīm ibn Huwāzin—my father [Abū al-Qāsim al-Qushayrī]—
Abū Nuʿaym ʿAbd al-Malik ibn al-Ḥasan al-Azharānī—Abū ʿUwāna Yaʿqūb
ibn Isḥāq al-Ḥā󰀈椀ẓ—Abū Bakr Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn al-
Ashʿath al-Dimashqī, Mūsā ibn Saʿīd al-Dandānī, Abū Ḥātim al-Rāzī,

3 Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, Kitāb al-ʿitq (bāb 2: ayy al-riqāb afḍal) [Book of Manumission

(Chapter 2: on what is the best manumission)], 5:148 (no. 2518).

4 Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, Kitāb al-īmān (bāb al-īmān bi-llāh afḍal al-aʿmāl) [Book of Faith

(Chapter on faith in God, which is the most noble of religious practices)], 1:62.
5 Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, Kitab al-jihād wa-l-siyar (bāb 1: Faḍl al-jihād wa-l-siyar) [Book of

Jihad and Proper Comportment (Chapter 1: on the merits of jihad and proper comport-
ment)], 6:3 (no. 2782); Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, Kitāb al-īmān (bāb al-īmān bi-llāh afḍal al-aʿmāl)
[Book of Faith (Chapter on faith in God, which is the most noble of religious practices)],
1:62–63.
6 The folio number is repeated as a result of a mistake in the numeration of the folios

of the manuscript.
 ‫‪138‬‬ ‫‪edition and translation‬‬

‫اﻟﱰﻣﺬي ﻗﺎﻟﻮا‪ :‬ﺛﻨﺎ ٔاﺑﻮ ﺗﻮﺑﺔ اﻟﺮﺑﯿﻊ ﺑﻦ 󰈋ﻓﻊ ﺛﻨﺎ ﻣﻌﺎوﯾﺔ ﺑﻦ ﺳّﻼم ﻋﻦ ٔاﺧﯿﻪ زﯾﺪ ﺑﻦ ﺳّﻼم ٔاﻧ ّﻪ ﲰﻊ ٔا󰈈‬
‫ﺳّﻼم ﺣّﺪﺛﻨﺎ اﻟﻨﻌﲈن ﺑﻦ ﺑﺸﲑ ﻗﺎل‪ :‬ﻛﻨﺖ ﻋﻨﺪ ﻣﻨﱪ رﺳﻮل ﷲ ﺻّﲆ ﷲ ﻋﻠﯿﻪ وﺳّﲅ ﯾﻮم ﲨﻌﺔ ﻓﻘﺎل‬
‫رﺟﻞ‪ :‬ﻣﺎ ٔا󰈈ﱄ ٔان ﻻ ٔاﲻﻞ ﲻًﻼ ﺑﻌﺪ إﻻﺳﻼم ٕاّﻻ ٔان ٔاﺳﻘﻲ اﳊﺎج‪ .‬وﻗﺎل اﻻ ٓﺧﺮ‪ :‬ﻻ ٔا󰈈ﱄ ٔان ﻻ ٔاﲻﻞ‬
‫ﲻًﻼ ﺑﻌﺪ ٕاّﻻﺳﻼم ٕاّﻻ ٔان ٔاّﲻﺮ اﳌﺴﺠﺪ اﳊﺮام‪ .‬وﻗﺎل اﻻٓﺧﺮ‪ :‬اﳉﻬﺎد ﰲ ﺳﺒﯿﻞ ﷲ ﻋّﺰ وﺟّﻞ ٔاﻓﻀﻞ‬
‫ّﳑﺎ ﻗﻠﱲ‪ .‬ﻓﺰﺟﺮﱒ ﲻﺮ ﺑﻦ اﳋّﻄﺎب وﻗﺎل‪ :‬ﻻ ﺗﺮﻓﻌﻮا ٔاﺻﻮاﺗﲂ ﻋﻨﺪ ﻣﻨﱪ رﺳﻮل ﷲ ﺻّﲆ ﷲ ﻋﻠﯿﻪ‬ ‫‪٥‬‬
‫وﺳّﲅ وﻫﻮ ﯾﻮم اﶺﻌﺔ‪ ،‬وﻟﻜﻦ ٕاذا ُﺻﻠ ّﯿﺖ اﶺﻌﺔ دﺧﻠﺖ ﻓﺎﺳـﺘﻔﺘﯿﺘﻪ ﻓ󰍥 اﺧﺘﻠﻔﱲ ﻓﯿﻪ‪ .‬ﻓﺎٔﻧﺰل ﷲ ﻋّﺰ‬
‫وﺟّﻞ ﴿ٔاﺟﻌﻠﱲ ﺳﻘﺎﯾﺔ اﳊﺎج وﻋﲈرة اﳌﺴﺠﺪ اﳊﺮام ﳈﻦ ا ٓﻣﻦ 󰈈󰏯 واﻟﯿﻮم اﻻ ٓﺧﺮ وﺟﺎﻫﺪ ﰲ ﺳﺒﯿﻞ‬
‫ﷲ ﻻ ﯾﺴـﺘﻮون ﻋﻨﺪ ﷲ وﷲ ﻻ ﳞﺪي اﻟﻘﻮم اﻟﻈﺎﳌﲔ﴾‪.‬‬

‫رواﻩ ﻣﺴﲅ ﰲ ﲱﯿﺤﻪ ﻋﻦ اﳊﺴﻦ ﺑﻦ ﻋﲇ اﳊﻠﻮاﱐ ﻋﻦ ٔاﰊ ﺗﻮﺑﺔ‪.‬‬

‫اﳊﺪﯾﺚ اﳋﺎﻣﺲ‬ ‫‪١٠‬‬

‫ٔاﺧﱪ󰈋 ٔاﺑﻮ ﻏﺎﻟﺐ ٔاﲪﺪ ﺑﻦ اﳊﺴﻦ ﺑﻦ ٔاﲪﺪ ﺑﻦ اﻟﺒﻨّﺎ ﺑﺒﻐﺪاد ٔا󰈋 ٔاﺑﻮ اﳊﺴﲔ ﶊ ّﺪ ﺑﻦ ٔاﲪﺪ ﺑﻦ ﶊ ّﺪ ﺑﻦ‬
‫أﻻﺑﻨﻮﳼ ﺛﻨﺎ ٔاﺑﻮ ٕاﲮﺎق ٕاﺑﺮاﻫﲓ ﺑﻦ ﶊ ّﺪ ﺑﻦ اﻟﻔﺘﺢ اﳉّﲇ اﳌّﺼﯿﴢ ﺛﻨﺎ ٔاﺑﻮ ﯾﻮﺳﻒ ﶊ ّﺪ ﺑﻦ ﺳﻔﯿﺎن‬
‫‪68b rep.‬‬ ‫ﺑﻦ ﻣﻮﳻ اﻟﺼﻔّﺎر | اﳌّﺼﯿﴢ ﺛﻨﺎ ٔاﺑﻮ ﻋ󰍣ن ﺳﻌﯿﺪ ﺑﻦ رﲪﺔ ﺑﻦ ﻧﻌﲓ أﻻﺻﺒﺤﻲ اﳌّﺼﯿﴢ ﻗﺎل‪ :‬ﲰﻌﺖ‬
‫ﻋﺒﺪ ﷲ ﺑﻦ اﳌﺒﺎرك ﯾﻘﻮل ٔا󰈋 أﻻوزاﻋﻲ ﺣّﺪﺛﲏ ﳛﲕ ﺑﻦ ٔاﰊ ﻛﺜﲑ ﺣّﺪﺛﲏ ﻫﻼل اﺑﻦ ٔاﰊ ﻣﳰﻮﻧﺔ ٔاّن‬
‫‪ ١٥‬ﻋﻄﺎء ﺑﻦ ﯾﺴﺎر ﺣّﺪﺛﻪ ٔاّن ﻋﺒﺪ ﷲ ﺑﻦ ﺳّﻼم ﺣّﺪﺛﻪ—ٔاو ﻗﺎل‪ :‬ﺣّﺪﺛﲏ ٔاﺑﻮ ﺳﻠﻤﺔ اﺑﻦ ﻋﺒﺪ اﻟﺮﺣﲈن‬
‫ﻋﻦ ﻋﺒﺪ ﷲ ﺑﻦ ﺳّﻼم—ﻗﺎل‪ :‬ﺗﺬاﻛﺮ󰈋 ﺑﯿﻨﻨﺎ ﻓﻘﻠﻨﺎ ٔاﯾّﲂ ﯾﺎٔﰐ رﺳﻮل ﷲ ﺻّﲆ ﷲ ﻋﻠﯿﻪ وﺳّﲅ ﯾﺴﺎٔ󰏳‬
‫ٔاّي أﻻﻋﲈل ٔاﺣّﺐ ٕاﱃ ﷲ ﻋّﺰ وﺟّﻞ‪ .‬ﻗﺎل‪ :‬ﻓﻬﺒﻨﺎ ٔان ﯾﻘﻮم ﻣﻨّﺎ ٔاﺣﺪ‪ .‬ﻗﺎل‪ :‬ﻓﺎٔرﺳﻞ ٕاﻟﯿﻨﺎ رﺳﻮل ﷲ ﺻّﲆ‬
‫ﷲ ﻋﻠﯿﻪ وﺳّﲅ رﺟًﻼ رﺟًﻼ ﺣّﱴ ﲨﻌﻨﺎ‪ ،‬ﲾﻌﻞ ﯾﺸﲑ ﺑﻌﻀﻨﺎ ٕاﱃ ﺑﻌﺾ‪ ،‬ﻓﻘﺮٔا ﻋﻠﯿﻨﺎ‪﴿ :‬ﺳـّﺒﺢ ﷲ ﻣﺎ ﰲ‬
‫اﻟﺴﲈوات وﻣﺎ ﰲ أﻻرض وﻫﻮ اﻟﻌﺰﯾﺰ اﳊﻜﲓ ﯾ َﺎٔ ّﳞﺎ ا󰏫ﯾﻦ ا ٓﻣﻨﻮا ِﻟَﻢ ﺗﻘﻮﻟﻮن ﻣﺎ ﻻ ﺗﻔﻌﻠﻮن﴾‪ ،‬ﻣﻦ ٔاّوﻟﻬﺎ‬

‫‪ ١‬وﻣﻌﺎوﯾﺔ )ﻣﻄﺒﻮﻋﺔ( ‪ ٤‬إﻻﺳﻼم )ﺳﺎﻗﻄﺔ ﻣﻦ ﻣﻄﺒﻮﻋﺔ( ‪ ٨‬ﺳﻮرة اﻟﺘﻮﺑﺔ )‪ ٩ ١٩ :(٩‬ﲱﯿﺢ ﻣﺴﲅ‪،‬‬

‫‪ ١٣‬اﻟﺼﻐﺎر )ﻣﻄﺒﻮﻋﺔ(‬ ‫‪ ١١‬ﺑﻦ ٔاﲪﺪ )ﺳﺎﻗﻄﺔ ﻣﻦ ﻣﻄﺒﻮﻋﺔ(‬ ‫ﻛﺘﺎب إﻻﻣﺎرة )󰈈ب ﻓﻀﻞ اﻟﺸﻬﺎدة(‪۳٦ :٦ ،‬‬
‫ﻫ‬
‫‪ ١٧‬و ﺒﻨﺎ )ﻣﻄﺒﻮﻋﺔ(‬ ‫‪ ١٦‬ﺗﻨﺎﻛﺮ󰈋 )ﻣﻄﺒﻮﻋﺔ(‬ ‫‪ ١٤‬ﺑﻦ ﻫﻼل )ﻣﻄﺒﻮﻋﺔ(‬ ‫‪ ١٤‬ﯾﻘﻮل )ﺳﺎﻗﻄﺔ ﻣﻦ ﻣﻄﺒﻮﻋﺔ(‬
‫‪ ١٨‬ﯾﻨّﱮء )ﻣﻄﺒﻮﻋﺔ( ‪ ١٩‬ﺳﻮرة اﻟﺼ ّﻒ )‪١-٢ :(٦١‬‬
 the forty hadiths for inciting jihad 139

and Abū Ismāʿīl al-Tirmidhī—Abū Tawba al-Rabīʿ ibn Nā󰀈椀ʿ—Muʿāwiya

ibn Sallām—his brother Zayd ibn Sallām—Abū Sallām—al-Nuʿmān ibn
Bashīr, who said:
I was near the pulpit of the Messenger of God (ṣ) on a Friday when a man
said: “I don’t care if, after embracing Islam, the only good deed I do is
providing water for the pilgrims.” Another man said: “I don’t care if, after
embracing Islam, the only good deed I do is caring for the Sacred Mosque.” A
man objected, saying: “Jihad in the path of God Almighty is better than what
you have said.” ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb reprimanded them and said: “Don’t
raise your voices near the pulpit of the Messenger of God (ṣ) on a Friday.
When the Friday prayer is over, I will go to him and ask his opinion about
the matter on which you have di󰀇fered.” God—glory and greatness belong
to Him—revealed: ﴾Are you indeed equating provision of water to pilgrims
and caring for the Sacred Mosque with one who believes in God and the
Last Day, and labours hard (jāhad) in the cause of God? They are not equal
in the sight of God, and God guides not the evildoers.﴿7 (Qurʾan 9:20)
Muslim related this in his Ṣaḥīḥ—al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAlī al-Ḥulwānī—Abū
Tawba.8

Hadith 5
Abū Ghālib Aḥmad ibn al-Ḥasan ibn Aḥmad ibn al-Bannā, in Baghdad—
Abū al-Ḥusayn Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn al-Aba-
nūsī—Abū Isḥaq Ibrāhīm ibn Muḥammad ibn al-Fatḥ al-Jallī al-Miṣṣīṣī—
68b rep. Abū Yūsuf Muḥammad ibn Sufyān ibn Mūsā al-Ṣa󰀇fār | al-Mīṣṣīṣī—Abū
ʿUthmān Saʿīd ibn Raḥma ibn Nuʿaym al-Aṣbaḥī al-Miṣṣīṣī—ʿAbd Allāh
ibn al-Mubārak—al-Awzāʿī—Yaḥyā ibn Abū Kathīr—Hilāl ibn Abū May-
mūna—ʿAṭāʾ ibn Yasār or Abū Salama ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān—ʿAbd Allāh
ibn Sallām, who said:
We were conversing among ourselves, and wondering if one of us would go
to the Messenger of God (ṣ) and ask him which of the religious practices
is most dear to God—glory and greatness belong to Him. But none of us
dared do it. Then the Messenger of God (ṣ) sent for us one by one until we
were all together—we stared at each other with accusing eyes. He recited
to us: ﴾Glorifying God is all that exists in the heavens and earth—Almighty,

7 While Hadith 4 serves as a brief commentary on Qurʾan 9:20, Ibn ʿAsākir’s audience

would have been well aware that the Medinan Sūrat al-Tawba (Repentance) dates to after
Muhammad’s victory at Tabūk (630 ce), and hence was a foundational text for the ideology
of jihad and warfare in the path of God. Since Sūrat al-Tawba is comprised of 129 verses,
we have not reproduced it here. See Chapter Two, especially pp. 21–23.
8 Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, Kitab al-imāra (bab faḍl al-shahāda fī sabīl Allāh) [Book of Adminis-

tration (Chapter on the merits of achieving martyrdom in the path of God)], 6:36.
‫‪140‬‬ ‫‪edition and translation‬‬

‫ٕاﱃ ا ٓﺧﺮﻫﺎ‪ .‬ﻓﺘﻼﻫﺎ ﻋﻠﯿﻨﺎ ﻋﺒﺪ ﷲ اﺑﻦ ﺳّﻼم ﻣﻦ ٔاّوﻟﻬﺎ ٕاﱃ ا ٓﺧﺮﻫﺎ‪ .‬ﻗﺎل ﻫﻼل‪ :‬ﻓﺘﻼﻫﺎ ﻋﻠﯿﻨﺎ ﻋﻄﺎء‬
‫ﺑﻦ ﯾﺴﺎر ﻣﻦ ٔاّوﻟﻬﺎ ٕاﱃ ا ٓﺧﺮﻫﺎ‪ .‬ﻗﺎل ﳛﲕ‪ :‬ﻓﺘﻼﻫﺎ ﻋﻠﯿﻨﺎ ﻫﻼل ﻣﻦ ٔاّوﻟﻬﺎ ٕاﱃ ا ٓﺧﺮﻫﺎ‪ .‬ﻗﺎل أﻻوزاﻋﻲ‪:‬‬
‫ﻓﺘﻼﻫﺎ ﻋﻠﯿﻨﺎ ﳛﲕ ﻣﻦ ٔاّوﻟﻬﺎ ٕاﱃ ا ٓﺧﺮﻫﺎ‪.‬‬

‫اﳊﺪﯾﺚ اﻟﺴﺎدس‬
‫ٔاﺧﱪ󰈋 ٔاﺑﻮ اﳌﻈﻔّﺮ ﺑﻦ ٔاﰊ اﻟﻘﺎﰟ اﻟﻘﺸﲑي ٔا󰈋 ٔاﺑﻮ ﺳﻌﯿﺪ ﶊ ّﺪ ﺑﻦ ﻋﺒﺪ اﻟﺮﺣﲈن أﻻدﯾﺐ ٔا󰈋 ٔاﺑﻮ ﲻﺮو‬ ‫‪٥‬‬
‫ﶊ ّﺪ ﺑﻦ ٔاﲪﺪ ﺑﻦ ﲪﺪان ٔا󰈋 ٔاﺑﻮ ﯾﻌﲆ ٔاﲪﺪ ﺑﻦ ﻋﲇ ﺑﻦ اﳌﺜ ّﲎ ﺛﻨﺎ ﻫﺪﺑﺔ اﺑﻦ ﺧﺎ󰏩 ﺛﻨﺎ ٔاّ󰈈ن ﺑﻦ ﯾﺰﯾﺪ‬
‫ﺛﻨﺎ ﳛﲕ ﺑﻦ ٔاﰊ ﻛﺜﲑ ٔاّن زﯾﺪًا ﺣّﺪﺛﻪ ٔاّن ٔا󰈈 ﺳّﻼم ﺣّﺪﺛﻪ ٔاّن اﳊﺎرث أﻻﺷﻌﺮي ﺣّﺪﺛﻪ ٔاّن رﺳﻮل ﷲ‬

‫اﻟﻘﺴﱰي )ﻣﻄﺒﻮﻋﺔ(‬ ‫‪ ٣‬اﺑﻦ اﳌﺒﺎرك‪ ،‬ﻛﺘﺎب اﳉﻬﺎد‪ ،‬ﲢﻘﯿﻖ ﻧﺰﯾﻪ ّﲪﺎد )ﺗﻮﻧﺲ‪ :‬ا󰏩ار اﻟﺘﻮﻧﺴـّﯿﺔ‪٥ ٢٧-٢٨ ،(١٩٧٢ ،‬‬
‫‪ ٦‬ﺑﻦ )ﺳﺎﻗﻄﺔ ﻣﻦ ﻣﻄﺒﻮﻋﺔ( ‪ ٦‬ﻫﺪﯾﺔ )ﻣﻄﺒﻮﻋﺔ(‬
 the forty hadiths for inciting jihad 141

All-Wise. O believers, why do you say what you do not do?﴿ (Qurʾan 61:1–2)
from the beginning to the end.9 Then ʿAbd Allāh ibn Sallām recited it to us
from the beginning to the end. Hilāl said: “Then ʿAṭāʾ ibn Yasār recited it to
us from the beginning to the end.” Yaḥyā said: “Then Hilāl recited it to us
from the beginning to the end.” Al-Awzāʿī said: “Then Yayhā recited it to us
from the beginning to the end.”10

Hadith 6
Abū al-Muẓa󰀇far ibn Abū al-Qāsim al-Qushayrī—Abū Saʿīd Muḥammad
ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥman al-Adīb—Abū ʿAmr Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad ibn
Ḥamdān—Abū Yaʿlā Aḥmad ibn ʿAlī ibn al-Muthannā—Hudba ibn Khā-
lid—Abbān ibn Yazīd—Yaḥyā ibn Abū Kathīr—Zayd—Abū Sallām—al-
Ḥārith al-Ashʿarī, who said:

9 This is an explicit reference to the Medinan Sūrat al-Ṣa󰀆f (The Ranks; 61:1–14), which

would have been very familiar to Ibn ʿAsākir’s audience. Since it addresses the themes of
jihad and warfare in the path of God explicitly, it is relevant and helpful to include the
entire sura here. It reads:
﴾Glorifying God is all that exists in the heavens and earth—Almighty, All-Wise. O
believers, why do you say what you do not do? It is greatly abhorrent to God that
you say what you do not do! God loves those who 󰀈椀ght (yuqātilūn) in His cause in a
battle-line, like an edi󰀈椀ce, impenetrable. Remember when Moses said to his people:
‘My people, why are you doing me harm when you know that I am God’s messenger
to you?’ But when they veered into error, it was God Who caused their hearts to veer,
and God guides not a people depraved. Remember when Jesus son of Mary said:
‘Children of Israel, I am the messenger of God to you, con󰀈椀rming what preceded me
of the Torah, and I bring you glad tidings of a messenger to come after me called
Ahmad.’ When he brought them wonders they said: ‘This is sorcery manifest.’ Who
is more wicked than one who fabricates lies from God while being called to Islam?
God guides not a people who are wicked. They mean to put out the light of God with
their mouths, but God shall perfect His light, even though the unbelievers detest it.
It is He Who sent His Messenger with Guidance and the religion of truth, to send
it victorious over all other religions, even if the polytheists detest it. O believers,
shall I point you to a commerce that will save you from a painful torment? That you
believe in God and His Messenger; that you exert yourselves (tujāhidūn) with your
wealth and persons. This would be best for you, if only you knew. He shall forgive
you your sins and admit you into Gardens beneath which rivers 󰀆lfow, and pure
habitations in the Gardens of Eternal Abode—and that is the greatest of triumphs!
And yet another bounty, beloved by you, will He grant you: victory from God and
an imminent conquest. Give these glad tidings to the believers. O believers, be the
champions of God, as when Jesus son of Mary said to his Apostles: ‘Who shall be my
champions before God?’ and the Apostles replied: ‘We are the champions of God.’
So a party of the Children of Israel believed while another party disbelieved. And We
aided those who believed against their enemies, and they ended up victorious.﴿
10 See Ibn al-Mubārak, Kitāb al-jihād, ed. Nazīh Ḥammād (Tunis: al-Dār al-Tūnisīya,

1972), 27–28.
 ‫‪142‬‬ ‫‪edition and translation‬‬

‫ﺻّﲆ ﷲ ﻋﻠﯿﻪ وﺳّﲅ ﻗﺎل‪ٕ :‬اّن ﷲ ﺗﻌﺎﱃ ٔاﻣﺮ ﳛﲕ ﺑﻦ زﻛﺮّ󰈍 ﻋﻠﳱﲈ اﻟﺴﻼم ﲞﻤﺲ ﳇﲈت ﯾﻌﻤﻞ ﲠّﻦ‬
‫وﯾﺎٔﻣﺮ ﺑﲏ ٕاﴎاﺋﯿﻞ ﯾﻌﻤﻠﻮن ﲠّﻦ‪ ،‬ؤاّن ﻋﯿﴗ ﺑﻦ ﻣﺮﱘ ﻋﻠﯿﻪ اﻟﺴﻼم ﻗﺎل 󰏳‪ٕ :‬اّن ﷲ ٔاﻣﺮﱐ ﲞﻤﺲ‬
‫‪69a‬‬ ‫ﳇﲈت | ﻧﻌﻤﻞ ﲠّﻦ وﻧﺎٔﻣﺮ ﲠّﻦ ﺑﲏ ٕاﴎاﺋﯿﻞ ﯾﻌﻤﻠﻮن ﲠّﻦ‪ ،‬ﻓﺎّٔﻣﺎ ٔان ﺗﺎٔﻣﺮﱒ ؤاّﻣﺎ ٔان ا ٓﻣﺮﱒ‪ .‬ﻗﺎل‪ٕ :‬اﻧ ّﻚ‬
‫ٕان ﺗﺴـﺒﻘﲏ ﲠّﻦ ﺧﺸﯿﺖ ٔان ٔاﻋّﺬب ٔاو ﳜﺴﻒ ﰊ‪ .‬ﻗﺎل‪ :‬ﲾﻤﻊ اﻟﻨﺎس ﰲ ﺑﯿﺖ اﳌﻘﺪس ﺣّﱴ اﻣﺘٔﻼ‬
‫‪ ٥‬وﻗﻌﺪ اﻟﻨﺎس ﻋﲆ اﻟﴩﻓﺎت‪ .‬ﻗﺎل‪ :‬ﻓﻮﻋﻈﻬﻢ ﻗﺎل‪ٕ :‬اّن ﷲ ٔاﻣﺮﱐ ﲞﻤﺲ ﳇﲈت ٔاﲻﻞ ﲠّﻦ وا ٓﻣﺮﰼ ٔان‬
‫ﺗﻌﻤﻠﻮا ﲠّﻦ‪ٔ .‬اوﻟﻬّﻦ ٔان ﺗﻌﺒﺪوا ﷲ وﻻ ﺗﴩﻛﻮا ﺑﻪ ﺷﯿﺌًﺎ‪ ،‬ؤان ﻣﺜﻞ ﻣﻦ ٔاﴍك 󰈈󰏯 ﳈﺜﻞ رﺟﻞ اﺷﱰى‬
‫ﻋﺒﺪًا ﻣﻦ ﺧﺎﻟﺺ ﻣﺎ󰏳 ﺑﺬﻫﺐ ٔاو ورق ﻗﺎل‪ :‬ﻫﺬﻩ داري وﻫﺬا ﲻﲇ ﻓﺎﲻﻞ ؤا ِ ّد ٕاّﱄ‪ ،‬ﲾﻌﻞ ﯾﻌﻤﻞ‬
‫ﴪﻩ ٔان ﯾﻜﻮن ﻋﺒﺪﻩ ﻛﺬ󰏭؟ ﻓٕﺎّن ﷲ ﺧﻠﻘﲂ ورزﻗﲂ ﻓﻼ ﺗﴩﻛﻮا‬ ‫وﯾﺆّدي ٕاﱃ ﻏﲑ ﺳـّﯿﺪﻩ‪ ،‬ﻓﺎٔﯾّﲂ ﯾ ّ‬
‫ﺑﻪ ﺷﯿﺌًﺎ‪ .‬وا ٓﻣﺮﰼ 󰈈ﻟﺼﻼة‪ ،‬ﻓٕﺎذا ﺻﻠ ّﯿﱲ ﻓﻼ ﺗﻠﺘﻔﺘﻮا‪ .‬وا ٓﻣﺮﰼ 󰈈ﻟﺼﯿﺎم‪ ،‬ؤاّن ﻣﺜﻞ ذ󰏭 ﳈﺜﻞ رﺟﻞ ﰷﻧﺖ‬
‫ﴏة ﻓﳱﺎ ﻣﺴﻚ وﻣﻌﻪ ﻋﺼﺎﺑﺔ ﳇّﻬﻢ ﯾﻌﺠﳢﻢ ٔان ﳚﺪ رﳛﻬﺎ‪ ،‬ﻓٕﺎّن اﻟﺼﺎﱘ ﻋﻨﺪ ﷲ ﯾﻌﲏ ٔاﻃﯿﺐ‬ ‫‪ ١٠‬ﻣﻌﻪ ّ‬
‫ﻣﻦ رﱖ اﳌﺴﻚ‪ .‬وا ٓﻣﺮﰼ 󰈈ﻟﺼﺪﻗﺔ‪ ،‬ﻓٕﺎّن ﻣﺜﻞ ذ󰏭 ﳈﺜﻞ رﺟﻞ ٔاﴎﻩ اﻟﻌﺪّو وﻗﺎﻣﻮا ٕاﻟﯿﻪ ﻓﺎٔوﺛﻘﻮا ﯾﺪﻩ‬
‫ﻚ ﻧﻔﺴﻪ ﻣﳯﻢ‪.‬‬ ‫ٕاﱃ ﻋﻨﻘﻪ ﻓﻘﺎل‪ :‬ﻫﻞ ﻟﲂ ٔان ٔاﻓﺪي ﻧﻔﴘ ﻣﻨﲂ؟ ﻗﺎل‪ :‬ﲾﻌﻞ ﯾﻌﻄﳱﻢ اﻟﻘﻠﯿﻞ واﻟﻜﺜﲑ ﻟﯿﻔ ّ‬
‫وا ٓﻣﺮﰼ ﺑﺬﻛﺮ ﷲ ﻛﺜﲑًا‪ ،‬ؤاّن ﻣﺜﻞ ذ󰏭 ﳈﺜﻞ رﺟﻞ ﻃﻠﺒﻪ اﻟﻌﺪّو ﴎاﻋًﺎ ﰲ ٔاﺛﺮﻩ ﺣّﱴ ٔاﰏ ﻋﲆ ﺣﺼﻦ‬
‫ﺣﺼﲔ ﻓﺎٔﺣﺮز ﻧﻔﺴﻪ ﻓﯿﻪ‪ ،‬ﻛﺬ󰏭 اﻟﻌﺒﺪ ﻻ ﳛﺮز ﻧﻔﺴﻪ ﻣﻦ اﻟﺸـﯿﻄﺎن ٕاّﻻ ﺑﺬﻛﺮ ﷲ ﻋّﺰ وﺟّﻞ‪ .‬وﻗﺎل‬
‫‪ ١٥‬رﺳﻮل ﷲ ﺻّﲆ ﷲ ﻋﻠﯿﻪ وﺳّﲅ‪ :‬ؤا󰈋 ا ٓﻣﺮﰼ ﲞﻤﺲ ٔاﻣﺮﱐ ﷲ ﲠّﻦ‪ :‬اﶺﺎﻋﺔ واﻟﺴﻤﻊ واﻟﻄﺎﻋﺔ واﻟﻬﺠﺮة‬
‫واﳉﻬﺎد ﰲ ﺳﺒﯿﻞ ﷲ ﻋّﺰ وﺟّﻞ‪ .‬ﳁﻦ ﻓﺎرق اﶺﺎﻋﺔ ﻗﯿﺪ ﺷﱪ ﺧﻠﻊ ﯾﻌﲏ ِرﺑَْﻘﺔ إﻻﺳﻼم ﻣﻦ رٔاﺳﻪ ٕاّﻻ‬
‫ٔان ﯾﺮﺟﻊ‪ ،‬وﻣﻦ دﻋﺎ ﺑﺪﻋﻮى اﳉﺎﻫﻠّﯿﺔ ﻓٕﺎﻧ ّﻪ ﻣﻦ ﺟﺜﺎ 󰏄 ّﲌ‪ .‬ﻗﯿﻞ‪ :‬وٕان ﺻﺎم وﺻّﻼ؟ ﻗﺎل‪ :‬وٕان ﺻﺎم‬
‫‪69b‬‬ ‫ﲰﻰ ﷲ ﺑﻪ اﳌﺴﻠﻤﲔ اﳌﺆﻣﻨﲔ ﻋﺒﺎد ﷲ‪.‬‬ ‫وﺻّﻼ‪ ،‬ﻓﺎدﻋﻮا ﺑﺪﻋﻮى ﷲ | ا󰏫ي ّ‬
‫ٔاﺧﺮﺟﻪ اﻟﱰﻣﺬي ﻋﻦ ﶊ ّﺪ ﺑﻦ ٕاﺳﲈﻋﯿﻞ اﻟﺒﺨﺎري ﻋﻦ ﻣﻮﳻ ﺑﻦ ٕاﺳﲈﻋﯿﻞ اﻟﺘﺒﻮذﰾ ﻋﻦ ٔاّ󰈈ن‪ .‬وﻗﻮ󰏳‬
‫‪ ٢٠‬ﻗﯿﺪ ﺷﱪ‪ٔ ،‬اي ﻗﺪر ﺷﱪ‪.‬‬

‫ﻂ اﻟﱪزاﱄ( ‪ ١٠‬ﻓﳱﺎ )ﺳﺎﻗﻄﺔ ﻣﻦ‬ ‫‪ ٣‬ﯾﻌﻤﻞ )ﻣﻄﺒﻮﻋﺔ( ‪ ٣‬ﯾﺎٔﻣﺮ )ﻣﻄﺒﻮﻋﺔ( ‪ ٨‬ﻏﲑ )ﰲ ﻫﺎﻣﺶ ا󰏲ﻄﻮﻃﺔ ﲞ ّ‬
‫ٔ‬
‫ﻣﻄﺒﻮﻋﺔ( ‪ ١٦‬ﻗﯿﻞ )ﻣﻄﺒﻮﻋﺔ( ‪ ١٧‬ﺟﱻ )ﻣﻄﺒﻮﻋﺔ( ‪ ١٩‬ﺳﲍ اﻟﱰﻣﺬي‪ ،‬ﻛﺘﺎب اﻻﻣﺜﺎل )󰈈ب ‪ :۳‬ﻣﺎ ﺟﺎء ﰲ‬
‫ﻣﺜﻞ اﻟﺼﻼة(‪)١۳٦-١۳٧ :٥ ،‬رﰴ ‪ ٢٠ (٢٨٦۳‬ﻗﺒﻞ )ﻣﻄﺒﻮﻋﺔ( ‪ ٢٠‬ﻗﯿﻞ و )ﻣﻄﺒﻮﻋﺔ(‬
 the forty hadiths for inciting jihad 143

The Messenger of God (ṣ) said: “God Almighty commanded John son of
Zechariah—peace on both of them—to abide by 󰀈椀ve words and to com-
mand the Israelites to abide by them too. Jesus son of Mary—peace on
69a him—said to him: ‘God has commanded us to abide by 󰀈椀ve words | and to
command the Israelites to abide by them too. So either you command them
or I will.’ John said: ‘If you do it before me I fear lest I be tortured or swal-
lowed into the ground.’ So he summoned the people to the Temple [Bayt
al-Maqdis] until it was full and many sat on the terraces. He preached to
them, saying: ‘God has commanded me to abide by 󰀈椀ve words and to com-
mand you to abide by them too. First is that you worship God and do not
associate with Him any one, for the polytheist is like a man who bought a
slave from his own wealth—gold or silver—and told him: “This is my house
and this is my estate; work and bring the revenues to me.” The slave started
working but gave the revenues to someone other than his lord. Who among
you is pleased if his slave does that? God has indeed created you and granted
you sustenance so do not associate with Him any one. I also command you
to pray, and when you pray do not look around. I also command you to fast,
for that is like a man who has a sack of frankincense and is followed by a
gang who are eager to smell it. The person who fasts is worthier in God’s
sight than the pure smell of frankincense. I also command you to pay alms,
for that is like a man who is taken captive by the enemy, who then tied his
hand to his neck. He said to them: “Can I ransom myself from you?” He gave
them everything so that he could be freed from them. I also command you
to remember God constantly, for that is like a man whose enemy is close on
his trail and who reaches an impenetrable fortress and forti󰀈椀es himself in
it. Similar is the servant, for he is only forti󰀈椀ed from Satan by the constant
remembrance of God—glory and greatness belong to Him.’” The Messen-
ger of God (ṣ) added: “I, too, command you to abide by 󰀈椀ve which God has
commanded me: membership in the community, hearing, obeying, making
the migration [to Islam], and waging jihad in the path of God—glory and
greatness belong to Him. Whoever distances himself from the community,
even for an arm’s length, casts o󰀇f the tie of Islam from his head unless he
comes back, and whoever uses the supplication of the pre-Islamic Age of
Ignorance is in the companies of Hell.” He was asked: “Even if he prays and
fasts?” The prophet replied: “Even if he prays and fasts. Make sure you use
69b God’s supplication | as a result of which God called the believing Muslims
the worshipers of God.”
Al-Tirmidhī authenticated this—Muḥammad ibn Ismāʿīl al-Bukhārī—
Mūsā ibn Ismāʿīl al-Tabūdhakī—Abbān.11 The meaning of “even for an
arm’s length” is approximately an arm’s length.

11 Sunan al-Tirmidhī, Kitāb al-amthāl (bāb 3: mā jāʾ fī mithl al-ṣalāt) [Book of Parables

(Chapter 3: what was said about what is comparable to the prayer)], 5:136–137 (no. 2863).
 ‫‪144‬‬ ‫‪edition and translation‬‬

‫اﳊﺪﯾﺚ اﻟﺴﺎﺑﻊ‬
‫ٔاﺧﱪ󰈋 ٔاﺑﻮ ﻋﺒﺪ ﷲ ﶊ ّﺪ ﺑﻦ اﻟﻔﻀﻞ اﻟﻔﻘﯿﻪ ﺑﻨﯿﺴﺎﺑﻮر ٔا󰈋 ٔاﺑﻮ ﺑﻜﺮ ٔاﲪﺪ ﺑﻦ ﻣﻨﺼﻮر ﺑﻦ ﺧﻠﻒ ٔا󰈋 ﶊ ّﺪ‬
‫ﺑﻦ ﻋﺒﺪ ﷲ ﺑﻦ ﶊ ّﺪ ﺑﻦ اﳉﻮزﰶ ٔا󰈋 ٔاﺑﻮ ﺣﺎﻣﺪ اﺑﻦ اﻟﴩﰶ ﺛﻨﺎ ﶊ ّﺪ ﺑﻦ ﳛﲕ ﺛﻨﺎ ﶊ ّﺪ ﺑﻦ ﯾﻮﺳﻒ ﺛﻨﺎ‬
‫أﻻوزاﻋﻲ ﻋﻦ اﻟﺰﻫﺮي ﺣّﺪﺛﲏ ﻋﻄﺎء ﺑﻦ ﯾﺰﯾﺪ ﻋﻦ ٔاﰊ ﺳﻌﯿﺪ ﻗﺎل‪ :‬ﺟﺎء ٔاﻋﺮاﰊ ٕاﱃ اﻟﻨﱯّ ﺻّﲆ ﷲ‬
‫ﻋﻠﯿﻪ وﺳّﲅ ﻓﻘﺎل‪ :‬ﯾَﺮﺳﻮل ﷲ ٔاي اﻟﻨﺎس ﺧﲑ؟ ﻗﺎل‪ :‬رﺟﻞ ﺟﺎﻫﺪ ﺑﻨﻔﺴﻪ وﻣﺎ󰏳‪ ،‬ورﺟﻞ ﰲ ﺷﻌﺐ‬ ‫‪٥‬‬
‫ﻣﻦ اﻟﺸﻌﺎب ﯾﻌﺒﺪ رﺑ ّﻪ وﯾﺪع اﻟﻨﺎس ﻣﻦ ّ‬
‫ﴍﻩ‪.‬‬

‫رواﻩ اﻟﺒﺨﺎري ﻋﻦ ﶊ ّﺪ ﺑﻦ ﯾﻮﺳﻒ‪ ،‬ورواﻩ ﻣﺴﲅ ﻋﻦ ا󰏩ارﱊ ﻋﻦ ﶊ ّﺪ ﺑﻦ ﯾﻮﺳﻒ‪.‬‬

‫اﳊﺪﯾﺚ اﻟﺜﺎﻣﻦ‬
‫ٔاﺧﱪ󰈋 ٔاﺑﻮ ﻋﺒﺪ ﷲ ﶊ ّﺪ ﺑﻦ اﻟﻔﻀﻞ ٔا󰈋 ٔاﲪﺪ ﺑﻦ ﻣﻨﺼﻮر ٔا󰈋 ٔاﺑﻮ ﺑﻜﺮ ﶊ ّﺪ ﺑﻦ ﻋﺒﺪ ﷲ اﻟﺸﯿﺒﺎﱐ‬
‫ﳘﺎم ﺛﻨﺎ ﶊ ّﺪ ﺑﻦ ﲧﺎدة‪ ،‬ﻗﺎل‪:‬‬
‫‪ٔ ١٠‬ا󰈋 ٔاﺑﻮ اﻟﻌّﺒﺎس ا󰏩ﻏﻮﱄ ﺛﻨﺎ ﶊ ّﺪ ﺑﻦ ٕاﺳﲈﻋﯿﻞ ﺛﻨﺎ ﻋﻔّﺎن اﺑﻦ ﻣﺴﲅ ﺛﻨﺎ ّ‬
‫ؤاﺧﱪ󰈋 اﻟﺸﯿﺒﺎﱐ ٔا󰈋 ٔاﺑﻮ ﺣﺎﻣﺪ اﺑﻦ اﻟﴩﰶ ﺛﻨﺎ ﶊ ّﺪ ﺑﻦ ﳛﲕ وﻋﲇ ﺑﻦ ﺳﻌﯿﺪ اﻟﻨﺴﻮي ؤاﲪﺪ ﺑﻦ‬
‫ﯾﻮﺳﻒ اﻟﺴﻠﻤﻲ ﻗﺎﻟﻮا‪ :‬ﺛﻨﺎ ﻋﻔّﺎن ﺑﻦ ﻣﺴﲅ ﺛﻨﺎ ّﳘﺎم ﺛﻨﺎ ﶊ ّﺪ ﺑﻦ ﲧﺎدة ٔاّن ٔا󰈈 ﺣﺼﲔ ﺣّﺪﺛﻪ ٔاّن ذﻛﻮان‬
‫ٔا󰈈 ﺻﺎﱀ ﺣّﺪﺛﻪ ٔاّن ٔا󰈈 ﻫﺮﯾﺮة ﺣّﺪﺛﻪ ﻗﺎل‪ :‬ﺟﺎء رﺟﻞ ٕاﱃ اﻟﻨﱯّ ﺻّﲆ ﷲ ﻋﻠﯿﻪ وﺳّﲅ ﻓﻘﺎل‪ :‬ﯾَﺮﺳﻮل‬
‫‪70a‬‬ ‫ﷲ ﻋﻠ ّﻤﲏ ﲻًﻼ ﯾﻌﺪل اﳉﻬﺎد ﰲ ﺳﺒﯿﻞ ﷲ‪ | .‬ﻗﺎل‪ :‬ﻻ ٔاﺟﺪﻩ‪ .‬ﻗﺎل‪ :‬ﻫﻞ ﺗﺴـﺘﻄﯿﻊ ٕاذا ﺧﺮج ا󰏱ﺎﻫﺪ‬
‫‪ ١٥‬ﰲ ﺳﺒﯿﻞ ﷲ ٔان ﺗﺪﺧﻞ ﻣﺴﺠﺪك‪ ،‬ﻓﺘﻘﻮم ﻻ ﺗﻔﱰ وﺗﺼﻮم وﻻ ﺗﻔﻄﺮ؟ ﻗﺎل‪ :‬ﻻ ٔاﺳـﺘﻄﯿﻊ ذ󰏭‪ .‬ﻗﺎل‬
‫ٔاﺑﻮ ﻫﺮﯾﺮة‪ٕ :‬اّن ﻓﺮس ا󰏱ﺎﻫﺪ ﯾﺴﱳ ﰲ ﻃﻮ󰏳 ﻓﯿﻜﺘﺐ 󰏳 ﺣﺴـﻨﺎت‪.‬‬

‫رواﻩ اﻟﺒﺨﺎري ﻋﻦ ٕاﲮﺎق ﻋﻦ ﻋﻔّﺎن ﺑﻦ ﻣﺴﲅ‪.‬‬

‫‪ ٣‬اﻟﴩﰲ )ﻣﻄﺒﻮﻋﺔ( ‪ ٧‬ﲱﯿﺢ اﻟﺒﺨﺎري‪ ،‬ﻛﺘﺎب اﻟﺮﻗﺎق )󰈈ب ‪ :٣٤‬اﻟﻌﺰ󰏧(‪) ۳۳٠-۳۳١ :١١ ،‬رﰴ ‪(٦٤٩٤‬؛ ٔاﻧﻈﺮ‬
‫ٔاﯾﻀًﺎ ﻛﺘﺎب اﳉﻬﺎد واﻟﺴﲑ )󰈈ب ‪ٔ :٢‬اﻓﻀﻞ اﻟﻨﺎس(‪) ٦ :٦ ،‬رﰴ ‪ ٧ (٢٧٨٦‬ﲱﯿﺢ ﻣﺴﲅ‪ ،‬ﻛﺘﺎب إﻻﻣﺎرة )󰈈ب ﻓﻀﻞ‬
‫اﳉﻬﺎد واﻟﺮ󰈈ط(‪ ١١ ۳٩ :٦ ،‬اﻟﴪﰲ )ﻣﻄﺒﻮﻋﺔ( ‪ ١٧‬ﲱﯿﺢ اﻟﺒﺨﺎري‪ ،‬ﻛﺘﺎب اﳉﻬﺎد واﻟﺴﲑ )󰈈ب ‪ :١‬ﻓﻀﻞ‬
‫اﳉﻬﺎد واﻟﺴﲑ(‪) ٤ :٦ ،‬رﰴ ‪(٢٧٨٥‬‬
 the forty hadiths for inciting jihad 145

Hadith 7
Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad ibn al-Faḍl al-Faqīh, in Nishapur—Abū Bakr
Aḥmad ibn Manṣūr ibn Khalaf—Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Mu-
ḥammad ibn al-Jawzaqī—Abū Ḥāmid ibn al-Sharqī—Muḥammad ibn
Yaḥyā—Muḥammad ibn Yūsuf—al-Awzāʿī—al-Zuhrī—ʿAṭāʾ ibn Yazīd—
Abū Saʿīd, who said:
A nomad came to the Prophet (ṣ) and asked: “O Messenger of God, who is
the best of people?” He replied: “A man who wages jihad with his life and
with his wealth, and a man in a mountain gorge who worships his Lord and
spares people from his iniquity.”
Al-Bukhārī related this—Muḥammad ibn Yūsuf.12 Muslim also related
it—al-Dārimī—Muḥammad ibn Yūsuf.13

Hadith 8
Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad ibn al-Faḍl—Aḥmad ibn Manṣūr—Abū Bakr
Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Shaybānī—Abū al-ʿAbbās al-Daghūlī—
Muḥammad ibn Ismāʿīl—ʿA󰀇fān ibn Muslim—Hammām—Muḥammad
ibn Jaḥāda; and al-Shaybānī—Abū Ḥāmid ibn al-Sharqī—Muḥam-
mad ibn Yaḥyā, ʿAlī ibn Saʿīd al-Nasawī, and Aḥmad ibn Yūsuf al-Sulamī—
ʿA󰀇fān ibn Muslim—Hammām—Muḥammad ibn Jaḥāda. They said—
Abū Ḥuṣayn—Dhikwān Abū Ṣāliḥ—Abū Hurayra, who said:
A man came to the Prophet (ṣ) and asked: “O Messenger of God, teach me
70a something that equals waging jihad in the path of God?” | The Prophet
replied: “I cannot 󰀈椀nd any. Can you—when the jihad 󰀈椀ghter goes out to
󰀈椀ght in the path of God—enter the mosque, pray ceaselessly, and fast
continuously?” The man replied: “That I cannot do.” Abū Hurayra added:
“Even the wanderings of the jihad 󰀈椀ghter’s horse earn him good deeds.”
Al-Bukhārī related this—Isḥāq—ʿA󰀇fān ibn Muslim.14

12 Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, Kitāb al-riqāq (bāb 34: al-ʿuzla) [Book of Tenderness (Chapter 34: on

seclusion)], 11:330–331 (no. 6494), and Kitab al-jihād wa-l-siyar (bāb 2: afḍal al-nās) [Book
of Jihad and Proper Comportment (Chapter 2: on the best of people)], 6:6 (no. 2786).
13 Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, Kitāb al-imāra (bāb faḍl al-jihād wa-l-ribāṭ) [Book of Administration

(Chapter on the merits of jihad and garrisoning)], 6:39.

14 Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, Kitāb al-jihād wa-l-siyar (bāb 1: faḍl al-jihād wa-l-siyar) [Book of

Jihad and Proper Comportment (Chapter 1: on the merits of jihad and proper comport-
ment)], 6:4 (no. 2785).
 ‫‪146‬‬ ‫‪edition and translation‬‬

‫اﳊﺪﯾﺚ اﻟﺘﺎﺳﻊ‬
‫ٔاﺧﱪ󰈋 ٔاﺑﻮ ﶊ ّﺪ ﻫﺒﺔ ﷲ ﺑﻦ ﺳﻬﻞ ﺑﻦ ﲻﺮ اﻟﻔﻘﯿﻪ ٔا󰈋 ٔاﺑﻮ ﻋ󰍣ن ﺳﻌﯿﺪ ﺑﻦ ﶊ ّﺪ ﺑﻦ ٔاﲪﺪ ٔا󰈋 ٔاﺑﻮ ﻋﲇ‬
‫زاﻫﺮ ﺑﻦ ٔاﲪﺪ اﻟﻔﻘﯿﻪ ٔا󰈋 ٕاﺑﺮاﻫﲓ ﺑﻦ ﻋﺒﺪ اﻟﺼﻤﺪ اﻟﻬﺎﴰﻲ ﺛﻨﺎ ٔاﺑﻮ ﻣﺼﻌﺐ ٔاﲪﺪ ﺑﻦ ٔاﰊ ﺑﻜﺮ اﻟﺰﻫﺮي‬
‫ﺛﻨﺎ ﻣﺎ󰏭 ﺑﻦ ٔاﻧﺲ ﻋﻦ ٔاﰊ اﻟﺰ󰈋د ﻋﻦ أﻻﻋﺮج ﻋﻦ ٔاﰊ ﻫﺮﯾﺮة ٔاّن رﺳﻮل ﷲ ﺻّﲆ ﷲ ﻋﻠﯿﻪ وﺳّﲅ‬
‫ﻗﺎل‪ :‬ﻣﺜﻞ ا󰏱ﺎﻫﺪ ﰲ ﺳﺒﯿﻞ ﷲ ﳈﺜﻞ اﻟﺼﺎﱘ اﻟﻘﺎﱘ ا󰏩اﱘ ا󰏫ي ﻻ ﯾﻔﱰ ﺻﻼًة وﻻ ﺻﯿﺎﻣًﺎ ﺣّﱴ ﯾﺮﺟﻊ‪.‬‬ ‫‪٥‬‬

‫رواﻩ ﻣﺎ󰏭 ﰲ اﳌﻮّﻃﺎٔ‪.‬‬

‫اﳊﺪﯾﺚ اﻟﻌﺎﴍ‬
‫ٔاﺧﱪ󰈋 ٔاﺑﻮ ﻋﺒﺪ ﷲ اﳊﺴﲔ ﺑﻦ ﻋﺒﺪ اﳌ󰏮 ٔا󰈋 ٔاﺑﻮ اﻟﻘﺎﰟ ٕاﺑﺮاﻫﲓ ﺑﻦ ﻣﻨﺼﻮر ٔا󰈋 ٔاﺑﻮ ﺑﻜﺮ ﶊ ّﺪ ﺑﻦ‬
‫ٕاﺑﺮاﻫﲓ ٔا󰈋 ٔاﺑﻮ ﯾﻌﲆ ٔاﲪﺪ ﺑﻦ ﻋﲇ اﻟﳣﳰﻲ ﺛﻨﺎ ٔاﺑﻮ ﺧﯿﳥﺔ ﺛﻨﺎ ﺟﺮﯾﺮ ﻋﻦ ﻋﲈرة ﻋﻦ ٔاﰊ زرﻋﺔ ﻋﻦ ٔاﰊ‬
‫‪ ١٠‬ﻫﺮﯾﺮة ﻗﺎل‪ :‬ﻗﺎل رﺳﻮل ﷲ ﺻّﲆ ﷲ ﻋﻠﯿﻪ وﺳّﲅ‪ :‬ﺗﻀّﻤﻦ ﷲ ﻋّﺰ وﺟّﻞ ﳌﻦ ﺧﺮج ﰲ ﺳﺒﯿ󰏴 ﻻ ﳜﺮﺟﻪ‬
‫ٕاّﻻ 󰏄ﺎد ﰲ ﺳﺒﯿﲇ وٕاﳝﺎن ﰊ وﺗﺼﺪﯾﻖ ﺑﺮﺳﻮﱄ‪ ،‬ﻓﻬﻮ ﻋّﲇ ﺿﺎﻣﻦ ٔان ٔادﺧ󰏴 اﳉﻨّﺔ ٔاو ٔارﺟﻌﻪ ٕاﱃ‬
‫ﻣﺴﻜﻨﻪ ا󰏫ي ﺧﺮج ﻣﻨﻪ 󰈋ﯾًﻼ ﻣﺎ 󰈋ل ﻣﻦ ٔاﺟﺮ ٔاو ﻏﻨﳰﺔ‪ .‬وا󰏫ي ﻧﻔﺲ ﶊ ّﺪ ﺑﯿﺪﻩ ﻣﺎ ﻣﻦ ْﳇﻢ ﯾَُﳫﻢ ﰲ‬
‫‪70b‬‬ ‫ﺳﺒﯿﻞ ﷲ ٕاّﻻ ﺟﺎء | ﯾﻮم اﻟﻘﯿﺎﻣﺔ ﻛﻬﯿﺌﺘﻪ ﯾﻮم ُﳇﻢ‪ ،‬ﻟﻮﻧﻪ ﻟﻮن دّم ورﳛﻪ رﱖ ﻣﺴﻚ‪ .‬وا󰏫ي ﻧﻔﴘ ﺑﯿﺪﻩ‬
‫ﻟﻮﻻ ٔان ٔاﺷّﻖ ﻋﲆ اﳌﺴﻠﻤﲔ ﻣﺎ ﻗﻌﺪت ﺧﻼف ﴎﯾﺔ ﺗﻐﺰوا ﰲ ﺳﺒﯿﻞ ﷲ ٔاﺑﺪًا‪ ،‬وﻟﻜﻦ ﻻ ٔاﺟﺪ ﺳﻌﺔ‬
‫‪ ١٥‬وﯾﺸّﻖ ﻋﻠﳱﻢ ٔان ﯾﺘﺨﻠ ّﻔﻮا ﻋ ّﲏ‪ .‬وا󰏫ي ﻧﻔﺲ ﶊ ّﺪ ﺑﯿﺪﻩ ﻟﻮددت ٔان ٔاﻏﺰوا ﰲ ﺳﺒﯿﻞ ﷲ ﻓﺎُٔﻗﺘﻞ‪ّ ،‬ﰒ‬
‫ٔاﻏﺰوا ﻓﺎُٔﻗﺘﻞ‪ّ ،‬ﰒ ٔاﻏﺰوا ﻓﺎُٔﻗﺘﻞ‪.‬‬

‫‪ ٢‬ﶊ ّﺪ )ﺳﺎﻗﻄﺔ ﻣﻦ ﻣﻄﺒﻮﻋﺔ( ‪ ٢‬ﺳﻬﯿﻞ )ﻣﻄﺒﻮﻋﺔ( ‪ ٣‬ﺑﻦ ﶊ ّﺪ ﺑﻦ ٔاﲪﺪ ٔا󰈋 ٔاﺑﻮ ﻋﲇ زاﻫﺮ ﺑﻦ ٔاﲪﺪ اﻟﻔﻘﯿﻪ ٔا󰈋‬
‫ٕاﺑﺮاﻫﲓ )ﺳﺎﻗﻄﺔ ﻣﻦ ﻣﻄﺒﻮﻋﺔ( ‪ ٥‬اﻟﻘﺎﱘ )ﺳﺎﻗﻄﺔ ﻣﻦ ﻣﻄﺒﻮﻋﺔ( ‪ ٦‬ﻣﻮّﻃﺎٔ ﻣﺎ󰏭‪ ،‬ﻛﺘﺎب اﳉﻬﺎد )󰈈ب ‪ :١‬اﻟﱰﻏﯿﺐ ﰲ‬
‫اﳉﻬﺎد(‪) ٤٤۳ :٢ ،‬رﰴ ‪ٔ ٩ (١‬اﲪﺪ )ﺳﺎﻗﻄﺔ ﻣﻦ ﻣﻄﺒﻮﻋﺔ( ‪ ١٤‬ﻓﺎٔﲪﻠﻬﻢ وﻻ ﳚﺪون ﺳﻌﺔ )ز󰈍دة ﰲ ﻣﻄﺒﻮﻋﺔ(‬
 the forty hadiths for inciting jihad 147

Hadith 9
Abū Muḥammad Hibat Allāh ibn Sahl ibn ʿUmar al-Faqīh—Abū ʿUthmān
Saʿīd ibn Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad—Abū ʿAlī Zāhir ibn Aḥmad al-Faqīh—
Ibrāhīm ibn ʿAbd al-Ṣamad al-Hāshimī—Abū Muṣʿab Aḥmad ibn Abū
Bakr al-Zuhrī—Mālik ibn Anas—Abū al-Zanād—al-Aʿraj—Abū Hurayra,
who said:
The Messenger of God (ṣ) said: “The jihad 󰀈椀ghter in the path of God is like
someone who continuously fasts and stands for prayer; who ceases neither
his prayer nor his fasting until he returns.”
Mālik related this in the Muwaṭṭaʾ.15

Hadith 10
Abū ʿAbd Allāh al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAbd al-Malik—Abū al-Qāsim Ibrāhīm ibn
Manṣūr—Abū Bakr Muḥammad ibn Ibrāhīm—Abū Yaʿlā Aḥmad ibn ʿAlī
al-Tamīmī—Abū Khaythama—JarīrʿUmāra—Abū Zurʿa—Abū Hurayra,
who said:
The Messenger of God (ṣ) said: “God—glory and greatness belong to Him—
guarantees the rewards for whoever sets out in His path: ‘If what made him
set out is waging jihad in My path, belief in Me, and acceptance of My mes-
senger, I guarantee him either admission to Paradise or return to whence
he set out with a reward or booty.’ By the One in whose hand is the soul of
Muhammad, every wound [kalm] in󰀆lficted in the path of God will appear
70b on | the Day of Resurrection in the same condition as it was when it was
󰀈椀rst in󰀆lficted; its color, the color of blood; its smell, the smell of musk. By
the One in whose hand is my soul, if it were not a hardship for the Muslims,
I would never idle behind from a raiding party going out to 󰀈椀ght in the path
of God. But I do not have the means; and it would be a hardship for them to
not accompany me. By the One in whose hand is the soul of Muhammad, I
love to raid in the path of God and be killed, to raid again and be killed, and
to raid again and be killed.”

15 Muwaṭṭāʾ Mālik, Kitāb al-jihād (bāb 1: al-targhīb fī al-jihād) [Book of Jihad (Chapter 1:

on making jihad desirable)], 2:443 (no. 1).

 ‫‪148‬‬ ‫‪edition and translation‬‬

‫رواﻩ اﻟﺒﺨﺎري ﻋﻦ ﺣﺮﱊ ﺑﻦ ﺣﻔﺺ ﻋﻦ ﻋﺒﺪ اﻟﻮاﺣﺪ ﺑﻦ ز󰈍د ﻋﻦ ﻋﲈرة ﺑﻦ اﻟﻘﻌﻘﺎع‪ ،‬ورواﻩ ﻣﺴﲅ‬
‫ﳇﻮم وِ󰏡م‪ ،‬وﻗﻮ󰏳 ﺧﻼف ﴎﯾﺔ‪ٔ ،‬اي ﺑﻌﺪﻫﺎ‪.‬‬ ‫ﻋﻦ ٔاﰊ ﺧﯿﳥﺔ‪ .‬واﻟ َ ْﳫﻢ اﳉﺮح وﲨﻌﻪ ُ ُ‬

‫اﳊﺪﯾﺚ اﳊﺎدي ﻋﴩ‬

‫ٔاﺧﱪ󰈋 ٔاﺑﻮ اﳌﻈﻔّﺮ ﻋﺒﺪ اﳌﻨﻌﻢ ﺑﻦ ﻋﺒﺪ اﻟﻜﺮﱘ اﻟﻘﺸﲑي ٔا󰈋 ٔاﰊ ٔاﺑﻮ اﻟﻘﺎﰟ ٔا󰈋 ٔاﺑﻮ ﻧﻌﲓ ﻋﺒﺪ اﳌ󰏮 ﺑﻦ‬
‫‪ ٥‬اﳊﺴﻦ ٔا󰈋 ٔاﺑﻮ ﻋﻮاﻧﺔ اﳊﺎﻓﻆ ﺛﻨﺎ ﯾﻮﻧﺲ ﺑﻦ ﻋﺒﺪ أﻻﻋﲆ ﺛﻨﺎ اﺑﻦ وﻫﺐ ٔاﺧﱪﱐ ٔاﺑﻮ ﻫﺎﱐ اﳋﻮﻻﱐ‬
‫ﻋﻦ ٔاﰊ ﻋﺒﺪ اﻟﺮﺣﲈن اﳊﺒﲇ ﻋﻦ ٔاﰊ ﺳﻌﯿﺪ اﳋﺪري ٔاّن رﺳﻮل ﷲ ﺻّﲆ ﷲ ﻋﻠﯿﻪ وﺳّﲅ ﻗﺎل‪ :‬ﯾ َﺎٔ󰈈‬
‫ﺳﻌﯿﺪ ﻣﻦ رﴈ 󰈈󰏯 ر ّ ً󰈈 و󰈈ٕﻻﺳﻼم دﯾﻨًﺎ وﲟﺤّﻤﺪ ﻧﺒﯿًّﺎ َوﺟﺒﺖ 󰏳 اﳉﻨّﺔ‪ .‬ﻗﺎل‪ :‬ﻓﻌﺠﺐ ﻟﻬﺎ ٔاﺑﻮ ﺳﻌﯿﺪ‬
‫ﻗﺎل‪ٔ :‬اﻋﺪﻫﺎ ﻋّﲇ ﯾَﺮﺳﻮل ﷲ‪ .‬ﻓﻔﻌﻞ‪ّ ،‬ﰒ ﻗﺎل رﺳﻮل ﷲ ﺻّﲆ ﷲ ﻋﻠﯿﻪ وﺳّﲅ‪ :‬ؤاﺧﺮى ﯾﺮﻓﻊ ﷲ ﲠﺎ‬
‫ﰻ درﺟﺘﲔ ﻛﲈ ﺑﲔ اﻟﺴﲈء وأﻻرض‪ .‬ﻗﺎل‪ :‬وﻣﺎ ﱔ ﯾَﺮﺳﻮل ﷲ؟‬ ‫اﻟﻌﺒﺪ ﻣﺎﯾﺔ درﺟﺔ ﰲ اﳉﻨّﺔ‪ ،‬ﻣﺎ ﺑﲔ ّ‬
‫‪ ١٠‬ﻗﺎل‪ :‬اﳉﻬﺎد ﰲ ﺳﺒﯿﻞ ﷲ ﻋّﺰ وﺟ ّ‬
‫ﻞ‪.‬‬

‫رواﻩ ﻣﺴﲅ ﻋﻦ ﺳﻌﯿﺪ ﺑﻦ ﻣﻨﺼﻮر ﻋﻦ اﺑﻦ وﻫﺐ‪.‬‬

‫اﳊﺪﯾﺚ اﻟﺜﺎﱐ ﻋﴩ‬

‫‪71a‬‬ ‫ٔاﺧﱪ󰈋 ٔاﺑﻮ اﻟﻘﺎﰟ ٕاﺳﲈﻋﯿﻞ ﺑﻦ ﶊ ّﺪ ﺑﻦ اﻟﻔﻀﻞ اﳊﺎﻓﻆ ٔا󰈋 ﻋﺒﺪ اﻟﻮّﻫﺎب | اﺑﻦ ﶊ ّﺪ ﺑﻦ ٕاﲮﺎق ٔا󰈋‬
‫وا󰏩ي ٔاﺑﻮ ﻋﺒﺪ ﷲ ٔا󰈋 ﶊ ّﺪ ﺑﻦ اﳊﺴﲔ ﺑﻦ اﳊﺴﻦ ﺛﻨﺎ ٔاﲪﺪ اﺑﻦ أﻻزﻫﺮ ﺛﻨﺎ ﯾﻮﻧﺲ ﺑﻦ ﶊ ّﺪ ﺛﻨﺎ‬
‫‪ ١٥‬ﻓﻠﯿﺢ ﺑﻦ ﺳﻠ󰍥ن ﻋﻦ ﻫﻼل ﺑﻦ ﻋﲇ ﻋﻦ ﻋﻄﺎء ﺑﻦ ﯾﺴﺎر—ﻗﺎل ﻓﻠﯿﺢ‪ :‬وﻻ ٔاﻋﻠﻤﻪ ٕاّﻻ ﻗﺎل واﺑﻦ ٔاﰊ‬

‫‪ ١‬ﲱﯿﺢ اﻟﺒﺨﺎري‪ ،‬ﻛﺘﺎب إﻻﳝﺎن )󰈈ب ‪ :٢٦‬اﳉﻬﺎد ﻣﻦ إﻻﳝﺎن( ‪) ٩٢ :١‬رﰴ ‪(۳٦‬؛ ٔاﻧﻈﺮ ٔاﯾﻀًﺎ ﻛﺘﺎب اﳉﻬﺎد‬
‫‪ ٢‬ﲱﯿﺢ‬ ‫واﻟﺴﲑ )󰈈ب ‪ٔ :٢‬اﻓﻀﻞ اﻟﻨﺎس(‪ (٢٧٨٧) ٦ :٦ ،‬و)󰈈ب ‪ :٧‬ﲤ ّﲏ اﻟﺸﻬﺎدة(‪) ١٦ :٦ ،‬رﰴ ‪(٢٧٩٧‬‬
‫‪ ٧‬و󰏄ﺖ )ﻣﻄﺒﻮﻋﺔ(‬ ‫‪ ٢‬اﳉﺮم )ﻣﻄﺒﻮﻋﺔ(‬ ‫ﻣﺴﲅ‪ ،‬ﻛﺘﺎب إﻻﻣﺎرة )󰈈ب ﻓﻀﻞ اﳉﻬﺎد واﳋﺮوج(‪۳۳-۳٤ :٦ ،‬‬
‫ٔ‬
‫‪ ٨‬ﲠﲈ )ﻣﻄﺒﻮﻋﺔ( ‪ ١١‬ﲱﯿﺢ ﻣﺴﲅ‪ ،‬ﻛﺘﺎب إﻻﻣﺎرة )󰈈ب ﻣﺎ ٔاﻋّﺪ ﷲ ﻟﻠﻤﺠﺎﻫﺪ(‪ ١٥ ۳٧ :٦ ،‬ﺛﻨﺎ اﲪﺪ اﺑﻦ اﻻزﻫﺮ‬
‫ٔ‬
‫ﺛﻨﺎ ﯾﻮﻧﺲ ﺑﻦ ﶊ ّﺪ ﺛﻨﺎ ﻓﻠﯿﺢ ﺑﻦ ﺳﻠ󰍥ن )ﺳﺎﻗﻄﺔ ﻣﻦ ﻣﻄﺒﻮﻋﺔ(‬
 the forty hadiths for inciting jihad 149

Al-Bukhārī related this—Ḥaramī ibn Ḥafṣ—ʿAbd al-Wāḥid ibn Ziyād—

ʿUmāra ibn al-Qaʿqāʿ.16 Muslim also related it—Abū Khaythama.17 The
kalm means the wound; its plural is kulūm or kilām. The meaning of
“abstain from any raiding party” is to stay behind.

Hadith 11
Abū al-Muẓa󰀇far ʿAbd al-Munʿim ibn ʿAbd al-Karīm al-Qushayrī—my
father Abū al-Qāsim—Abū Nuʿaym ʿAbd al-Malik ibn al-Ḥasan—Abū
ʿUwāna al-Ḥā󰀈椀ẓ—Yūnus ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā—Ibn Wahb—Abū Hānī al-
Khawlānī—Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥman al-Ḥubulī—Abū Saʿīd al-Khudrī, who
said:
The Messenger of God (ṣ) said: “O Abū Saʿīd, whoever accepts God as his
Lord, Islam as his religion, and Muḥammad as his messenger, Paradise is
truly his.” Abū Saʿīd was amazed at this and said: “O Messenger of God,
would you repeat it to me.” The Messenger of God (ṣ) did, and added: “There
is another act for which God elevates a worshiper 100 ranks in Paradise,
and what is between two ranks is equal to that between the heavens and
the earth.” Abū Saʿīd said: “What is that, O Messenger of God?” He replied:
“Jihad in the path of God—glory and greatness belong to Him.”
Muslim related this—Saʿīd ibn Manṣūr—Ibn Wahb.18

Hadith 12
Abū al-Qasim Ismāʿīl ibn Muḥammad ibn al-Faḍl al-Ḥā󰀈椀ẓ—ʿAbd al-Wah-
71a hāb | ibn Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq—my father Abū ʿAbd Allāh [Muḥammad
ibn Isḥāq]—Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn ibn al-Ḥasan—Aḥmad ibn al-
Azhar—Yūnis ibn Muḥammad—Fulayḥ ibn Sulaymān—Hilāl ibn ʿAlī—
ʿAṭaʾ ibn Yasār (Fulayḥ commented: “What I know is that he (Ḥilāl) added:
‘and Ibn Abū ʿAmra’”)—Abū Hurayra, who said:

16 Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, Kitāb al-īmān (bāb 26: al-jihād min al-īmān) [Book of Faith (Chap-

ter 26: on jihad being one of the aspects of belief)], 1:92 (no. 36). See also Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī,
Kitāb al-jihād wa-l-siyar (bāb 2: afḍal al-nās) [Book of Jihad and Proper Comportment
(Chapter 2: on the best of people)], 6:6 (no. 2787); and (bāb 7: tamannī al-shahāda) [(Chap-
ter 7: on desiring martyrdom)], 6:16 (no. 2797).
17 Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, Kitāb al-Imāra (bāb faḍl al-jihād wa-l-khurūj) [Book of Administration

(Chapter on the merits of jihad and campaigning)], 6:33–34.

18 Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, Kitāb al-imāra (bāb mā aʿadd Allāh li-l-mujāhid) [Book of Administra-

tion (Chapter on what God has prepared for the jihad 󰀈椀ghter)], 6:37.
 ‫‪150‬‬ ‫‪edition and translation‬‬

‫ﲻﺮة—ﻋﻦ ٔاﰊ ﻫﺮﯾﺮة ﻗﺎل‪ :‬ﻗﺎل رﺳﻮل ﷲ ﺻّﲆ ﷲ ﻋﻠﯿﻪ وﺳّﲅ‪ :‬ﰲ اﳉﻨّﺔ ﻣﺎﯾﺔ درﺟﺔ‪ ،‬ﻣﺎ ﺑﲔ‬
‫ﰻ درﺟﺘﲔ ﻛﲈ ﺑﲔ اﻟﺴﲈء وأﻻرض‪ٔ ،‬اﻋّﺪﻫﺎ ﷲ ﻟﻠﻤﺠﺎﻫﺪﯾﻦ ﰲ ﺳﺒﯿ󰏴‪ ،‬ﻓٕﺎذا ﺳﺎٔﻟﱲ ﷲ ﻓﺎﺳـﺌﻠﻮﻩ‬ ‫ّ‬
‫اﻟﻔﺮدوس ﻓٕﺎﻧ ّﻪ وﺳﻂ اﳉﻨّﺔ ؤاﻋﲆ اﳉﻨّﺔ وﻣﻨﻪ ﺗﻔّﺠﺮ ٔاﳖﺎر اﳉﻨّﺔ وﻓﻮﻗﻪ ﻋﺮش اﻟﺮﺣﲈن ﻋّﺰ وﺟ ّ‬
‫ﻞ‪.‬‬

‫ﻫﺬا ﺣﺪﯾﺚ ﺣﺴﻦ‪.‬‬

‫اﳊﺪﯾﺚ اﻟﺜﺎﻟﺚ ﻋﴩ‬ ‫‪٥‬‬

‫ٔاﺧﱪ󰈋 ٔاﺑﻮ اﻟﻔﻀﻞ ﶊ ّﺪ ﺑﻦ ٕاﺳﲈﻋﯿﻞ ﺑﻦ اﻟﻔﻀﯿﻞ ؤاﺑﻮ اﶈﺎﺳﻦ ٔاﺳﻌﺪ ﺑﻦ ﻋﲇ اﺑﻦ اﳌﻮﻓّﻖ ؤاﺑﻮ ﺑﻜﺮ‬
‫ٔاﲪﺪ ﺑﻦ ﳛﲕ ﺑﻦ اﳊﺴﻦ ؤاﺑﻮ اﻟﻮﻗﺖ ﻋﺒﺪ أﻻّول ﺑﻦ ﻋﯿﴗ ﺑﻦ ﺷﻌﯿﺐ ﲠﺮاة ﻗﺎﻟﻮا‪ٔ :‬ا󰈋 ٔاﺑﻮ اﳊﺴﻦ‬
‫ﻋﺒﺪ اﻟﺮﺣﲈن ﺑﻦ ﶊ ّﺪ ﺑﻦ اﳌﻈﻔﺮ ٔا󰈋 ٔاﺑﻮ ﶊ ّﺪ ﻋﺒﺪ ﷲ ﺑﻦ ٔاﲪﺪ ﺑﻦ اﻟﴪﺧﴘ ٔا󰈋 ٔاﺑﻮ ﲻﺮان ﻋﯿﴗ‬
‫ﺑﻦ ﲻﺮ اﻟﺴﻤﺮﻗﻨﺪي ٔا󰈋 ٔاﺑﻮ ﶊ ّﺪ ﻋﺒﺪ ﷲ اﺑﻦ ﻋﺒﺪ اﻟﺮﺣﲈن ا󰏩ارﱊ ٔا󰈋 ﻋﺒﺪ ﷲ ﺑﻦ ﺻﺎﱀ ﺣّﺪﺛﲏ‬
‫‪ ١٠‬ﳛﲕ ﺑﻦ ٔاﯾ ّﻮب ﻋﻦ ﻫﺸﺎم ﻋﻦ اﳊﺴﻦ ﻋﻦ ﲻﺮان ﺑﻦ ﺣﺼﲔ ٔاّن رﺳﻮل ﷲ ﺻّﲆ ﷲ ﻋﻠﯿﻪ وﺳّﲅ‬
‫ﻗﺎل‪ :‬ﻣﻘﺎم اﻟﺮﺟﻞ ﰲ اﻟﺼ ّﻒ ﰲ ﺳﺒﯿﻞ ﷲ ٔاﻓﻀﻞ ﻣﻦ ﻋﺒﺎدة اﻟﺮﺟﻞ ﺳـﺘّﲔ ﺳـﻨﺔ‪.‬‬

‫ﻫﺬا ﺣﺪﯾﺚ ﺣﺴﻦ‪.‬‬

‫اﳊﺪﯾﺚ اﻟﺮاﺑﻊ ﻋﴩ‬

‫ٔاﺧﱪ󰈋 ٔاﺑﻮ ﻏﺎﻟﺐ ٔاﲪﺪ ﺑﻦ اﳊﺴﻦ ﺑﻦ اﻟﺒﻨّﺎ ٔا󰈋 ٔاﺑﻮ اﳊﺴﲔ ﶊ ّﺪ ﺑﻦ ٔاﲪﺪ ﺑﻦ أﻻﺑﻨﻮﳼ ٔا󰈋 ٔاﺑﻮ ٕاﲮﺎق‬
‫‪ٕ ١٥‬اﺑﺮاﻫﲓ ﺑﻦ ﶊ ّﺪ ﺑﻦ اﻟﻔﺘﺢ ﺛﻨﺎ ٔاﺑﻮ ﯾﻮﺳﻒ ﶊ ّﺪ ﺑﻦ ﺳﻔﯿﺎن ﺑﻦ ﻣﻮﳻ ﺛﻨﺎ ﺳﻌﯿﺪ ﺑﻦ رﲪﺔ ﺑﻦ ﻧﻌﲓ ﻗﺎل‪:‬‬
‫ﲰﻌﺖ ﻋﺒﺪ ﷲ ﺑﻦ اﳌﺒﺎرك ﻋﻦ ﻋﺒﺪ اﶵﯿﺪ ﺑﻦ ﲠﺮام ﻋﻦ ﺷﻬﺮ ﺑﻦ ﺣﻮﺷﺐ ﻋﻦ ﻋﺒﺪ اﻟﺮﺣﲈن ﺑﻦ‬
‫‪71b‬‬ ‫ﻏﲌ ﻋﻦ ﻣﻌﺎذ ﺑﻦ ﺟﺒﻞ ﻋﻦ اﻟﻨﱯّ ﺻّﲆ ﷲ | ﻋﻠﯿﻪ وﺳّﲅ ﻗﺎل‪ :‬وا󰏫ي ﻧﻔﺲ ﶊ ّﺪ ﺑﯿﺪﻩ ﻣﺎ ﴮﺐ وﺟﻪ‬
‫وﻻ ٔاﻏﱪت ﻗﺪم ﰲ ﲻﻞ ﯾﺒﺘﻐﻰ ﺑﻪ درﺟﺎت اﳉﻨّﺔ ﺑﻌﺪ اﻟﺼﻼة اﳌﻔﺮوﺿﺔ ﻛﺠﻬﺎد ﰲ ﺳﺒﯿﻞ ﷲ ﻋّﺰ‬
‫وﺟّﻞ‪ ،‬وﻻ ﺛﻘﻞ ﻣﲒان ﻋﺒﺪ ﻛﺪاﺑﺔ ﺗُﻨﻔﻖ 󰏳 ﰲ ﺳﺒﯿﻞ ﷲ ٔاو ُﳛﻤﻞ ﻋﻠﳱﺎ ﰲ ﺳﺒﯿﻞ ﷲ ﻋّﺰ وﺟ ّ‬
‫ﻞ‪.‬‬

‫ﻗﻮ󰏳 ﴮﺐ‪ ،‬ﺗﻐّﲑ‪.‬‬ ‫‪٢٠‬‬

‫‪ ٨‬اﳌﻈﻔّﺮة )ﻣﻄﺒﻮﻋﺔ( ‪ ١٠‬اﳊﺴﲔ )ﻣﻄﺒﻮﻋﺔ( ‪ ١٥‬ﺣﻘّﻲ )ﻣﻄﺒﻮﻋﺔ( ‪ ٢٠‬اﺑﻦ اﳌﺒﺎرك‪ ،‬ﻛﺘﺎب اﳉﻬﺎد‪٤۳-٤٤ ،‬‬
 the forty hadiths for inciting jihad 151

The Messenger of God (ṣ) said: “There are 100 ranks in Paradise; what is
between two ranks is equal to that between the heavens and the earth. God
has prepared them for those who wage jihad in His path. If you ask God for
something, ask Him for the Garden, for it is in the midst of Paradise—in
the upper part of Paradise; from it 󰀆lfow the rivers of Paradise, and above it
is the Throne of the Merciful—glory and greatness belong to Him.”
This is a good hadith.

Hadith 13
Abū al-Faḍl Muḥammad ibn Ismāʿīl ibn al-Fuḍayl, Abū al-Maḥāsin Asʿad
ibn ʿAlī ibn al-Muwa󰀇faq, Abū Bakr Aḥmad ibn Yaḥyā ibn al-Ḥasan, and
Abū al-Waqt ʿAbd al-Awwal ibn ʿĪsā ibn Shuʿayb, in Herat—Abū al-Ḥasan
ʿAbd al-Raḥman ibn Muḥammad ibn al-Muẓa󰀇far—Abū Muḥammad ʿAbd
Allāh ibn Aḥmad ibn al-Sarkhasī—Abū ʿImrān ʿĪsā ibn ʿUmar al-Samar-
qandī—Abū Muḥammad ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Dārimī—
ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ṣāliḥ—Yaḥyā ibn Ayyūb—Hishām—al-Ḥasan—ʿImrān
ibn Ḥuṣayn, who said:
The Messenger of God (ṣ) said: “Lining up for a battle in the path of God is
worthier than sixty years of worship.”
This is a good hadith.

Hadith 14
Abū Ghālib Aḥmad ibn al-Ḥasan ibn al-Bannā—Abū al-Ḥusayn Muḥam-
mad ibn Aḥmad ibn al-Abanūsī—Abū Isḥāq Ibrāhīm ibn Muḥammad ibn
al-Fatḥ—Abū Yūsuf Muḥammad ibn Sufyān ibn Mūsā—Saʿīd ibn Raḥma
ibn Nuʿaym—ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Mubārak—ʿAbd al-Ḥamīd ibn Bahrām—
Shahr ibn Ḥawshab—ʿAbd al-Raḥman ibn Ghanm—Muʿādh ibn Jabal,
who said:
71b The Prophet (ṣ) | said: By the One in whose hand is the soul of Muhammad,
after the obligatory prayer, no emaciated face or foot dirtied in an e󰀇fort
to earn the ranks of Paradise is worthier than waging jihad in the path of
God—glory and greatness belong to Him. And nothing is weightier in the
scales of justice for a servant than that his riding animal be slain in the
path of God or ridden in an attack in the path of God—glory and greatness
belong to Him.19
The term “emaciated” means changed.

19 See Ibn al-Mubārak, Kitāb al-jihād, 43–44.

 ‫‪152‬‬ ‫‪edition and translation‬‬

‫اﳊﺪﯾﺚ اﳋﺎﻣﺲ ﻋﴩ‬

‫ٔاﺧﱪ󰈋 ٔاﺑﻮ اﻟﻘﺎﰟ ﻫﺒﺔ ﷲ ﺑﻦ ﶊ ّﺪ ﺑﻦ اﳊﺼﲔ ٔا󰈋 اﳊﺴﻦ ﺑﻦ ﻋﲇ اﻟﳣﳰﻲ ٔا󰈋 ٔاﲪﺪ ﺑﻦ ﺟﻌﻔﺮ اﻟﻘﻄﯿﻌﻲ‬
‫ﺛﻨﺎ ﻋﺒﺪ ﷲ ﺑﻦ ٔاﲪﺪ ﺑﻦ ﶊ ّﺪ ﺑﻦ ﺣﻨﺒﻞ ﺣّﺪﺛﲏ ٔاﰊ ﺛﻨﺎ ٔاﺑﻮ اﳌﻐﲑة ﺛﻨﺎ ﻣﻌﺎذ ﺑﻦ رﻓﺎﻋﺔ ﺣّﺪﺛﲏ ﻋﲇ‬
‫ﺑﻦ ﯾﺰﯾﺪ ﻋﻦ اﻟﻘﺎﰟ ﻋﻦ ٔاﰊ ٔاﻣﺎﻣﺔ ﻗﺎل‪ :‬ﺧﺮﺟﻨﺎ ﻣﻊ رﺳﻮل ﷲ ﺻّﲆ ﷲ ﻋﻠﯿﻪ وﺳّﲅ ﰲ ﴎﯾ ّﺔ ﻣﻦ‬
‫‪ ٥‬ﴎا󰈍ﻩ ﻗﺎل‪ :‬ﳁّﺮ رﺟﻞ ﺑﻐﺎر ﻓﯿﻪ ﳾء ﻣﻦ ﻣﺎء‪ .‬ﻗﺎل‪ :‬ﲿّﺪث ﻧﻔﺴﻪ ﺑﺎٔن ﯾﻘﲓ ﰲ ذ󰏭 اﻟﻐﺎر‪ ،‬ﻓﯿﻘﻮﺗﻪ ﻣﺎ‬
‫ﰷن ﻓﯿﻪ ﳾء ﻣﻦ ﻣﺎء وﯾﺼﯿﺐ ﻣﺎ ﺣﻮ󰏳 ﻣﻦ اﻟﺒﻘﻞ وﯾﺘﺨّﻼ ﻣﻦ ا󰏩ﻧﯿﺎ‪ .‬ﻗﺎل‪ :‬ﻟﻮ ٔاّﱐ ٔاﺗﯿﺖ اﻟﻨﱯّ ﺻّﲆ‬
‫ﷲ ﻋﻠﯿﻪ وﺳّﲅ ﻓﺬﻛﺮت ذ󰏭 󰏳‪ ،‬ﻓٕﺎن ﯾﺎٔذن ﱄ ﻓﻌﻠﺖ وٕاّﻻ ﱂ ٔاﻓﻌﻞ‪ .‬ﻓﺎٔ󰈉ﻩ ﻓﻘﺎل‪ 󰈍 :‬ﻧﱯّ ﷲ ٕاّﱐ ﻣﺮرت‬
‫ﺑﻐﺎر ﻓﯿﻪ ﻣﺎء ﯾﻘﻮﺗﲏ ﻣﻦ اﳌﺎء واﻟﺒﻘﻞ ﲿّﺪﺛﺘﲏ ﻧﻔﴘ ﺑﺎٔن ٔاﻗﲓ ﻓﯿﻪ ؤاﲣّﲆ ﻣﻦ ا󰏩ﻧﯿﺎ‪ .‬ﻗﺎل‪ :‬ﻓﻘﺎل اﻟﻨﱯّ‬
‫ﺻّﲆ ﷲ ﻋﻠﯿﻪ وﺳّﲅ‪ٕ :‬اّﱐ ﱂ ُٔاﺑﻌﺚ 󰈈ﻟﳱﻮدﯾ ّﺔ وﻻ 󰈈ﻟﻨﴫاﻧّﯿﺔ‪ ،‬وٕاﻧ ّﲈ ﺑُﻌﺜﺖ 󰈈ﳊﻨﯿﻔﯿّﺔ اﻟﺴﻤﺤﺔ‪ .‬وا󰏫ي‬
‫‪ ١٠‬ﻧﻔﺲ ﶊ ّﺪ ﺑﯿﺪﻩ ﻟﻐﺪوة ٔاو روﺣﺔ ﰲ ﺳﺒﯿﻞ ﷲ ﻋّﺰ وﺟّﻞ ﺧﲑ ﻣﻦ ا󰏩ﻧﯿﺎ وﻣﺎ ﻓﳱﺎ‪ ،‬وﻣﻘﺎم ٔاﺣﺪﰼ ﰲ‬
‫اﻟﺼ ّﻒ ﺧﲑ ﻣﻦ ﺻﻼﺗﻪ ﺳـﺘّﲔ ﺳـﻨﺔ‪.‬‬

‫اﳊﺪﯾﺚ اﻟﺴﺎدس ﻋﴩ‬

‫‪72a‬‬ ‫ٔاﺧﱪ󰈋 ٔاﺑﻮ ﻧﴫ ٔاﲪﺪ ﺑﻦ ﶊ ّﺪ ﺑﻦ ﻋﺒﺪ اﳌ󰏮 أﻻﺳﺪي ٔا󰈋 ٔاﺑﻮ اﻟﻔﺮج | ٔاﲪﺪ ﺑﻦ ﻋ󰍣ن ﺑﻦ اﻟﻔﻀﻞ ﺑﻦ‬
‫ﺟﻌﻔﺮ ٔا󰈋 ٔاﺑﻮ اﻟﻘﺎﰟ ﻋﺒﯿﺪ ﷲ ﺑﻦ ﶊ ّﺪ ﺑﻦ ٕاﲮﺎق ﺑﻦ ﺣﺒﺎﺑﺔ ﺛﻨﺎ ٔاﺑﻮ ﺑﻜﺮ ﶊ ّﺪ ﺑﻦ ٕاﺑﺮاﻫﲓ ﺑﻦ ﻧﲑوز‬
‫‪ ١٥‬أﻻﳕﺎﻃﻲ ﺛﻨﺎ اﻟﻔﻀﻞ ﺑﻦ ﻋﯿﴗ ﺛﻨﺎ ﻣﻌﻤﺮ ﺑﻦ ﳐ󰏪 ﺛﻨﺎ ﻗﺎﰟ ﺑﻦ ﲠﺮام ﻋﻦ ﻗﺘﺎدة ﻋﻦ ٔاﻧﺲ ﺑﻦ ﻣﺎ󰏭‬
‫ﻗﺎل‪ :‬ﻗﺎل رﺳﻮل ﷲ ﺻّﲆ ﷲ ﻋﻠﯿﻪ وﺳّﲅ‪ :‬ﻣﻦ ﻏﺰا ﻏﺰوة ﰲ ﺳﺒﯿﻞ ﷲ ﻋّﺰ وﺟّﻞ ﻓﻘﺪ ٔاّدى ٕاﱃ‬
‫ﷲ ﻋّﺰ وﺟّﻞ ﲨﯿﻊ ﻃﺎﻋﺘﻪ ﴿ﳁﻦ ﺷﺎء ﻓﻠﯿﺆﻣﻦ﴾ ﺑﺜﻮاب ﷲ ﴿وﻣﻦ ﺷﺎء ﻓﻠﯿﻜﻔﺮ ٕا ّ󰈋 اﻋﺘﺪ󰈋 ﻟﻠﻈﺎﳌﲔ‬

‫ﺗﲑوز )ﻣﻄﺒﻮﻋﺔ(‬ ‫‪ ٢‬اﳊﺴﲔ )ﻣﻄﺒﻮﻋﺔ( ‪ ٦‬ﻋﻦ )ﻣﻄﺒﻮﻋﺔ( ‪ ٨‬ﻋﻦ )ﻣﻄﺒﻮﻋﺔ( ‪١٤‬‬

 the forty hadiths for inciting jihad 153

Hadith 15
Abū al-Qāsim Hibat Allāh ibn Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥuṣayn—al-Ḥasan ibn
ʿAlī al-Tamīmī—Aḥmad ibn Jaʿfar al-Qaṭīʿī—ʿAbd Allāh ibn Aḥmad ibn
Muḥammad ibn Ḥanbal—my father—Abū al-Mughīra—Muʿādh ibn
Rifāʿa—ʿAlī ibn Yazīd—al-Qāsim—Abū Umāma, who said:
We went out with the Messenger of God (ṣ) on one of his raiding parties.
One of us passed by a cave in which there was a small spring. It occurred to
him to stay in the cave and renounce the world; the spring could provide
him with water, and the land around the cave could provide him with
vegetables. He said: “I should come to the Prophet (ṣ) and tell him about
my thought. If he approves it, I shall do it, and if not I won’t.” The man
came and asked him: “O Prophet of God, I passed by a cave in which was
a small spring; its water and vegetables would su󰀇󰀈椀ce me. It occurred to
me to stay in it and renounce the world.” The Prophet (ṣ) replied: “I was not
sent to preach Judaism or Christianity. Rather, I was sent to preach the pure
lenient monotheism. By the One in whose hand is the soul of Muhammad,
a morning or evening errand made in the path of God—glory and greatness
belong to Him—is worthier than the world and what is in it, and for one to
line up for battle is worthier than his prayer for sixty years.”

Hadith 16
Abū Naṣr Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Malik al-Asadī—Abū al-
72a Faraj | Aḥmad ibn ʿUthmān ibn al-Faḍl ibn Jaʿfar—Abū al-Qāsim ʿUbayd
Allāh ibn Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq ibn Ḥabāba—Abū Bakr Muḥammad ibn
Ibrāhīm ibn Nayrūz al-Anmāṭī—al-Faḍl ibn ʿĪsā—Maʿmar ibn Mukhlid—
Qāsim ibn Bahrām—Qatāda—Anas ibn Mālik, who said:
The Messenger of God (ṣ) said: “He who conducts a raid in the path of
God—glory and greatness belong to Him—has rendered all his submission
to God—glory and greatness belong to Him—as in ﴾Whoso wishes, let him
believe;﴿—in God’s reward—﴾whoso wishes, let him blaspheme. To the
‫‪154‬‬ ‫‪edition and translation‬‬

‫ﻗﺎل‪:‬‬ ‫󰈋رًا﴾‪ .‬ﻗﺎل‪ :‬ﻗﯿﻞ ﯾَﺮﺳﻮل ﷲ وﺑﻌﺪ ﻫﺬا اﳊﺪﯾﺚ ا󰏫ي ﲰﻌﻨﺎﻩ ﻣﻨﻚ ﻣﻦ ﯾﺪع اﳉﻬﺎد وﯾﻘﻌﺪ؟‬
‫ﻣﻦ ﻟﻌﻨﻪ ﷲ وﻏﻀﺐ ﻋﻠﯿﻪ ؤاﻋّﺪ 󰏳 ﻋﺬاً󰈈 ﻋﻈ󰍥ً‪ ،‬ﻗﻮم ﯾﻜﻮﻧﻮن ﰲ ا ٓﺧﺮ اﻟﺰﻣﺎن ﻻ ﯾﺮون اﳉﻬﺎد‪ ،‬وﻗﺪ‬
‫اّﲣﺬ رّﰊ ﻋﻨﺪﻩ ﻋﻬﺪ ٔاّﻻ ﳜﻠﻒ ٔاﳝﺎ ﻋﺒﺪ ﻟﻘﯿﻪ وﻫﻮ ﯾﺮى ذ󰏭 ٔان ﯾﻌّﺬﺑﻪ ﻋﺬاً󰈈 ﻻ ﯾﻌّﺬﺑﻪ ٔاﺣﺪًا ﻣﻦ‬
‫اﻟﻌﺎﳌﲔ‪.‬‬

‫اﳊﺪﯾﺚ اﻟﺴﺎﺑﻊ ﻋﴩ‬ ‫‪٥‬‬

‫ٔاﺧﱪ󰈋 ٔاﺑﻮ ﻋﺒﺪ ﷲ أﻻدﯾﺐ ٔا󰈋 ٔاﺑﻮ اﻟﻘﺎﰟ اﻟﺴﻠﻤﻲ ٔا󰈋 ٔاﺑﻮ ﺑﻜﺮ ﺑﻦ اﳌﻘﺮىء ٔا󰈋 ٔاﲪﺪ ﺑﻦ ﻋﲇ ﺑﻦ اﳌﺜ ّﲎ‬
‫ﺛﻨﺎ ٕاﲮﺎق ﺑﻦ ٔاﰊ ٕاﴎاﺋﯿﻞ ﺛﻨﺎ ﺟﻌﻔﺮ ﺑﻦ ﺳﻠ󰍥ن ﺛﻨﺎ ٔاﺑﻮ ﲻﺮان اﳉﻮﱐ ﻋﻦ ٔاﰊ ﺑﻜﺮ ﺑﻦ ﻋﺒﺪ ﷲ ﺑﻦ‬
‫ﻗﯿﺲ ﻗﺎل‪ :‬ﲰﻌﺖ ٔاﰊ وﻫﻮ ﲝﴬة اﻟﻌﺪّو ﻗﺎل‪ :‬ﲰﻌﺖ رﺳﻮل ﷲ ﺻّﲆ ﷲ ﻋﻠﯿﻪ وﺳّﲅ ﯾﻘﻮل‪ٕ :‬اّن‬
‫ٔاﺑﻮاب اﳉﻨّﺔ ﲢﺖ ﻇﻼل اﻟﺴـﯿﻮف‪ .‬ﻗﺎل‪ :‬ﻓﻘﺎم رﺟﻞ ﻣﻦ اﻟﻘﻮم رّث اﻟﻬﯿﺌﺔ ﻓﻘﺎل‪ٔ 󰈍 :‬ا󰈈 ﻣﻮﳻ ٔاﻧﺖ‬
‫‪ ١٠‬ﲰﻌﺖ ﻫﺬا ﻣﻦ رﺳﻮل ﷲ ﺻّﲆ ﷲ ﻋﻠﯿﻪ وﺳّﲅ؟ ﻗﺎل‪ :‬ﻧﻌﻢ‪ .‬ﻗﺎل‪ :‬ﻓﺮﺟﻊ ٕاﱃ ٔاﲱﺎﺑﻪ ﻓﻘﺎل‪ٔ :‬اﻗﺮٔا ﻋﻠﯿﲂ‬
‫اﻟﺴﻼم‪ّ ،‬ﰒ ﻛﴪ ﺟﻔﻦ ﺳـﯿﻔﻪ ﻓﺎٔﻟﻘﺎﻩ‪ّ ،‬ﰒ ﻣﴙ ﺑﺴـﯿﻔﻪ ٕاﱃ اﻟﻌﺪّو‪ ،‬ﻓﻘﺎﺗﻞ ﺣّﱴ ُﻗﺘﻞ‪.‬‬

‫رواﻩ ﻣﺴﲅ ﻋﻦ ﳛﲕ ﺑﻦ ﳛﲕ وﻗﺘﯿﺒﺔ ﻋﻦ ﺟﻌﻔﺮ‪.‬‬

‫‪ ١٢‬ﲱﯿﺢ ﻣﺴﲅ‪ ،‬ﻛﺘﺎب إﻻﻣﺎرة )󰈈ب‬ ‫اﳌﻘﺮى )ﻣﻄﺒﻮﻋﺔ(‬ ‫‪٦‬‬ ‫ﻻ )ﻣﻄﺒﻮﻋﺔ(‬ ‫‪ ١‬ﺳﻮرة اﻟﻜﻬﻒ )‪٣ ٢٩ :(١٨‬‬
‫ﺛﺒﻮت اﳉﻨّﺔ ﻟﻠﺸﻬﯿﺪ(‪٤٥ :٦ ،‬‬
 the forty hadiths for inciting jihad 155

wicked We have prepared a Fire﴿ (Qurʾan 18:29).”20 Anas said: “O Messenger

of God, now that we have heard this hadith from you, who would dare
abandon jihad and stay behind?” The Messenger of God (ṣ) replied: “He
whom God has cursed and is angry with; God has prepared for him a
gruesome punishment. For at the end of days, there will appear a group
of people who do not believe in jihad. God took an oath upon Himself that
everyone who says that will be tortured like no other sinful human being.”

Hadith 17
Abū al-ʿAbd Allāh al-Adīb—Abū al-Qāsim al-Sulamī—Abū Bakr ibn al-
Muqriʾ—Aḥmad ibn ʿAlī ibn al-Muthannā—Isḥāq ibn Abū Isrāʾīl—Jaʿfar
ibn Sulaymān—Abū ʿImrān al-Jūnī—Abū Bakr ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Qays,
who said:
I heard my father [Abū Mūsā] say while campaigning against the enemy:
“I heard the Messenger of God (ṣ) say: ‘Surely, the gates of Paradise are in
the shadow of the swords.’” A slovenly-looking man stood up and asked: “O
Abū Mūsā, did you hear this from the Messenger of God (ṣ)?” He said: “Yes.”
The man returned to his companions and said: “I bid you farewell.” He then
broke the sheath of his sword and tossed it aside; he advanced against the
enemy with his sword and fought until he was killed.
Muslim related this—Yaḥyā ibn Yaḥyā and Qutayba—Jaʿfar.21

20 Ibn ʿAsākir’s audience would have been well aware of the continuation of the Meccan

Sūrat al-Kahf (The Cave; 18:29–31), which address themes of eternal rewards and punish-
ments:
﴾Say: ‘The truth has come from your Lord. Whoso wishes, let him believe; Whoso
wishes, let him blaspheme.’ To the wicked We have prepared a Fire, with its wall
surrounding it. When they cry out for help, they are helped to water resembling
molten metal, scorching their faces. Wretched that drink and wretched that place
of rest. As for those who believed and performed good deeds—We waste not the
wage of one righteous in works. To them belong the Gardens of Eden, beneath which
rivers 󰀆lfow, and in which they shall be decked with bracelets of gold, and shall wear
green raiment of silk and brocade, reclining therein on couches. Happy that reward
and happy that place of rest.﴿
21 Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, Kitāb al-imāra (bāb thubūt al-janna li-l-shahīd) [Book of Administra-

tion (Chapter on the proofs that the martyr attains paradise)], 6:45.
 ‫‪156‬‬ ‫‪edition and translation‬‬

‫اﳊﺪﯾﺚ اﻟﺜﺎﻣﻦ ﻋﴩ‬

‫‪72b‬‬ ‫ٔاﺧﱪ󰈋 ٔاﺑﻮ اﻟﻘﺎﰟ زاﻫﺮ ﺑﻦ ﻃﺎﻫﺮ اﳌﺴـﳣﲇ ﺑﻨﯿﺴﺎﺑﻮر ٔا󰈋 ٔاﺑﻮ ﺑﻜﺮ ٔاﲪﺪ ﺑﻦ اﳊﺴﲔ اﳊﺎﻓﻆ‪ ،‬ؤاﺧﱪ󰈋‬
‫ٔاﺑﻮ ﶊ ّﺪ ﻋﺒﺪ اﻟﻜﺮﱘ اﺑﻦ ﲪﺰة ﺑﺪﻣﺸﻖ ﺛﻨﺎ ٔاﺑﻮ ﺑﻜﺮ ٔاﲪﺪ ﺑﻦ ﻋﲇ اﳋﻄﯿﺐ ﻗﺎﻻ‪ٔ :‬ا󰈋 ﻋﺒﺪ ﷲ اﺑﻦ‬
‫ﳛﲕ ﺑﻦ ﻋﺒﺪ اﳉّﺒﺎر ٔا󰈋 ٕاﺳﲈﻋﯿﻞ ﺑﻦ ﶊ ّﺪ اﻟﺼﻔّﺎر ﺛﻨﺎ ﻋّﺒﺎس ﺑﻦ ﻋﺒﺪ ﷲ اﻟﱰﻗﻔﻲ ﺛﻨﺎ ٔاﺑﻮ ﻋﺒﺪ اﻟﺮﺣﲈن‬
‫اﳌﻘﺮىء ﺛﻨﺎ ﺳﻌﯿﺪ ﯾﻌﲏ اﺑﻦ ٔاﰊ ٔاﯾ ّﻮب ﺛﻨﺎ ﶊ ّﺪ ﺑﻦ ﻋﺒﺪ اﻟﺮﺣﲈن ٔاﺑﻮ أﻻﺳﻮد ﻋﻦ ﳎﺎﻫﺪ ﻋﻦ ٔاﰊ‬ ‫‪٥‬‬
‫ﻫﺮﯾﺮة ٔاﻧ ّﻪ ﰷن ﰲ اﳌﺮاﺑﻂ ﻓﻔﺰﻋﻮا ﳀﺮﺟﻮا ٕاﱃ اﻟﺴﺎﺣﻞ ّﰒ ﻗﯿﻞ ﻻ ﺑﺎٔس ﻓﺎﻧﴫف اﻟﻨﺎس ؤاﺑﻮ ﻫﺮﯾﺮة‬
‫واﻗﻒ ﳁّﺮ ﺑﻪ ٕاﻧﺴﺎن ﻓﻘﺎل‪ :‬ﻣﺎ ﯾﻮﻗﻔﻚ 󰈍 ٔا󰈈 ﻫﺮﯾﺮة؟ ﻓﻘﺎل‪ :‬ﲰﻌﺖ رﺳﻮل ﷲ ﺻّﲆ ﷲ ﻋﻠﯿﻪ وﺳّﲅ‬
‫ﯾﻘﻮل‪ :‬ﻣﻮﻗﻒ ﺳﺎﻋﺔ ﰲ ﺳﺒﯿﻞ ﷲ ﺧﲑ ﻣﻦ ﻣﻘﺎم ﻟﯿ󰏨 اﻟﻘﺪر ﻋﻨﺪ اﳊﺠﺮ أﻻﺳﻮد‪.‬‬

‫اﳊﺪﯾﺚ اﻟﺘﺎﺳﻊ ﻋﴩ‬

‫‪ٔ ١٠‬اﺧﱪ󰈋 ٔاﺑﻮ اﻟﻘﺎﰟ ﻏﺎﱎ ﺑﻦ ﺧﺎ󰏩 ﺑﻦ ﻋﺒﺪ اﻟﻮاﺣﺪ ؤاﺑﻮ ﻋﺒﺪ ﷲ اﺑﻦ ﻋﺒﺪ اﳌ󰏮 أﻻﺻﳢﺎﻧّﯿﺎن ﻗﺎﻻ‪ٔ :‬ا󰈋‬
‫ﻋﺒﺪ اﻟﺮّزاق ﺑﻦ ﲻﺮ ﺑﻦ ﻣﻮﳻ ٔا󰈋 ٔاﺑﻮ ﺑﻜﺮ اﺑﻦ اﳌﻘﺮىء ﺛﻨﺎ ٔاﲪﺪ ﺑﻦ ﻋﺒﺪ اﻟﻮارث اﳋﻮﻻﱐ ﺛﻨﺎ ٔاﺑﻮ‬
‫ﻣﻮﳻ ﻋﯿﴗ ﺑﻦ ّﲪﺎد ُزْﻏَﺒﺔ ﺛﻨﺎ اﻟﻠﯿﺚ ﺑﻦ ﺳﻌﺪ ﻋﻦ ﯾﺰﯾﺪ ﺑﻦ ٔاﰊ ﺣﺒﯿﺐ ﻋﻦ ٔاﰊ اﳋﲑ ﻋﻦ ٔاﰊ‬
‫اﳋّﻄﺎب ﻋﻦ ٔاﰊ ﺳﻌﯿﺪ اﳋﺪري ٔاﻧ ّﻪ ﻗﺎل‪ٕ :‬اّن رﺳﻮل ﷲ ﺻّﲆ ﷲ ﻋﻠﯿﻪ وﺳّﲅ ﻋﺎم ﺗﺒﻮك ﺧﻄﺐ‬
‫ﴍ اﻟﻨﺎس؟ ٕاّن ﻣﻦ ﺧﲑ اﻟﻨﺎس‬ ‫اﻟﻨﺎس وﻫﻮ ﻣﺼﯿﻒ ﻇﻬﺮﻩ ٕاﱃ ﳔ󰏨 ﻓﻘﺎل‪ٔ :‬اﻻ ٔاﺧﱪﰼ ﲞﲑ اﻟﻨﺎس و ّ‬
‫‪73a‬‬ ‫‪ ١٥‬رﺟﻞ ﲻﻞ ﰲ ﺳﺒﯿﻞ ﷲ | ﻋﲆ ﻓﺮﺳﻪ ٔاو ﻋﲆ ﺑﻌﲑﻩ ٔاو ﻋﲆ ﻗﺪﻣﯿﻪ ﺣّﱴ ﯾﺎٔﺗﯿﻪ اﳌﻮت وﻫﻮ ﻋﲆ ذ󰏭‪،‬‬
‫ﴍ اﻟﻨﺎس رﺟﻞ ﻓﺎﺟﺮ ﺟﺮيء ﯾﻘﺮٔا ﻛﺘﺎب ﷲ ﻻ ﯾﺮﻋﻮي ٕاﱃ ﳾء ﻣﻨﻪ‪.‬‬ ‫وٕاّن ﻣﻦ ّ‬
‫رواﻩ اﻟﻨﺴﺎﰄ ﻋﻦ ﻗﺘﯿﺒﺔ ﺑﻦ ﺳﻌﯿﺪ ﻋﻦ اﻟﻠﯿﺚ‪.‬‬

‫‪ ٢‬اﳌﺴـﳣﻞ )ﻣﻄﺒﻮﻋﺔ( ‪ ٤‬اﻟﺼﻐﺎر )ﻣﻄﺒﻮﻋﺔ( ‪ ٥‬اﳌﻘﺮي )ﻣﻄﺒﻮﻋﺔ( ‪ ١١‬اﳌﻘﺮي )ﻣﻄﺒﻮﻋﺔ( ‪ ١٥‬رﺟًﻼ )ﻣﻄﺒﻮﻋﺔ‬
‫ﻂ اﻟﱪزاﱄ( ‪ ١٥‬ﻇﻬﺮ ﻓﺮﺳﻪ )ﻣﻄﺒﻮﻋﺔ( ‪ ١٥‬ﻇﻬﺮ ﺑﻌﲑﻩ )ﻣﻄﺒﻮﻋﺔ( ‪ ١٦‬رﺟًﻼ‬ ‫ﻋﻦ ﻫﺎﻣﺶ ا󰏲ﻄﻮﻃﺔ ﺑﻐﲑ ﺧ ّ‬
‫ﻓﺎﺟﺮًا ﺟﺮﯾﺌًﺎ )ﻣﻄﺒﻮﻋﺔ ﻋﻦ ﻫﺎﻣﺶ ا󰏲ﻄﻮﻃﺔ ﺑﻐﲑ ﺧ ّ‬
‫ﻂ اﻟﱪزاﱄ( ‪ ١٧‬ورواﻩ ٔاﲪﺪ ﻋﻦ ﻫﺎﴌ ﺑﻦ اﻟﻘﺎﰟ وﯾﻮﻧﺲ وّﳏﺎح‬
‫ﻂ اﻟﱪزاﱄ( ‪ ١٧‬ﺳﲍ اﻟﻨﺴﺎﰄ‪ ،‬ﻛﺘﺎب اﳉﻬﺎد )ﻓﻀﻞ ﻣﻦ‬ ‫ﻋﻦ اﻟﻠﯿﺚ )ز󰈍دة ﰲ ﻣﻄﺒﻮﻋﺔ ﻋﻦ ﻫﺎﻣﺶ ا󰏲ﻄﻮﻃﺔ ﺑﻐﲑ ﺧ ّ‬
‫ﲻﻞ ﰲ ﺳﺒﯿﻞ ﷲ ﻋﲆ ﻗﺪﻣﻪ(‪.١١-١٢ :٥ ،‬‬
 the forty hadiths for inciting jihad 157

Hadith 18
72b Abū al-Qāsim Zāhir ibn Ṭāhir al-Mustamlī, in Nishapur—Abū Bakr Aḥ-
mad ibn al-Ḥusayn al-Ḥā󰀈椀ẓ; and Abū Muḥammad ʿAbd al-Karīm ibn
Ḥamza, in Damascus—Abū Bakr Aḥmad ibn ʿAlī al-Khaṭīb. They said—
ʿAbd Allāh ibn Yaḥyā ibn ʿAbd al-Jabbār—Ismāʿīl ibn Muḥammad al-Ṣa󰀇-
fār—ʿAbbās ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Tarqufī—Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥman al-Muqriʾ—
Saʿīd, that is Ibn Abū Ayyūb—Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, Abū al-
Aswad—Mujāhid—Abū Hurayra, [who said]:
Once he was in a group manning a garrison when they were alerted to an
attack. They headed towards the coast to 󰀈椀nd that there was no threat. The
people left except for Abū Hurayra who stood there. A man passed by him
and asked: “What makes you stand here, O Abū Hurayra?” He replied:
I heard the Messenger of God (ṣ) say: “An hour spent standing in the path
of God in wait for the enemy is worthier than spending the entire Night of
Power worshiping at the Black Stone [of the Kaʿba].”22

Hadith 19
Abū al-Qāsim Ghānim ibn Khālid ibn ʿAbd al-Wāḥid, and Abū ʿAbd Allāh
ibn ʿAbd al-Malik, both from Isfahan—ʿAbd al-Razzāq ibn ʿUmar ibn
Mūsā—Abū Bakr ibn al-Muqriʾ—Aḥmad ibn ʿAbd al-Wārith al-Khaw-
lānī—Abū Mūsā ʿĪsā ibn Ḥammād, Zughba—al-Layth ibn Saʿd—Yazīd ibn
Abū Ḥabīb—Abū al-Khayr—Abū al-Khaṭṭāb—Abū Saʿīd al-Khudrī, who
said:
The year Tabūk was captured (630ce), the Messenger of God (ṣ) preached
to the people while leaning against a palm tree. He said: “Have I told you
about the best of people and the worst of people? The best of people is
73a a man who labors in the path of God | on his horse, on his camel, or on
his feet, and while in that state death takes him. The worst of people is an
immoral and imprudent man who reads the Book of God but heeds nothing
in it.”
Al-Nasāʾī related this—Qutayba ibn Saʿīd—al-Layth.23

22 This is an explicit reference to the Qurʾan, speci󰀈椀cally the brief Meccan Sūrat al-Qadr

(The Power; 97:1–5), which reads:

﴾We sent it down in the Night of Power! But how can you know what is the Night
of Power? The Night of Power is better than a thousand months. In it, the angels
and the Spirit are sent swarming down, by their Lord’s leave, attending to every
command. Peace is it that Night, till the break of dawn.﴿
23 Sunan al-Nasāʾī, Kitāb al-jihād ( faḍl man ʿamil fī sabīl Allāh ʿalā qadamih) [Book of

Jihad (on the merits of the one who labors in the path of God on his own foot)], 5:11–12.
 ‫‪158‬‬ ‫‪edition and translation‬‬

‫اﳊﺪﯾﺚ اﻟﻌﴩون‬
‫ٔاﺧﱪ󰈋 ٔاﺑﻮ ﺳﻬﻞ ﶊ ّﺪ ﺑﻦ ٕاﺑﺮاﻫﲓ ﺑﻦ ﺳﻌﺪوﯾﻪ ٔا󰈋 ٔاﺑﻮ اﻟﻔﻀﻞ اﻟﺮازي ٔا󰈋 ﺟﻌﻔﺮ ﺑﻦ ﻋﺒﺪ ﷲ اﻟﺮازي‬
‫ﺛﻨﺎ ﶊ ّﺪ ﺑﻦ ﻫﺎرون ﺛﻨﺎ ﻋﲇ ﺑﻦ ﺳﻬﻞ ﻫﻮ اﻟﺮﻣﲇ ﺛﻨﺎ اﻟﻮﻟﯿﺪ ﺑﻦ ﻣﺴﲅ ﻋﻦ ﳛﲕ ﺑﻦ اﳊﺎرث‪ .‬ﻗﺎل‬
‫اﻟﻮﻟﯿﺪ‪ :‬وﻣّﺮ ﰊ ﳛﲕ ﺑﻦ اﳊﺎرث ﻓﻘﺎل‪ٕ :‬ا ّ󰈋 ﻣﺮاد󰈋 اﳋﺮوج ٕاﱃ ﻫﺬا اﻟﻮﺟﻪ ﻓﻬﻞ ﻣﻦ ﻓﺮس ﯾﺴـﳣﺘﻊ ﲠﺎ‬
‫ﰲ ﺳﺒﯿﻞ ﷲ ﻓٕﺎّﱐ ﲰﻌﺖ اﻟﻌﺎﰡ ﺑﻦ ﻋﺒﺪ اﻟﺮﺣﲈن ﯾﻘﻮل‪ :‬ﲰﻌﺖ ٔا󰈈 ٔاﻣﺎﻣﺔ ﳜﱪ ﻋﻦ رﺳﻮل ﷲ‬ ‫‪٥‬‬
‫ﺻّﲆ ﷲ ﻋﻠﯿﻪ وﺳّﲅ ٔاﻧ ّﻪ ﻗﺎل‪ :‬ﻣﻦ ﱂ ﯾﻐُﺰ ٔاو ﳚّﻬﺰ ﻏﺎزً󰈍 ٔاو ﳜﻠﻒ ﻏﺎزً󰈍 ﰲ ٔاﻫ󰏴 ﲞﲑ ٔاﺻﺎﺑﻪ ﷲ‬
‫ﺑﻘﺎرﻋﺔ ﯾﻮم اﻟﻘﯿﺎﻣﺔ‪.‬‬

‫رواﻩ ٔاﺑﻮ داود ﻋﻦ ﲻﺮو ﺑﻦ ﻋ󰍣ن وﻏﲑﻩ ﻋﻦ اﻟﻮﻟﯿﺪ‪.‬‬

‫اﳊﺪﯾﺚ اﳊﺎدي واﻟﻌﴩون‬

‫‪ٔ ١٠‬اﺧﱪ󰈋 ٔاﺑﻮ ﻋﺒﺪ ﷲ اﳋّﻼل ٔا󰈋 ٔاﺑﻮ اﻟﻘﺎﰟ اﻟﺴﻠﻤﻲ ٔا󰈋 ﶊ ّﺪ ﺑﻦ ٕاﺑﺮاﻫﲓ ٔا󰈋 ٔاﺑﻮ ﯾﻌﲆ اﳌﻮﺻﲇ ﺛﻨﺎ ٔاﲪﺪ‬
‫ﺑﻦ ﻋﯿﴗ ﺛﻨﺎ اﺑﻦ وﻫﺐ ﻋﻦ ٔاﰊ ﻫﺎﱐ اﳋﻮﻻﱐ ﻋﻦ ﲻﺮو ﺑﻦ ﻣﺎ󰏭 ﻋﻦ ﻓﻀﺎ󰏧 ﺑﻦ ﻋﺒﯿﺪ ٔاّن رﺳﻮل‬
‫ﰻ ﻣﯿّﺖ ُﳜ َﱲ ﻋﲆ ﲻ󰏴 ٕاّﻻ اﳌﺮاﺑﻂ ﰲ ﺳﺒﯿﻞ ﷲ ﻓٕﺎﻧ ّﻪ ﯾﳮﻮ 󰏳 ﲻ󰏴‬ ‫ﷲ ﺻّﲆ ﷲ ﻋﻠﯿﻪ وﺳّﲅ ﻗﺎل‪ّ :‬‬
‫ٕاﱃ ﯾﻮم اﻟﻘﯿﺎﻣﺔ وﯾﺆﻣﻦ ﻣﻦ ﻓﺘﺎن اﻟﻘﱪ‪.‬‬

‫‪73b‬‬ ‫رواﻩ | ٔاﺑﻮ داود ﻋﻦ ﺳﻌﯿﺪ ﺑﻦ ﻣﻨﺼﻮر ﻋﻦ اﺑﻦ وﻫﺐ‪ ،‬وﻗﺎل اﻟﱰﻣﺬي‪ :‬ﻫﻮ ﺣﺴﻦ ﲱﯿﺢ‪.‬‬

‫اﳊﺪﯾﺚ اﻟﺜﺎﱐ واﻟﻌﴩون‬ ‫‪١٥‬‬

‫ٔاﺧﱪ󰈋 ٔاﺑﻮ اﻟﻔﻀﯿﲇ ؤاﺑﻮ اﶈﺎﺳﻦ ٔاﺳﻌﺪ ﺑﻦ ﻋﲇ ؤاﺑﻮ ﺑﻜﺮ ٔاﲪﺪ اﺑﻦ ﳛﲕ ؤاﺑﻮ اﻟﻮﻗﺖ ﻋﺒﺪ أﻻّول‬
‫ﺑﻦ ﻋﯿﴗ ﻗﺎﻟﻮا‪ٔ :‬ا󰈋 ﻋﺒﺪ اﻟﺮﺣﲈن ﺑﻦ ﶊ ّﺪ ﺑﺒﻮﺷـﻨﺞ ٔا󰈋 ﻋﺒﺪ ﷲ ﺑﻦ ٔاﲪﺪ ﺑﻦ ﲪﻮﯾﺔ ٔا󰈋 ﻋﯿﴗ ﺑﻦ ﲻﺮ‬
‫اﻟﺴﻤﺮﻗﻨﺪي ٔا󰈋 ﻋﺒﺪ ﷲ ﺑﻦ ﻋﺒﺪ اﻟﺮﺣﲈن ا󰏩ارﱊ ٔا󰈋 ﻋﺒﺪ ﷲ ﺑﻦ ﯾﺰﯾﺪ ﺛﻨﺎ ﺑﻦ ﻟﻬﯿﻌﺔ ﻋﻦ ﻣﴩح‬

‫‪ ٣‬ﻫﻮ )ﺳﺎﻗﻄﺔ ﰲ ﻣﻄﺒﻮﻋﺔ( ‪ ٨‬ﺳﲍ ٔاﰊ داود‪ ،‬ﻛﺘﺎب اﳉﻬﺎد )󰈈ب ﻛﺮاﻫﯿﺔ ﺗﺮك‬
‫اﻟﻐﺰو(‪) ١٠ :۳ ،‬رﰴ ‪(٢٥٠۳‬‬
‫‪ ١٤‬ﺳﲍ ٔاﰊ داود‪ ،‬ﻛﺘﺎب اﳉﻬﺎد )󰈈ب ﰲ ﻓﻀﻞ اﻟﺮ󰈈ط(‪) ٩ :۳ ،‬رﰴ ‪ ١٤ (٢٥٠٠‬ﺳﲍ اﻟﱰﻣﺬي‪ ،‬ﻛﺘﺎب ﻓﻀﺎﺋﻞ‬
‫اﳉﻬﺎد )󰈈ب ﻣﺎ ﺟﺎء ﰲ ﻓﻀﻞ ﻣﻦ ﻣﺎت ﻣﺮاﺑﻄًﺎ(‪) ١٤٢ :٤ ،‬رﰴ ‪ ١٨ (١٦٢١‬ا󰏩ارﱊ )ﻣﺼّﺤﺤﺔ ﰲ ﻫﺎﻣﺶ ا󰏲ﻄﻮﻃﺔ‬
‫ﻂ اﻟﱪزاﱄ( ‪ٔ ١٨‬ا󰈋 )ﻣﻄﺒﻮﻋﺔ(‬
‫ﲞ ّ‬
 the forty hadiths for inciting jihad 159

Hadith 20
Abū Sahl Muḥammad ibn Ibrāhīm ibn Saʿdawayh—Abū al-Faḍl al-Rāzī—
Jaʿfar ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Rāzī—Muḥammad ibn Hārūn—ʿAlī ibn Sahl, that
is al-Ramlī—al-Walīd ibn Muslim—Yaḥyā ibn al-Ḥārith. Al-Walīd said:
Yaḥyā ibn al-Ḥārith passed by me and said: “It is our intent to go out to ful󰀈椀ll
this duty. Where can one 󰀈椀nd a mare to ride in the path of God? For I have
heard al-ʿĀṣim ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān say that he heard Abū Umāma say: ‘The
Messenger of God (ṣ) said: He who does not participate in a raid, sponsor a
raider, or take care of a raider’s family, God will strike him with the calamity
of the Day of Resurrection.’”
Abū Dāwūd related this—ʿAmr ibn ʿUthmān and others—al-Walīd.24

Hadith 21
Abū ʿAbd Allāh al-Khallāl—Abū al-Qāsim al-Sulamī—Muḥammad ibn
Ibrāhīm—Abū Yaʿlā al-Mawṣilī—Aḥmad ibn ʿĪsā—Ibn Wahb—Abū Hānī
al-Khawlānī—ʿAmr ibn Malik—Faḍāla ibn ʿUbayd, who said:
The Messenger of God (ṣ) said: “The deeds of the dead person are sealed,
except those of the garrisoned warrior in the path of God whose deeds
accumulate rewards until the Day of Resurrection; he will also be saved
from the torment of the grave.”
73b This was related by | Abū Dāwūd—Saʿīd ibn Manṣūr—Ibn Wahb.25 Al-
Tirmidhī said: “This is a good and sound hadith.”26

Hadith 22
Abū al-Fuḍaylī, Abū al-Maḥāsin Asʿad ibn ʿAlī, Abū Bakr Aḥmad ibn Yaḥyā,
and Abū al-Waqt ʿAbd al-Awwal ibn ʿĪsā—ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Muḥam-
mad, in Būshanj—ʿAbd Allāh ibn Aḥmad ibn Ḥammawayh—ʿĪsā ibn
ʿUmar al-Samarqandī—ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Dārimī—ʿAbd
Allāh ibn Yazīd—Ibn Lahīʿa—Mishriḥ, who heard ʿUqba say:

24 Sunan Abū Dāwūd, Kitāb al-jihād (bāb karāhiyat tark al-ghazū) [Book of Jihad (Chap-

ter on the reprehensibility of neglecting raiding)], 3:10 (no. 2503).

25 Sunan Abū Dāwūd, Kitāb al-jihād (bāb fī faḍl al-ribāṭ) [Book of Jihad (Chapter on the

merits of garrisoning)], 3:9 (no. 2500).

26 Sunan al-Timridhī, Kitāb faḍāʾil al-jihād (bāb mā jāʾ fī faḍl man māt murābiṭ) [Book of

the Merits of Jihad (Chapter on what was said about the merits of a person who dies while
garrisoning)], 4:142 (no. 1621).
 ‫‪160‬‬ ‫‪edition and translation‬‬

‫ﻗﺎل‪ :‬ﲰﻌﺖ ﻋﻘﺒﺔ ﯾﻘﻮل‪ :‬ﲰﻌﺖ رﺳﻮل ﷲ ﺻّﲆ ﷲ ﻋﻠﯿﻪ وﺳّﲅ ﯾﻘﻮل‪ّ :‬‬
‫ﰻ ﻣﯿّﺖ ُﳜ َﱲ ﻋﲆ ﲻ󰏴 ٕاّﻻ‬
‫اﳌﺮاﺑﻂ ﰲ ﺳﺒﯿﻞ ﷲ ﻓٕﺎﻧ ّﻪ ﳚﺮى 󰏳 ٔاﺟﺮ ﲻ󰏴 ﺣّﱴ ﯾ ُﺒﻌﺚ‪.‬‬

‫اﳊﺪﯾﺚ اﻟﺜﺎﻟﺚ واﻟﻌﴩون‬

‫ٔاﺧﱪ󰈋 ٔاﺑﻮ اﻟﻘﺎﰟ ﺑﻦ اﳊﺼﲔ ﺑﺒﻐﺪاد ٔا󰈋 ٔاﺑﻮ ﻋﲇ ﺑﻦ اﳌﺬّﻫﺐ ٔا󰈋 ٔاﺑﻮ ﺑﻜﺮ ﺑﻦ ﻣﺎ󰏭 ﺛﻨﺎ ﻋﺒﺪ ﷲ ﺑﻦ‬
‫ٔاﲪﺪ ﺑﻦ ﺣﻨﺒﻞ ﺣّﺪﺛﲏ ٔاﰊ ﺛﻨﺎ ﻫﺎﴌ ﺑﻦ اﻟﻘﺎﰟ ﺛﻨﺎ ﻋﺒﺪ اﻟﺮﺣﲈن ﺑﻦ ﻋﺒﺪ ﷲ ﺑﻦ دﯾﻨﺎر ﻋﻦ ٔاﰊ‬ ‫‪٥‬‬
‫ﺣﺎزم ﻋﻦ ﺳﻬﻞ ﺑﻦ ﺳﻌﺪ اﻟﺴﺎﻋﺪي ٔاّن رﺳﻮل ﷲ ﺻّﲆ ﷲ ﻋﻠﯿﻪ وﺳّﲅ ﻗﺎل‪ :‬ر󰈈ط ﯾﻮم ﰲ ﺳﺒﯿﻞ‬
‫ﷲ ﺧﲑ ﻣﻦ ا󰏩ﻧﯿﺎ وﻣﺎ ﻋﻠﳱﺎ‪ ،‬واﻟﺮوﺣﺔ ﯾﺮو󰏅ﺎ اﻟﻌﺒﺪ ﰲ ﺳﺒﯿﻞ ﷲ ﻋّﺰ وﺟّﻞ ٔاو اﻟﻐﺪوة ﺧﲑ ﻣﻦ‬
‫ا󰏩ﻧﯿﺎ وﻣﺎ ﻋﻠﳱﺎ‪ ،‬وﻣﻮﺿﻊ ﺳﻮط ٔاﺣﺪﰼ ﰲ اﳉﻨّﺔ ﺧﲑ ﻣﻦ ا󰏩ﻧﯿﺎ وﻣﺎ ﻋﻠﳱﺎ‪.‬‬

‫ﻫﺬا ﺣﺪﯾﺚ ﺣﺴﻦ ﲱﯿﺢ ﻣﻦ ﺣﺪﯾﺚ ٔاﰊ ﺣﺎزم ﺗﻔّﺮد ﺑﺬﻛﺮ اﻟﺮ󰈈ط ﻓﯿﻪ اﺑﻦ دﯾﻨﺎر‪.‬‬

‫اﳊﺪﯾﺚ اﻟﺮاﺑﻊ واﻟﻌﴩون‬ ‫‪١٠‬‬

‫‪74a‬‬ ‫ٔاﺧﱪ󰈋 ٔاﺑﻮ اﳌﻈﻔّﺮ ﻋﺒﺪ اﳌﻨﻌﻢ ﺑﻦ ﻋﺒﺪ اﻟﻜﺮﱘ ٔا󰈋 ٔاﰊ أﻻﺳـﺘﺎذ ٔاﺑﻮ اﻟﻘﺎﰟ ٔا󰈋 ٔاﺑﻮ ﻧﻌﲓ ﻋﺒﺪ اﳌ󰏮 ﺑﻦ‬
‫اﳊﺴﻦ ٔا󰈋 ﯾﻌﻘﻮب ﺑﻦ ٕاﲮﺎق ﺛﻨﺎ ﯾﻮﻧﺲ ﺑﻦ ﻋﺒﺪ أﻻﻋﲆ ﺛﻨﺎ ﺑﻦ وﻫﺐ ٔاﺧﱪﱐ اﻟﻠﯿﺚ ﺑﻦ ﺳﻌﺪ ﻋﻦ‬
‫زﻫﺮة ﺑﻦ ﻣﻌﺒﺪ ﻋﻦ ٔاﺑﯿﻪ ﻋﻦ ٔاﰊ ﻫﺮﯾﺮة ﻋﻦ اﻟﻨﱯّ ﺻّﲆ ﷲ ﻋﻠﯿﻪ وﺳّﲅ ٔاﻧ ّﻪ ﻗﺎل‪ :‬ﻣﻦ ﻣﺎت ﻣﺮاﺑﻄًﺎ‬
‫ﰲ ﺳﺒﯿﻞ ﷲ ُٔاﺟﺮي ﻋﻠﯿﻪ ٔاﺟﺮ ﲻ󰏴 اﻟﺼﺎﱀ ا󰏫ي ﰷن ﯾﻌﻤﻞ‪ ،‬ؤُاﺟﺮي ﻋﻠﯿﻪ رزﻗﻪ‪ ،‬ؤاوﻣﻦ اﻟﻔﺘﺎن‪،‬‬
‫‪ ١٥‬وﺑﻌﺜﻪ ﷲ ﯾﻮم اﻟﻘﯿﺎﻣﺔ ا ٓﻣﻨًﺎ ﻣﻦ اﻟﻔﺰع‪.‬‬

‫رواﻩ ٔاﺑﻮ ﻋﺒﺪ ﷲ ﺑﻦ ﻣﺎﺟﺔ ﰲ ﺳﻨﻨﻪ ﻋﻦ ﯾﻮﻧﺲ ﺑﻦ ﻋﺒﺪ أﻻﻋﲆ‪.‬‬

‫ﺳﲍ ٔاﺑﻦ ﻣﺎﺟﺔ‪ ،‬ﻛﺘﺎب اﳉﻬﺎد )‪󰈈 :٧‬ب ﻓﻀﻞ اﻟﺮ󰈈ط ﰲ ﺳﺒﯿﻞ ﷲ(‪) ٩٢٤ :٢ ،‬رﰴ ‪(٢٧٦٧‬‬ ‫‪١٦‬‬
 the forty hadiths for inciting jihad 161

I heard the Messenger of God (ṣ) say: “The deeds of the dead person are
sealed, except those of the garrisoned warrior in the path of God whose
deeds accumulate rewards until he is resurrected.”

Hadith 23
Abū al-Qāsim ibn al-Ḥuṣayn, in Baghdad—Abū ʿAlī ibn al-Mudhahhab—
Abū Bakr ibn Mālik—ʿAbd Allāh ibn Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal—my father [Aḥ-
mad ibn Ḥanbal]—Hāshim ibn al-Qāsim—ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿAbd
Allāh ibn Dīnār—Abū Ḥāzim—Sahl ibn Saʿd al-Sāʿidī, who said:
The Messenger of God (ṣ) said: “A day spent garrisoned in the path of God is
worthier than the world and what is in it. An evening or a morning errand
made by the worshipper in the path of God is worthier than the world and
what is in it. The location of someone’s portion in Paradise is worthier than
the world and what is in it.”
This is a good and sound hadith, transmitted by Abū Ḥāzim. Ibn Dīnār was
the only transmitter to include in it the garrison section.

Hadith 24
74a Abū al-Muẓa󰀇far ʿAbd al-Munʿim ibn ʿAbd al-Karīm—my father al-Ustādh
Abū al-Qāsim—Abū Nuʿaym ʿAbd al-Malik ibn al-Ḥasan—Yaʿqūb ibn
Isḥāq—Yūnus ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā—Ibn Wahb—al-Layth ibn Saʿd—Zahra ibn
Maʿbad—his father [Maʿbad ibn ʿAbd Allāh]—Abū Hurayra, who said:
The Prophet (ṣ) said: “He who dies while garrisoned in the path of God will
earn the rewards of the good deeds that he carried out. His needs will be
provided for, and he will also be saved from the torment of the grave. God
will resurrect him on the Day of Resurrection saved from the terror.”27
This was related by Abū ʿAbd Allāh ibn Māja in his Sunan—Yūnus ibn ʿAbd
al-Aʿlā.28

27 Sunan Ibn Māja, Kitāb al-jihād (bāb faḍl al-ribāt fī sabīl Allāh) [Book of Jihad (Chap-

ter 7: on the merits of garrisoning in the path of God)], 2:924 (no. 2767).
28 According to the Islamic tradition, the Dead will be resurrected at the End of Times

by a “terrorizing Call” (al-fazaʿ or al-ṣayḥa).

 ‫‪162‬‬ ‫‪edition and translation‬‬

‫اﳊﺪﯾﺚ اﳋﺎﻣﺲ واﻟﻌﴩون‬

‫ٔاﺧﱪ󰈋 ٔاﺑﻮ اﻟﻘﺎﰟ زاﻫﺮ ﺑﻦ ﻃﺎﻫﺮ ٔا󰈋 ٔاﲪﺪ ﺑﻦ اﳊﺴﲔ اﻟﺒﳱﻘﻲ ٔا󰈋 ٔاﺑﻮ ﻋﺒﺪ ﷲ اﳊﺎﻓﻆ ﺛﻨﺎ ٔاﺑﻮ‬
‫اﻟﻌّﺒﺎس ﶊ ّﺪ ﺑﻦ ﯾﻌﻘﻮب ٔا󰈋 ﶊ ّﺪ ﺑﻦ ﻋﺒﺪ ﷲ اﺑﻦ ﻋﺒﺪ اﳊﲂ ٔا󰈋 اﺑﻦ وﻫﺐ ٔا󰈋 ﲻﺮو ﺑﻦ اﳊﺎرث‬
‫ٔان ٔا󰈈 ﻋﺜﺎﻧﺔ اﳌﻌﺎﻓﺮي ﺣّﺪﺛﻪ ٔاﻧ ّﻪ ﲰﻊ ﻋﺒﺪ ﷲ ﺑﻦ ﲻﺮو ﺑﻦ اﻟﻌﺎص ﯾﻘﻮل‪ :‬ﲰﻌﺖ رﺳﻮل ﷲ ﺻّﲆ‬
‫‪ ٥‬ﷲ ﻋﻠﯿﻪ وﺳّﲅ ﯾﻘﻮل‪ٕ :‬اّن ٔاّول ﺛﻼﺛﺔ ﯾﺪﺧﻞ اﳉﻨّﺔ ﻟﻔﻘﺮاء اﳌﻬﺎﺟﺮﯾﻦ ا󰏫ﯾﻦ ﯾﺘّﻘﻰ ﲠﻢ اﳌﲀرﻩ ٕاذا ُٔاﻣﺮوا‬
‫ﲰﻌﻮا ؤاﻃﺎﻋﻮا‪ ،‬وٕان ﰷﻧﺖ ﻟﺮﺟﻞ ﻣﳯﻢ ﺣﺎﺟﺔ ٕاﱃ اﻟﺴﻠﻄﺎن ﱂ ﺗﻘَﺾ ﺣّﱴ ﳝﻮت وﱔ ﰲ ﺻﺪرﻩ‪،‬‬
‫ﻓٕﺎّن ﷲ ﯾﺪﻋﻮ ﯾﻮم اﻟﻘﯿﺎﻣﺔ اﳉﻨّﺔ ﻓﺘﺎٔﰐ ﺑﺰﺧﺮﻓﻬﺎ وزﯾﻨﳤﺎ ﻓﺘﻘﻮل‪ٔ :‬اﯾﻦ ﻋﺒﺎدي ا󰏫ﯾﻦ ﻗﺎﺗﻠﻮا ﰲ ﺳﺒﯿﻞ‬
‫ﷲ وُﻗﺘﻠﻮا ؤاوذوا ﰲ ﺳﺒﯿﻞ ﷲ وﺟﺎﻫﺪوا ﰲ ﺳﺒﯿﲇ! ٔادﺧﻠﻮا اﳉﻨّﺔ‪ .‬ﻓﯿﺪﺧﻠﻮﳖﺎ ﺑﻐﲑ ﺣﺴﺎب وﻻ‬
‫ﻋﺬاب‪ ،‬ﻓﺘﺎٔﰐ اﳌﻼﯾﻜﺔ ﻓﯿﻘﻮﻟﻮن‪ :‬رﺑ ّﻨﺎ ﳓﻦ ﻧﺴـّﺒﺢ 󰏭 اﻟﻠﯿﻞ واﻟﳯﺎر وﻧﻘّﺪس 󰏭‪ ،‬ﻣﻦ ﻫﺎؤﻻء ا󰏫ﯾﻦ‬
‫‪74b‬‬ ‫‪ٔ ١٠‬اﯾ ّﺪﲥﻢ ﻋﻠﯿﻨﺎ؟ ﻓﯿﻘﻮل | اﻟﺮّب ﺗﺒﺎرك وﺗﻌﺎﱃ‪ :‬ﻫﺎؤﻻء ا󰏫ﯾﻦ ﻗﺎﺗﻠﻮا ﰲ ﺳﺒﯿﲇ ؤاوذوا ﰲ ﺳﺒﯿﲇ‪ .‬ﻓﺘﺪﺧﻞ‬
‫ﰻ 󰈈ب‪ :‬ﺳﻼم ﻋﻠﯿﲂ ﲟﺎ ﺻﱪﰎ ﻓﻨﻌﻢ ﻋﻘﺒﺎ ا󰏩ار‪.‬‬ ‫ﻋﻠﳱﻢ اﳌﻼﯾﻜﺔ ﻣﻦ ّ‬

‫اﳊﺪﯾﺚ اﻟﺴﺎدس واﻟﻌﴩون‬

‫ٔاﺧﱪ󰈋 ٔاﺑﻮ اﻟﻘﺎﰟ ٕاﺳﲈﻋﯿﻞ ﺑﻦ ﶊ ّﺪ ﺑﻦ اﻟﻔﻀﻞ اﳊﺎﻓﻆ ٔا󰈋 ٔاﺑﻮ اﳊﺴﲔ ٔاﲪﺪ ﺑﻦ ﻋﺒﺪ اﻟﺮﺣﲈن ٔا󰈋‬
‫ٔاﺑﻮ ﺑﻜﺮ ﶊ ّﺪ ﺑﻦ ٔاﲪﺪ ﺑﻦ زﳒﻮﯾﻪ ٔا󰈋 ٔاﲪﺪ ﺑﻦ ﺟﻌﻔﺮ ﺑﻦ ﲪﺪان اﻟﺴﻘﻄﻲ ﺛﻨﺎ ﻋﺒﺪ ﷲ ﺑﻦ ٔاﲪﺪ‬
‫‪ ١٥‬ا󰏩ورﰶ ﺛﻨﺎ ﶊ ّﺪ ﺑﻦ ﻣﻌﺎوﯾﺔ ٔاﺑﻮ ﻋﺒﺪ ﷲ ﺛﻨﺎ ﻣﺴﲅ ﺑﻦ ﺧﺎ󰏩 ﺛﻨﺎ ﴍﯾﻚ ﺑﻦ ﻋﺒﺪ ﷲ اﺑﻦ ٔاﰊ ﻧ َِﻤﺮ‬
‫ﻋﻦ ٔاﻧﺲ ﺑﻦ ﻣﺎ󰏭 ﻗﺎل‪ :‬ﻗﺎل رﺳﻮل ﷲ ﺻّﲆ ﷲ ﻋﻠﯿﻪ وﺳّﲅ‪ :‬اﻟﺸﻬﺪاء ﺛﻼﺛﺔ رﺟﺎل‪ .‬رﺟﻞ ﺧﺮج‬
‫ﲟﺎ󰏳 وﻧﻔﺴﻪ ﳏﺘﺴـﺒًﺎ ﰲ ﺳﺒﯿﻞ ﷲ ﻻ ﯾﺮﯾﺪ ٔان ﯾ َﻘﺘﻞ وﻻ ﯾُﻘﺘﻞ ﻟﺘﻜﺜﲑ ﺳﻮاد اﳌﺴﻠﻤﲔ‪ ،‬ﻓٕﺎن ﻣﺎت ٔاو‬
‫ُﻗِﺘﻞ ُﻏﻔﺮت ذﻧﻮﺑﻪ ﳇّﻬﺎ‪ ،‬ؤاﺟﲑ ﻣﻦ ﻋﺬاب اﻟﻘﱪ‪ ،‬ؤاوﻣﻦ ﻣﻦ اﻟﻔﺰع اﻻٔﻛﱪ‪ ،‬وزّوج ﻣﻦ اﳊﻮر اﻟﻌﲔ‪،‬‬
‫ووﺿﻊ ﻋﲆ رٔاﺳﻪ 󰈉ج اﻟﻮﻗﺎر‪ .‬واﻟﺜﺎﱐ رﺟﻞ ﺟﺎﻫﺪ ﺑﻨﻔﺴﻪ وﻣﺎ󰏳 ﯾﺮﯾﺪ ٔان ﯾ َﻘﺘﻞ وﻻ ﯾُﻘﺘَﻞ‪ ،‬ﻓٕﺎن ﻣﺎت‬
‫‪ٔ ٢٠‬او ُﻗﺘﻞ ﰷﻧﺖ رﻛﺒﺘﻪ ﻣﻊ رﻛﺒﺔ ٕاﺑﺮاﻫﲓ ﺧﻠﯿﻞ اﻟﺮﺣﲈن ﺑﲔ ﯾﺪي ﷲ ﻋّﺰ وﺟّﻞ ﴿ﰲ ﻣﻘﻌﺪ ﺻﺪق ﻋﻨﺪ‬

‫ﳕﲑ )ﻣﻄﺒﻮﻋﺔ(‬ ‫‪ ٤‬ﻋﻨﺎﻧﺔ )ﻣﻄﺒﻮﻋﺔ( ‪ ٥‬ﺗﺘّﻘﻰ )ﻣﻄﺒﻮﻋﺔ( ‪١٥‬‬

 the forty hadiths for inciting jihad 163

Hadith 25
Abū al-Qāsim Zāhir ibn Ṭāhir—Aḥmad ibn al-Ḥusayn al-Bayhaqī—Abū
ʿAbd Allāh al-Ḥā󰀈椀ẓ—Abū al-ʿAbbās Muḥammad ibn Yaʿqūb—Muḥam-
mad ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbd al-Ḥakam—Ibn Wahb—ʿAmr ibn al-Ḥā-
rith—Abū ʿUthāna al-Maʿā󰀈椀rī, who heard ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀṣ,
who said:
I heard the Messenger of God (ṣ) say: “The 󰀈椀rst of three to enter Paradise are
the poor Immigrants, whose help one seeks to confront misfortunes. If they
are ordered, they listen and obey, and if one of them has a need from a ruler,
it will not be ful󰀈椀lled until he is dead and it is in his heart. On the Day of
Resurrection, God will command Paradise to come with its embellishments
and ornaments and say: ‘My beloved worshipers who fought in the path of
God and died, who were hurt in the path of God, and who waged jihad in
my path, Come in!’ They will enter it without any judgment or torture. The
angels will come and say: ‘O Our Lord, we praise you night and day and
74b glorify you. Who are these whom you favored over us?’ | The Lord—praised
and almighty—will answer: ‘These are the ones who fought in my path and
were injured in my path.’ The angels will salute them from each door with:
‘Peace on you for what you have su󰀇fered. What a perfect last abode.’”

Hadith 26
Abū al-Qāsim Ismāʿīl ibn Muḥammad ibn al-Faḍl al-Ḥā󰀈椀ẓ—Abū al-Ḥu-
sayn Aḥmad ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān—Abū Bakr Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad
ibn Zanjawayh—Aḥmad ibn Jaʿfar ibn Ḥamdān al-Saqaṭī—ʿAbd Allāh
ibn Aḥmad al-Dawraqī—Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad ibn Muʿāwiya—
Muslim ibn Khālid—Sharīk ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Abū Namir—Anas ibn
Mālik, who said:
The Messenger of God (ṣ) said: “The martyrs are of three kinds. [First is]
a man who goes out to 󰀈椀ght in the path of God with his wealth and life,
but does not need to kill or get killed in the hope of increasing the number
of Muslims. If he dies or is killed, all his sins are forgiven; he will be saved
from the torment of the grave and from the great frightening Call. He will
also be wedded to the virgins of Paradise and the crown of dignity will be
placed on his head. Second is a man who goes to wage jihad with his life
and wealth, and seeks to kill but not to get killed. If he dies or is killed, he
will be transported to the presence of God in the company of Abraham,
the friend of the Merciful: ﴾In an assembly of virtue, and with a mighty
 ‫‪164‬‬ ‫‪edition and translation‬‬

‫ﻣﻠﯿﻚ ﻣﻘﺘﺪر﴾‪ .‬واﻟﺜﺎﻟﺚ رﺟﻞ ﺧﺮج ﺑﻨﻔﺴﻪ وﻣﺎ󰏳 ﳏﺘﺴـﺒًﺎ ﯾﺮﯾﺪ ٔان ﯾ َﻘﺘﻞ وﯾُﻘﺘﻞ‪ ،‬ﻓٕﺎن ﻣﺎت ٔاو ُﻗﺘﻞ‬
‫‪75a‬‬ ‫ﺟﺎء ﯾﻮم اﻟﻘﯿﺎﻣﺔ ﺷﺎﻫﺮًا ﺳـﯿﻔﻪ واﺿﻌﻪ ﻋﲆ ﻋﻨﻘﻪ | واﻟﻨﺎس ﺟﺎﺛ ّﻮن ﻋﲆ اﻟﺮﻛﺐ ﯾﻘﻮل‪ٔ :‬اﻻ ﻓﺎﻓﺘﺤﻮا ﻟﻨﺎ‬
‫ﻓٕﺎ ّ󰈋 ﻗﺪ ﺑﺬﻟﻨﺎ دﻣﺎء󰈋 ؤاﻣﻮاﻟﻨﺎ 󰏯 ﻋّﺰ وﺟّﻞ‪ .‬ﻗﺎل رﺳﻮل ﷲ ﺻّﲆ ﷲ ﻋﻠﯿﻪ وﺳّﲅ‪ :‬وا󰏫ي ﻧﻔﴘ ﺑﯿﺪﻩ‪،‬‬
‫ﻟﻮ ﻗﺎل ذ󰏭 ٕﻻﺑﺮاﻫﲓ ﺧﻠﯿﻞ اﻟﺮﺣﲈن ٔاو ﻟﻨﱯّ ﻣﻦ أﻻﻧﺒﯿﺎء ﻟﺘﻨّﺤﻰ ﳍﻢ ﻋﻦ اﻟﻄﺮﯾﻖ ﳌﺎ ﯾﺮى ﻣﻦ واﺟﺐ‬
‫ﺣﻘّﻬﻢ‪ ،‬ﺣّﱴ ﯾﺎٔﺗﻮا ﻣﻨﺎﺑﺮ ﻣﻦ ﻧﻮر ﻋﻦ ﳝﲔ اﻟﻌﺮش ﻓﯿﺠﻠﺴﻮن ﯾﻨﻈﺮون ﻛﯿﻒ ﯾُﻘﴣ ﺑﲔ اﻟﻨﺎس‪ ،‬ﻻ‬ ‫‪٥‬‬
‫ﳚﺪون ّﰬ اﳌﻮت‪ ،‬وﻻ ﯾﻐﳣ ّﻮن ﰲ اﻟﱪزخ‪ ،‬وﻻ ﺗﺮﻋﳢﻢ اﻟﺼﯿﺤﺔ‪ ،‬وﻻ ﳞّﻤﻬﻢ اﳊﺴﺎب وﻻ اﳌﲒان وﻻ‬
‫اﻟﴫاط‪ ،‬ﯾﻨﻈﺮون ﻛﯿﻒ ﯾُﻘﴣ ﺑﲔ اﻟﻨﺎس‪ ،‬وﻻ ﯾ َﺴﺎٔﻟﻮن ﺷﯿﺌًﺎ ٕاّﻻ ٔاﻋﻄﻮا‪ ،‬وﻻ ﯾﺸﻔﻌﻮن ﰲ ٔاﺣﺪ ٕاّﻻ‬
‫ﺷﻔﻌﻮا ﻓﯿﻪ‪ ،‬وﯾُﻌﻄﻰ ﻣﻦ اﳉﻨّﺔ ﻣﺎ ٔاﺣّﺐ وﯾُﲋل ﻣﻦ اﳉﻨّﺔ ﺣﯿﺚ ٔاﺣ ّ‬
‫ﺐ‪.‬‬

‫ﻫﺬا ﺣﺪﯾﺚ ﻏﺮﯾﺐ‪.‬‬

‫ﻗﺎﻟﻮا )ﻣﻄﺒﻮﻋﺔ(‬ ‫‪ ١‬ﺳﻮرة اﻟﻘﻤﺮ )‪ ٢ ٥٥ :(٥٤‬ﻓﺎﻓﺴﺤﻮا )ﻣﻄﺒﻮﻋﺔ( ‪٤‬‬

 the forty hadiths for inciting jihad 165

King﴿ (Qurʾan 54:55).29 Third is a man who goes to 󰀈椀ght with his life and
wealth, and seeks to kill and get killed. If he dies or is killed, he is brought
75a on the Day of Resurrection raising his sword, placing it on his neck |, while
humanity are prostrate on their knees. He will say [to them]: ‘Make way for
us, for we have sacri󰀈椀ced our blood and wealth to God—glory and greatness
belong to Him.’” The Messenger of God (ṣ) said: “I swear by He Who holds
my soul in His hand, if he would say that to Abraham, the friend of the
Merciful, or to any other of the prophets, he would step aside to open to
them the way, because honoring them is an obligation.30 Then they will
reach the platforms of light that are to the right side of the Throne. They
will sit and observe how humans are judged. They will neither su󰀇fer the
agony of death nor will they agonize during the period between death and
resurrection; the Call will not frighten them. They will care nothing for
the Judgment, the Scale, or the Bridge over Hell.31 They will observe how
humans are judged. Whatever they request they will be granted, and those
for whom they intercede will bene󰀈椀t from their intercession. They will be
granted from Paradise whatever they desire, and lodged in whichever place
they desire.”
This is a singular Hadith.32

29 Ibn ʿAsākir’s audience would have been well aware of the preceding verses of the

Meccan Sūrat al-Qamar (The Moon; 54:40–55), which address themes of eternal rewards
and punishments in the context of Pharaoh and the ancient Egyptians:
﴾And We made the Qurʾan easy to remember, but is there anyone to recall it to
mind? To the people of Pharaoh came warnings, but they cried lies to all Our
wonders, so We seized them like the seizure of one Almighty, All-Powerful. Are the
blasphemers among you better than all these? Or do you possess some safe-conduct
in ancient Scripture? Or do they claim that victory lies in their number? Their
number shall be defeated and turn tail. Indeed the Hour is their appointed time, and
the Hour shall be still more calamitous and bitter! The wicked are sunk in error and
madness. A Day will come when they shall be dragged into the Fire, on their faces:
‘Taste the touch of the gate of hell!’ We have created all things in due measure, and
Our command is but a single word, like the twinkling of an eye. We have destroyed
your like, but is there anyone to recall it to mind? All they have done is in ancient
Scriptures, and all of it, small or great, is recorded. The pious are amidst Gardens
and rivers, in an assembly of virtue, and with a mighty King.﴿
30 We encounter here the switch in singular and plural pronouns to refer to the martyrs.

This is very common in Arabic prose.

31 On the Day of Judgment, people’s good deeds are weighed against their bad deeds,

hence the Scale, and if they earn Paradise, they will proceed on a narrow Bridge overlook-
ing Hell.
32 A singular hadith is a report whose transmission back to Muhammad is only attested

by one of his companions or one of their companions (known in the Islamic tradition as
Successors); thus it does not have the strength of multiple transmissions.
 ‫‪166‬‬ ‫‪edition and translation‬‬

‫اﳊﺪﯾﺚ اﻟﺴﺎﺑﻊ واﻟﻌﴩون‬

‫ٔاﺧﱪ󰈋 ٔاﺑﻮ ﻋﺒﺪ ﷲ أﻻﺻﳢﺎﱐ أﻻدﯾﺐ ﺛﻨﺎ ٕاﺑﺮاﻫﲓ ﺑﻦ ﻣﻨﺼﻮر اﻟﺴﻠﻤﻲ ٔا󰈋 ﶊ ّﺪ ﺑﻦ ٕاﺑﺮاﻫﲓ ﺑﻦ ﻋﲇ‬
‫ٔا󰈋 ٔاﲪﺪ ﺑﻦ ﻋﲇ اﳌﻮﺻﲇ ﺛﻨﺎ ٔاﲪﺪ اﺑﻦ ﻋﯿﴗ اﳌﴫي ﺛﻨﺎ ﻋﺒﺪ ﷲ ﺑﻦ وﻫﺐ ﺣّﺪﺛﲏ ﻃﻠﺤﺔ ﺑﻦ‬
‫ٔاﰊ ﺳﻌﯿﺪ ٔاّن ﺳﻌﯿﺪ اﳌﻘﱪي ﺣّﺪﺛﻪ ﻋﻦ ٔاﰊ ﻫﺮﯾﺮة ﻋﻦ رﺳﻮل ﷲ ﺻّﲆ ﷲ ﻋﻠﯿﻪ وﺳّﲅ ﻗﺎل‪ :‬ﻣﻦ‬
‫اﺣﺘﺒﺲ ﻓﺮﺳًﺎ ﰲ ﺳﺒﯿﻞ ﷲ ٕاﳝﺎً󰈋 󰏯 وﺗﺼﺪﯾﻘًﺎ ﲟﻮﻋﺪ ﷲ‪ ،‬ﰷن ﺷـﺒﻌﻪ وﺑﻮ󰏳 وروﺛﻪ ﺣﺴـﻨﺎت ﰲ‬ ‫‪٥‬‬
‫ﻣﲒاﻧﻪ ﯾﻮم اﻟﻘﯿﺎﻣﺔ‪.‬‬

‫رواﻩ اﻟﺒﺨﺎري ﰲ ﲱﯿﺤﻪ ﻋﻦ ﻋﲇ ﺑﻦ ﺣﻔﺺ ﻋﻦ ﻋﺒﺪ ﷲ ﺑﻦ اﳌﺒﺎرك ﻋﻦ ﻃﻠﺤﺔ ﺑﻦ ٔاﰊ ﺳﻌﯿﺪ‪.‬‬

‫‪75b‬‬ ‫اﳊﺪﯾﺚ اﻟﺜﺎﻣﻦ واﻟﻌﴩون‬

‫ٔاﺧﱪ󰈋 ٔاﺑﻮ ﶊ ّﺪ ﻫﺒﺔ ﷲ ﺑﻦ ﺳﻬﻞ ﺑﻦ ﲻﺮ اﻟﻔﻘﯿﻪ ٔا󰈋 ٔاﺑﻮ ﻋ󰍣ن ﺳﻌﯿﺪ ﺑﻦ ﶊ ّﺪ ﺑﻦ ٔاﲪﺪ اﻟﺒﺤﲑي‬
‫‪ٔ ١٠‬ا󰈋 ٔاﺑﻮ ﻋﲇ زاﻫﺮ ﺑﻦ ٔاﲪﺪ اﻟﻔﻘﯿﻪ ٔا󰈋 ٔاﺑﻮ ٕاﲮﺎق ٕاﺑﺮاﻫﲓ اﺑﻦ ﻋﺒﺪ اﻟﺼﻤﺪ ﺑﻦ ﻣﻮﳻ اﻟﻬﺎﴰﻲ ٔا󰈋 ٔاﺑﻮ‬
‫ﻣﺼﻌﺐ ٔاﲪﺪ ﺑﻦ ٔاﰊ ﺑﻜﺮ اﻟﺰﻫﺮي ﺛﻨﺎ ﻣﺎ󰏭 ﻋﻦ زﯾﺪ ﺑﻦ ٔاﺳﲅ ﻋﻦ ٔاﰊ ﺻﺎﱀ اﻟﺴّﻤﺎن ﻋﻦ ٔاﰊ‬
‫ﻫﺮﯾﺮة ٔاّن رﺳﻮل ﷲ ﺻّﲆ ﷲ ﻋﻠﯿﻪ وﺳّﲅ ﻗﺎل‪ :‬اﳋﯿﻞ ﻟﺜﻼﺛﺔ‪ ،‬ﻟﺮﺟﻞ ٔاﺟﺮ وﻟﺮﺟﻞ ﺳﱰ وﻋﲆ رﺟﻞ‬
‫وزر‪ .‬ﻓﺎّٔﻣﺎ ا󰏫ي 󰏳 ٔاﺟﺮ‪ ،‬ﻓﺮﺟﻞ رﺑﻄﻬﺎ ﰲ ﺳﺒﯿﻞ ﷲ ﻓﺎٔﻃﺎل ﻟﻬﺎ ﰲ ﻣﺮج ٔاو روﺿﺔ‪ ،‬ﳁﺎ ٔاﺻﺎﺑﺖ ﰲ‬
‫ﻃﯿﻠﻬﺎ ذ󰏭 ﻣﻦ اﳌﺮج ٔاو اﻟﺮوﺿﺔ ﰷﻧﺖ 󰏳 ﺣﺴـﻨﺎت‪ ،‬وﻟﻮ ٔا ّﳖﺎ ﻗﻄﻌﺖ ﻃﯿﻠﻬﺎ ذ󰏭 ﻓﺎﺳـﺘﻨ ّﺖ ﴍﻓًﺎ ٔاو‬
‫‪ ١٥‬ﴍﻓﲔ ﰷﻧﺖ ٔا󰈊رﻫﺎ ؤاروا󰊾ﺎ ﺣﺴـﻨﺎت‪ ،‬وﻟﻮ ٔا ّﳖﺎ ﻣّﺮت ﺑﳯﺮ ﻓﴩﺑﺖ ﻣﻨﻪ وﱂ ﺗﺮد ٔان ﺗﺴﻘﻰ ﻣﻨﻪ ﰷن‬
‫󰏳 ﺣﺴـﻨﺎت‪ ،‬ﻓﻬـﻲ 󰏫ك ٔاﺟﺮ‪ .‬ورﺟﻞ رﺑﻄﻬﺎ ﺗﻐﻨّﯿًﺎ وﺗﻌﻔّﻔًﺎ وﱂ ﯾﻨَﺲ ﺣّﻖ ﷲ ﰲ رﻗﺎﲠﺎ وﻻ ﻇﻬﻮرﻫﺎ‪،‬‬
‫ﻓﻬـﻲ 󰏫󰏭 ﺳﱰ‪ .‬ورﺟﻞ رﺑﻄﻬﺎ ﳀﺮًا ور󰈍ًء وﻧّﻮًا ٔﻻﻫﻞ إﻻﺳﻼم‪ ،‬ﻓﻬـﻲ ﻋﲆ ذ󰏭 وزر‪ .‬وﺳُـﺌﻞ اﻟﻨﱯّ‬
‫ﺻّﲆ ﷲ ﻋﻠﯿﻪ وﺳّﲅ ﻋﻦ اﶵﲑ ﻗﺎل‪ :‬ﱂ ﯾﲋل ﻋّﲇ ﻓﳱﺎ ﳾء ٕاّﻻ ﻫﺬﻩ اﻻٓﯾﺔ اﳉﺎﻣﻌﺔ اﻟﻔﺎّذة‪﴿ :‬ﻣﻦ‬

‫‪ ٤‬ﺳﻌﯿﺪًا )ﻣﻄﺒﻮﻋﺔ( ‪ ٥‬ورﯾ ّﻪ وﺑﻮ󰏳 )ﻣﻄﺒﻮﻋﺔ( ‪ ٧‬ﲱﯿﺢ اﻟﺒﺨﺎري‪ ،‬ﻛﺘﺎب اﳉﻬﺎد واﻟﺴﲑ )󰈈ب ‪ :٤٥‬ﻣﻦ اﺣﺘﺒﺲ‬
‫ﻓﺮﺳّﺎ ﰲ ﺳﺒﯿﻞ ﷲ(‪) ٥٧ :٦ ،‬رﰴ ‪ ٩ (٢٨٥۳‬اﻟﺒﺠﲑﱊ )ﻣﻄﺒﻮﻋﺔ( ‪ٔ ١٠‬ا󰈋 ٔاﺑﻮ ﻋ󰍣ن ﺳﻌﯿﺪ ﺑﻦ ﶊ ّﺪ ﺑﻦ ٔاﲪﺪ‬
‫ﻂ اﻟﱪزاﱄ( ‪ ١٥‬ﯾﺴﻘﻰ )ﻣﻄﺒﻮﻋﺔ(‬‫اﻟﺒﺤﲑي ٔا󰈋 ٔاﺑﻮ ﻋﲇ زاﻫﺮ ﺑﻦ ٔاﲪﺪ اﻟﻔﻘﯿﻪ )ﰲ ﻫﺎﻣﺶ ا󰏲ﻄﻮﻃﺔ ﲞ ّ‬
 the forty hadiths for inciting jihad 167

Hadith 27
Abū ʿAbd Allāh al-Asbahānī al-Adīb—Ibrāhīm ibn Manṣūr al-Sulamī—
Muḥammad ibn Ibrāhīm ibn ʿAlī—Aḥmad ibn ʿAlī al-Mawṣilī—Aḥmad
ibn ʿĪsā al-Miṣrī—ʿAbd Allāh ibn Wahb—Ṭalḥa ibn Abū Saʿīd—Saʿīd al-
Miqbarī—Abū Hurayra, who said:
The Messenger of God (ṣ) said: “Whoever keeps a horse to be used in the
path of God out of belief in God and faith in meeting God on the Day of
Resurrection, its fodder, its urine, and its dung count as good deeds in his
scale on the Day of Resurrection.”
This was related by al-Bukhārī in his Ṣaḥīḥ—ʿAlī ibn Ḥafṣ—ʿAbd Allāh ibn
al-Mubārak—Ṭalḥa ibn Abū Saʿīd.33

75b Hadith 28
Abū Muḥammad Hibat Allāh ibn Sahl ibn ʿUmar al-Faqīh—Abū ʿUthmān
Saʿīd ibn Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad al-Baḥīrī—Abū ʿAlī Zāhir ibn Aḥmad
al-Faqīh—Abū Isḥāq Ibrāhīm ibn ʿAbd al-Ṣamad ibn Mūsā al-Hāshimī—
Abū Miṣʿab Aḥmad ibn Abū Bakr al-Zuhrī—Mālik—Zayd ibn Aslam—
Abū Ṣāliḥ al-Sammān—Abū Hurayra, who said:
The Messenger of God (ṣ) said: “Horses are a reward, a security, or a liability
for three types of men. It is a reward for the man who tied it with a long
tether in the path of God and let it graze in a 󰀈椀eld or meadow. All that it
grazes from the 󰀈椀eld or meadow count as good deeds for him. If it breaks
its tether and runs a heat or two, its traces and its dung count as good
deeds for him. If it passes by a river, sips from it, and does not drink its full
portion, it counts as good deeds for him. For these reasons, it is a reward. It
is a protection for the man who tied it with a tether out of lack of need or
abstinence, and who did not forget God’s right in it or the burden upon its
back. As for the man who tied it with a tether out of vainglory, hypocrisy, and
hostility to the Muslims, because of this it is a liability.” The Prophet (ṣ) was
asked also about donkeys, and he said: “Nothing about them was revealed

33 Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, Kitāb al-jihād wa-l-siyar (bāb 45: man iḥtabas faras fī sabīl Allāh)

[Book of Jihad and Proper Comportment (Chapter 45: on a person who keeps a horse to
be used in the path of God)], 6:57 (no. 2853).
 ‫‪168‬‬ ‫‪edition and translation‬‬

‫ﴍًا ﯾﺮﻩ﴾‪.‬‬
‫ﯾﻌﻤﻞ ﻣﺜﻘﺎل ذّرة ﺧﲑًا ﯾﺮﻩ وﻣﻦ ﯾﻌﻤﻞ ﻣﺜﻘﺎل ذّرة ّ‬
‫وﻫﺬا ﲱﯿﺢ ٔاﯾﻀًﺎ‪ .‬رواﻩ اﻟﺒﺨﺎري ﻋﻦ ﻋﺒﺪ ﷲ ﺑﻦ ﯾﻮﺳﻒ وٕاﺳﲈﻋﯿﻞ ﺑﻦ ٔاﰊ ٔاوﯾﺲ‪ ،‬واﻟﻘﻌﻨﱯ ﻋﻦ‬
‫ﻣﺎ󰏭‪ .‬وﻗﻮ󰏳 اﺳـﺘﻨ ّﺖ‪ٔ ،‬اي ﺻﱪت‪ ،‬واﻟﴩف ﺷﻮط اﻟﻔﺮس‪ ،‬واﻟﻨﻮاة ﻣﻦ اﳌﻨﺎواة‪.‬‬

‫اﳊﺪﯾﺚ اﻟﺘﺎﺳﻊ واﻟﻌﴩون‬

‫‪ٔ ٥‬اﺧﱪ󰈋 ٔاﺑﻮ اﻟﻘﺎﰟ اﻟﺴﻤﺮﻗﻨﺪي ٔا󰈋 ٔاﲪﺪ ﺑﻦ ﶊ ّﺪ ﺑﻦ اﻟﻨﻘّﻮر ٔا󰈋 ٔاﺑﻮ ﻃﺎﻫﺮ ا󰏲ﻠ ّﺺ ﺛﻨﺎ اﺑﻦ ﻣﻨﯿﻊ ﯾﻌﲏ‬
‫‪76a‬‬ ‫ﻋﺒﺪ ﷲ ﺑﻦ ﶊ ّﺪ اﺑﻦ زﳒﻮﯾﻪ ﯾﻌﲏ ﶊ ّﺪ ﺑﻦ ﻋﺒﺪ اﳌ󰏮 | ﺛﻨﺎ ﻋﺒﺪ اﻟﺮّزاق ٔا󰈋 ﻣﻌﻤﺮ ﻋﻦ ﳛﲕ ﺑﻦ ٔاﰊ‬
‫ﰻ‬‫ﻛﺜﲑ ﻋﻦ زﯾﺪ ﺑﻦ ﺳّﻼم ﻋﻦ ﻋﺒﺪ ﷲ ﺑﻦ زﯾﺪ أﻻزرق ﻗﺎل‪ :‬ﰷن ﻋﻘﺒﺔ ﺑﻦ ﻋﺎﻣﺮ ﳜﺮج ﻓﲑﱊ ّ‬
‫ﯾﻮم وﯾﺴـﺘﺘﺒﻊ رﺟًﻼ‪ .‬ﻗﺎل‪ :‬وﰷن ذ󰏭 اﻟﺮﺟﻞ ﰷد ٔان ﳝّﻞ ﻓﻘﺎل‪ٔ :‬اﻻ ٔاﺧﱪك ﻣﺎ ﲰﻌﺖ ﻣﻦ رﺳﻮل ﷲ‬
‫ﺻّﲆ ﷲ ﻋﻠﯿﻪ وﺳّﲅ؟ ﻗﺎل‪ :‬ﺑﲆ‪ .‬ﻗﺎل‪ :‬ﲰﻌﺖ رﺳﻮل ﷲ ﺻّﲆ ﷲ ﻋﻠﯿﻪ وﺳّﲅ ﯾﻘﻮل‪ٕ :‬اّن ﷲ ﯾُﺪﺧﻞ‬
‫‪󰈈 ١٠‬ﻟﺴﻬﻢ اﻟﻮاﺣﺪ ﺛﻼﺛﺔ ﻧﻔﺮ اﳉﻨّﺔ‪ :‬ﺻﺎﻧﻌﻪ ا󰏫ي ﳛﺘﺴﺐ ﰲ ﺻﻨﻌﺘﻪ اﳋﲑ‪ ،‬وا󰏫ي ﳚّﻬﺰ ﺑﻪ ﰲ ﺳﺒﯿﻞ‬
‫ﰻ ﻟﻬٍﻮ‬‫ﷲ‪ ،‬وا󰏫ي ﯾﺮﱊ ﺑﻪ ﰲ ﺳﺒﯿﻞ ﷲ‪ .‬وﻗﺎل‪ :‬ارﻣﻮا ٔاو ارﻛﺒﻮا‪ ،‬ؤان ﺗﺮﻣﻮا ﺧﲑ ﻣﻦ ٔان ﺗﺮﻛﺒﻮا‪ ،‬و ّ‬
‫ﯾﻠﻬﻮ ﺑﻪ اﳌﺆﻣﻦ ﻓﻬﻮ 󰈈ﻃﻞ ٕاّﻻ ﺛﻠﺚ‪ :‬رﻣﯿﻪ ﺳﻬﻤﻪ ﻋﻦ ﻗﻮﺳﻪ‪ ،‬وﺗﺎٔدﯾﺒﻪ ﻓﺮﺳﻪ‪ ،‬وﻣﻼﻋﺒﺘﻪ ٔاﻫ󰏴 ﻓٕﺎ ّﳖﻦ‬
‫ﰻ ﻗﻮس ﻗﺮن وﻧﺒﻞ‬ ‫ﻣﻦ اﳊّﻖ‪ .‬ﻗﺎل‪ :‬ﻓﺘﻮّﰲ ﻋﻘﺒﺔ و󰏳 ﺑﻀﻌﺔ وﺳـﺘّﻮن ٔاو ﺑﻀﻌﺔ وﺳـﺒﻌﻮن ﻗﻮﺳًﺎ ﻣﻊ ّ‬
‫ؤاوﴅ ﲠّﻦ ﰲ ﺳﺒﯿﻞ ﷲ‪ .‬ﻗﺎل‪ :‬وﻗﺎل اﻟﻨﱯّ ﺻّﲆ ﷲ ﻋﻠﯿﻪ وﺳّﲅ‪ :‬ﻣﻦ ﺗﺮك اﻟﺮﱊ ﺑﻌﺪ ٔان ﻋَِﻠﻤﻪ‬
‫‪ ١٥‬ﻓﻬـﻲ ﻧﻌﻤﺔ ﻛﻔﺮﻫﺎ‪.‬‬

‫اﻟﺼﻮاب ﻗﺮن وﻧﺒﻞ‪ ،‬وﻫﻮ ﻣﺎ ﯾﻜﻮن ﻓﯿﻪ اﻟﻨﺒﻞ‪.‬‬

‫ﻟﺜﻼﺛﺔ(‪:٦ ،‬‬ ‫‪ ٢‬ﲱﯿﺢ اﻟﺒﺨﺎري‪ ،‬ﻛﺘﺎب اﳉﻬﺎد واﻟﺴﲑ )󰈈ب ‪ :٤٨‬اﳋﯿﻞ‬ ‫‪ ١‬ﺳﻮرة اﻟﺰﻟﺰ󰏧 )‪٧-٨ :(٩٩‬‬
‫ٔ‬ ‫ّ‬
‫‪) ٦۳-٦٤‬رﰴ ‪ ٢ (٢٨٦٠‬اﻟﻘﻌﯿﲏ )ﻣﻄﺒﻮﻋﺔ( ‪ ٣‬ﻣﻮﻃﺎ ﻣﺎ󰏭‪ ،‬ﻛﺘﺎب اﳉﻬﺎد )󰈈ب ‪ :١‬اﻟﱰﻏﯿﺐ ﰲ اﳉﻬﺎد(‪:٢ ،‬‬
‫‪) ٤٤٤-٤٤٥‬رﰴ ‪ ٣ (۳‬واﻟﻨﻮاء ﻣﻦ اﳌﻨﺎوءة )ﻣﻄﺒﻮﻋﺔ( ‪ ١٣‬ﻗﺮن ﻧﺒﻞ وﺑﻐﻞ )ﻣﻄﺒﻮﻋﺔ(‬
 the forty hadiths for inciting jihad 169

to me except this broad verse, which is singular in meaning: ﴾Whoso has

done an atom’s worth of good shall see it; whoso has done an atom’s worth
of evil shall see it﴿” (Qurʾan 99:7–8).34
This too is a sound hadith. It was related by al-Bukhārī—ʿAbd Allāh ibn
Yūsuf and Ismāʿīl ibn Abū Uways;35 and by al-Quʿnubī—Mālik.36 As for his
saying “runs,” it means endures, “a heat” means the horse’s single run, and
“hostility” means enmity.

Hadith 29
Abū al-Qāsim al-Samarqandī—Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn al-Naqqūr—
Abū Ṭāhir al-Mukhalliṣ—Ibn Manīʿ, that is ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad—
76a Ibn Zanjawayh, that is Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Malik |—ʿAbd al-Razzāq—
Maʿmar—Yaḥyā ibn Abū Kathīr—Zayd ibn Sallām—ʿAbd Allāh ibn Zayd
al-Azraq, who said:
When ʿUqba ibn ʿĀmir would go out to shoot arrows, he used to make a
man follow him. The man became annoyed with this, so he [ʿUqba] said
to him: “Should I tell you what I heard from the Messenger of God?” The
man replied: “Yes.” ʿUqba said: “I heard the Messenger of God say: ‘God will
admit into Paradise three men for every arrow: the one who makes it and
hopes it is used for something good, the one who donates it to be used in
the path of God, and the person who shoots it in the path of God. You can
shoot arrows or ride horses, but shooting arrows is better than riding horses.
Every pastime that the believer pursues is devoid of virtue except for three:
shooting his arrow from his bow, training his horse, and playing with his
family, for they are virtuous.’” ʿUqba then died, leaving some sixty or seventy

34 Ibn ʿAsākir’s audience would have been well aware of the brief Medinan Sūrat al-

Zilzāl (The Earthquake; 99:1–8), which addresses themes of eternal rewards and punish-
ments:
﴾When the earth quakes—a shattering quake! and the earth casts up its loads! and
man says: ‘What ails it?’ that Day it shall tell its tales, for your Lord will have inspired
it! That Day, mankind will come out in scattered throngs, to be shown their rights
and wrongs. Whoso has done an atom’s worth of good shall see it; whoso has done
an atom’s worth of evil shall see it.﴿
35 Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, Kitāb al-jihād wa-l-siyar (bāb 48: al-khayl li-thalātha) [Book of Jihad

and Proper Comportment (Chapter 48: horses are for three types of people)], 6:63–64
(no. 2860).
36 Muwaṭṭaʾ Mālik, Kitāb al-Jihād (bāb 1: al-targhīb fī al-jihād) [Book of Jihad (Chapter 1:

making jihad desirable)], 2:444–445 (no. 3).

 ‫‪170‬‬ ‫‪edition and translation‬‬

‫اﳊﺪﯾﺚ اﻟﺜﻼﺛﻮن‬
‫ٔاﺧﱪ󰈋 ٔاﺑﻮ ﺑﻜﺮ ﶊ ّﺪ ﺑﻦ اﳊﺴﲔ ﺑﻦ ﻋﲇ اﻟﻔﺮﴈ ﺛﻨﺎ اﻟﻘﺎﴈ ٔاﺑﻮ اﳊﺴﲔ ﶊ ّﺪ ﺑﻦ ﻋﲇ ﺑﻦ اﳌﻬﺘﺪي‬
‫󰈈󰏯‪ ،‬ؤاﺧﱪ󰈋 ٔاﺑﻮ اﻟﻘﺎﰟ ﺑﻦ اﻟﺴﻤﺮﻗﻨﺪي ٔا󰈋 ٔاﲪﺪ ﺑﻦ ﶊ ّﺪ ﺑﻦ اﻟﻨﻘّﻮر ﻗﺎﻻ‪ :‬ﺛﻨﺎ ﻋﯿﴗ ﺑﻦ ﻋﲇ اﻟﻮزﯾﺮ‬
‫ٔا󰈋 ﻋﺒﺪ ﷲ ﺑﻦ ﶊ ّﺪ ﺑﻦ ﻋﺒﺪ اﻟﻌﺰﯾﺰ ﺛﻨﺎ داود ﺑﻦ ﲻﺮو اﻟﻀّﱯ ﺛﻨﺎ ﻣﻨﺼﻮر ﺑﻦ ٔاﰊ أﻻﺳﻮد ﻋﻦ ﻋﻄﺎء‬
‫ﺑﻦ اﻟﺴﺎﯾﺐ ﻋﻦ ٔاﰊ زﻫﲑ اﻟﻀﺒﻌﻲ ﻋﻦ ﻋﺒﺪ ﷲ ﺑﻦ ﺑﺮﯾﺪة ﻋﻦ ٔاﺑﯿﻪ ﻗﺎل‪ :‬ﻗﺎل رﺳﻮل ﷲ ﺻّﲆ ﷲ‬ ‫‪٥‬‬
‫‪76b‬‬ ‫ﻋﻠﯿﻪ وﺳّﲅ‪ :‬اﻟﻨﻔﻘﺔ ﰲ اﳊّﺞ ﻣﺜﻞ اﻟﻨﻔﻘﺔ ﰲ ﺳﺒﯿﻞ ﷲ ا󰏩رﱒ | ﺑﺴـﺒﻊ ﻣﺎﯾﺔ‪.‬‬

‫اﳊﺪﯾﺚ اﳊﺎدي واﻟﺜﻼﺛﻮن‬

‫ٔاﺧﱪ󰈋 ٔاﺑﻮ اﻟﻔﻀﻞ ﶊ ّﺪ ﺑﻦ ٕاﺳﲈﻋﯿﻞ ؤاﺑﻮ ﺑﻜﺮ ٔاﲪﺪ ﺑﻦ ﳛﲕ ؤاﺑﻮ اﶈﺎﺳﻦ ٔاﺳﻌﺪ ﺑﻦ ﻋﲇ ؤاﺑﻮ‬
‫اﻟﻮﻗﺖ ﻋﺒﺪ أﻻّول ﺑﻦ ﻋﯿﴗ ﻗﺎﻟﻮا‪ٔ :‬ا󰈋 ٔاﺑﻮ اﳊﺴﻦ ا󰏩اودي ٔا󰈋 ﻋﺒﺪ ﷲ ﺑﻦ ٔاﲪﺪ ٔا󰈋 ٔاﺑﻮ ﲻﺮان‬
‫‪ ١٠‬اﻟﺴﻤﺮﻗﻨﺪي ٔا󰈋 ٔاﺑﻮ ٔاﲪﺪ ا󰏩ارﱊ ٔا󰈋 ﲻﺮو ﺑﻦ ﻋﺎﰡ ﺛﻨﺎ ّﲪﺎد ﺑﻦ ﺳﻠﻤﺔ ٔا󰈋 ﲪﯿﺪ ﻋﻦ ٔاﻧﺲ ٔاّن رﺳﻮل‬
‫ﷲ ﺻّﲆ ﷲ ﻋﻠﯿﻪ وﺳّﲅ ﻗﺎل‪ :‬ﺟﺎﻫﺪوا اﳌﴩﻛﲔ ﺑﺎٔﻣﻮاﻟﲂ ؤاﻧﻔﺴﲂ ؤاﻟﺴﻨﺘﲂ‪.‬‬

‫رواﻩ ٔاﺑﻮ داود ﻋﻦ ﻣﻮﳻ ﺑﻦ ٕاﺳﲈﻋﯿﻞ ﻋﻦ ّﲪﺎد‪ ،‬ورواﻩ اﻟﻨﺴﺎﰄ ﻋﻦ ﲻﺮو اﺑﻦ ﻋﲇ ﻋﻦ اﺑﻦ 󰏵ﺪي‬
‫ﻋﻦ ّ‬
‫ﲪﺎد‪.‬‬

‫‪ ١٢‬ﲻﺮو‬ ‫ﺳﲍ ٔاﰊ داود‪ ،‬ﻛﺘﺎب اﳉﻬﺎد )󰈈ب ﻛﺮاﻫﯿﺔ ﺗﺮك اﻟﻐﺰو(‪) ١٠ :۳ ،‬رﰴ ‪(٢٥٠٤‬‬
‫‪ ٤‬ﲻﺮ )ﻣﻄﺒﻮﻋﺔ( ‪١٢‬‬
‫ﺑﻦ ﻋﲇ ﺑﻦ 󰏵ﺪي )ﻣﻄﺒﻮﻋﺔ( ‪ ١٣‬ﺳﲍ اﻟﻨﺴﺎﰄ‪ ،‬ﻛﺘﺎب اﳉﻬﺎد )󰈈ب وﺟﻮب اﳉﻬﺎد(‪٧ :٥ ،‬‬
 the forty hadiths for inciting jihad 171

bows, each with a bag and arrows. He bequeathed them to be used in the
path of God. The Prophet (ṣ) said: “Whoever leaves the shooting of arrows
after having mastered it is ungrateful for the gift.”
“A bag and arrows” is correct; that is, a bag that holds the arrows.

Hadith 30
Abū Bakr Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAlī al-Faraḍī—al-Qāḍī Abū al-
Ḥusayn Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī ibn al-Muhtadī biʾllāh, and Abū al-Qāsim
al-Samarqandī—Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn al-Naqqūr—ʿĪsā ibn ʿAlī al-
Wazīr—ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz—Dāwūd ibn ʿAmr
al-Ḍabbī—Manṣūr ibn Abū al-Aswad—ʿAṭāʾ ibn al-Sāyib—Abū Zuhayr
al-Ḍabaʿī—ʿAbd Allāh ibn Burayda—his father [Burayda ibn al-Ḥuṣayb],
who said:
The Messenger of God (ṣ) said: “An expense incurred during one’s pilgrim-
76b age is similar to an expense incurred in the path of God; each dirham | is
rewarded seven hundred fold.”

Hadith 31
Abū al-Faḍl Muḥammad ibn Ismāʿīl, Abū Bakr Aḥmad ibn Yaḥyā, Abū
al-Maḥāsin Asʿad ibn ʿAlī, and Abū al-Waqt ʿAbd al-Awwal ibn ʿĪsā—
Abū al-Ḥasan al-Dāwūdī—ʿAbd Allāh ibn Aḥmad—Abū ʿImrān al-Samar-
qandī—Abū Aḥmad al-Dārimī—ʿAmr ibn ʿĀṣim—Ḥammād ibn Sa-
lama—Ḥumayd—Anas, who said:
The Messenger of God (ṣ) said: “Fight the polytheists with your wealth, with
your lives, and with your tongues.”
This was related by Dāwūd—Mūsā ibn Ismāʿīl—Ḥammād;37 and by al-
Nasāʾī—ʿAmr ibn ʿAlī—Ibn Mahdī—Ḥammād.38

37 Sunan Abū Dāwūd, Kitāb al-jihād (bāb karāhiyat tark al-ghazū) [Book of Jihad (Chap-

ter on the reprehensibility of neglecting raiding)], 3:10 (no. 2504).

38 Sunan al-Nasāʾī, Kitāb al-Jihād (bāb wujūb al-jihād) [Book of Jihad (Chapter on jihad

being an obligatory duty)], 5:7.

 ‫‪172‬‬ ‫‪edition and translation‬‬

‫اﳊﺪﯾﺚ اﻟﺜﺎﱐ واﻟﺜﻼﺛﻮن‬

‫ٔاﺧﱪ󰈋 ٔاﺑﻮ ﺑﻜﺮ ﶊ ّﺪ ﺑﻦ ﻋﺒﺪ اﻟﺒﺎﰶ ٔا󰈋 اﳊﺴﻦ ﺑﻦ ﻋﲇ ﺑﻦ ﶊ ّﺪ ٔا󰈋 ﶊ ّﺪ ﺑﻦ اﳌﻈﻔّﺮ ﺑﻦ ﻣﻮﳻ ﺛﻨﺎ‬
‫ﶊ ّﺪ ﺑﻦ ﶊ ّﺪ ﺑﻦ ﺳﻠ󰍥ن ﺛﻨﺎ ﺷﯿﺒﺎن ﺑﻦ ﻓّﺮوخ اﻻٓﻣﲇ ﺛﻨﺎ ﺟﺮﯾﺮ اﺑﻦ ﺣﺎزم ﺛﻨﺎ اﳊﺴﻦ ﺛﻨﺎ ﺻﻌﺼﻌﺔ ﺑﻦ‬
‫ﻣﻌﺎوﯾﺔ ّ‬
‫ﰪ أﻻﺣﻨﻒ ﺑﻦ ﻗﯿﺲ ﻗﺎل‪ٔ :‬اﺗﯿﺖ ٔا󰈈 ذّر 󰈈ﻟﺮﺑﺬة ﻓﻘﻠﺖ‪ٔ 󰈍 :‬ا󰈈 ذّر ﻣﺎ ﻣﺎ󰏭؟ ﻗﺎل‪ :‬ﻣﺎﱄ ﲻﲇ‪.‬‬
‫ﻓﻘﻠﺖ‪ :‬ﺣّﺪﺛﻨﺎ ﻋﻦ رﺳﻮل ﷲ ﺻّﲆ ﷲ ﻋﻠﯿﻪ وﺳّﲅ ﺣﺪﯾﺜًﺎ ﲰﻌﺘﻪ ﻣﻨﻪ؟ ﻗﺎل‪ :‬ﻧﻌﻢ‪ ،‬ﲰﻌﺖ رﺳﻮل ﷲ‬ ‫‪٥‬‬
‫ﺻّﲆ ﷲ ﻋﻠﯿﻪ وﺳّﲅ ﯾﻘﻮل‪ :‬ﻣﺎ ﻣﻦ ﻣﺴﻠَﻤﲔ ﳝﻮت ﳍﲈ ﺛﻼﺛﺔ ﻣﻦ اﻟﻮ󰏩 ﱂ ﯾﺒﻠﻐﻮا اﳊﻨﺚ ٕاّﻻ ٔادﺧﻠﻬﲈ‬
‫ﷲ اﳉﻨّﺔ ﺑﻔﻀﻞ رﲪﺘﻪ ٕاّ󰈍ﱒ‪ .‬وﲰﻌﺘﻪ ﯾﻘﻮل‪ :‬ﻣﻦ ٔاﻧﻔﻖ زوﺟﲔ ﻣﻦ ﻣﺎ󰏳 ﰲ ﺳﺒﯿﻞ ﷲ اﺑﺘﺪرﺗﻪ ﲩﺒﺔ‬
‫اﳉﻨّﺔ‪ .‬ﻗﺎل‪ :‬ﻗﻠﺖ‪ :‬وﻣﺎ زوﺟﺎن ﻣﻦ ﻣﺎ󰏳؟ ﻗﺎل‪ :‬ﻓﺮﺳﺎن ﻣﻦ ﺧﯿ󰏴‪ ،‬ﺑﻌﲑان ﻣﻦ ٕاﺑ󰏴‪.‬‬

‫‪77a‬‬ ‫رواﻩ اﻟﻨﺴﺎﰄ | ﻋﻦ ٕاﺳﲈﻋﯿﻞ ﺑﻦ ﻣﺴﻌﻮد ﻋﻦ ﺑﴩ ﺑﻦ اﳌﻔّﻀﻞ ﻋﻦ ﯾﻮﻧﺲ ﺑﻦ ﻋﺒﯿﺪ ﻋﻦ اﳊﺴﻦ‪.‬‬

‫اﳊﺪﯾﺚ اﻟﺜﺎﻟﺚ واﻟﺜﻼﺛﻮن‬ ‫‪١٠‬‬

‫ٔاﺧﱪ󰈋 ٔاﺑﻮ اﻟﻘﺎﰟ ﻫﺒﺔ ﷲ ﺑﻦ ﶊ ّﺪ ﺑﻦ ﻋﺒﺪ اﻟﻮاﺣﺪ ٔا󰈋 ٔاﺑﻮ ﻋﲇ اﻟﳣﳰﻲ اﻟﻮاﻋﻆ ٔا󰈋 ٔاﺑﻮ ﺑﻜﺮ اﻟﻘﻄﯿﻌﻲ‬
‫ﺛﻨﺎ ﻋﺒﺪ ﷲ ﺑﻦ ٔاﲪﺪ ﺣّﺪﺛﲏ ٔاﰊ ﺛﻨﺎ ﯾﺰﯾﺪ ﺑﻦ ٔاّﰊ اﳌﺴﻌﻮدي ﻋﻦ اﻟﺮﻛﲔ ﺑﻦ اﻟﺮﺑﯿﻊ ﻋﻦ رﺟﻞ ﻋﻦ‬
‫ﺧﺮﱘ ﺑﻦ ﻓﺎﺗﻚ ﻗﺎل‪ :‬ﻗﺎل رﺳﻮل ﷲ ﺻّﲆ ﷲ ﻋﻠﯿﻪ وﺳّﲅ‪ :‬أﻻﻋﲈل ﺳـﺘّﺔ واﻟﻨﺎس ٔارﺑﻌﺔ‪ .‬ﳁﻮﺟﺒﺘﺎن‪،‬‬
‫وﻣﺜﻞ ﲟﺜﻞ‪ ،‬وﺣﺴـﻨﺔ ﺑﻌﴩ ٔاﻣﺜﺎﻟﻬﺎ‪ ،‬وﺣﺴـﻨﺔ ﺑﺴـﺒﻊ ﻣﺎﯾﺔ‪ .‬ﻓﺎّٔﻣﺎ اﳌﻮﺟﺒﺘﺎن‪ ،‬ﳁﻦ ﻣﺎت ﻻ ﯾﴩك 󰈈󰏯‬
‫‪ ١٥‬ﺷﯿﺌًﺎ دﺧﻞ اﳉﻨّﺔ‪ ،‬وﻣﻦ ﻣﺎت ﯾﴩك 󰈈󰏯 ﺷﯿﺌًﺎ دﺧﻞ اﻟﻨﺎر‪ .‬ؤاّﻣﺎ ﻣﺜﻞ ﲟﺜﻞ‪ ،‬ﳁﻦ َ َّﱒ ﲝﺴـﻨﺔ ﺣّﱴ‬
‫ﯾﺸﻌﺮﻫﺎ ﻗﻠﺒﻪ وﯾﻌﻠﻤﻬﺎ ﷲ ﻣﻨﻪ ُﻛﺘﺒﺖ 󰏳 ﺣﺴـﻨﺔ‪ ،‬وﻣﻦ ﲻﻞ ﺳﯿ ّﺌﺔ ُﻛﺘﺒﺖ ﻋﻠﯿﻪ ﺳﯿ ّﺌﺔ‪ .‬وﻣﻦ ﲻﻞ‬
‫ﺣﺴـﻨﺔ ﻓﺒﻌﴩ ٔاﻣﺜﺎﻟﻬﺎ‪ .‬وﻣﻦ ٔاﻧﻔﻖ ﻧﻔﻘﺔ ﰲ ﺳﺒﯿﻞ ﷲ ﲿﺴـﻨﺔ ﺑﺴـﺒﻊ ﻣﺎﯾﺔ‪ .‬ؤاﻣﺎ اﻟﻨﺎس‪ُ ،‬ﳁﻮّﺳﻊ ﻋﻠﯿﻪ‬

‫‪ ٤‬أﻻﺻﻨﻒ )ﻣﻄﺒﻮﻋﺔ( ‪ ٤‬ﻣﺎ )ﺳﺎﻗﻄﺔ ﰲ ﻣﻄﺒﻮﻋﺔ( ‪ ٤‬ﻣﺎ ﱄ )ﻣﻄﺒﻮﻋﺔ( ‪ ٩‬ﺑﺸﲑ )ﻣﻄﺒﻮﻋﺔ( ‪ ٩‬ﺳﲍ‬
‫اﻟﻨﺴﺎﰄ‪ ،‬ﻛﺘﺎب اﳉﻨﺎﺋﺰ )󰈈ب ﻣﻦ ﯾﺘﻮّﰱ 󰏳 ﺛﻼﺛﺔ(‪ ،٢٤-٢٥ :٤ ،‬وﻛﺘﺎب اﳉﻬﺎد )󰈈ب ﻓﻀﻞ اﻟﻨﻔﻘﺔ ﰲ ﺳﺒﯿﻞ ﷲ(‪:٥ ،‬‬
‫‪ ١٣ ٤٨-٤٩‬ﺣﺮﱘ )ﻣﻄﺒﻮﻋﺔ( ‪ ١٧‬ﻓﺒﻌﱶ )ﻣﻄﺒﻮﻋﺔ( ‪ٔ ١٧‬ارﺑﻌﺔ )ز󰈍دة ﰲ ﻣﻄﺒﻮﻋﺔ(‬
 the forty hadiths for inciting jihad 173

Hadith 32
Abū Bakr Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Bāqī—al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAlī ibn Muḥam-
mad—Muḥammad ibn al-Muẓa󰀇far ibn Mūsā—Muḥammad ibn Muḥam-
mad ibn Sulaymān—Shaybān ibn Farrūkh al-Āmulī—Jarīr ibn Ḥāzim—
al-Ḥasan—Ṣaʿṣaʿa ibn Muʿāwiyā, uncle of al-Aḥnaf ibn Qays, who said:
I visited Abū Dharr while he was in Rabadha, and asked him: “O Abū
Dharr, what do you possess?” He replied: “I possess only my labor.” I then
asked him: “Would you relate to us a hadith that you have heard from the
Messenger of God (ṣ)?” He said:
Indeed, I heard the Messenger of God (ṣ) say: “When a Muslim couple lose
to death three children who have not attained puberty, God will admit them
both to Paradise out of His mercy to them.” I also heard him say: “Whoever
spends a pair from his own wealth in the path of God will be greeted by the
keepers of Paradise.” I asked him: “What is ‘a pair of his own wealth’?” He
replied: “Two of his horses or camels.”
77a This was related by al-Nasāʾī |—Ismāʿīl ibn Masʿūd—Bishr ibn al-Mufaḍ-
ḍal—Yūnus ibn ʿUbayd—al-Ḥasan.39

Hadith 33
Abū al-Qāsim Hibat Allāh ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Wāḥid—Abū ʿAlī
al-Tamīmī al-Wāʿiẓ—Abū Bakr al-Qaṭīʿī—ʿAbd Allāh ibn Aḥmad—my
father [Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal]—Yazīd ibn Ubayy al-Masʿūdī—al-Rukayn ibn
al-Rabīʿ—a man—Khuraym ibn Fātik, who said:
The Messenger of God (ṣ) said: “Works are of six types, and people are of
four types. Works are the two prescribed acts, the two reciprocated acts, a
good deed multiplied tenfold, and a good deed multiplied 700 fold. The two
prescribed acts are: dying as a monotheist, which earns one Paradise; and
dying as a polytheist, which earns one Hell. The two reciprocated acts are:
when one is about to perform a good deed, his mind is conscious of it and
God learns about it, it is accounted to him as a good deed. Conversely, when
one commits a bad deed, it is accounted to him as a bad deed. Then there
are the good deed that is multiplied tenfold, and the expense incurred in
the path of God which will be multiplied 700 fold. As for people, they are
those who are granted a󰀇󰀆lfuence in this world but dearth in the Hereafter,

39 Sunan al-Nasāʾī, Kitāb al-janāʾiz (bāb man yatawa󰀆fā lah thalāth) [Book of Funerals

(Chapter on who loses to death three young children)], 4:24–25; and Kitāb al-jihād (bāb
faḍl al-nafaqa fī sabīl Allāh) [Book of Jihad (Chapter on the merit of expenses incurred in
the path of God)], 5:48–49.
 ‫‪174‬‬ ‫‪edition and translation‬‬

‫ﰲ ا󰏩ﻧﯿﺎ ﻣﻘﺘﻮر ﻋﻠﯿﻪ ﰲ اﻻٓﺧﺮة‪ ،‬وﻣﻘﺘﻮر ﻋﻠﯿﻪ ﰲ ا󰏩ﻧﯿﺎ ُﻣﻮّﺳﻊ ﻋﻠﯿﻪ ﰲ اﻻٓﺧﺮة‪ ،‬وﻣﻘﺘﻮر ﻋﻠﯿﻪ ﰲ‬
‫ا󰏩ﻧﯿﺎ واﻻ ٓﺧﺮة‪ ،‬وُﻣﻮّﺳﻊ ﻋﻠﯿﻪ ﰲ ا󰏩ﻧﯿﺎ واﻻ ٓﺧﺮة‪.‬‬

‫اﳊﺪﯾﺚ اﻟﺮاﺑﻊ واﻟﺜﻼﺛﻮن‬

‫ٔاﺧﱪ󰈋 ٔاﺑﻮ اﻟﻘﺎﰟ ﺑﻦ اﻟﺴﻤﺮﻗﻨﺪي ٔا󰈋 ٔاﺑﻮ اﳊﺴﲔ ﺑﻦ اﻟﻨﻘّﻮر ٔا󰈋 ٔاﺑﻮ ﻃﺎﻫﺮ ا󰏲ﻠ ّﺺ ﺛﻨﺎ ٔاﺑﻮ اﻟﻘﺎﰟ ﺑﻦ‬
‫‪ ٥‬ﻣﻨﯿﻊ ﺛﻨﺎ ﻟَُﻮْﯾﻦ ﶊ ّﺪ ﺑﻦ ﺳﻠ󰍥ن ﺛﻨﺎ ﻋﺒﺪ اﻟﻌﺰﯾﺰ ﺑﻦ ﻋﺒﺪ اﻟﺮﺣﲈن ﻣﻮﱃ ﻣﺴﻠﻤﺔ ﺑﻦ ﻋﺒﺪ اﳌ󰏮 وﰷن‬
‫ﻣﲋ󰏳 ﰲ 󰈈ﻟﺲ ﻋﻦ ﺧﺼﯿﻒ ﻋﻦ ﳎﺎﻫﺪ ﻋﻦ ٔاﰊ ﻫﺮﯾﺮة ﻋﻦ اﻟﻨﱯّ ﺻّﲆ ﷲ ﻋﻠﯿﻪ وﺳّﲅ ﻗﺎل‪ :‬ﻣﻦ‬
‫ﺗﻘّ󰏪 ﺳـﯿﻔًﺎ ﰲ ﺳﺒﯿﻞ ﷲ ﻗّ󰏪ﻩ ﷲ ﻋّﺰ وﺟّﻞ ﯾﻮم اﻟﻘﯿﺎﻣﺔ وﺷﺎﺣﲔ ﻣﻦ اﳉﻨّﺔ ﻻ ﺗﻘﻮم ﳍﲈ ا󰏩ﻧﯿﺎ وﻣﺎ‬
‫‪77b‬‬ ‫ﻓﳱﺎ ﻣﻦ ﯾﻮم ﺧﻠﻘﻬﺎ ﷲ | ٕاﱃ ﯾﻮم ﯾﻔﻨﳱﺎ‪ ،‬وﺻﻠ ّﺖ ﻋﻠﯿﻪ اﳌﻼﯾﻜﺔ ﺣّﱴ ﯾﻀﻌﻪ ﻋﻨﻪ‪ .‬ؤاّن ﷲ ﻋّﺰ وﺟّﻞ‬
‫ﻟﯿﺒﺎﱔ ﻣﻼﯾﻜﺘﻪ ﺑﺴـﯿﻒ اﻟﻐﺎزي ورﳏﻪ وﺳﻼﺣﻪ‪ ،‬وٕاذا 󰈈ﱓ ﷲ ﻋّﺰ وﺟّﻞ ﻣﻼﯾﻜﺘﻪ ﺑﻌﺒﺪ ﻣﻦ ﻋﺒﺎدﻩ‬
‫‪ ١٠‬ﱂ ﯾﻌّﺬﺑﻪ ﺑﻌﺪ ذ󰏭‪.‬‬

‫اﳊﺪﯾﺚ اﳋﺎﻣﺲ واﻟﺜﻼﺛﻮن‬

‫ٔاﺧﱪ󰈋 ٔاﺑﻮ ﻧﴫ ٔاﲪﺪ ﺑﻦ ﻋﺒﺪ ﷲ ﺑﻦ ٔاﲪﺪ ؤاﺑﻮ ﻋﲇ اﳊﺴﻦ ﺑﻦ اﳌﻈﻔّﺮ اﺑﻦ اﳊﺴﲔ ؤاﺑﻮ ﻏﺎﻟﺐ‬
‫ٔاﲪﺪ ﺑﻦ اﳊﺴﻦ اﻟﺒﻐﺪادﯾ ّﻮن ﻗﺎﻟﻮا‪ٔ :‬ا󰈋 ٔاﺑﻮ ﶊ ّﺪ اﳊﺴﻦ اﺑﻦ ﻋﲇ ٔا󰈋 ٔاﲪﺪ ﺑﻦ ﺟﻌﻔﺮ ﺑﻦ ﲪﺪان ﺛﻨﺎ ٔاﺑﻮ‬
‫ﻣﺴﲅ ٕاﺑﺮاﻫﲓ ﺑﻦ ﻋﺒﺪ ﷲ اﻟﺒﴫي ﺛﻨﺎ ﲻﺮو ﺑﻦ ﻣﺮزوق ٔا󰈋 ﻋﺒﺪ اﻟﺮﺣﲈن ﺑﻦ ﻋﺒﺪ ﷲ ﺑﻦ دﯾﻨﺎر ﻋﻦ‬
‫‪ٔ ١٥‬اﺑﯿﻪ ﻋﻦ ٔاﰊ ﺻﺎﱀ ﻋﻦ ٔاﰊ ﻫﺮﯾﺮة ﻗﺎل‪ :‬ﻗﺎل رﺳﻮل ﷲ ﺻّﲆ ﷲ ﻋﻠﯿﻪ وﺳّﲅ‪ :‬ﺗﻌﺲ ﻋﺒﺪ ا󰏩ﯾﻨﺎر‪،‬‬
‫ﺗﻌﺲ ﻋﺒﺪ ا󰏩رﱒ‪ ،‬ﺗﻌﺲ ﻋﺒﺪ اﶆﯿﺼﺔ‪ٕ ،‬ان ُٔاﻋﻄﻲ رﴈ وٕان ُﻣﻨﻊ ﲯﻂ‪ ،‬ﺗﻌﺲ واﻧﺘﻜﺲ‪ ،‬وٕاذا‬
‫ﺷـﯿﻚ ﻓﻼ اﻧﺘﻘﺶ‪ .‬ﻃﻮﰉ ﻟﻌﺒﺪ ٔاﺧﺬ ﺑﻌﻨﺎن ﻓﺮﺳﻪ ﰲ ﺳﺒﯿﻞ ﷲ‪ٕ ،‬ان ﰷن ﰲ اﻟﺴﺎﻗﺔ ﰷن ﰲ اﻟﺴﺎﻗﺔ‪،‬‬
‫وٕان ﰷن ﰲ اﳊﺮاﺳﺔ ﰷن ﰲ اﳊﺮاﺳﺔ‪ ،‬وٕان اﺳـﺘﺎٔذن ﱂ ﯾﺆذن 󰏳‪ ،‬وٕان ﺷﻔﻊ ﱂ ﯾﺸﻔﻊ‪ .‬ﻃﻮﰉ 󰏳 ّﰒ‬
‫ﻃﻮﰉ 󰏳‪.‬‬

‫ﯾﻐﻨﳱﺎ )ﻣﻄﺒﻮﻋﺔ(‬ ‫‪٨‬‬

 the forty hadiths for inciting jihad 175

those who are granted dearth in this world but a󰀇󰀆lfuence in the Hereafter,
those who are granted dearth in this world and the Hereafter, and those
who are granted a󰀇󰀆lfuence in this world and the Hereafter.”

Hadith 34
Abū al-Qāsim ibn al-Samarqandī—Abū al-Ḥusayn ibn al-Naqqūr—Abū
Ṭāhir al-Mukhalliṣ—Abū al-Qāsim ibn Manīʿ—Luwayn, that is Muḥam-
mad ibn Sulaymān—ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, the client of Mas-
lama ibn ʿAbd al-Malik, who used to reside in Bālis—Khuṣayf—Mujā-
hid—Abū Hurayra, who said:
The Prophet (ṣ) said: “He who hangs upon himself a sword in the path of
God, God will out󰀈椀t him on the Day of Resurrection with two ornamented
77b sashes from Paradise. Since God has created this world | and until God
brings its end, nothing in this world can compare to them. Also, the angels
will keep praising him until he takes it o󰀇f. For God—glory and greatness
belong to Him—boasts to His angels about the sword, the lance, and the
weapons of the raider; if God boasts to His angels about one of His servants,
He will never torture him after that.”

Hadith 35
Abū Naṣr Aḥmad ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Aḥmad, Abū ʿAlī al-Ḥasan ibn al-
Muẓa󰀇far ibn al-Ḥusayn, and Abū Ghālib Aḥmad ibn al-Ḥasan, all from
Baghdad—Abū Muḥammad al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAlī—Aḥmad ibn Jaʿfar ibn
Ḥamdān—Abū Muslim Ibrāhīm ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Baṣrī—ʿAmr ibn Mar-
zūq—ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Dīnār—his father [ʿAbd Allāh
ibn Dīnār]—Abū Ṣāliḥ—Abū Hurayra, who said:
The Messenger of God (ṣ) said: “Miserable is the servant of the dinar.
Miserable is the servant of the dirham. Miserable is the servant of the
ornamented garment. If he is given, he is happy. But if he is denied, he
becomes bitter, miserable, and ill. Once hurt, he will not heal. Blessed is
a servant who leads his horse by the tether in the path of God. He cares
not if he is positioned in the rear or in the guard, or if he seeks leave and is
denied, or if he intercedes for someone and is turned down. Blessed indeed
is he.”
 ‫‪176‬‬ ‫‪edition and translation‬‬

‫رواﻩ اﻟﺒﺨﺎري ﻋﻦ ﲻﺮو‪ .‬واﶆﯿﺼﺔ ﻛﺴﺎء 󰏳 ﻋﲅ‪ ،‬واﻧﺘﻘﺶ اﺳـﺘﺨﺮج اﻟﺸﻮﻛﺔ 󰈈ﳌﻨﻘﺎش‪ ،‬وﻫﺬا ﻣﺜﻞ‬
‫ﻣﻌﻨﺎﻩ ٕاذا ُٔاﺻﯿﺐ ﻓﻼ اﳒﱪ‪.‬‬

‫اﳊﺪﯾﺚ اﻟﺴﺎدس واﻟﺜﻼﺛﻮن‬

‫ٔاﺧﱪ󰈋 ٔاﺑﻮ اﻟﻘﺎﰟ ٕاﺳﲈﻋﯿﻞ ﺑﻦ ﶊ ّﺪ ﺑﻦ اﻟﻔﻀﻞ أﻻﺻﳢﺎﱐ ٔا󰈋 ٔاﺑﻮ اﳊﺴﲔ ٔاﲪﺪ ﺑﻦ ﻋﺒﺪ اﻟﺮﺣﲈن‬
‫‪78a‬‬ ‫ا󰏫ﻛﻮاﱐ ٔا󰈋 ٔاﺑﻮ ﺑﻜﺮ ﺑﻦ ﻣﺮدوﯾﻪ ﺛﻨﺎ ﶊ ّﺪ ﺑﻦ ﺟﻌﻔﺮ ﺑﻦ اﻟﻬﯿﱸ | ﺛﻨﺎ ﶊ ّﺪ ﺑﻦ ٔاﲪﺪ ﺑﻦ ٔاﰊ اﻟﻌﻮام ﺛﻨﺎ ٔاﰊ‬ ‫‪٥‬‬
‫ﺛﻨﺎ داود ﺑﻦ ﻋﻄﺎء اﳌﺰﱐ ﺛﻨﺎ ﲻﺮ اﺑﻦ ﺻﻬﺒﺎن ﺣّﺪﺛﲏ ﺻﻔﻮان ﺑﻦ ﺳﻠﲓ ﻋﻦ ٔاﰊ ﺳﻠﻤﺔ ﻋﻦ ٔاﰊ ﻫﺮﯾﺮة‬
‫ﰻ ﻋﲔ 󰈈ﻛﯿﺔ ﯾﻮم اﻟﻘﯿﺎﻣﺔ ٕاّﻻ ﻋﲔ ﻏّﻀﺖ ﻋﻦ ﳏﺎرم‬ ‫ﻗﺎل‪ :‬ﻗﺎل رﺳﻮل ﷲ ﺻّﲆ ﷲ ﻋﻠﯿﻪ وﺳّﲅ‪ّ :‬‬
‫ﷲ‪ ،‬وﻋﲔ ﺳﻬﺮت ﰲ ﺳﺒﯿﻞ ﷲ‪ ،‬وﻋﲔ ﺧﺮج ﻣﳯﺎ ﻣﺜﻞ رٔاس ا󰏫󰈈ب ﻣﻦ ﺧﺸـﯿﺔ ﷲ ﻋّﺰ وﺟ ّ‬
‫ﻞ‪.‬‬

‫اﳊﺪﯾﺚ اﻟﺴﺎﺑﻊ واﻟﺜﻼﺛﻮن‬

‫‪ٔ ١٠‬اﺧﱪ󰈋 ٔاﺑﻮ اﶈﺎﺳﻦ ﶊ ّﺪ ﺑﻦ اﳊﺴﲔ ﺑﻦ اﻟﻄﱪي ؤاﺑﻮ اﻟﻘﺎﰟ ٕاﺳﲈﻋﯿﻞ ﺑﻦ ٔاﲪﺪ ﻗﺎﻻ‪ٔ :‬ا󰈋 ٔاﲪﺪ ﺑﻦ‬
‫ﶊ ّﺪ ﺑﻦ اﻟﻨﻘّﻮر ٔا󰈋 ﻋﯿﴗ ﺑﻦ ﻋﲇ ﺑﻦ ﻋﯿﴗ ٔا󰈋 ﻋﺒﺪ ﷲ ﺑﻦ ﶊ ّﺪ اﻟﺒﻐﻮي ﺛﻨﺎ ﰷﻣﻞ ﺑﻦ ﻃﻠﺤﺔ ٔاﺑﻮ‬
‫ﳛﲕ اﳉﺤﺪري ﺛﻨﺎ ّﲪﺎد اﺑﻦ ﺳﻠﻤﺔ ﻋﻦ 󰈊ﺑﺖ ﻋﻦ ٔاﻧﺲ ﺑﻦ ﻣﺎ󰏭 ﻗﺎل‪ :‬ﻗﺎل رﺳﻮل ﷲ ﺻّﲆ ﷲ‬
‫ﻋﻠﯿﻪ وﺳّﲅ‪ :‬ﯾُﺆﰏ ﺑﺮﺟﻞ ﻣﻦ ٔاﻫﻞ اﳉﻨّﺔ ﻓﯿﻘﻮل‪ 󰈍 :‬اﺑﻦ ا ٓدم ﻛﯿﻒ وﺟﺪت ﻣﲋ󰏭؟ ﻓﯿﻘﻮل‪ٔ :‬اي رّب‬
‫ﺧﲑ ﻣﲋل‪ .‬ﻓﯿﻘﻮل‪ :‬ﺳّﻞ وﲤَّﻦ‪ .‬ﻓﯿﻘﻮل‪ :‬ﻣﺎ ٔاﺳﺎٔل وﻻ ٔاﲤ ّﲎ ٕاّﻻ ٔان ﺗﺮّدﱐ ٕاﱃ ا󰏩ﻧﯿﺎ ﻓﺎُٔﻗﺘﻞ ﰲ ﺳﺒﯿ󰏮‬
‫‪ ١٥‬ﻋﴩ ﻣّﺮات‪ ،‬ﳌﺎ ﯾﺮى ﻣﻦ ﻓﻀﻞ اﻟﺸﻬﺎدة‪ .‬وﯾﺆﰏ 󰈈ﻟﺮﺟﻞ ﻣﻦ ٔاﻫﻞ اﻟﻨﺎر ﻓﯿﻘﻮل 󰏳‪ 󰈍 :‬اﺑﻦ ا ٓدم‪ ،‬ﻛﯿﻒ‬
‫ﴍ ﻣﲋل‪ .‬ﻓﯿﻘﻮل 󰏳‪ٔ :‬اﺗﻔﺘﺪي ﻣﻨﻪ ﲟﻞء أﻻرض ذﻫﺒًﺎ؟ ﻓﯿﻘﻮل‪ :‬ﻧﻌﻢ‬ ‫وﺟﺪت ﻣﲋ󰏭؟ ﻓﯿﻘﻮل‪ٔ :‬اي رّب ّ‬
‫ﻞ ﻣﻦ ذ󰏭 ؤاﯾﴪ ﻓﲅ ﺗﻔﻌﻞ‪ .‬ﻓُﲑّد ٕاﱃ اﻟﻨﺎر‪.‬‬ ‫ٔاي رّب‪ .‬ﻓﯿﻘﻮل‪ :‬ﻛﺬﺑﺖ ﻗﺪ ﺳُـﺌﻠﺖ ٔاﻗ ّ‬

‫اﳌﺰﯾﻦ )ﻣﻄﺒﻮﻋﺔ(‬ ‫‪ ١‬ﲱﯿﺢ اﻟﺒﺨﺎري‪ ،‬ﻛﺘﺎب اﳉﻬﺎد واﻟﺴﲑ )󰈈ب ‪ :٧٠‬اﳊﺮاﺳﺔ ﰲ اﻟﻐﺰو(‪) ٨١ :٦ ،‬رﰴ ‪٦ (٢٨٨٧‬‬
 the forty hadiths for inciting jihad 177

This was related by al-Bukhārī—ʿAmr.40 As for the term “ornamented gar-

ment,” it is a dress with two ornamental borders. “Heal” literally means
removing the spike with a pincer, and the expression is similar to saying:
“If one is hurt, he will never recover.”

Hadith 36
Abū al-Qāsim Ismāʿīl ibn Mūḥammad ibn al-Faḍl al-Asbahānī—Abū al-
Ḥusayn Aḥmad ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Dhakwānī—Abū Bakr ibn Marda-
78a wayh—Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar ibn al-Haytham |—Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad
ibn Abū al-ʿAwām—my father [Aḥmad ibn Yazīd al-Riyāḥī]—Dāwūd ibn
ʿAṭāʾ al-Muzanī—ʿUmar ibn Ṣahbān—Ṣafwān ibn Sulaym—Abū Sa-
lama—Abū Hurayra, who said:
The Messenger of God (ṣ) said: “Every eye weeps on the Day of Resurrection
except for the eye that avoids those things that God prohibited, the eye that
spent the night awake in the path of God, and the eye that emits a black
secretion like the 󰀆lfy’s head out of fear of God—glory and greatness belong
to Him.”

Hadith 37
Abū al-Maḥāsin Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn ibn al-Ṭabarī, and Abū al-
Qāsim Ismāʿīl ibn Aḥmad—Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn al-Naqqūr—ʿĪsā
ibn ʿAlī ibn ʿĪsā—ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad al-Baghawī—Kāmil ibn
Ṭalḥa, that is Abū Yaḥyā al-Jaḥdarī—Ḥammād ibn Salama—Thābit—
Anas ibn Mālik, who said:
The Messenger of God (ṣ) said: “When the man of Paradise is brought forth
and asked: ‘O son of Adam, how did you 󰀈椀nd your abode?’ he will respond: ‘O
Lord, what a pleasant abode it is.’ When he is told: ‘Ask whatever you wish,’
he will respond: ‘I only wish that You return me to the world so that I may
be killed in Your path ten times; for he will realize the merit of martyrdom.’
When the man of Hell is brought forth and asked: ‘O son of Adam, how did
you 󰀈椀nd your abode?’ he will respond: ‘O Lord, what a miserable abode it
is.’ When he is asked: ‘In return for being freed from it, would you pay the
world’s worth of gold?’ he will respond: ‘O Lord, yes.’ He [God] will say: ‘Liar.
You were asked lesser as well as easier than that but did nothing.’ So he will
be brought back to Hell.”

40 Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, Kitāb al-jihād wa-l-siyar (bāb 70: al-ḥirāsa fī al-ghazū) [Book of Jihad

and Proper Comportment (Chapter 70: on guard duty while on a raid)], 6:81 (no. 2887).
 ‫‪178‬‬ ‫‪edition and translation‬‬

‫َْﲠﺰ ﺑﻦ ٔاﺳﺪ ﻋﻦ ّ‬
‫ﲪﺎد‪.‬‬ ‫رواﻩ اﻟﻨﺴﺎﰄ ﻋﻦ ٔاﰊ ﺑﻜﺮ ﺑﻦ 󰈋ﻓﻊ ﻋﻦ‬

‫‪78b‬‬ ‫اﳊﺪﯾﺚ اﻟﺜﺎﻣﻦ واﻟﺜﻼﺛﻮن‬

‫ٔاﺧﱪ󰈋 ٔاﺑﻮ ﻋﺒﺪ ﷲ اﳊﺴﲔ ﺑﻦ ﻋﺒﺪ اﳌ󰏮 ٔا󰈋 ٔاﺑﻮ ﻃﺎﻫﺮ ٔاﲪﺪ اﺑﻦ ﶊﻮد اﻟﺜﻘﻔﻲ ٔا󰈋 ٔاﺑﻮ ﺑﻜﺮ ﶊ ّﺪ ﺑﻦ‬
‫ٕاﺑﺮاﻫﲓ ﺑﻦ اﳌﻘﺮىء ﺛﻨﺎ ٔاﺑﻮ ﻋﺮوﺑﺔ ﺛﻨﺎ اﳌﺴﯿ ّﺐ ﺑﻦ واﰣ ﺛﻨﺎ ٔاﺑﻮ ٕاﲮﺎق اﻟﻔﺰاري ﺛﻨﺎ أﻻﲻﺶ ﻋﻦ ٔاﰊ‬
‫ﺳﻔﯿﺎن ﻋﻦ ﺟﺎﺑﺮ ﻗﺎل‪ :‬ﺟﺎء رﺟﻞ ٕاﱃ رﺳﻮل ﷲ ﺻّﲆ ﷲ ﻋﻠﯿﻪ وﺳّﲅ ﻓﻘﺎل‪ٔ :‬اّي إﻻﺳﻼم ٔاﻓﻀﻞ؟‬ ‫‪٥‬‬
‫ﻗﺎل‪ :‬ﻣﻦ ﺳﲅ اﳌﺴﻠﻤﻮن ﻣﻦ ﯾﺪﻩ‪ .‬ﻗﺎل‪ :‬ﻓﺎّٔي اﳉﻬﺎد ٔاﻓﻀﻞ؟ ﻗﺎل‪ :‬ﻣﻦ ﻋﻘﺮ ﺟﻮادﻩ ؤاﻫﺮﯾﻖ دﻣﻪ‪ .‬ﻗﺎل‪:‬‬
‫ﻓﺎّٔي اﻟﺼﻼة ٔاﻓﻀﻞ؟ ﻗﺎل‪ :‬ﻃﻮل اﻟﻘﻨﻮت‪.‬‬

‫رواﻩ ﻣﺴﲅ ﻋﻦ ٔاﰊ ﺑﻜﺮ ﺑﻦ ٔاﰊ ﺷﯿﺒﺔ ؤاﰊ ﻛﺮﯾﺐ ﻋﻦ ٔاﰊ ﻣﻌﺎوﯾﺔ ﻋﻦ أﻻﲻﺶ‪.‬‬

‫اﳊﺪﯾﺚ اﻟﺘﺎﺳﻊ واﻟﺜﻼﺛﻮن‬

‫‪ٔ ١٠‬اﺧﱪ󰈋 ٔاﺑﻮ ﻋﺒﺪ ﷲ ﶊ ّﺪ ﺑﻦ اﻟﻔﻀﻞ ﺑﻦ ٔاﲪﺪ اﻟﻔﻘﯿﻪ ٔا󰈋 ٔاﺑﻮ ﺑﻜﺮ ٔاﲪﺪ ﺑﻦ ﻣﻨﺼﻮر ﺑﻦ ﺧﻠﻒ ٔا󰈋‬
‫ٔاﺑﻮ ﺑﻜﺮ ﶊ ّﺪ ﺑﻦ ﻋﺒﺪ ﷲ اﻟﺸﯿﺒﺎﱐ ٔا󰈋 ﻣّﲄ ﺑﻦ ﻋﺒﺪان ﺛﻨﺎ ﻋﺒﺪ ﷲ ﺑﻦ ﻫﺎﴌ ﺛﻨﺎ ٔاﺑﻮ ﻣﻌﺎوﯾﺔ ﻋﻦ‬
‫أﻻﲻﺶ ﻋﻦ ﻋﺒﺪ ﷲ ﺑﻦ ﻣّﺮة ﻋﻦ ﻣﴪوق ﻗﺎل‪ :‬ﺳﺎٔﻟﻨﺎ ﻋﺒﺪ ﷲ ]ﺑﻦ ﲻﺮو ﺑﻦ اﻟﻌﺎص[ ﻋﻦ ﻫﺬﻩ‬

‫‪ ١‬رزاﻩ )ﻣﻄﺒﻮﻋﺔ( ‪ ١‬ﺑﳯﺰ )ﻣﻄﺒﻮﻋﺔ( ‪ ١‬ﺳﲍ اﻟﻨﺴﺎﰄ‪ ،‬ﻛﺘﺎب اﳉﻬﺎد )󰈈ب ﻣﺎ ﯾﳣ ّﲎ ٔاﻫﻞ اﳉﻨّﺔ(‪۳٦ :٥ ،‬‬
‫‪ ٤‬اﳌﻘﺮي )ﻣﻄﺒﻮﻋﺔ( ‪ ٦‬ﺻّﲆ ﷲ ﻋﻠﯿﻪ وﺳّﲅ )ز󰈍دة ﰲ ﻣﻄﺒﻮﻋﺔ( ‪ ٨‬ﻗﺴﻢ اﻟﺼﻼة ﻓﻘﻂ ﻣﻮﺟﻮد ﰲ ﲱﯿﺢ ﻣﺴﲅ‪،‬‬
‫ﻛﺘﺎب ﺻﻼة اﳌﺴﺎﻓﺮﯾﻦ )󰈈ب ٔاﻓﻀﻞ اﻟﺼﻼة ﻃﻮل اﻟﻘﻨﻮت(‪١٧٥ :٢ ،‬؛ ﻗﺴﻢ إﻻﺳﻼم ﻣﻮﺟﻮد 󰈈ﺧﺘﻼف ﺑﺴـﯿﻂ وٕاﺳـﻨﺎد‬
‫ﻏﲑ ا󰏫ي ﯾﺬﻛﺮﻩ اﺑﻦ ﻋﺴﺎﻛﺮ ﰲ ﲱﯿﺢ ﻣﺴﲅ‪ ،‬ﻛﺘﺎب إﻻﳝﺎن )󰈈ب ﺑﯿﺎن ﺗﻔﺎﺿﻞ إﻻﺳﻼم ؤاّي ٔاﻣﻮرﻩ ٔاﻓﻀﻞ(‪٤٧-٤٨ :١ ،‬‬
‫‪ ١١‬ﻫﺎﴌ )ﻣﺼّﺤﺤﺔ ﰲ ﻫﺎﻣﺶ ا󰏲ﻄﻮﻃﺔ ﲞﻂّ اﻟﱪزاﱄ(‬
 the forty hadiths for inciting jihad 179

This was related by al-Nasāʾī—Abū Bakr ibn Nā󰀈椀ʿ—Bahz ibn Asad—

Ḥammād.41

78b Hadith 38
Abū ʿAbd Allāh al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAbd al-Malik—Abū Ṭāhir Aḥmad ibn Maḥ-
mūd al-Thaqafī—Abū Bakr Muḥammad ibn Ibrāhīm ibn al-Muqriʾ—Abū
ʿArūba—al-Musayyib ibn Wāḍiḥ—Abū Isḥāq al-Fazārī—al-Aʿmash—
Abū Sufyān—Jābir, who said:
A man came to the Messenger of God (ṣ) and asked: “What aspect of Islam
is the best?” He [Muhammad] replied: “That of a person by whose hand the
Muslims are not harmed.” The man asked again: “What aspect of jihad is
the best?” He replied: “That of a person whose horse is wounded and whose
blood is shed.” The man asked once again: “What aspect of the prayer is the
best?” He replied: “The long continuance of the standing.”
This was related by Muslim—Abū Bakr ibn Abū Shayba and Abū Ku-
rayb—Abū Muʿāwiya—al-Aʿmash.42

Hadith 39
Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad ibn al-Faḍl ibn Aḥmad al-Faqīh—Abū Bakr
Aḥmad ibn Manṣūr ibn Khalaf—Abū Bakr Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh
al-Shaybānī—Makkī ibn ʿAbdān—ʿAbd Allāh ibn Hāshim—Abū Muʿā-
wiya—al-Aʿmash—ʿAbd Allāh ibn Murra—Masrūq, who said:

41 Sunan al-Nasāʾī, Kitāb al-jihād (bāb mā yatamannā ahl al-janna) [Book of Jihad

(Chapter on what the people of Paradise desire)], 5:36.

42 Only the part on prayer is found in Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, Kitāb ṣalāt al-musā󰀇椀rīn (bāb afḍal

al-ṣalāt ṭūl al-qunūt) [Book of Prayer for Travelers (Chapter on the best aspect of the prayer
being the long continuance of the standing)], 2:175. The part on Islam is found with little
variation and via a di󰀇ferent chain of transmission than the one indicated by Ibn ʿAsākir
in Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, Kitāb al-īmān (bāb tafāḍul al-islām wa-ayy umūrih afḍal) [Book of Faith
(Chapter on the superiority of Islam and which of its aspects is the best)], 1:47–48.
 ‫‪180‬‬ ‫‪edition and translation‬‬

‫اﻻٓﯾﺔ ﴿وﻻ ﲢﺴّﱭ ا󰏫ﯾﻦ ﻗﺘﻠﻮا ﰲ ﺳﺒﯿﻞ ﷲ ٔاﻣﻮاً󰈉 ﺑﻞ ٔاﺣﯿﺎء ﻋﻨﺪ ر ّﲠﻢ ﯾﺮزﻗﻮن﴾‪ .‬ﻓﻘﺎل‪ٔ :‬اّﻣﺎ ٕا ّ󰈋 ﻗﺪ‬
‫ﺳﺎٔﻟﻨﺎ ﻋﻦ ذ󰏭 ﻓﻘﺎل‪ٔ :‬اروا󰏅ﻢ ﻛﻄﲑ ﺧﴬ ﺗﴪح ﰲ اﳉﻨّﺔ ﰲ ٔا ّﳞﺎ ﺷﺎءت ّﰒ ﺗﺎٔوي ٕاﱃ ﻗﻨﺎدﯾﻞ‬
‫ﻣﻌﻠ ّﻘﺔ 󰈈ﻟﻌﺮش‪ ،‬ﻓﺒﯿﻨﺎ ﱒ ﻛﺬ󰏭 ٕاذ ٕاّﻃﻠﻊ ﻋﻠﳱﻢ رﺑ ّﻚ ٕاﻃﻼﻋﺔ ﻓﻘﺎل‪ :‬ﺳﻠﻮﱐ ﻣﺎ ﺷﺌﱲ‪ .‬ﻓﯿﻘﻮﻟﻮن‪ 󰈍 :‬رﺑ ّﻨﺎ‬
‫‪79a‬‬ ‫ﻣﺎذا ﻧﺴﺎٔ󰏭 وﳓﻦ ﰲ اﳉﻨّﺔ ﻧﴪح ﰲ ٔا ّﳞﺎ ﺷﺌﻨﺎ‪ .‬ﻗﺎل‪ :‬ﻓﺒﯿﻨﺎ ﱒ ﻛﺬ󰏭 | ٕاذ ٕاّﻃﻠﻊ ﻋﻠﳱﻢ رﺑ ّﻚ ٕاﻃﻼﻋﺔ‬
‫ﻓﯿﻘﻮل‪ :‬ﺳﻠﻮﱐ ﻣﺎ ﺷﺌﱲ‪ .‬ﻓﯿﻘﻮﻟﻮن‪ :‬رﺑ ّﻨﺎ ﻣﺎذا ﻧﺴﺎٔ󰏭 وﳓﻦ ﰲ اﳉﻨّﺔ ﻧﴪح ﰲ ٔا ّﳞﺎ ﺷﺌﻨﺎ‪ .‬ﻗﺎل‪ :‬ﻓﻠّﻤﺎ‬ ‫‪٥‬‬
‫راؤوا ٔا ّﳖﻢ ﻟﻦ ﯾُﱰﻛﻮا ﻣﻦ ٔان ﯾ ُﺴﺎٔﻟﻮا ﻗﺎﻟﻮا‪ :‬ﻧﺴﺎٔ󰏭 ٔان ﺗﺮّد ٔارواﺣﻨﺎ ٕاﱃ ٔاﺟﺴﺎد󰈋 ﰲ ا󰏩ﻧﯿﺎ ﺣّﱴ ﻧ ُﻘﺘﻞ‬
‫ﰲ ﺳﺒﯿ󰏮‪ .‬ﻓﻠّﻤﺎ رٔاى ٔا ّﳖﻢ ﻻ ﯾﺴﺎٔﻟﻮن ٕاّﻻ ﻫﺬا ﺗﺮﻛﻬﻢ‪.‬‬

‫رواﻩ ﻣﺴﲅ ﻋﻦ ﳛﲕ ﺑﻦ ﳛﲕ ؤاﰊ ﺑﻜﺮ ﺑﻦ ٔاﰊ ﺷﯿﺒﺔ واﺑﻦ ﳕﲑ ﻋﻦ ٔاﰊ ﻣﻌﺎوﯾﺔ‪.‬‬

‫‪ ٨‬ﲱﯿﺢ ﻣﺴﲅ‪،‬‬ ‫ﻃﻠﻊ )ﻣﻄﺒﻮﻋﺔ(‬ ‫‪٤‬‬ ‫‪ ١‬ﺳﻮرة ا ٓل ﲻﺮان )‪ ٣ ١٦٩ :(۳‬ﻃﻠﻊ )ﻣﻄﺒﻮﻋﺔ( ‪٤‬‬
‫ٕا ّﳞﲈ )ﻣﻄﺒﻮﻋﺔ(‬
‫ﻛﺘﺎب إﻻﻣﺎرة )󰈈ب ﰲ ﺑﯿﺎن ٔان ٔارواح اﻟﺸﻬﺪاء ﰲ اﳉﻨّﺔ(‪۳٨-۳٩ :٦ ،‬‬
 the forty hadiths for inciting jihad 181

We asked ʿAbd Allāh [ibn ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀṣ] about this verse ﴾Do not imagine
those killed in the path of God to be dead. Rather, they are alive with
their Lord, Enjoying His bounty﴿ (Qurʾan 3:169),43 he said: “We indeed have
inquired about this. Their spirits become like green birds, roaming freely
in Paradise in whichever direction they wish. Then they retire to lamps
hanging from the Throne, and while they are in them, Your Lord gazes at
them and says: ‘Ask Me for whatever you wish.’ They say: ‘O Our Lord, what
can we ask You. We are already in Paradise, roaming freely in whatever
79a direction we wish!’ While they are in them |, Your Lord again gazes at them
and says: ‘Ask Me for whatever you wish.’ They say: ‘O Our Lord, what can
we ask You. We are already in Paradise, roaming freely in whatever direction
we wish!’ When they realize that they will not be left alone unless they ask,
they say: ‘We ask You to bring back our spirits to our bodies in the world so
that we may be killed in Your path.’ When He realizes that they will not ask
for anything except this wish, He will leave them alone.”
This was related by Muslim—Yaḥyā ibn Yaḥyā, Abū Bakr ibn Abū Shayba,
and Ibn Numayr—Abū Muʿāwiya.44

43 While Hadith 39 serves as a brief commentary on Qurʾan 3:169, Ibn ʿAsākir’s audi-

ence would have been well aware that the Medinan Sūrat Āl ʿImrān (The House of Amram)
addresses themes of jihad and warfare as well as eternal rewards and punishments. Since
the sura contains 200 verses, we have not reproduced it here. We have, however, repro-
duced verses 3:169–174 to provide context:
﴾Do not imagine those killed in the path of God to be dead. Rather, they are alive
with their Lord, Enjoying His bounty, jubilant at what God has granted them from
His grace, eagerly expecting those who have not yet followed, to come after them.
In truth, no fear shall fall upon them, nor shall they grieve. They look forward with
joy to bliss from God and to His bounty. In truth, God does not neglect the reward
of believers. As for those who answered the call of God and the Messenger after
the wounds that a󰀇󰀆lficted them, and those among them who did good and feared
God, their reward shall be glorious. These are the men to whom people had said:
‘A mighty host has been marshalled against you; so ought you to fear them.’ But
this only increased them in faith and they replied: ‘Su󰀇󰀈椀cient for us is God; and
most worthy is He of trust.’ So they came back with God’s blessing and His bounty,
no harm having touched them, and followed the course pleasing to God. In truth,
God is All-Bountiful.﴿ The phrase “the day the two hosts encountered” is generally
understood to refer to the Battle of Uḥud (625 ce) between Muhammad’s forces and
his Meccan opponents led by Abū Sufyān.
44 Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, Kitāb al-imāra (bāb fī bayān ann arwāḥ al-shuhadāʾ fī al-janna) [Book

of Administration (Chapter on the proof that the souls of martyrs are in Paradise)], 6:38–39.
 ‫‪182‬‬ ‫‪edition and translation‬‬

‫اﳊﺪﯾﺚ أﻻرﺑﻌﻮن‬
‫ٔاﺧﱪ󰈋 ٔاﺑﻮ ﻏﺎﻟﺐ ٔاﲪﺪ ﺑﻦ اﳊﺴﻦ ٔا󰈋 ﶊ ّﺪ ﺑﻦ ٔاﲪﺪ ﺑﻦ أﻻﺑﻨﻮﳼ ٔا󰈋 ٕاﺑﺮاﻫﲓ ﺑﻦ ﶊ ّﺪ ﺑﻦ اﻟﻔﺘﺢ ﺛﻨﺎ‬
‫ﶊ ّﺪ ﺑﻦ ﺳﻔﯿﺎن اﳌّﺼﯿﴢ ﺛﻨﺎ ﺳﻌﯿﺪ ﺑﻦ رﲪﺔ أﻻﺻﺒﺤﻲ ﻗﺎل‪ :‬ﲰﻌﺖ اﺑﻦ اﳌﺒﺎرك ﻋﻦ ﺻﻔﻮان ﺑﻦ‬
‫ﲻﺮو ٔاّن ٔا󰈈 اﳌﺜ ّﲎ اﳌﻠﯿﲄ ﺣّﺪﺛﻪ ٔاﻧ ّﻪ ﲰﻊ ﻋﺘﺒﺔ ﺑﻦ ﻋﺒﺪ اﻟﺴﻠﻤﻲ وﰷن ﻣﻦ ٔاﲱﺎب اﻟﻨﱯّ ﺻّﲆ ﷲ‬
‫‪ ٥‬ﻋﻠﯿﻪ وﺳّﲅ ٔاّن رﺳﻮل ﷲ ﺻّﲆ ﷲ ﻋﻠﯿﻪ وﺳّﲅ ﻗﺎل‪ :‬اﻟﻘﺘﲆ ﺛﻼﺛﺔ رﺟﺎل‪ .‬رﺟﻞ ﻣﺆﻣﻦ ﺟﺎﻫﺪ ﺑﻨﻔﺴﻪ‬
‫وﻣﺎ󰏳 ﰲ ﺳﺒﯿﻞ ﷲ ﻋّﺰ وﺟّﻞ ﺣّﱴ ٕاذا ﻟﻘﻲ اﻟﻌﺪّو ﻗﺎﺗﻠﻬﻢ ﺣّﱴ ﯾُﻘﺘﻞ‪ ،‬ذ󰏭 اﻟﺸﻬﯿﺪ اﳌﻤﺘﺤﻦ ﰲ‬
‫ﺧﳰﺔ ﷲ ﲢﺖ ﻋﺮﺷﻪ ﻻ ﯾﻔﻀ󰏴 اﻟﻨﺒﯿّﻮن ٕاّﻻ ﺑﺪرﺟﺔ اﻟﻨﺒّﻮة‪ .‬ورﺟﻞ ﻣﺆﻣﻦ ﻓﺮق ﻋﲆ ﻧﻔﺴﻪ ﻣﻦ ا󰏫ﻧﻮب‬
‫واﳋﻄﺎ󰈍 ﺟﺎﻫﺪ ﺑﻨﻔﺴﻪ وﻣﺎ󰏳 ﰲ ﺳﺒﯿﻞ ﷲ ﺣّﱴ ٕاذا ﻟﻘﻲ اﻟﻌﺪّو ﻗﺎﺗﻞ ﺣّﱴ ﯾُﻘﺘﻞ‪ ،‬ﻓﺘ󰏮 ﻣﻀﻤﻀﺔ‬
‫ّﳎﺖ ذﻧﻮﺑﻪ وﺧﻄﺎ󰈍ﻩ‪ٕ ،‬اّن اﻟﺴـﯿﻒ ّﳏﺎء ﻟﻠﺨﻄﺎ󰈍‪ ،‬ؤُادﺧﻞ ﻣﻦ ٔاّي ٔاﺑﻮاب اﳉﻨّﺔ ﺷﺎء‪ ،‬ﻓٕﺎّن ﻟﻬﺎ ﲦﺎﻧﯿﺔ‬
‫‪79b‬‬ ‫‪ٔ ١٠‬اﺑﻮاب وﳉﻬ ّﲌ ﺳـﺒﻌﺔ ٔاﺑﻮاب وﺑﻌﻀﻬﺎ ٔاﺳﻔﻞ ﻣﻦ ﺑﻌﺾ‪ | .‬ورﺟﻞ ﻣﻨﺎﻓﻖ ﺟﺎﻫﺪ ﺑﻨﻔﺴﻪ وﻣﺎ󰏳 ﰲ ﺳﺒﯿﻞ‬
‫ﻞ ﺣّﱴ ٕاذا ﻟﻘﻲ اﻟﻌﺪّو ﻗﺎﺗﻞ ﺣّﱴ ﯾ ُﻘﺘﻞ‪ ،‬ﻓﺬ󰏭 ﰲ اﻟﻨﺎر ٕاّن اﻟﺴـﯿﻒ ﻻ ﳝﺤﻖ اﻟﻨﻔﺎق‪.‬‬ ‫ﷲ ﻋّﺰ وﺟ ّ‬
‫ّﰎ واﶵﺪ ﷲ وﺣﺪﻩ‪.‬‬
‫وﻫﺬا ا ٓﺧﺮ أﻻرﺑﻌﲔ ﺣﺪﯾﺜًﺎ ﰲ اﳊّﺚ ﻋﲆ اﳉﻬﺎد‪ ،‬وﷲ ﯾﻮﻓ ّﻖ ﻟﺒﺬل اﳉﻬﺪ ﻓﯿﻪ وإﻻﺟﳤﺎد‪ ،‬واﶵﺪ 󰏯‬
‫ب اﻟﻌﺎﳌﲔ وﺻّﲆ ﷲ ﻋﲆ ﺳـّﯿﺪ󰈋 ﶊ ّﺪ وا ٓ󰏳 وﲱﺒﻪ ٔاﲨﻌﲔ‪.‬‬ ‫رّ‬

‫‪ ٣‬اﻻٓﺟﲇ )ﻣﻄﺒﻮﻋﺔ( ‪ ٤‬ﻋﺒﯿﺪ )ﻣﻄﺒﻮﻋﺔ( ‪ ١١‬ﻗﺘﻞ )ﻣﻄﺒﻮﻋﺔ( ‪ ١١‬اﺑﻦ اﳌﺒﺎرك‪ ،‬ﻛﺘﺎب اﳉﻬﺎد‪۳٠-۳١ ،‬‬
‫ﻂ اﻟﱪزاﱄ( ‪ ١٤‬وﻋﲆ ا ٓ󰏳 وﺳّﲅ )ﻣﻄﺒﻮﻋﺔ(‬
‫‪ ١٣‬ﺣﺪﯾﺜًﺎ )ﰲ ﻫﺎﻣﺶ ا󰏲ﻄﻮﻃﺔ ﲞ ّ‬
 the forty hadiths for inciting jihad 183

Hadith 40
Abū Ghālib Aḥmad ibn al-Ḥasan—Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad ibn al-Aba-
nūsī—Ibrāhīm ibn Muḥammad ibn al-Fatḥ—Muḥammad ibn Sufyān al-
Miṣṣīṣī—Saʿīd ibn Raḥma al-Aṣbaḥī—Ibn al-Mubārak—Ṣafwān ibn
ʿAmr—Abū al-Muthannā al-Mulaykī—ʿUtba ibn ʿAbd al-Salamī, one of
the companions of the Prophet (ṣ), who said:
The Messenger of God (ṣ) said: “The slain dead are of three types. One
is a believer who exerts his life and wealth waging jihad in the path of
God—glory and greatness belong to Him—and when he meets the enemy
in battle he 󰀈椀ghts them until he is killed. He is a tested martyr whose abode
will be the Tent of God, underneath His Throne; nothing separates him from
prophets except their rank of prophethood. Another is a believer, having
already committed transgressions and sins, who exerts his life and wealth
waging jihad in the path of God, and when he meets the enemy in battle
he 󰀈椀ghts them until he is killed. His transgressions and sins are cleansed,
for the sword puri󰀈椀es from sins. He will also be admitted to Paradise from
whichever gate he chooses, for Paradise has eight gates, and Hell has seven
79b gates with some deeper than others. | And a third is a hypocrite who exerts
his life and wealth waging jihad in the path of God—glory and greatness
belong to Him—and when he meets the enemy in battle he 󰀈椀ghts them
until he is killed. He is in Hell, because the sword does not wipe out
hypocrisy.”45
The book is complete; thanks be to God alone.
This is the end of The Forty Hadiths for Inciting Jihad. God is the best helper
in exerting the e󰀇fort and ful󰀈椀lling the duty. Thanks be to God the Lord of
creation, and God’s peace on our master Muḥammad and all of his family
and companions.

45 See Ibn al-Mubārak, Kitāb al-jihād, 30–31.

‫‪184‬‬ ‫‪edition and translation‬‬

‫اﻟﺴﲈﻋﺎت واﻟﳣّ󰏮‬

‫ﺳﲈع ‪١‬‬
‫ﲰﻊ ﲨﯿﻊ ﻫﺬا اﳉﺰء ﻋﲆ ﻣﺆﻟ ّﻔﻪ اﳊﺎﻓﻆ ٔاﰊ اﻟﻘﺎﰟ ﻋﲇ ﺑﻦ اﳊﺴﻦ ﺑﻦ ﻫﺒﺔ ﷲ ﺑﻘﺮاءة اﺑﻨﻪ ٔاﰊ‬
‫ﶊ ّﺪ اﻟﻘﺎﰟ و󰏩ﻩ ٔاﺑﻮ اﻟﻔﺘﺢ اﳊﺴﻦ ﺑﻦ ﻋﲇ وﺣﺎِﻓُﺪﻩ ٔاﺑﻮ ﻃﺎﻫﺮ ﶊ ّﺪ ﺑﻦ اﻟﻘﺎﰟ ﺑﻦ ﻋﲇ واﻟﻘﺎﴈ ﳎﺪ‬
‫‪ ٥‬ا󰏩ﯾﻦ زﯾﻦ اﻟﻘﻀﺎة ٔاﺑﻮ ﺑﻜﺮ ﻋﺒﺪ اﻟﺮﺣﲈن ﺑﻦ ﺳﻠﻄﺎن ﺑﻦ ﳛﲕ اﻟﻘﺮﳾ وو󰏩اﻩ ٔاﺑﻮ اﳌﲀرم ﻋﺒﺪ اﻟﻮاﺣﺪ‬
‫ؤاﺑﻮ ﻃﺎﻟﺐ ﻋﺒﺪ ﷲ وﻓﺘﺎﻩ 󰈍ﻗﻮت ﺑﻦ ﻋﺒﺪ ﷲ ؤاﺑﻮ اﻟﻔﻀﻞ ﶊ ّﺪ ﺑﻦ ﺳﻌﯿﺪ ﺑﻦ ﲪﺰة اﻟﳣﳰﻲ وو󰏩ﻩ‬
‫ٔاﺑﻮ ﶊ ّﺪ ؤاﺑﻮ اﻟﻔﻀﻞ ٔاﲪﺪ ؤاﺑﻮ اﳌﻈﻔّﺮ ﻋﺒﺪ ﷲ ؤاﺑﻮ ﻣﻨﺼﻮر ﻋﺒﺪ اﻟﺮﺣﲈن ؤاﺑﻮ اﶈﺎﺳﻦ ﻧﴫ ﷲ‬
‫ؤاﺑﻮ ﻧﴫ ﻋﺒﺪ اﻟﺮﺣﲓ ؤاﺧﻮﱒ ﰷﺗﺐ أﻻﺳﲈء اﳊﺴﻦ ﺑﻨﻮ ﶊ ّﺪ ﺑﻦ اﳊﺴﻦ اﺑﻦ ﻫﺒﺔ ﷲ وﻣﻦ ﺧّﻄﻪ‬
‫ﻧ ُﻘﻠﺖ وذ󰏭 ﯾﻮم اﻟﺴﺒﺖ اﻟﺴﺎﺑﻊ ﻣﻦ ﺷﻬﺮ رﺟﺐ ﺳـﻨﺔ ﲬﺲ وﺳـﺘّﲔ وﲬﺴﲈﯾﺔ ﺑﺒﺴـﺘﺎن اﺑﲏ ٔا󰏋‬
‫ﰠ وﺛﺒﺖ وﲰﻊ اﻟﻨﺼﻒ أﻻﺧﲑ ٔاﺑﻮ ﶊ ّﺪ ﺑﻦ ﺧﴬ ﺑﻦ ﻛﺮم اﻟﻔﻼح 󰈈ﳌّﺰة‪.‬‬ ‫‪ ١٠‬اﳌﺴّﻤﻊ 󰈈ﳌّﺰة و ّ‬

‫ﺳﲈع ‪٢‬‬
‫وﲰﻌﻪ ﻋﲆ ﳐﺮﺟﻪ اﺑﻨﺎ ٔاﺧﯿﻪ ٔاﺑﻮ اﶈﺎﺳﻦ ؤاﺑﻮ ﻧﴫ ﻋﺒﺪ اﻟﺮﺣﲓ اﺑﻨﺎ ٔاﰊ ﻋﺒﺪ ﷲ ﶊ ّﺪ ﺑﻦ اﳊﺴﻦ‬
‫اﺑﻦ ﻫﺒﺔ ﷲ واﺑﻦ ٔاﺧﳱﲈ ﶊ ّﺪ ﺑﻦ ٔاﲪﺪ ﺑﻦ ﶊ ّﺪ ﺑﻦ اﳊﺴﻦ ﺑﻦ ﻫﺒﺔ ﷲ اﻟﺸﺎﻓﻌّﯿﻮن ﺑﻘﺮاءة ﲠﺎء‬
‫ا󰏩ﯾﻦ ٔاﰊ اﳌﻮاﻫﺐ اﳊﺴﻦ ؤاﺧﻮﻩ ٔاﺑﻮ اﻟﻘﺎﰟ اﳊﺴﲔ اﻟﻔﻘﯿﻪ اﺑﻨﺎ اﻟﻘﺎﴈ ٔاﰊ اﻟﻐﻨﺎﰂ ﻫﺒﺔ ﷲ ﺑﻦ‬
 the forty hadiths for inciting jihad 185

Colophons (Samāʿāt) and Ownership Notes

on al-Birzālī’s Copy of Ibn ʿAsākir’s Forty Hadiths

Colophon 1
The entire volume was studied in the presence of its author, the Hadith
memorizer Abū al-Qāsim ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥasan ibn Hibat Allāh [Ibn ʿAsākir];
the text was read out by his son Abū Muḥammad al-Qāsim. [Those who
studied it were:]
His [Ibn ʿAsākir’s] son Abū al-Fatḥ al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAlī.
His [Ibn ʿAsākir’s] grandson Abū Ṭāhir Muḥammad ibn al-Qāsim ibn
ʿAlī.
The judge Majd al-Dīn Zayn al-Qaḍāt Abū Bakr ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn
Sulṭān ibn Yaḥyā al-Qurashī, his two sons, Abū al-Makārim ʿAbd al-Wāḥid
and Abū Ṭālib ʿAbd Allāh, and his slave Yāqūt ibn ʿAbd Allāh.
Abū al-Faḍl Muḥammad ibn Saʿīd ibn Ḥamza al-Tamīmī, and his son
Abū Muḥammad.
Abū al-Faḍl Aḥmad, Abū al-Muẓa󰀇far ʿAbd Allāh, Abū Manṣūr ʿAbd
al-Raḥmān, Abū al-Maḥāsin Naṣr Allāh, and Abū Naṣr ʿAbd al-Raḥīm—all
sons of Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan ibn Hibat Allāh—and their brother
al-Ḥasan, who wrote the list of names. This colophon was copied from
the one written by his [al-Ḥasan’s] own hand on Saturday 7 Rajab 565/28
March 1170 in the garden owned by the two nephews of the author in
Mizza.
Present for the study of the second half of this volume was the gardener
Abū Muḥammad ibn Khuḍr ibn Karam.

Colophon 2
It was studied in the presence of its collector (Ibn ʿAsākir) by:
His [Ibn ʿAsākir’s] two nephews Abū al-Maḥāsin and Abū Naṣr ʿAbd al-
Raḥīm—both of whom are sons of his [Ibn ʿAsākir’s] brother Abū ʿAbd
Allāh Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan ibn Hibat Allāh—and their nephew, Mu-
ḥammad ibn Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan ibn Hibat Allāh, all of
them Shā󰀈椀ʿīs.46
Bahāʾ al-Dīn Abū al-Mawāhib al-Ḥasan, who read out the text, and
his brother jurist Abū al-Qāsim al-Ḥusayn—sons of the judge Abū al-
Ghanāʾim Hibat Allāh ibn Maḥfūẓ ibn Ṣaṣrā.

46 That is, they all belonged to the Shā󰀈椀ʿī school of Sunni law.
 ‫‪186‬‬ ‫‪edition and translation‬‬

‫ﳏﻔﻮظ ﺑﻦ ﺻﴫى ؤاﺑﻮ اﻟﺜﻨﺎء ﶊﻮد ﺑﻦ ٔاﰊ اﻟﺴﻌﺎدات ﺑﻦ ﻣﻄﺮ اﳌﺮﻗﻌﻲ وﻋﲇ ﺑﻦ ﻋﺒﺪ اﳌﻨﻌﻢ ﺑﻦ‬
‫ٔاﲪﺪ اﺑﻦ ﻋﺒﺪ اﳊﻠﱯ ؤاﺑﻮ اﻟﺜﻨﺎء ﶊﻮد ﺑﻦ ﻏﺎزي ﺑﻦ ﶊ ّﺪ واﳋﻄﯿﺐ ٔاﺑﻮ اﻟﻔﺮج ﻋﺒﺪ اﻟﻮّﻫﺎب ﺑﻦ‬
‫ٔاﲪﺪ اﺑﻦ ﻋﻘﯿﻞ اﻟﺴﻠﻤﻲ ؤاﺑﻮ ﲻﺮو ﻋ󰍣ن ﺑﻦ ٕاﻟﯿﺎس ﺑﻦ ﻋﺒﺪ اﻟﺮﺣﲈن ﺑﻦ ﻋﲇ أﻻﻧﺼﺎري ؤاﺑﻮ اﻟﺮﺑﯿﻊ‬
‫ﺳﻠ󰍥ن اﺑﻦ ٕاﺑﺮاﻫﲓ ﺑﻦ ﳛﲕ ؤاﺑﻮ ﺟﻌﻔﺮ ٔاﲪﺪ ﺑﻦ ﻋﲇ ﺑﻦ ٔاﰊ ﺑﻜﺮ اﻟﻘﺮﻃﱯ ؤاﺑﻮ ﻃﺎﻫﺮ ﺑﻦ ٕاﺑﺮاﻫﲓ‬
‫‪ ٥‬ﺑﻦ ﲪﺰة ﺑﻦ ﻗﻮام اﳌﻌّﺮي واﻟﺼﺎﺋﻦ ﶊ ّﺪ ﺑﻦ ﲻﺮ ﺑﻦ ﻋﲇ إﻻﺳﻔﺮاﯾﯿﲏ وﻧﴫ ﷲ ﺑﻦ ﻋﺒﺪ اﻟﻜﺮﱘ ﺑﻦ‬
‫ﶊ ّﺪ أﻻﻧﺼﺎري ؤاﺑﻮ اﻟﻔﻀﻞ ﺑﻦ ﺻﺒﺢ اﺑﻦ ﻋﺒﺪ اﻟﺮﺣﲈن اﻟﳣﳰﻲ ؤاﺑﻮ اﻟﻔﻀﻞ ﺑﻦ ٔاﰊ اﳌﲀرم ﺑﻦ ﺳﻌﺪ‬
‫‪80a‬‬ ‫ؤاﺑﻮ ﻏﺎﻟﺐ ﺑﻦ ٔاﰊ اﻟﻔﻀﺎﺋﻞ ﺑﻦ ﻛﺘﺎب اﻟﺰﯾﻦ | وٕاﺳﲈﻋﯿﻞ ﺑﻦ اﳋﴬ ﺑﻦ ﻋﲇ وﺻﺎﱀ ﺑﻦ ﻓﻼح ﺑﻦ‬
‫راﺷﺪ وﺳﻠﻄﺎن ﺑﻦ ﺳﻌﺪ ﺑﻦ ﻋﲇ وﻋﲇ ؤاﺑﻮ اﻟﻔﻀﺎﺋﻞ اﺑﻨﺎ ﶊ ّﺪ ﺑﻦ ﻓﻀﺎﺋﻞ وٕاﺑﺮاﻫﲓ ﺑﻦ اﻟﺸـﯿﺦ ٔاﰊ‬
‫ﻃﺎﻫﺮ ﺑﺮﰷت ﺑﻦ ٕاﺑﺮاﻫﲓ اﳋﺸﻮﻋﻲ وﻛﻮﻛﺐ ﺑﻦ ﻧﴫ ﺑﻦ ﲞﺘﯿﺎر ؤاﺑﻮ اﻟﻘﺎﰟ ﶊﻮد ﺑﻦ ﶊ ّﺪ ﺑﻦ ﻣﻌﺎذ‬
‫‪ ١٠‬اﳋﺮﻣﺎﱐ وﶊ ّﺪ ﺑﻦ ﻋﺒﺪ ﷲ ﺑﻦ ﻋ󰍣ن ؤاﺑﻮ ﶊ ّﺪ اﳊﺴﻦ ﺑﻦ ﻋﲇ ﺑﻦ ٔاﺑّﯿﺔ واﺑﻨﺎﻩ ﻣّﲄ وﻋﺒﺪ اﻟﻌﺰﯾﺰ‬
‫ؤاﺑﻮ ﻣﻨﺼﻮر اﳌﻈﻔّﺮ ؤاﺧﻮﻩ ﶊ ّﺪ ﰷﺗﺐ اﻟﺴﲈع اﺑﻨﺎ ﻋﺒﺪ اﻟﻮّﻫﺎب ﺑﻦ ﻋﺒﺪ ﷲ اﺑﻦ ﻋﲇ أﻻﻧﺼﺎري‬
‫وا ٓﺧﺮون ﰲ ﯾﻮم اﶺﻌﺔ اﻟﺘﺎﺳﻊ واﻟﻌﴩون ﻣﻦ ﺷﻬﺮ رﻣﻀﺎن ﺳـﻨﺔ ﺗﺴﻊ وﺳـﺘّﲔ وﲬﺴﲈﯾﺔ 󰈈ﳌﺴﺠﺪ‬
‫اﳉﺎﻣﻊ اﳌﻌﻤﻮر ﺑﺪﻣﺸﻖ ﺣﺮﺳﻬﺎ ﷲ‪.‬‬

‫ﺳﲈع ‪۳‬‬
‫‪ ١٥‬ﺑﻠﻐﺖ ﺳﲈﻋًﺎ ﺑﻘﺮاءﰐ ﻋﲆ اﻟﺸـﯿﺦ أﻻﺟّﻞ اﻟﺰاﻫﺪ أﻻﺻﯿﻞ زﯾﻦ أﻻﻣﻨﺎء ٔاﰊ اﻟﱪﰷت اﳊﺴﻦ ﺑﻦ ﶊ ّﺪ‬
‫ﺑﻦ اﳊﺴﻦ ﺑﻦ ﻫﺒﺔ ﷲ ﺑﺴﲈﻋﻪ ﻓﯿﻪ وﲰﻊ ٔاﺑﻮ ﻋﺒﺪ ﷲ ﶊ ّﺪ ﺑﻦ ٔاﳝﻦ ﺑﻦ ﶊ ّﺪ اﳉُﺰﯾﺮي أﻻﻧﺪﻟﴘ‬
 the forty hadiths for inciting jihad 187

Abū al-Thanāʾ Maḥmūd ibn Abū al-Saʿādāt ibn Maṭar al-Mirqaʿī.

ʿAlī ibn ʿAbd al-Munʿim ibn Aḥmad ibn ʿAbd al-Ḥalabī.
Abū al-Thanāʾ Maḥmūd ibn Ghāzī ibn Muḥammad.
The mosque preacher Abū al-Faraj ʿAbd al-Wahhāb ibn Aḥmad ibn ʿAqīl
al-Sulamī.
Abū ʿAmr ʿUthmān ibn Alyās ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿAlī al-Anṣārī.
Abū al-Rabīʿ Sulaymān ibn Ibrāhīm ibn Yaḥyā.
Abū Jaʿfar Aḥmad ibn ʿAlī ibn Abū Bakr al-Qurṭubī.
Abū Ṭāhir ibn Ibrāhīm ibn Ḥamza ibn Qawwām al-Maʿarrī.
Al-Ṣāʾin Muḥammad ibn ʿUmar ibn ʿAlī al-Isfarāyīnī.
Naṣr Allāh ibn ʿAbd al-Karīm ibn Muḥammad al-Anṣārī.
Abū al-Faḍl ibn Ṣabḥ ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Tamīmī.
Abū al-Faḍl ibn Abū al-Makārim ibn Saʿd.
Abū Ghālib ibn Abū al-Faḍāʾil ibn Kuttāb al-Zayn. /[80a]
Ismāʿīl ibn al-Khuḍr ibn ʿAlī.
Ṣāliḥ ibn Falāḥ ibn Rāshid.
Sulṭān ibn Saʿd ibn ʿAlī.
ʿAlī and Abū al-Faḍāʾil, sons of Muḥammad ibn Faḍāʾil.
Ibrāhīm ibn al-Shaykh Abū Tāhir Barakāt ibn Ibrāhīm al-Khushūʿī.
Kawkab ibn Naṣr ibn Bakhtiyār.
Abū al-Qāsim Maḥmūd ibn Muḥammad ibn Maʿādh al-Khuramānī.
Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿUthmān.
Abū Muḥammad al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAlī ibn Abīya and his two sons, Makkī
and ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz.
Abū Manṣūr al-Muẓa󰀇far and his brother Muḥammad, who wrote this
colophon of the teaching session47—both of whom are sons of ʿAbd al-
Wahhāb ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAlī al-Anṣārī—and others, on Friday 29 Rama-
ḍān 569/3 May 1174 at the shielded Umayyad Mosque in Damascus—may
God protect her.

Colophon 3
The teaching session was conducted as I read out the text in the presence
of the esteemed teacher and true ascetic Zayn al-Umanāʾ Abū al-Barakāt
al-Ḥasan ibn Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan ibn Hibat Allāh, who had studied
the text. It was also studied by:

47 It sounds awkward that al-Anṣārī, who wrote the colophon, identi󰀈椀es himself in the

third person here in relationship to his brother who is mentioned 󰀈椀rst. By doing go, he
is explicitly acknowledging that he is the younger of the two and that his brother’s name
must come 󰀈椀rst; a sign of respect in Damascene and other Muslim societies.
‫‪188‬‬ ‫‪edition and translation‬‬

‫وﻋﺒﺪ اﻟﻮّﻫﺎب ﺑﻦ ﻋﺒﺪ اﳉّﺒﺎر ﺑﻦ ﲻﺮ اﻟﺸﺎﻓﻌﻲ وﻛﺘﺐ ﶊ ّﺪ ﺑﻦ ﯾﻮﺳﻒ ﺑﻦ ﶊ ّﺪ اﻟﱪزاﱄ أﻻﺷﺒﯿﲇ‬

‫ﰠ ذ󰏭 ﰲ ﯾﻮم اﻟﺴﺒﺖ ﲵﻰ اﳋﺎﻣﺲ واﻟﻌﴩون ﻣﻦ ذي اﳊّﺠﺔ ﺳـﻨﺔ ﺳـﺒﻊ ﻋﴩة وﺳـﺘّﲈﯾﺔ‬ ‫و ّ‬
‫󰈈ﳌﺴﺠﺪ اﳉﺎﻣﻊ ﺑﺪﻣﺸﻖ ﺣﺮﺳﻬﺎ ﷲ ﺗﻌﺎﱃ‪.‬‬

‫ﺳﲈع ‪٤‬‬
‫‪ ٥‬ﺑﻠﻐﺖ ﺳﲈﻋًﺎ ﺑﻘﺮاءﰐ ﻋﲆ اﻟﺸـﯿﺦ اﻟﻔﻘﯿﻪ أﻻﺟّﻞ اﻟﻌﺎﱂ ٔاﰊ ٕاﲮﺎق ٕاﺑﺮاﻫﲓ ﺑﻦ اﻟﺸـﯿﺦ ٔاﰊ ﻃﺎﻫﺮ ﺑﺮﰷت‬
‫ﺑﻦ ٕاﺑﺮاﻫﲓ ﺑﻦ ﻃﺎﻫﺮ اﳋﺸﻮﻋﻲ ﺑﺴﲈﻋﻪ ﻓﯿﻪ وﺳـﺒﻄﻪ ﶊ ّﺪ ﺑﻦ ٔاﲪﺪ ﺑﻦ 󰈋ﴏ اﳊﻨﺒﲇ واﻟﻔﻘﻬﺎء ﺟﲈل‬
‫ا󰏩ﯾﻦ ٔاﺑﻮ ﺣﺎﻣﺪ ﶊ ّﺪ ﺑﻦ اﻟﺸـﯿﺦ ٔاﰊ اﳊﺴﻦ ﻋﲇ ﺑﻦ ﶊﻮد اﶈﻤﻮدي اﻟﺼﺎﺑﻮﱐ ؤاﺑﻮ اﻟﻌّﺒﺎس ٔاﲪﺪ‬
‫ﺑﻦ ﳛﲕ ﺑﻦ ٔاﲪﺪ ﺑﻦ ﻧﺰار اﻟﺼﻨﻌﺎﱐ ؤاﺑﻮ ﶊ ّﺪ ﻋﺒﺪ اﻟﻮاﺣﺪ ﺑﻦ ﻋﺒﺪ اﻟﺴـّﯿﺪ ﺑﻦ ٔاﰊ اﻟﱪﰷت اﻟﺼﻘّﲇ‬
‫واﺑﲏ ﯾﻮﺳﻒ ﰲ اﳋﺎﻣﺴﺔ وﻛﺘﺐ ٔاﺑﻮﻩ ﶊ ّﺪ ﺑﻦ ﯾﻮﺳﻒ ﺑﻦ ﶊ ّﺪ اﻟﱪزاﱄ إﻻﺷﺒﯿﲇ ﯾﻮم اﶺﻌﺔ اﻟﺘﺎﺳﻊ‬
‫‪ ١٠‬ﻣﻦ ﺷﻬﺮ رﺑﯿﻊ أﻻّول ﺳـﻨﺔ ٔارﺑﻊ وﻋﴩﯾﻦ وﺳـﺘّﲈﯾﺔ 󰈈ﳋﺎﺗﻮﻧّﯿﺔ ﺑﺪﻣﺸﻖ ﺣﺮﺳﻬﺎ ﷲ واﶵﺪ 󰏯 وﺣﺪﻩ‬
‫وﺻﻼﺗﻪ ﻋﲆ ﶊ ّﺪ ﻧﺒﯿّﻪ وﺳﻼﻣﻪ‪.‬‬

‫ﺳﲈع ‪٥‬‬
‫ﲰﻊ ﻫﺬا اﳉﺰء ﲨﯿﻌﻪ ﻋﲆ اﻟﺸـﯿﺦ أﻻﺟّﻞ إﻻﻣﺎم اﻟﻌﺎﱂ أﻻﺻﯿﻞ ﳀﺮ ا󰏩ﯾﻦ ﳎﺪ أﻻﻣﻨﺎء ٔاﰊ ﺑﻜﺮ‬
‫ﶊ ّﺪ ﺑﻦ ﻋﺒﺪ اﻟﻮّﻫﺎب ﺑﻦ ﻋﺒﺪ ﷲ أﻻﻧﺼﺎري ٔاﯾ ّﺪﻩ ﷲ ﺑﺴﲈﻋﻪ را ٓﻩ ﻣﻨﻘﻮًﻻ ﺑﻘﺮاءة ﺻﺎﺣﺒﻪ ﺷـﯿﺨﻨﺎ‬

‫‪ ٣‬ﻣﻜﺘﻮب ﻫﺬا اﻟﺴﲈع ﲞﻂ اﻟﱪزاﱄ ﻋﲆ ٔاﻋﲆ ﻫﺎﻣﺶ اﻟﻮرﻗﺔ ‪٧٩‬ب‪ ،‬ﻣﻘﺎﺑﻞ ا ٓﺧﺮ ﺳـﺒﻌﺔ ٔاﺳﻄﺮ ﻣﻦ اﻟﻜﺘﺎب‪ .‬ﯾﺮﯾﺪ‬
‫اﻟﱪزاﱄ ﲠﺬا إﻻﺷﺎرة ٕاﱃ ﻛﯿﻔﯿّﺔ ﺣﺼﻮ󰏳 ﻋﲆ اﻟﺴﲈع وإﻻﺟﺎزة ﻟﻜﻨﺎب اﺑﻦ ﻋﺴﺎﻛﺮ‪ ،‬ﻛﻮن ﺳﲈع‪ ١‬وﺳﲈع‪ ٢‬ﻻ ﯾﺸﲑان ٕاﱃ‬
‫وﺟﻮدﻩ‬
 the forty hadiths for inciting jihad 189

Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad ibn Ayman ibn Muḥammad al-Jazīrī al-
Andalusī.
ʿAbd al-Wahhāb ibn ʿAbd al-Jabbār ibn ʿUmar al-Shā󰀈椀ʿī.
Muḥammad ibn Yūsuf ibn Muḥammad al-Birzālī al-Ishbīlī wrote this48
in the morning of Saturday 25 Dhū al-Ḥijja 617/20 February 1221 at the
Umayyad Mosque in Damascus—may God Almighty protect her.

Colophon 4
The teaching session was conducted as I read out the text in the pres-
ence of the esteemed teacher, jurist, and scholar Abū Isḥāq Ibrāhīm ibn
al-Shaykh Abū Tāhir Barakāt ibn Ibrāhīm ibn Tāhir al-Khushūʿī, who had
studied the text. Those who studied it during this teaching session were:
His [al-Khushūʿī’s] grandson Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad ibn Nāṣir al-Ḥan-
balī.
The jurist Jamāl al-Dīn Abū Ḥāmid Muḥammad ibn al-Shaykh Abū
al-Ḥasan ʿAlī ibn Maḥmūd al-Maḥmūdī al-Ṣābūnī.
The jurist Abū al-ʿAbbās Aḥmad ibn Yaḥyā ibn Aḥmad ibn Nizār al-
Ṣanʿānī.
Abū Muḥammad ʿAbd al-Wāḥid ibn ʿAbd al-Sayīd ibn Abū al-Barakāt
al-Ṣiqillī.
And my [al-Birzāli’s] son Yūsuf, who is 󰀈椀ve years old.
His [Yūsuf’s] father Muḥammad ibn Yūsuf ibn Muḥammad al-Birzālī
al-Ishbīlī wrote this49 on Friday 9 Rabīʿ I 624/26 February 1227 at the
Khātūnīya School in Damascus—may God protect her. Thanks to God
alone, and His praise and peace on His prophet Muhammad.

Colophon 5
The entire volume was studied in the presence of the esteemed teacher
and true scholar, the imam Fakhr al-Dīn Majd al-Umanāʾ Abū Bakr Mu-
ḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhāb ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Anṣārī—may God support
him—who had studied the text and seen the original copy. It was read
out by the owner of this volume, our respected teacher the imam and

48 Al-Birzālī refers to himself in the 󰀈椀rst person at the beginning of Colophon 3 to

indicate that he read the text; he uses the third person here to indicate that he wrote
Colophon 3.
49 Al-Birzālī refers to himself here as Yūsuf’s father, whereas in the 󰀈椀rst line of Colophon

4 he uses the 󰀈椀rst person to indicate that he was the reader of the text.
 ‫‪190‬‬ ‫‪edition and translation‬‬

‫إﻻﻣﺎم اﳊﺎﻓﻆ زّﰾ ا󰏩ﯾﻦ ٔاﰊ ﻋﺒﺪ ﷲ ﶊ ّﺪ ﺑﻦ ﯾﻮﺳﻒ ﺑﻦ ﶊ ّﺪ اﻟﱪزاﱄ إﻻﺷﺒﯿﲇ و󰏩ﻩ ٔاﺑﻮ اﳊّﺠﺎج‬
‫ﯾﻮﺳﻒ وﻫﻮ اﺑﻦ اﻟﺴـﻨﺔ اﳋﺎﻣﺴﺔ وﺣﻔﯿﺪا اﳌﺴّﻤﻊ ﶊ ّﺪ وﻋﺒﺪ ﷲ اﺑﻨﺎ ﴍف ا󰏩ﯾﻦ ٔاﰊ اﻟﻔﺘﺢ ٔاﲪﺪ‬
‫ﺑﻦ اﳌﺴّﻤﻊ وﺣﺴﻦ ﺑﻦ ﻋﲇ ﺑﻦ ﶊ ّﺪ ﺑﻦ ٕاﻟﯿﺎس أﻻﻧﺼﺎري وﶊ ّﺪ ﺑﻦ ٕا󰈍س ﺑﻦ ﻋﺒﺪ ﷲ ﻋﺘﯿﻖ اﻟﻘﻮام‬
‫وﰷﺗﺐ أﻻﺳﲈء اﻟﻔﻘﲑ ٕاﱃ ﷲ ﶊ ّﺪ ﺑﻦ ﻋﲇ ﺑﻦ ﶊﻮد ﺑﻦ اﶈﻤﻮدي اﻟﺼﺎﺑﻮﱐ ﻋﻔﺎ ﷲ ﻋﻨﻪ و ّ‬
‫ﰠ‬
‫وﺛﺒﺖ ﯾﻮم اﶺﻌﺔ اﻟﺜﺎﱐ واﻟﻌﴩﯾﻦ ﻣﻦ ﺷﻬﺮ رﺑﯿﻊ أﻻّول ﺳـﻨﺔ ٔارﺑﻊ وﻋﴩﯾﻦ وﺳـﺘّﻤﺌﺔ ﲜﺎﻣﻊ دﻣﺸﻖ‬ ‫‪٥‬‬
‫ﺣﺮﺳﻬﺎ ﷲ ﺗﻌﺎﱃ واﶵﺪ 󰏯 وﺣﺪﻩ وﺻﻠﻮاﺗﻪ ﻋﲆ ﺳـّﯿﺪ󰈋 ﶊ ّﺪ وا ٓ󰏳 وﺳﻼﻣﻪ‪.‬‬

‫ﺳﲈع ‪٦‬‬
‫ﲰﻊ ﻫﺬا اﳉﺰء ﺑﻜﲈ󰏳 ﻋﲆ اﻟﺸـﯿﺦ أﻻﻣﲔ ٔاﰊ ﶊ ّﺪ ﻋﺒﺪ اﻟﻌﺰﯾﺰ ﺑﻦ اﳊﺴﻦ ﺑﻦ ﻋﲇ ﺑﻦ ٔاﺑّﯿﺔ ﺑﺴﲈﻋﻪ‬
‫ﻓﯿﻪ ﻧﻘًﻼ ﺑﻘﺮاءة ﺻﺎﺣﺒﻪ إﻻﻣﺎم اﻟﻌﺎﱂ اﳊﺎﻓﻆ اﳌﻔﯿﺪ زّﰾ ا󰏩ﯾﻦ ﻣﻔﯿﺪ أﻻﲱﺎب ٔاﰊ ﻋﺒﺪ ﷲ ﶊ ّﺪ ﺑﻦ‬
‫‪ ١٠‬ﯾﻮﺳﻒ ﺑﻦ ﶊ ّﺪ ﺑﻦ ٔاﰊ ﯾﺪاس اﻟﱪزاﱄ إﻻﺷﺒﯿﲇ و󰏩ﻩ ٔاﺑﻮ اﳊّﺠﺎج ﯾﻮﺳﻒ وﻫﻮ اﺑﻦ اﳋﺎﻣﺴﺔ وزّﰾ‬
‫ا󰏩ﯾﻦ ٔاﺑﻮ ﶊ ّﺪ ﻋﺒﺪ اﻟﻮاﺣﺪ ﺑﻦ ﻋﺒﺪ اﻟﺴـﯿﺪ ﺑﻦ ٔاﰊ اﻟﱪﰷت اﻟﺼﻘّﲇ وﶊ ّﺪ ﺑﻦ ﻋﲇ ﺑﻦ ﶊﻮد ﺑﻦ‬
‫ﰠ وﺛﺒﺖ ﰲ ﯾﻮم اﻟﺜﻼ󰈊ء اﻟﺴﺎدس واﻟﻌﴩون ﻣﻦ ﺷﻬﺮ رﺑﯿﻊ أﻻّول ﺳـﻨﺔ‬ ‫اﶈﻤﻮدي ﻋﻔﺎ ﷲ ﻋﻨﻪ و ّ‬
‫󰏣ﻫﺎ ﷲ وﺳﺎﺋﺮ‬ ‫ٔارﺑﻊ وﻋﴩﯾﻦ وﺳـﺘّﻤﺌﺔ ﺑﺰاوﯾﺔ اﻟﻔﻘﯿﻪ ﻧﴫ اﳌﻘﺪﳼ رﲪﻪ ﷲ ﻏﺮﰊ ﺟﺎﻣﻊ دﻣﺸﻖ ٔ‬
‫ﻣﺪن إﻻﺳﻼم ؤاﻫ󰏴 وﺣﺴﺒﻨﺎ ﷲ وﻧﻌﻢ اﻟﻮﻛﯿﻞ‪.‬‬

‫‪80b‬‬ ‫ﺳﲈع ‪٧‬‬ ‫‪١٥‬‬

‫ﲰﻊ ﲨﯿﻊ ﻫﺬا اﳉﺰء ﻋﲆ اﻟﺸـﯿﺦ أﻻﺟّﻞ أﻻﻣﲔ اﻟﻌﺪل ﳀﺮ ا󰏩ﯾﻦ ٔاﰊ ﺑﻜﺮ ﶊ ّﺪ ﺑﻦ ﻋﺒﺪ اﻟﻮّﻫﺎب ﺑﻦ‬
‫ﻋﺒﺪ ﷲ أﻻﻧﺼﺎري ﺑﺴﲈﻋﻪ ﻓﯿﻪ ﻧﻘًﻼ ﺑﻘﺮاءة ﺻﺎﺣﺒﻪ اﻟﺸـﯿﺦ اﳊﺎﻓﻆ زّﰾ ا󰏩ﯾﻦ ٔاﰊ ﻋﺒﺪ ﷲ ﶊ ّﺪ ﺑﻦ‬
 the forty hadiths for inciting jihad 191

Hadith memorizer Zakīy al-Dīn Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad ibn Yūsuf ibn
Muḥammad al-Birzālī al-Ishbīlī. Those who studied it during this teaching
session were:
His [al-Birzālī’s] son Abū al-Ḥajjāj Yūsuf, who is 󰀈椀ve years old.
The teacher’s [al-Anṣārī’s] two grandsons, Muḥammad and ʿAbd Allāh
sons of Sharaf al-Dīn Abū al-Fatḥ Aḥmad, son of the teacher.
Ḥasan ibn ʿAlī ibn Muḥammad ibn Alyās al-Anṣārī.
Muḥammad ibn Ayās ibn ʿAbd Allāh ʿAtīq al-Qawām.
He who is in need of God’s mercy, Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī ibn Maḥmūd ibn
al-Maḥmūdī al-Ṣābūnī—may God pardon him—is the writer of this list
of names. It was checked and veri󰀈椀ed on Friday 22 Rabīʿ I 624/12 March
1227 at the Umayyad Mosque of Damascus—may God Almighty protect
her—and His praise and peace on our lord Muḥammad and his family.

Colophon 6
The entire volume was studied in the presence of the trustworthy teacher
Abū Muḥammad ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAlī ibn Abīya, who had
studied the text and copied it. It was read out by the owner of this copy,
the imam, scholar and instructive Hadith memorizer Zakīy al-Dīn Mufīd
al-Aṣḥāb Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad ibn Yūsuf ibn Muḥammad ibn Abū
Yadās al-Birzālī al-Ishbīlī. Those who studied it during this teaching ses-
sion were:
His [al-Birzālī’s] son Yūsuf, who is 󰀈椀ve years old.
Zakīy al-Dīn Abū Muḥammad ʿAbd al-Wāḥid ibn ʿAbd al-Sayīd ibn Abū
al-Barakāt al-Ṣiqillī.
Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī ibn Maḥmūd ibn al-Maḥmūdī—may God pardon
him.
This was checked and veri󰀈椀ed on Tuesday 26 Rabīʿ I 624/16 March 1227
at the Zāwiya (corner hall) of the jurist Naṣr al-Maqdisī—may God have
mercy on his soul—in the western corner of the Umayyad Mosque of
Damascus compound—may God guard her and all the cities of Islam and
its people. God is our only reckoning and real trust.

Colophon 7
The entire volume was studied in the presence of the esteemed, trustwor-
thy, and honorable teacher Fakhr al-Dīn Abū Bakr Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd
al-Wahhāb ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Anṣārī, who had studied the text and copied
it.
‫‪192‬‬ ‫‪edition and translation‬‬

‫ﯾﻮﺳﻒ اﻟﱪزاﱄ اﺑﻨﻪ ﯾﻮﺳﻒ واﻟﻘﺎﴈ ﺗﻘّﻲ ا󰏩ﯾﻦ ٔاﺑﻮ ﶊ ّﺪ ﻋﺒﺪ اﻟﺮﺣﲈن ﺑﻦ ﲪﺪان اﻟﺘﻜﺮﯾﱵ واﺑﻨﺎﻩ‬
‫ﶊ ّﺪ وﻋﲇ واﺑﻦ ٔاﺧﯿﻪ ﲪﺪان ﺑﻦ ﻣﺴﻌﻮد وإﻻﻣﺎم اﻟﻌﺎﱂ ﳏّﺐ ا󰏩ﯾﻦ ٔاﺑﻮ اﻟﻔﺘﺢ ﻧﴫ ﷲ ﺑﻦ ٔاﰊ اﻟﻌّﺰ‬
‫ﺑﻦ ٔاﰊ ﻃﺎﻟﺐ اﻟﺸﯿﺒﺎﱐ اﻟﺼﻔّﺎر وأﻻﻣﲔ ﺟﲈل ا󰏩ﯾﻦ ٔاﺑﻮ ﲻﺮو ﻋ󰍣ن ﺑﻦ رﺿﻮان ﺑﻦ ﻗﺮﺳﻖ واﺑﻨﺎﻩ‬
‫ﻗﺮﺳﻖ وٕاﺑﺮاﻫﲓ وﻓﺘﺎﻫﲈ ﺳـﻨﺠﺮ اﻟﱰﰾ وﶊ ّﺪ وﻋﺒﺪ ﷲ اﺑﻨﺎ ٔاﲪﺪ ﺑﻦ اﳌﺴﻤﻊ ؤاﺑﻮ ﺣﺎﻣﺪ ﶊ ّﺪ ﺑﻦ ﻋﲇ‬
‫‪ ٥‬ﺑﻦ ﶊﻮد ﺑﻦ اﻟﺼﺎﺑﻮﱐ ؤاﺑﻮ اﻟﻘﺎﰟ ﺑﻦ ٔاﰊ ﺑﻜﺮ ﺑﻦ ٕاﺑﺮاﻫﲓ اﻟﻨّﺤﺎس وﻋﲇ ﺑﻦ ٔاﲪﺪ ﺑﻦ ﶊ ّﺪ اﻟﻘﺴﻄﺎل‬
‫وﶊ ّﺪ ﺑﻦ ﶊ ّﺪ ﺑﻦ ﺳـﻨﻘﺮ اﻟﻌﺎدﱄ ؤاﺑﻮ ﶊ ّﺪ اﳊﺴﻦ ﺑﻦ ﻋﲇ ﺑﻦ ﶊ ّﺪ ﺑﻦ ٕاﻟﯿﺎس أﻻﻧﺼﺎري ؤاﺧﻮﻩ‬
‫ٔاﺑﻮ ﺑﻜﺮ ﶊ ّﺪ وﻋﺒﺪ ﷲ وﻋﺒﺪ اﻟﺮﺣﲈن اﺑﻨﺎ ﶊ ّﺪ ﺑﻦ ﻋﺒﺪ ﷲ ﺑﻦ ﺻﺎﺑﺮ اﻟﺴﻠﻤﻲ ؤاﺑﻮ ﻧﴫ ﶊ ّﺪ ؤاﺑﻮ‬
‫زﻛﺮّ󰈍 ﳛﲕ اﺑﻨﺎ ﯾﻮﻧﺲ ﺑﻦ اﳋﻄﯿﺐ ﶊ ّﺪ ا󰏩وﻟﻌﻲ وﻓﺘﺎﻫﲈ ﺑﻜﳣﺮ اﻟﱰﰾ وﻋﺒﺪ اﳋﺎﻟﻖ ﺑﻦ ّﲻﺎر ﺑﻦ ﺷﻔﯿﻊ‬
‫اﻟﻜﻔﺮﻛ ّﲏ وﯾﻌﻘﻮب ﺑﻦ 󰈍ﻗﻮت ﺑﻦ ﻋﺒﺪ ﷲ ؤاﺑﻮ اﻟﻔﻀﻞ ﶊ ّﺪ ﺑﻦ ٕاﺳﲈﻋﯿﻞ ﺑﻦ ﺑّﲀر وﯾﻮﺳﻒ ﺑﻦ‬
‫‪ ١٠‬اﻟﺴّﻼر ﺑﻦ دوﯾﻞ ﺑﻦ ٕاﺳﲈﻋﯿﻞ ؤاﺑﻮ اﻟﻔﺘﺢ ﺑﻦ ﻋﲔ ا󰏩و󰏧 اﳊّﲇ وﯾﻮﺳﻒ ﺑﻦ ٔاﰊ اﳊﺴﻦ ﺑﻦ ﻃﺎﻫﺮ‬
‫اﳋّﯿﺎط اﳌﴫي وﻧﴫ وﺳﻌﺪ اﳋﲑ اﺑﻨﺎ ٔاﰊ اﻟﻘﺎﰟ ﺑﻦ ٔاﰊ اﻟﻔﺮج اﻟﻨﺎﺑﻠﴘ ؤاﺑﻮ اﻟﻘﺎﰟ ﺑﻦ ٔاﲪﺪ‬
‫اﻟﺮاﱊ وﻓﺘﺎﻩ ﺑﻠﺒﺎن اﻟﱰﰾ وﺷﻌﺒﺎن ﺑﻦ ﻋﺒﺪ اﻟﻮاﺣﺪ ﺑﻦ ﶊ ّﺪ اﻟﺴـﻨﺒﴘ وٕاﺑﺮاﻫﲓ ﺑﻦ اﻟﻘﺎﰟ ﺑﻦ ﻋﺒﺪ‬
‫ﷲ ؤاﲪﺪ ﺑﻦ ﺣﺴﻦ اﳌﻮﺻﲇ وﻋﺴﻜﺮ ﺑﻦ رﺑﯿﻌﺔ ﺑﻦ ﻋﺴﻜﺮ وﻋﺒﺪ اﻟﺼﻤﺪ ﺑﻦ ﲻﺮ ﺑﻦ رﺷـﯿﺪ وﻋﺒﺪ‬
‫ا󰏩اﰂ ﺑﻦ ﻋﺒﺪ اﳌﻨﻌﻢ ﺑﻦ ﻣﻈﻔّﺮ اﳌﴫي ؤاﲪﺪ ﺑﻦ ﲻﺮ ﺑﻦ ﶊ ّﺪ ا󰏩ﻣﺸﻘﻲ وﶊ ّﺪ ﺑﻦ ﻋﺒﺪ اﻟﺮﺣﲈن‬
 the forty hadiths for inciting jihad 193

It was read out by the owner of this copy, the teacher and Hadith
memorizer Zakīy al-Dīn Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad ibn Yūsuf al-Birzālī.
Those who studied it during this teaching session were:
His [al-Birzālī’s] son Yūsuf.
The judge Taqīy al-Dīn Abū Muḥammad ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Ḥamdān
al-Tikrītī, his two sons Muḥammad and ʿAlī, and his nephew Ḥamdān ibn
Masʿūd.
The knowledgeable imam Muḥibb al-Dīn Abū al-Fatḥ Naṣr Allāh ibn
Abū al-ʿIzz ibn Abū Ṭālib al-Shaybānī al-Ṣa󰀇fār.
The trustworthy Jamāl al-Dīn Abū ʿAmr ʿUthmān ibn Riḍwān ibn Qar-
saq, and his two sons, Qarsaq and Ibrāhīm, and their slave Sinjar the Turk.
Muḥammad and ʿAbd Allāh, sons of Aḥmad, the son of the teacher
[al-Anṣārī].
Abū Ḥāmid Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī ibn Maḥmūd ibn al-Ṣābūnī.
Abū al-Qāsim ibn Abū Bakr ibn Ibrāhīm al-Naḥḥās.
ʿAlī ibn Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad al-Qasṭāl.
Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad ibn Sanqar al-ʿĀdilī.
Abū Muḥammad al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAlī ibn Muḥammad ibn Alyās al-Anṣārī,
and his brother Abū Bakr Muḥammad.
ʿAbd Allāh and ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, sons of Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn
Ṣābir al-Sulamī.
Abū Naṣr Muḥammad and Abū Zakarīya Yaḥyā, sons of Yūnus, son of
the mosque preacher Muḥammad al-Dawlaʿī, and their slave Baktamir the
Turk.
ʿAbd al-Khāliq ibn ʿAmmār ibn Shafīʿ al-Kafarkannī.
Yaʿqūb ibn Yāqūt ibn ʿAbd Allāh.
Abū al-Faḍl Muḥammad ibn Ismāʿīl ibn Bakkār.
Yūsuf ibn al-Sallār ibn Duwayl ibn Ismāʿīl.
Abū al-Fatḥ ibn ʿAyn al-Dawla al-Ḥillī.
Yūsuf ibn Abū al-Ḥasan ibn Ṭāhir al-Khayyāt al-Miṣrī.
Naṣr and Saʿd al-Khayr, sons of Abū al-Qāsim ibn Abū al-Faraj al-Nābu-
lusī.
Abū al-Qāsim ibn Aḥmad al-Rāmī, and his slave Balbān the Turk.
Shaʿbān ibn ʿAbd al-Wāḥid ibn Muḥammad al-Sinbisī.
Ibrāhīm ibn al-Qāsim ibn ʿAbd Allāh.
Aḥmad ibn Ḥasan al-Mawṣilī.
ʿAskar ibn Rabīʿa ibn ʿAskar.
ʿAbd al-Ṣamad ibn ʿUmar ibn Rashīd.
ʿAbd al-Dāʾim ibn ʿAbd al-Munʿim ibn Muẓa󰀇far al-Miṣrī.
Aḥmad ibn ʿUmar ibn Muḥammad al-Dimashqī.
 ‫‪194‬‬ ‫‪edition and translation‬‬

‫ﺑﻦ ﻋﺒﺪ اﳋﺎﻟﻖ اﳌﻮﺻﲇ وﺣﺴﻦ ﺑﻦ ﺣﺴﲔ ﺑﻦ 󰈍ﺳﲔ اﻟﺘﻜﺮﯾﱵ وﶊ ّﺪ ﺑﻦ ﻋﲇ ﺑﻦ ٔاﰊ اﻟﻔﻀﻞ‬
‫اﻟﻮاﺳﻄﻲ وﶊ ّﺪ ﺑﻦ ﻋﲇ ﺑﻦ ﻋﺒﺪ اﻟﺮﺣﲈن اﻟﺸﺎﻃﱯ وﳐﻠﻮف ﺑﻦ ٕاﺑﺮاﻫﲓ ﺑﻦ ﻋﲇ اﳊﴬﱊ اﻟﺼﻘّﲇ‬
‫ﺧﺎل ﯾﻮﺳﻒ ﺑﻦ اﻟﻘﺎرئ اﳌﺬﻛﻮر وﰷﺗﺐ اﻟﺴﲈع ٕاﺑﺮاﻫﲓ ﺑﻦ ﲻﺮ ﺑﻦ ﻋﺒﺪ اﻟﻌﺰﯾﺰ ﺑﻦ اﳊﺴﻦ ﺑﻦ ﻋﲇ‬
‫اﻟﻘﺮﳾ ؤاﺧﻮﻩ ٕاﺳﲈﻋﯿﻞ وذ󰏭 ﰲ ﯾﻮم اﶺﻌﺔ 󰈊ﻟﺚ ﻋﴩ ﺻﻔﺮ ﺳـﻨﺔ ﺳّﺖ وﻋﴩﯾﻦ وﺳـﺘّﲈﯾﺔ ﲜﺎﻣﻊ‬
‫دﻣﺸﻖ ؤاﺟﺎزﱒ اﳌﺴّﻤﻊ ﲨﯿﻊ ﻣﺎ ﯾﺮوﯾﻪ وﺗﻠﻔّﻆ ﺑﺬ󰏭 ﰲ اﻟﺘﺎرﱗ واﶵﺪ 󰏯 وﺣﺪﻩ وﺻﻼﺗﻪ ﻋﲆ ﶊ ّﺪ‬ ‫‪٥‬‬
‫وا ٓ󰏳 وﲱﺒﻪ وﺳّﲅ‪.‬‬

‫‪81a‬‬ ‫ﺳﲈع ‪٨‬‬

‫ﲰﻊ ﲨﯿﻊ ﻫﺬا اﳉﺰء وﻫﻮ أﻻرﺑﻌﻮن ﰲ اﳊّﺚ ﻋﲆ اﳉﻬﺎد ﲨﻊ اﳊﺎﻓﻆ ٔاﺑﻮ اﻟﻘﺎﰟ رﲪﻪ ﷲ ﻋﲆ‬
‫اﻟﺸـﯿﺨﲔ اﻟﻘﺎﴈ أﻻﺟّﻞ زﯾﻦ أﻻﻣﻨﺎء ٔاﰊ اﻟﱪﰷت اﳊﺴﻦ ﺑﻦ ﶊ ّﺪ ﺑﻦ اﳊﺴﻦ ﺑﻦ ﻫﺒﺔ ﷲ اﻟﺸﺎﻓﻌﻲ‬
‫‪ ١٠‬وزّﰾ ا󰏩ﯾﻦ ٔاﰊ ٕاﲮﺎق ٕاﺑﺮاﻫﲓ ﺑﻦ ﺑﺮﰷت ﺑﻦ ٕاﺑﺮاﻫﲓ ﺑﻦ ﻃﺎﻫﺮ اﳋﺸﻮﻋﻲ اﻟﻘﺮﳾ وﻣﻦ ٔاّول اﳊﺪﯾﺚ‬
‫اﳊﺎدي واﻟﻌﴩﯾﻦ ٕاﱃ ا ٓﺧﺮﻩ ﻋﲆ ﻋّﺰ ا󰏩ﯾﻦ ٔاﰊ ﶊ ّﺪ ﻋﺒﺪ اﻟﻌﺰﯾﺰ ﺑﻦ ٔاﰊ ﶊ ّﺪ ﺑﻦ اﳊﺴﻦ اﻟﺼﺎﳊﻲ‬
‫ﺑﺴﲈﻋﻬﻢ ﻣﻦ ﳐﺮ󰏄ﺎ ﺑﻘﺮاءة إﻻﻣﺎم ﴰﺲ ا󰏩ﯾﻦ ٔاﰊ اﳊﺴﻦ ﻋﲇ ﺑﻦ اﳌﻈﻔّﺮ ﺑﻦ اﻟﻘﺎﰟ اﻟﻨﺸـﱯ اﺑﻨﻪ‬
‫ﻣﻈﻔّﺮ واﻟﻌﺎﱂ أﻻوﺣﺪ ﳏّﺐ ا󰏩ﯾﻦ ٔاﺑﻮ اﻟﻔﺘﺢ ﻧﴫ ﷲ ﺑﻦ ٔاﰊ اﻟﻌّﺰ ﺑﻦ ٔاﰊ ﻃﺎﻟﺐ اﻟﺸﯿﺒﺎﱐ اﻟﺼﻔّﺎر‬
‫وﻋﺒﺪ اﳌ󰏮 وﻋﺒﺪ اﻟﺼﻤﺪ اﺑﻨﺎ ﻋﺒﺪ اﻟﻮّﻫﺎب ﺑﻦ زﯾﻦ أﻻﻣﻨﺎء وﻋﲇ ﺑﻦ ﻋﺒﺪ اﻟﻠﻄﯿﻒ ﺑﻦ زﯾﻦ أﻻﻣﻨﺎء‬
‫‪ ١٥‬وﳛﲕ ﺑﻦ ﻋﺒﺪ اﻟﺮﺣﲓ ﺑﻦ ﻣﺴﻠﻤﺔ وﻧﴫ وﺳﻌﺪ اﳋﲑ اﺑﻨﺎ ٔاﰊ اﻟﻘﺎﰟ ﺑﻦ ٔاﰊ اﻟﻔﺮج اﻟﻨﺎﺑﻠﴘ ؤاﺑﻮ‬
‫اﻟﻘﺎﰟ ﺑﻦ ٔاﲪﺪ اﻟﺰﻟﻌﻲ ؤاﲪﺪ ﺑﻦ ﶊ ّﺪ ﺑﻦ ﺧﻠﯿﻔﺔ اﻟﺒﻐﺪادي وﶊ ّﺪ ﺑﻦ ﻣﲀرم اﻟﺼﻔّﺎر وﺳﻠ󰍥ن ﺑﻦ‬
‫ﻣﻜﻨﻮن اﳊﯿﺎري وﻋﺒﺪ اﻟﺴـّﯿﺪ ﺑﻦ ﺳـّﯿﺪﱒ اﻟﻜﻨﺎﱐ وٕاﺑﺮاﻫﲓ ﺑﻦ ﯾﻌﻘﻮب اﳌﺰّوق وﻋﺒﺪ اﳌ󰏮 ﺑﻦ ٔاﰊ‬
 the forty hadiths for inciting jihad 195

Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿAbd al-Khāliq al-Mawṣilī.

Ḥasan ibn Ḥusayn ibn Yāsīn al-Tikrītī.
Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī ibn Abū al-Faḍl al-Wāsiṭī.
Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Shāṭibī.
Makhlūf ibn Ibrāhīm ibn ʿAlī al-Ḥaḍramī al-Ṣiqillī, the maternal uncle
of Yūsuf, son of the aforementioned reader [al-Birzālī].
The writer of this colophon of the teaching session, Ibrāhīm ibn ʿUmar
ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAlī al-Qurashī, and his brother Ismāʿīl.
Made on Friday 13 Ṣafar 626/12 January 1229 at the Umayyad Mosque of
Damascus. The teacher granted every one of them the license to teach all
of what he had studied, and conferred that on the same date. Thanks be
to God alone, and His praise and peace on Muhammad, his family and his
companions.

81a Colophon 8
The entire volume; that is, the Forty Hadiths for Inciting Jihad which was
collected by the Hadith memorizer Abū al-Qāsim [Ibn ʿAsākir]—may
God have mercy on his soul, was studied in the presence of the two
teachers, the esteemed judge Zayn al-Umanāʾ Abū al-Barakāt al-Ḥasan ibn
Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan ibn Hibat Allāh al-Shā󰀈椀ʿī, and Zakīy al-Dīn Abū
Isḥāq Ibrāhīm ibn Barakāt ibn Ibrāhīm ibn Ṭāhir al-Khushūʿī al-Qurashī;
from Hadith 21 until the end, also present was ʿIzz al-Dīn Abū Muḥammad
ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn Abū Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan al-Ṣāliḥi. All three had
studied the book with its author. The text was read out by Abū al-Ḥasan
ʿAlī ibn al-Muẓa󰀇far al-Nushbī. Those who studied it during this teaching
session were:
His [al-Nushbī’s] son Muẓa󰀇far.
The unique scholar Muḥibb al-Dīn Abū al-Fatḥ Naṣr Allāh ibn Abū
al-ʿIzz ibn Abū Ṭālib al-Shaybānī al-Ṣa󰀇fār.
ʿAbd al-Malik and ʿAbd al-Ṣamad, sons of ʿAbd al-Wahhāb ibn Zayn
al-Umanāʾ.
ʿAlī ibn ʿAbd al-Laṭīf ibn Zayn al-Umanāʾ.
Yaḥyā ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥīm ibn Maslama.
Naṣr and Saʿd al-Khayr, sons of Abū al-Qāsim ibn Abū al-Faraj al-Nābu-
lusī.
Abū al-Qāsim ibn Aḥmad al-Zaylaʿī.
Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn Khalīfa al-Baghdādī.
Muḥammad ibn Makārim al-Ṣa󰀇fār.
Sulaymān ibn Maknūn al-Ḥiyārī.
ʿAbd al-Sayīd ibn Sayīduhum al-Kanānī.
 ‫‪196‬‬ ‫‪edition and translation‬‬

‫اﻟﻘﺎﰟ اﻟﺮّﰷب وﺣﺴﻦ ﺑﻦ ﻋﻄّﯿﺔ اﳌﯿﲇ وﶊ ّﺪ ﺑﻦ اﳊﺴﻦ ﺑﻦ ﺳﺎﱂ ﺑﻦ ﺳﻼم وٕاﺳﲈﻋﯿﻞ ﺑﻦ ﻏّﺴﺎن‬
‫اﳋّﯿﺎط وﯾﻌﻘﻮب ﺑﻦ ﶊ ّﺪ اﳌﺮاﻋﻲ وﰷﺗﺐ اﻟﺴﲈع ٕاﺑﺮاﻫﲓ ﺑﻦ ﲻﺮ ﺑﻦ ﻋﺒﺪ اﻟﻌﺰﯾﺰ ﺑﻦ اﳊﺴﻦ اﻟﻘﺮﳾ‬
‫وﲰﻊ ﻣﻦ ٔاّول اﳊﺪﯾﺚ اﳊﺎدي واﻟﻌﴩﯾﻦ ٕاﱃ ا ٓﺧﺮﻩ ﻋﲅ ا󰏩ﯾﻦ ٔاﺑﻮ اﻟﻘﺎﰟ ﺑﻦ ٔاﰊ ﺑﻜﺮ ﺑﻦ ٕاﺑﺮاﻫﲓ‬
‫اﻟﻨّﺤﺎس وﶊ ّﺪ وﻋﲇ اﺑﻨﺎ ﻋﺒﺪ اﻟﺮﺣﲈن ﺑﻦ ﲪﺪان اﻟﺘﻜﺮﯾﱵ واﺑﻦ ّﲻﻬﲈ ﲪﺪان ﺑﻦ ﻣﺴﻌﻮد وﻋﺒﺪ‬
‫اﻟﺼﻤﺪ ﺑﻦ ﲻﺮ ﺑﻦ رﺷـﯿﺪ وﯾﻌﻘﻮب ﺑﻦ 󰈍ﻗﻮت ؤاﲪﺪ ﺑﻦ ٔاﲪﺪ ﺑﻦ ٔاﲪﺪ ﺑﻦ ﻋﺒﺪ اﻟﻮّﻫﺎب اﻟﳮﲑي‬ ‫‪٥‬‬
‫ؤاﯾﺒﻚ اﻟﱰﰾ ﻓﺘﺎﻩ ؤاﺑﻮ اﳊﯿﺎة اﳋﴬ ﺑﻦ ﻋﺒﺪ اﻟﺮﺣﲈن ﺑﻦ ﻋﺒﺪ اﻟﻌﺰﯾﺰ ﺑﻦ اﳊﺴﻦ اﻟﻘﺮﳾ وذ󰏭‬
‫ﰠ وﺛﺒﺖ‬ ‫ﰲ ﳎﻠﺴﲔ ا ٓﺧﺮﻫﲈ 󰈊ﻣﻦ ﺟﲈدى أﻻوﱃ ﺳـﻨﺔ ﺳّﺖ وﻋﴩﯾﻦ وﺳـﺘّﲈﯾﺔ ﲜﺎﻣﻊ دﻣﺸﻖ و ّ‬
‫واﶵﺪ 󰏯 وﺻﻼﺗﻪ ﻋﲆ ﶊ ّﺪ وا ٓ󰏳 وﺳّﲅ‪.‬‬

‫‪81b‬‬ ‫ﺳﲈع ‪٩‬‬

‫‪ ١٠‬ﲰﻊ ﲨﯿﻊ ﻫﺬا اﳉﺰء وﻫﻮ ٔارﺑﻌﻮن ﺣﺪﯾﺜًﺎ ﰲ اﳊّﺚ ﻋﲆ اﳉﻬﺎد ﲨﻊ اﳊﺎﻓﻆ ﺻﺪر اﳊﻔّﺎظ ٔاﰊ اﻟﻘﺎﰟ‬
‫ﻋﲇ ﺑﻦ اﳊﺴﻦ ﺑﻦ ﻫﺒﺔ ﷲ اﻟﺸﺎﻓﻌﻲ ﻋﲆ اﺑﻦ ٔاﺧﯿﻪ اﻟﺸـﯿﺦ أﻻﺟّﻞ اﻟﻌﺎﱂ اﻟﻔﺎﺿﻞ ﻋّﺰ ا󰏩ﯾﻦ ﺟﲈل‬
‫إﻻﺳﻼم ٔاﰊ ﻋﺒﺪ ﷲ ﶊ ّﺪ ﺑﻦ ﺷـﯿﺨﻨﺎ إﻻﻣﺎم 󰈉ج أﻻﻣﻨﺎء اﻟﻔﻀﻞ ٔاﲪﺪ ﺑﻦ ﶊ ّﺪ ﺑﻦ اﳊﺴﻦ اﻟﺸﺎﻓﻌﻲ‬
‫ٔاﯾ ّﺪﻩ ﷲ ﻋّﺰ وﺟّﻞ ﺑﺎٔﺻﻞ ﺳﲈﻋﻪ ﻣﻨﻪ ﺑﻘﺮاءة اﻟﻔﻘﯿﻪ زﯾﻦ ا󰏩ﯾﻦ ٔاﰊ اﻟﺜﻨﺎء ﺧﺎ󰏩 ﺑﻦ ﯾﻮﺳﻒ ﺑﻦ ﺳﻌﺪ‬
‫ﺑﻦ اﳊﺴﻦ اﻟﻨﺎﺑﻠﴘ 󰈉ج ا󰏩ﯾﻦ ٔاﺑﻮ اﳊﺴﻦ ﻋﺒﺪ اﻟﻮّﻫﺎب ﺑﻦ ﺷـﯿﺨﻨﺎ ٔاﰊ اﻟﱪﰷت اﳊﺴﻦ ﺑﻦ ﶊ ّﺪ‬
‫‪ ١٥‬وو󰏩اﻩ ﻋﺒﺪ اﳌ󰏮 وﻋﺒﺪ اﻟﺼﻤﺪ وّﲻﻬﲈ ٔاﺑﻮ ﺳﻌﺪ ﻋﺒﺪ ﷲ ؤاﺑﻮ اﻟﻔﻀﻞ ٔاﲪﺪ ﺑﻦ ٔاﰊ اﳊﺴﻦ ﻋﺒﺪ‬
 the forty hadiths for inciting jihad 197

Ibrāhīm ibn Yaʿqūb al-Muzawwiq.

ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Abū al-Qāsim al-Rakkāb.
Ḥasan ibn ʿAṭīya al-Maylī.
Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan ibn Sālim ibn Sallām.
Ismāʿīl ibn Ghassān al-Khayyāṭ.
Yaʿqūb ibn Muḥammad al-Marāʿī.
The writer of this colophon of the teaching session, Ibrāhīm ibn ʿUmar
ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn al-Ḥasan al-Qurashī.
Also studying Hadith 21 until the end of the text were:
ʿAlam al-Dīn Abū al-Qāsim ibn Abū Bakr ibn Ibrāhīm al-Naḥḥās.
Muḥammad and ʿAlī, sons of ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Ḥamdān al-Tikrītī,
and their cousin, Ḥamdān ibn Masʿūd.
ʿAbd al-Ṣamad ibn ʿUmar ibn Rashīd.
Yaʿqūb ibn Yāqūt.
Aḥmad ibn Aḥmad ibn Aḥmad ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhāb al-Namīrī, and his
slave Aybak the Turk.
Abū al-Ḥayat al-Khuḍr ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn al-
Ḥasan al-Qurashī.
This occurred over two teaching sessions, the second of which was on 8
Jumādā I 626/4 April 1229, at the Umayyad Mosque of Damascus. Thanks
be to God, and His praise and peace on Muhammad and his family.

81b Colophon 9
The entire volume—that is, the Forty Hadiths for Inciting Jihad which
was collected by the foremost authority among Hadith memorizers Abū
al-Qāsim ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥasan ibn Hibat Allāh al-Shā󰀈椀ʿī [Ibn ʿAsākir]—was
studied in the presence of his nephew (lit., his brother’s son) the esteemed
teacher and eminent scholar ʿIzz al-Dīn Jamāl al-Islām Abū ʿAbd Allāh
Muḥammad son of our teacher the imam Tāj al-Umanāʾ al-Faḍl Aḥmad
ibn Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan al-Shā󰀈椀ʿī; may God—glory and greatness
belong to Him—support him; he had studied the text with him [Ibn
ʿAsākir].
It was read out by the jurist Zayn al-Dīn Abū al-Thanāʾ Khālid ibn
Yūsuf ibn Saʿd ibn al-Ḥasan al-Nābulusī. Those who studied it during this
teaching session were:
Tāj al-Dīn Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAbd al-Wahhāb son of our teacher Abū al-
Barakāt al-Ḥasan ibn Muḥammad, his two sons ʿAbd al-Malik and ʿAbd
al-Ṣamad, and their uncle Abū Saʿd ʿAbd Allāh.
‫‪198‬‬ ‫‪edition and translation‬‬

‫ﷲ ٔا󰏋 اﳌﺴّﻤﻊ واﺑﻦ ّﲻﻪ ﳛﲕ ﺑﻦ اﻟﻔﻀﻞ وﺻﺎﺣﺐ اﳉﺰء اﳊﺎﻓﻆ زّﰾ ا󰏩ﯾﻦ ٔاﺑﻮ ﻋﺒﺪ ﷲ ﶊ ّﺪ‬
‫ﺑﻦ ﯾﻮﺳﻒ ﺑﻦ ﶊ ّﺪ اﻟﱪزاﱄ واﺑﻨﻪ ٔاﺑﻮ اﶈﺎﺳﻦ ﯾﻮﺳﻒ ﺟﱪﻩ ﷲ ؤاﺑﻮ اﻟﻌّﺒﺎس ٔاﲪﺪ ﺑﻦ ﯾﻮﺳﻒ ﺑﻦ‬
‫ﻋﺒﺪ ﷲ اﻟﺘﻠﻤﺴﺎﱐ وﻋّﺰ ا󰏩ﯾﻦ ٔاﺑﻮ ﶊ ّﺪ ﻋﺒﺪ اﻟﻌﺰﯾﺰ ﺑﻦ ﻋ󰍣ن ﺑﻦ ٔاﰊ ﻃﺎﻫﺮ وﴍف ا󰏩ﯾﻦ ٔاﺑﻮ‬
‫ﻋﺒﺪ ﷲ اﳊﺴﲔ ﺑﻦ ٕاﺑﺮاﻫﲓ ﺑﻦ اﳊﺴﲔ إﻻرﺑﻠّﯿﺎن وو󰏩ﻩ ٕاﺑﺮاﻫﲓ وﳏّﺐ ا󰏩ﯾﻦ ٔاﺑﻮ اﻟﻔﺘﺢ ﻧﴫ ﷲ‬
‫‪ ٥‬ﺑﻦ ٔاﰊ اﻟﻌّﺰ ﺑﻦ ٔاﰊ ﻃﺎﻟﺐ اﻟﺸﯿﺒﺎﱐ اﻟﺼﻔّﺎر وﴰﺲ ا󰏩ﯾﻦ ٔاﺑﻮ اﳊﺴﻦ ﻋﲇ ﺑﻦ اﳌﻈﻔّﺮ ﺑﻦ اﻟﻘﺎﰟ‬
‫اﻟﻨﺸـﱯ وﻣﺆﲤﻦ ا󰏩ﯾﻦ ٔاﺑﻮ ٕاﲮﺎق ٕاﺑﺮاﻫﲓ ﺑﻦ ﲻﺮ ﺑﻦ ﻋﺒﺪ اﻟﻌﺰﯾﺰ ﺑﻦ اﳊﺴﻦ اﻟﻘﺮﳾ ؤاﺣﴬ اﺑﻨﺘﻪ‬
‫ٔاّم اﻟﻔﻀﻞ ﻫﺪﯾ ّﺔ وﱔ ﰲ اﻟﺴـﻨﺔ اﳋﺎﻣﺴﺔ ؤاﺑﻮ ﺣﺎﻣﺪ ﶊ ّﺪ ﺑﻦ ﻋﲇ ﺑﻦ ﶊﻮد اﶈﻤﻮدي اﻟﺼﺎﺑﻮﱐ‬
‫ؤاﺑﻮ اﳊﺴﻦ ﻋﲇ ﺑﻦ ٔاﲪﺪ ﺑﻦ ﶊ ّﺪ اﻟﻘﺴﻄﺎل ؤاﺑﻮ ﻣﻮﳻ ﻋﯿﴗ ﺑﻦ ٔاﲪﺪ ﺑﻦ ﻋﯿﴗ اﻟﻠﺨﻤﻲ ؤاﺑﻮ‬
‫ﻣﻮﳻ ﻋﯿﴗ ﺑﻦ ﺳﻠ󰍥ن ﺑﻦ ﻋﺒﺪ ﷲ اﻟﺮﻋﯿﲏ أﻻﻧﺪﻟﺴـّﯿﻮن واﻟﺴّﻤﺎع ﻋﺒﺪ اﳋﺎﻟﻖ ﺑﻦ ّﲻﺎر ﺑﻦ ﺷﻔﯿﻊ‬
‫‪ ١٠‬اﻟﻜﻔﺮﻛ ّﲏ وﻋﺒﺪ اﳌ󰏮 ﺑﻦ ٔاﰊ اﻟﻘﺎﰟ ﻋﺒﺪ اﳌ󰏮 اﻟﺮّﰷب وﶊﻮد ﺑﻦ ﶊ ّﺪ ﺑﻦ ٔاﲪﺪ اﻟﴩواﱐ وﺣﺴﻦ‬
‫ﺑﻦ ﻋﻄّﯿﺔ اﳌﺴـﯿﲇ وﻋﺒﺪ اﻟﻌﺰﯾﺰ ﺑﻦ ﳛﲕ ﺑﻦ ﻣﻨﺼﻮر اﳌّﺮاﻛﴚ وﶊ ّﺪ ﺑﻦ ﻋ󰍣ن اﻟﻨّﺤﺎس ﯾﻌﺮف ﲝﻤﯿﺪ‬
‫وﶊ ّﺪ ﺑﻦ ﺳﺎﱂ ﺑﻦ ٔاﰊ اﻟﻮﻓﺎء وﯾﻮﺳﻒ ﺑﻦ اﳊﺴﻦ ﺑﻦ ﺑﺪر ﺑﻦ اﳊﺴﻦ اﻟﻨﺎﺑﻠﺴـّﯿﺎن وﲻﺮ ﺑﻦ ٔاﲪﺪ ﺑﻦ‬
‫ﻋﺒﺪ اﻟﻘﻮي اﻟﻔﺎﳼ وﻋﲇ ﺑﻦ ﶊ ّﺪ ﺑﻦ ٔاﰊ ﴎاﻗﺔ وﶊ ّﺪ ﺑﻦ ﻋﲇ ﺑﻦ ﶊ ّﺪ اﳊﺠﺎزي واﺑﲏ ٔاﺑﻮ ﺑﻜﺮ‬
‫ﰠ ذ󰏭 ﰲ ﯾﻮم أﻻﺣﺪ 󰈊ﱐ رﺑﯿﻊ ا ٓﺧﺮ ﺳـﻨﺔ ﺳـﺒﻊ وﻋﴩﯾﻦ‬ ‫ﶊ ّﺪ وﻫﻮ ﰲ اﻟﺴـﻨﺔ اﻟﺜﺎﻧﯿﺔ ﺟﱪﻩ ﷲ و ّ‬
 the forty hadiths for inciting jihad 199

Abū al-Faḍl Aḥmad ibn Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAbd Allāh, the nephew of the
teacher [Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad], and his [Abū al-Faḍl’s] cousin
Yaḥyā ibn al-Faḍl.
The owner of this copy, the Hadith memorizer Zakīy al-Dīn Abū ʿAbd
Allāh Muḥammad ibn Yūsuf ibn Muḥammad al-Birzālī, and his son Abū
al-Maḥāsin Yūsuf—may God protect him.
Abū al-ʿAbbās Aḥmad ibn Yūsuf ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Talmasānī.
ʿIzz al-Dīn Abū Muḥammad ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn ʿUthmān ibn Abū Ṭāhir
al-Irbīlī.
Sharaf al-Dīn Abū ʿAbd Allāh al-Ḥusayn ibn Ibrāhīm ibn al-Ḥusayn
al-Irbīlī, and his son Ibrāhīm.
Muḥibb al-Dīn Abū al-Fatḥ Naṣr al-Allāh ibn Abū al-ʿIzz ibn Abū Ṭālib
al-Shaybānī al-Ṣa󰀇fār.
Shams al-Dīn Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī ibn al-Muẓa󰀇far ibn al-Qāsim al-Nushbī.
Muʾtamin al-Dīn Abū Isḥāq Ibrāhīm ibn ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn
al-Ḥasan al-Qurashī, who brought his daughter Umm al-Faḍl Hadīya, who
is 󰀈椀ve years old.
Abū Ḥāmid Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī ibn Maḥmūd al-Maḥmūdī al-Ṣābūnī.
Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī ibn Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad al-Qasṭāl al-Andalusī.
Abū Mūsā ʿĪsā ibn Aḥmad ibn ʿĪsā al-Lakhmī al-Andalusī.
Abū Mūsā ʿĪsā ibn Sulaymān ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Raʿīnī al-Andalusī.
The singer ʿAbd al-Khāliq ibn ʿAmmār ibn Shafīʿ al-Kafarkannī.
ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Abū al-Qāsim ʿAbd al-Malik al-Rakkāb.
Maḥmūd ibn Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad al-Sharwānī.
Ḥasan ibn ʿAṭīya al-Masīlī.
ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn Yaḥyā ibn Manṣūr al-Marrākishī.
Muḥammad ibn ʿUthmān al-Naḥḥās, known as Ḥamīd.
Muḥammad ibn Sālim ibn Abū al-Wafāʾ al-Nābulusī.
Yūsuf ibn al-Ḥasan ibn Badr ibn al-Ḥasan al-Nābulusī.
ʿUmar ibn Aḥmad ibn ʿAbd al-Qawī al-Fāsī.
ʿAlī ibn Muḥammad ibn Abū Surāqa.
Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī ibn Muḥammad al-Ḥijāzī.
My son Abū Bakr Muḥammad,50 who was two years old—may God
protect him.
Written on Sunday 2 Rabīʿ II 627/17 February 1230 at the House of Hadith
in Damascus, by Muḥammad ibn Abū Jaʿfar ibn ʿAlī al-Faraḍī—may God

50 That is, Abū Bakr Muḥammad was the son of Muḥammad ibn Abū Jaʿfar ibn ʿAlī

al-Faraḍī, who wrote Colophon 9.

‫‪200‬‬ ‫‪edition and translation‬‬

‫وﺳـﺘّﲈﯾﺔ ﺑﺪار اﻟﺴـﻨّﺔ ﲟﺪﯾﻨﺔ دﻣﺸﻖ ﻛﺘﺒﻪ ﶊ ّﺪ ﺑﻦ ٔاﰊ ﺟﻌﻔﺮ ﺑﻦ ﻋﲇ اﻟﻔﺮﴈ رﲪﻪ ﷲ واﶵﺪ 󰏯‬
‫ب اﻟﻌﺎﳌﲔ وﺻّﲆ ﷲ ﻋﲆ رﺳﻮ󰏳 ﺳـّﯿﺪ󰈋 ﶊ ّﺪ وا ٓ󰏳 وﲱﺒﻪ وﺳّﲅ‪.‬‬ ‫رّ‬

‫ﺳﲈع ‪١٠‬‬
‫ﲰﻊ ﲨﯿﻊ أﻻرﺑﻌﲔ ﰲ اﳊّﺚ ﻋﲆ اﳉﻬﺎد ﻋﲆ اﻟﺸـﯿﺦ أﻻﺻﯿﻞ اﳌﺴـﻨﺪ زّﰾ ا󰏩ﯾﻦ ٔاﰊ ٕاﲮﺎق ٕاﺑﺮاﻫﲓ‬
‫‪ ٥‬ﺑﻦ ﺑﺮﰷت ﺑﻦ ٕاﺑﺮاﻫﲓ اﻟﻘﺮﳾ اﳋﺸﻮﻋﻲ ﲝّﻖ ﺳﲈﻋﻪ ﻣﻦ ﻣﺆﻟ ّﻔﻬﺎ اﳊﺎﻓﻆ ٔاﰊ اﻟﻘﺎﰟ اﻟﺸﺎﻓﻌﻲ ﺑﻘﺮاءة‬
‫اﳊﺎﻓﻆ اﻟﻌﺎﱂ زّﰾ ا󰏩ﯾﻦ ٔاﰊ ﻋﺒﺪ ﷲ ﶊ ّﺪ ﺑﻦ ﯾﻮﺳﻒ ﺑﻦ ﶊ ّﺪ اﻟﱪزاﱄ ﺻﺎﺣﺐ ﻫﺬﻩ اﻟﻨﺴﺨﺔ‬
‫ﺷـﯿﺨﻨﺎ إﻻﻣﺎم اﻟﻌﺎﱂ اﻟﻔﺎﺿﻞ اﻟﻌّﻼﻣﺔ ﴍف ا󰏩ﯾﻦ ﳀﺮ اﻟﺒﻠﻐﺎء ٔاﺑﻮ ﻋﺒﺪ ﷲ اﳊﺴﲔ ﺑﻦ ٕاﺑﺮاﻫﲓ ﺑﻦ‬
‫اﳊﺴﲔ إﻻرﺑﲇ ﺣﻔﻈﻪ ﷲ وﺷـﯿﺨﻨﺎ ٔاﺑﻮ اﳊﺴﻦ ﶊ ّﺪ ﺑﻦ ٔاﰊ ﺟﻌﻔﺮ اﻟﻘﺮﻃﱯ واﺑﻨﻪ ﶊ ّﺪ ؤاﺑﻮ اﳊﺴﻦ‬
‫ﻋﲇ ﺑﻦ ﶊ ّﺪ ﺑﻦ ﻋﲇ اﻟﺒﺎﻟﴘ وﻋ󰍣ن ﺑﻦ ٔاﰊ ﶊ ّﺪ ﺑﻦ ﺑﺮﰷت ﺑﻦ ٔا󰏋 اﳌﺴّﻤﻊ وﶊ ّﺪ ﺑﻦ ﯾﻮﺳﻒ ﺑﻦ‬
‫‪ ١٠‬ﯾﻌﻘﻮب إﻻرﺑﲇ وا ٓﺧﺮون ُذﻛﺮوا ﰲ ﻧﺴﺨﱵ اﻟﱵ ﻗﺮٔات ﻣﳯﺎ وﺣّﻮﻟﺖ اﻟﺴﲈع ﻣﳯﺎ ٕاﱃ ﻫﻨﺎ ﻋﲆ ﺳﺒﯿﻞ‬
‫󰈇ﺧﺘﺼﺎر ﻣﳯﻢ اﺑﻦ ٔاﺧﱵ ٔاﲪﺪ ﺑﻦ ٔاﰊ ﺑﻜﺮ ﺑﻦ ﲻﺮ ﺑﻦ ﺟﻨﺪي ا󰏩ﻣﺸﻘﻲ ﻛﺘﺒﻪ ﯾﻮﺳﻒ ﺑﻦ اﳊﺴﻦ‬
‫ﺑﻦ ﺑﺪر ﺑﻦ اﳊﺴﻦ ﺑﻦ اﻟﻨﺎﺑﻠﴘ وذ󰏭 ﰲ ﯾﻮم اﶺﻌﺔ اﳊﺎدي واﻟﻌﴩﯾﻦ ﻣﻦ ﺷّﻮال ﺳـﻨﺔ ﺛﻼث‬
‫󰏢ﺳﺔ ﻣﻦ دﻣﺸﻖ اﶵﺪ 󰏯 وﺻّﲆ ﷲ ﻋﲆ ﺳـّﯿﺪ󰈋 ﶊ ّﺪ وا ٓ󰏳‪.‬‬ ‫وﺛﻼﺛﲔ وﺳـﺘّﻤﺌﺔ ﰲ اﻟ ّ‬

‫ﻧﺴﺦ‬
‫‪ ١٥‬ﻧﺴﺦ ﻋﻠﳱﺎ ﶊ ّﺪ ﺻﺎدق اﳌﺎﱀ اﻟﲀﺗﺐ ﰲ اﳌﻜﺘﺒﺔ اﻟﻌﻤﻮﻣﯿّﺔ ﺑﺪﻣﺸﻖ رﲪﻪ ﷲ ﰲ ‪ ١٥‬ﺷّﻮال‬
‫ﺳـﻨﺔ ‪.١۳٢٩‬‬

‫‪ ١٦‬ﺗﺪّل ﻫﺬﻩ إﻻﺷﺎرة ﻋﲆ ٔاّن ﶊ ّﺪ ﺻﺎدق اﳌﺎﱀ ﻧﺴﺦ ا󰏲ﻄﻮﻃﺔ‪ ،‬ﻟﻜﻦ ﻻ ﳾء ﯾﻌﺮف ﻋﻦ ﻣﲀﳖﺎ‪ .‬ﳑﻜﻦ ٔا ّﳖﺎ ﻣﻔﻘﻮدة ٔاو‬
‫ﰲ ﻣﻜﺘﺒﺔ ﺧﺎّﺻﺔ‬
 the forty hadiths for inciting jihad 201

pardon him. Thanks be to God, the Lord of Creation, and may God praise
His messenger, our lord Muhammad, his family and companions, and
grant them peace.

Colophon 10
The entirety of the Forty Hadiths for Inciting Jihad was studied in the
presence of the true and authoritative teacher Zakīy al-Dīn Abū Isḥāq
Ibrāhīm ibn Barakāt ibn Ibrāhīm al-Qurashī al-Khushūʿī, who had studied
it with its author the Hadith memorizer Abū al-Qāsim al-Shā󰀈椀ʿī [Ibn
ʿAsākir]. It was read out by the learned Hadith memorizer Zakīy al-Dīn
Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad ibn Yūsuf ibn Muḥammad al-Birzālī, the
owner of this copy. Those who studied it during this teaching session were:
Our teacher, the learned and eminent imam and scholar Sharaf al-Dīn
Fakhr al-Bulaghāʾ Abū ʿAbd Allāh al-Ḥusayn ibn Ibrāhīm ibn al-Ḥusayn
al-Irbīlī—may God protect him.
Our teacher Abū al-Ḥasan Muḥammad ibn Abū Jaʿfar al-Qurṭubī, and
his son Muḥammad.
Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī al-Bālisī.
ʿUthmān ibn Abū Muḥammad ibn Barakāt, the nephew of the teacher
[al-Khushūʿī].
Muḥammad ibn Yūsuf ibn Yaʿqūb al-Irbīlī.
And others whom I listed in my own copy, which I used during the
teaching session and from which I copied a brief list of names into this
copy; among them is my nephew Aḥmad ibn Abū Bakr ibn ʿUmar ibn
Janadī al-Dimashqī.
Written by Yūsuf ibn al-Ḥasan ibn Badr ibn al-Ḥasan ibn al-Nābulusī,
on Friday 21 Shawwāl 633/27 June 1236 at the Kallāsa School in Damascus.
Thanks be to God, and may God praise our lord Muhammad and his
family.

Copying Note
Muḥammad Ṣādiq al-Māliḥ, the scribe at the Public [Ẓāhirīya] Library
in Damascus—may God pardon him—copied it on 15 Shawwāl 1329/9
October 1911.51

51 This note is written beneath colophon 10.

‫‪202‬‬ ‫‪edition and translation‬‬

‫ﺳﲈع ‪١١‬‬
‫ﲰﻊ ﻫﺬﻩ أﻻرﺑﻌﲔ ﻋﲆ اﻟﺸـﯿﺦ ٔاﰊ ﶊ ّﺪ اﻟﻘﺎﰟ ﺑﻦ اﳌﻈﻔّﺮ ﺑﻦ ﶊﻮد ﺑﻦ ٔاﲪﺪ ﺑﻦ ﶊ ّﺪ اﻟﻌﺴﺎﻛﺮي‬
‫ﲝﻀﻮرﻩ ﻋﲆ ٔاﰊ ﶊ ّﺪ ﻋﺒﺪ اﻟﻌﺰﯾﺰ ﺑﻦ ﶊ ّﺪ ﺑﻦ اﳊﺴﻦ ﺑﻦ ﻋﲇ ﺑﻦ ٔاﺑّﯿﺔ اﻟﺼﺎﳊﻲ ﺑﺴﲈﻋﻪ ﻣﻦ اﳌﺼﻨّﻒ‬
‫ﺑﻘﺮاءة وا󰏩ي ٔاﰊ ﶊ ّﺪ ﻋﺒﺪ ﷲ ﺑﻦ ٔاﲪﺪ ﺑﻦ اﶈّﺐ اﺑﻨﻪ ﶊ ّﺪ وﻫﺬا ﺧّﻄﻪ وا ٓﺧﺮون ﯾﻮم أﻻرﺑﻌﺎء 󰈊ﻣﻦ‬
‫رﺑﯿﻊ أﻻّول ﺳـﻨﺔ ﲦﺎﱐ ﻋﴩة وﺳـﺒﻌﲈﯾﺔ ﲟﲋ󰏳 واﶵﺪ 󰏯 ر ّ‬
‫ب اﻟﻌﺎﳌﲔ‪.‬‬ ‫‪٥‬‬

‫ﲤّ󰏮 ‪١‬‬
‫وﻗﻒ ٔاﺑﻮ ﺑﻜﺮ ﺑﻦ ﲻﺮ ﺑﻦ ٔاﰊ ﺑﻜﺮ اﺑﻦ اﻟﺴ ّ‬
‫ﻼر ﻋﻔﺎ ﷲ ﻋﻨﻪ‪.‬‬

‫ﲤّ󰏮 ‪٢‬‬
‫وﻗﻒ اﻟﺸـﯿﺦ ﻋﲇ اﳌﻮﺻﲇ رﲪﻪ ﷲ‪.‬‬

‫‪ ٥‬ﻣﻜﺘﻮب ﻫﺬا اﻟﺴﲈع ﻋﲆ اﻟﻮرﻗﺔ أﻻوﱃ‪ ،‬ﲢﺖ ﻋﻨﻮان اﻟﻜﺘﺎب ‪ ٧‬ﻣﻜﺘﻮب ﻫﺬا اﻟﳣّ󰏮 ﻋﲆ اﻟﻮرﻗﺔ أﻻوﱃ‪ ،‬ﻓﻮق‬
‫ﻋﻨﻮان اﻟﻜﺘﺎب ‪ ٩‬ﻣﻜﺘﻮب ﻫﺬا اﻟﳣّ󰏮 ﻋﲆ اﻟﻮرﻗﺔ أﻻوﱃ‪ ،‬ﲢﺖ ﺳﲈع ‪10‬‬
 the forty hadiths for inciting jihad 203

Colophon 11
This Forty Hadiths book was taught in the presence of the teacher Abū
Muḥammad al-Qāsim ibn Muẓa󰀇far ibn Maḥmūd ibn Aḥmad ibn Muḥam-
mad al-ʿAsākirī, who had studied the text with Abū Muḥammad ʿAbd
al-ʿAzīz ibn Mūhammad ibn al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAlī ibn Abīya al-Ṣāliḥī, who had
studied it with the author [Ibn ʿAsākir]. It was read out by my father Abū
Muḥammad ʿAbd Allāh ibn Aḥmad Ibn al-Muḥibb. Those who studied it
during this teaching session were his [Abū Muḥammad Ibn al-Muḥibb’s]
son Muḥammad—and this is his handwriting—and others. Written on
Wednesday 8 Rabīʿ I 718/10 May 1318 in his [Abū Muḥammad Ibn al-
Muḥibb’s] house.52 Thanks be to God, Lord of creation.53

Ownership Note 1
Entered in the property of Abū Bakr ibn ʿUmar ibn Abū Bakr Ibn al-
Sallār—may God forgive him.54

Ownership Note 2
Entered in the property of the teacher ʿAlī al-Mawṣilī—may God pardon
him.55

52 This style of cross-referencing may be confusing to the untrained eye. Muḥammad

ibn al-Muḥibb 󰀈椀rst refers to his father as “my father”, then, using the third person, refers to
himself as his father’s son, 󰀈椀nally, he states that the handwriting of Colophon 11 is his own
and that the teaching session was held in his father’s house.
53 Colophon 11 is written on the title page. It suggests that by the time of this teaching

session, ownership of al-Birzālī’s copy had been transferred to Ibn al-Muḥibb’s family.
54 This ownership note is written on the title page directly above the book’s title. We do

not know how or when the manuscript became the property of Abū Bakr ibn ʿUmar ibn
Abū Bakr Ibn al-Sallār, though it must have occurred prior to his death in 1316.
55 This ownership note is written on the title page directly underneath colophon 11,

suggesting that ownership of the manuscript had been transferred from Ibn al-Muḥibb’s
family to al-Mawṣilī. When this occurred remains a mystery, but we suspect that it was
sometime during the eighteenth or nineteenth century.
 BIBLIOGRAPHY

Classical Scholarship

Abū Dāwūd. Sunan Abū Dāwūd. 4 vols. Beirut: Dār al-Jīl, 1988.
al-Ājurrī. Kitāb al-arbaʿīn ḥadīthan wa-yalīh kitāb al-arbaʿīn min masānīd al-mashā-
yikh al-ʿishrīn ʿan al-aṣḥāb al-arbaʿīn. Ed. Badr ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Badr. Riyad: Mak-
tabat Aḍwāʾ al-Salaf, 2000.
al-ʿAẓīmī. “La chronique abrégée d’al-ʿAẓīmī.” Ed. C. Cahen, Journal Asiatique 230
(1938): 353–448.
Augustine. The City of God against the Pagans. Ed. and trans. R.W. Dyson. New York:
Cambridge University Press, 1998.
Barani, Ziauddin. Fatawa-i Jahandari. In Mohammad Habib, The Political Theory of
the Delhi Sultanate. Allahabad: Kitab Mahal, 1961. Pp. 46–47.
al-Bukhārī. Al-Jāmiʿ al-Ṣaḥīḥ. In Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī, Fatḥ al-bārī bi-sharḥ Ṣaḥīḥ
al-Bukhārī. 14 vols. Eds. M. Fuʾād ʿAbd al-Bāqī and Muḥibb al-Dīn al-Khaṭīb.
Beirut: Dār al-Maʿrifa, no date.
al-Dhahabī. Taʾrīkh al-islām. 47 vols. Ed. ʿUmar Tadmurī. Beirut: Dār al-Kitāb al-
ʿArabī, 1987–1998.
———. Siyar aʿlām al-nubalāʾ. 28 vols. Eds. Shuʿayb al-Arnaʾūṭ et al. Beirut: Muʾassasat
al-Risāla, 1996.
al-Ḥurr al-ʿĀmilī. Wasāʾil al-shīʿa ilā taḥṣīl masāʾil al-sharīʿa. 20 vols. Ed. Muḥammad
al-Rāzī. Beirut: Dār Iḥyāʾ al-Turāth al-ʿArabī, 1990.
Ibn ʿAsākir. Muʿjam al-shuyūkh. 3 vols. Ed. Wafāʾ Taqiy al-Dīn. Damascus: Dār al-
Bashāʾir, 2000.
———. Taʾrīkh madīnat Dimashq. 80 vols. Eds. ʿUmar ibn Gharāma al-ʿAmrawī and
ʿAlī Shīrī. Beirut: Dār al-Fikr, 1995–2001.
———. al-Arbaʿūn fī al-ḥathth ʿala al-jihād. Ed. ʿAbd Allāh Ibn Yūsuf. Kuwait: Dār
al-Khulafāʾ liʾl-Kitāb al-Islāmī, 1984.
———. al-Arbaʿūn fī al-ḥathth ʿala al-jihād. Ed. Aḥmad ʿA. Ḥalwānī. In Ḥalwānī,
Aḥmad ʿA. Ibn ʿAsākir wa-dawruh fī al-jihād ḍidd al-Ṣalībīyīn fī ʿaḥd al-dawlatayn
al-Nūrīya wa-l-Ayyūbīya. Damascus: Dār al-Fidā, 1991. Pp. 101–149.
Ibn al-Athīr. Al-Kāmil fī al-taʾrīkh. 13 vols. Ed. C.J. Tornberg. Beirut: Dār Ṣādir, 1966.
———. The Chronicle of Ibn al-Athir for the Crusading Period from al-Kamil 󰀈椀ʾl-Taʾrikh.
Part 1. The Years 491–541/1097–1146: The Coming of the Franks and the Muslim
Response. Trans. D.S. Richards. Aldershot: Ashgate, 2006.
Ibn Dhakwān. The Epistle of Sālim ibn Dhakwān. Eds. and trans. Patricia Crone and
Fritz W. Zimmermann. New York: Oxford University Press, 2001.
Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī. Al-Durar al-kāmina fī aʿyān al-māʾa al-thāmina. 4 vols. Beirut:
Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmīya, 1993.
Ibn Hishām. Al-Sīra al-nabawīya. 4 vols. Eds. Muṣṭafā al-Saqqā et al. Beirut: Dār
al-Khayr, 1990.
Ibn al-ʿImād al-Ḥanbalī. Shadharāt al-dhahab fī akhbār man dhahab. 8 vols. Beirut:
Dār al-Masīra, 1979.
206 bibliography

Ibn Isḥāq. The Life of Muhammad: A Translation of Ibn Isḥāq’s Sīrat Rasūl Allāh.
Trans. Alfred Guillaume. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1955.
Ibn al-Jawzī. Al-Muntaẓam fī taʾrīkh al-mulūk wa-l-umam. 18 vols. Eds. Muḥammad
ʿA.-A. ʿAṭā and Muṣṭafā ʿA.-A. ʿAṭā. Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmīya, 1995.
Ibn Jumʿa. Kitāb al-bāshāt wa-l-quḍāt. In al-Munajjid, Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn. Wulāt Dimashq
fī al-ʿahd al-ʿuthmānī. Damascus: no publisher, 1949. Pp. 1–69.
Ibn Khaldun. The Muqaddimah (Second edition). 3 vols. Trans. Franz Rosenthal.
Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1967.
Ibn Māja. Sunan Ibn Māja. 2 vols. Ed. M. Fuʾād ʿAbd al-Bāqī. Beirut: al-Maktaba
al-ʿIlmīya, no date.
Ibn Manẓūr. Lisān al-ʿarab. 15 vols. Beirut: Dār Ṣādir, 1990.
Ibn al-Mubārak. Kitāb al-jihād. Ed. Nazīh Ḥammād. Beirut: Dār al-Nūr, 1971.
Ibn al-Qalānisī. Dhayl Taʾrīkh Dimashq. Ed. H.F. Amedroz. Beirut: Maṭbaʿat al-Ābāʾ
al-Yasūʿīyīn, 1908.
———. The Damascus Chronicle of the Crusades: Extracted and Translated from the
Chronicle of Ibn al-Qalanisi. Trans. H.A.R. Gibb. London: Luzac, 1932.
Ibn Qayyim al-Jawzīya. Zad al-maʿād fī ḥadyī khayr al-ʿibād. 6 vols. Eds. Shuʿayb
al-Arnaʾūṭ and ʿAbd al-Qādir al-Arnaʾūṭ. Beirut: Muʾassasat al-Risāla, 1992.
Ibn Ṭūlūn. Iʿlām al-warā bi-man wulliya nāʾiban min al-atrāk bi-dimashq al-shām al-
kubrā. Ed. Muḥammad A. Duhmān. Damascus: Wizārat al-Thaqāfa wa-l-Irshād
al-Qawmī, 1964.
al-Kisāʾī. The Tales of the Prophets of al-Kisāʾī. Trans. Wheeler M. Thackston. Boston:
Twayne Publishers, 1978.
Mālik ibn Anas. Kitāb al-Muwaṭṭaʾ. 2 vols. Ed. M. Fuʾād ʿAbd al-Bāqī. Beirut: al-
Maktaba al-Thaqāfīya, 1988.
al-Muḥibbī. Khulāṣat al-athar fī aʿyān al-qarn al-ḥādī ʿashar. 4 vols. Beirut: Dār Ṣādir,
no date.
Muslim. Al-Jāmiʿ al-ṣaḥīḥ. 8 vols. Beirut: Dār al-Āfāq al-Jadīda, n.d.
Mustafa Çelebi Celâlzade. Ṭabakāt ül-Memālik ve Derecāt ül-Mesālik. Ed. Petra Kap-
pert. Wiesbaden: Franz Steiner, 1981.
al-Nasāʾī. Sunan al-Nasāʾī bi-sharḥ al-ḥā󰀇椀ẓ Jalāl al-Dīn al-Suyūṭī. 8 vols. Cairo: Dār
al-Ḥadīth, 1987.
al-Nawawī. An-Nawawī’s Forty Ḥadīth. Trans. Ezzedin Ibrahim and Denys Johnson-
Davies. Jakarta: The Holy Koran Publishing House, n.d.
Niẓām al-Mulk. The Book of Government or Rules for Kings: The Siyar al-Muluk or
Siyasat-Nama of Niẓām al-Mulk. Trans. Hubert Darke. Richmond: Curzon Press,
2002.
al-Qāḍī al-Fāḍil. Rasāʾil al-Qāḍī al-Fāḍil Mujīr al-Dīn ʿAbd al-Raḥīm al-Baysānī. Ed.
ʿAlī Najm ʿĪsā. Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmīya, 2005.
al-Qāḍī al-Nuʿmān. Iftitāh al-daʿwa wa-ibtidāʾ al-dawla. Ed. Wadad Kadi. Beirut: Dār
al-Thaqāfa, 1970.
———. Founding the Fatimid State: The Rise of an Early Islamic Empire. An Annotated
English Translation of al-Qāḍīi al-Nuʿmān’s Iftitāḥ al-Daʿwa. Trans. Hamid Haji.
London: I.B. Tauris, 2006.
al-Ramlī. Al-Fatāwā al-khayrīya. 2 vols. Cairo: al-Maṭbaʿa al-Maymūna, 1893.
al-Sakhāwī. Al-Iʿlān bi-l-tawbīkh li-man dhamm al-taʾrīkh. Ed. Franz Rosenthal. Bagh-
dad: Maktabat al-Muthannā, 1963.
 bibliography 207

Ṣāliḥ ibn Yaḥyā. Tārīkh Bayrūt. Eds. Francis Hours and Kamal Salibi. Beirut: Dar
al-Machreq, 1969.
al-Shā󰀈椀ʿī. al-Risāla. Ed. A. Muḥammad Shākir. Beirut: Dār al-Fikr, 1979.
———. Islamic Jurisprudence: Shā󰀇椀ʿī’s Risāla. Trans. Majid Khadduri. Baltimore: The
Johns Hopkins Press, 1961.
Sibṭ Ibn al-Jawzī. Mirʾāt al-zamān fī taʾrīkh al-aʿyān. Hyderabad: Dāʾirat al-Maʿārif
al-ʿUthmānīya, 1951.
al-Silafī. Muʿjam al-safar. Ed. Sher Muhammad Zaman. Islamabad: Islamic Research
Institute, 1988.
al-Subkī. Ṭabaqāt al-shā󰀇椀ʿīya al-kubrā. 5 vols. Ed. Muṣṭafā ʿAṭā. Beirut: Dār al-Kutub
al-ʿIlmīya, 1999.
al-Thaʿlabī. ʿArāʾis al-majālis fī qiṣaṣ al-anbiyāʾ or ‘Lives of the Prophets’ as Recounted
by Abū Isḥāq Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn Ibrāhīm al-Thaʿlabī. Trans. William
Brinner. Leiden: Brill, 2002.
al-Tibrizi. Mishkat al-Masabih. 3 vols. Trans. James Robson. Lahore: S.M. Ashraf,
1963–1965.
al-Tirmidhī. Al-Jāmiʿ al-ṣaḥīḥ. 5 vols. Ed. Kamāl Y. al-Ḥūt. Beirut: Dār al-Kutub
al-ʿIlmīya, 1987.
Usāma Ibn Munqidh. Kitāb al-Iʿtibār. Baghdad: Maktabat al-Muthannā, 1964.
———. The Book of Contemplation: Islam and the Crusades. Trans. Paul M. Cobb.
London: Penguin, 2008.
———. An Arab-Syrian Gentleman and Warrior in the Period of the Crusades: Memoirs
of Usāmah ibn-Munqidh. Trans. Philip Hitti. New York: Columbia University
Press, 1929.
al-Wāsiṭī. Kitāb al-arbaʿīn fī al-jihād wa-l-mujāhidīn wa-yalīh kitāb al-arbaʿīn al-
ʿushārīya. Ed. Badr ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Badr. Beirut: Dār Ibn Ḥazm, 1992.

Modern Scholarship

Abdel Haleem, M.A.S. “Qurʾanic ‘Jihād’: A Linguistic and Contextual Analysis.” Jour-
nal of Qurʾanic Studies 12 (2010): 147–166.
Abu-Husayn, Abdul-Rahim. Provencial Leaderships in Syria 1575–1650. Beirut: Amer-
ican University of Beirut, 1985.
———. “The Unknown Career of Ahmad Maʿn (1667–1697).” Archivum Ottomanicum
17 (1999): 241–247.
———. “The Long Rebellion: the Druzes and the Ottomans, 1516–1697.” Archivum
Ottomanicum 19 (2001): 165–192.
Āl ʿUmar, ʿAbd al-Raḥman ibn Ḥamad. al-Jihād. Riyad: Maṭābiʿ al-Qasīm, 1970.
Amitai, Reuven. Mongols and Mamluks: The Mamluk-Īlkhānid War, 1260–1281. New
York: Cambridge University Press, 1995.
Antrim, Zayde. “Ibn ʿAsākir’s Representations of Syria and Damascus in the intro-
duction to the Taʾrīkh madīnat Dimashq.” International Journal of Middle East
Studies 38 (2006): 109–129.
———. Routes and Realms: The Power of Place in the Early Islamic World. New York:
Oxford University Press, 2012.
Armajani, Jon. Modern Islamist Movements: History, Religion, and Politics. Chich-
ester: Wiley-Blackwell, 2011.
208 bibliography

Ayoub, Mahmoud. The Crisis of Muslim History: Religion and Politics in Early Islam.
Oxford: Oneworld, 2003.
Azzam, Abdallah. Join the Caravan. London: Azzam Publications, 2001.
Berkey, Jonathan. The Transmission of Knowledge in Medieval Cairo: A Social History
of Islamic Education. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1992.
Bin Laden, Osama. Messages to the World: The Statements of Osama bin Laden. Ed.
Bruce Lawrence. Trans. James Howarth. London: Verso, 2005.
Bonner, Michael. Aristocratic Violence and Holy War: Studies in the Jihad and the
Arab–Byzantine Frontier. New Haven: American Oriental Society, 1996.
———. Jihād in Islamic History: Doctrines and Practice. Princeton: Princeton Univer-
sity Press, 2006.
———. “Ibn Ṭūlūn’s Jihad: The Damascus Assembly of 269/883.” Journal of the Amer-
ican Oriental Society 130.4 (2010): 573–605.
Bostom, Andrew G., ed. The Legacy of Jihad: Islamic Holy War and the Fate of Non-
Muslims. Amherst: Prometheus Books, 2005.
Canard, Marius. “Notes sur les Arméniens en Égypte à l’époque Faṭimite.” Annales
de l’Institut d’Études Orientales 13 (1955): 143–157.
Chevedden, Paul E. “The View of the Crusades from Rome and Damascus: The
Geo-Politics and Historical Perspectives of Pope Urban II and ʿAlī ibn Ṭāhir
al-Sulamī.” Oriens 39 (2011): 257–329.
Christie, Niall. The Book of the Jihad of ʿAlī ibn Ṭāhir al-Sulamī (d. 1106): Text, Transla-
tion and Commentary. Aldershot: Ashgate, In Press.
———. “Motivating Listeners in the Kitab al-Jihad of ʿAli ibn Tahir al-Sulami (d. 1106),”
Crusades 6 (2007): 1–14.
Cobb, Paul M. White Banners: Contention in ʿAbbasid Syria, 750–880. Albany: State
University of New York Press, 2001.
———. Usama ibn Munqidh: Warrior-Poet in the Age of the Crusades. Oxford: One-
world, 2006.
Constable, Giles. “The Second Crusade as Seen by Contemporaries.” Traditio 9
(1953): 213–279.
Cook, David. Studies in Muslim Apocalyptic. Princeton: Darwin Press, 2002.
———. Contemporary Muslim Apocalyptic Literature. Syracuse: Syracuse University
Press, 2005.
———. Understanding Jihād. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2005.
———. Martyrdom in Islam. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2008.
Cook, Michael. Commanding Right and Forbidding Wrong in Islamic Thought. New
York: Cambridge University Press, 2001.
Cooperson, Michael. Classical Arabic Biography: The Heirs of the Prophets in the Age
of al-Maʾmun. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2000.
———. Al-Maʾmun. Oxford: Oneworld, 2005.
Crone, Patricia. God’s Rule: Six Centuries of Medieval Political Thought. New York:
Columbia University Press, 2004.
Dadoyan, Seta. The Fatimid Armenians. Leiden: Brill, 1997.
Daftary, Farhad, The Ismāʿīlīs: Their History and Doctrines. Second Edition. Cam-
bridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007.
Daniel, Elton. The Political and Social History of Khurasan under ʿAbbāsid Rule,
747–820. Minneapolis and Chicago: Bibliotheca Islamica, 1979.
 bibliography 209

Determann, Matthias. “The Crusades in Arab School Textbooks.” Islam and Chris-
tian-Muslim Relations 19.2 (2008): 199–214.
Donner, Fred M. The Early Islamic Conquests. Princeton: Princeton University Press,
1981.
———. Muhammad and the Believers: At the Origins of Islam. Cambridge: The Belk-
nap Press of Harvard University Press, 2010.
———. “From Believers to Muslims: Confessional Self-identity in the Early Islamic
Community.” Al-Abhath 50–51 (2002–2003): 9–53.
Drake, H.A. Constantine and the Bishops: The Politics of Intolerance. Baltimore: The
Johns Hopkins University Press, 2000.
Dressler, Markus. “Inventing Orthodoxy: Competing Claims for Authority and Legit-
imacy in the Ottoman-Safavid Con󰀆lfict.” In Legitimizing the Order: Ottoman Rhet-
oric of State Power. Eds. Hakan T. Karateke and Maurus Reinkowski. Leiden: Brill,
2005. Pp. 151–173.
Drory, Joseph. “Al-Nāṣir Dāwūd: A Much Frustrated Ayyūbid Prince.” Al-Masāq 15.2
(2003): 161–187.
Edbury, Peter. “The Latin East, 1291–1669.” In Oxford Illustrated History of the Cru-
sades. Ed. Jonathan Riley Smith. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995. Pp. 294–
325.
El-Cheikh, Nadia Maria. Byzantium Viewed by the Arabs. Cambridge: Harvard Uni-
versity Press, 2004.
Elissée󰀇f, Nikita. La description de Damas d’Ibn ʿAsākir. Damascus: Institut Français
de Damas, 1959.
———. Nūr ad-Din: Un grand prince musulman de Syrie au temps des croisades
(511–569 H./1118–1174). 3 vols. Damascus: Institut Français de Damas, 1967.
El-Hibri, Tayyeb. Reinterpreting Islamic Historiography: Harun al-Rashid and the
Narrative of the ʿAbbasid Caliphate. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1999.
———. Parable and Politics in Early Islamic History: The Rashidun Caliphs. New York:
Columbia University Press, 2010.
El-Rouayheb, Khaled. “From Ibn Ḥajar al-Haytamī (d. 1566) to Khayr al-Dīn al-Ālūsī
(d. 1899): Changing Views of Ibn Taymiyya among non-Ḥanbalī Sunni Schol-
ars.” In Ibn Taymiyya and His Times. Eds. Yossef Rapoport and Shahab Ahmed.
Karachi: Oxford University Press, 2010. Pp. 269–318.
Esposito, John. Islamic Threat: Myth or Reality. New York: Oxford University Press,
1999.
———. Unholy War: Terror in the Name of Islam. New York: Oxford University Press,
2002.
Euben, Roxanne and Zaman, Muhammad Qasim, eds. Princeton Readings in Islamist
Thought. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2009.
Firestone, Reuven. Jihād: The Origin of Holy War in Islam. New York: Oxford Univer-
sity Press, 1999.
Forey, Alan J. “The Second Crusade: Scope and Objectives.” Durham University
Journal 55 (1994): 165–175.
Friedmann, Yohanan. Shaykh Ahmad Sirhindi: An Outline of His Thought and a Study
of His Image in the Eyes of Posterity. Montreal: McGill University Press, 1971.
———. Tolerance and Coercion in Islam: Interfaith Relations in the Muslim Tradition.
New York: Cambridge University Press, 2003.
210 bibliography

Fromherz, Allen J. The Almohads: The Rise of an Islamic Empire. London: I.B. Tauris,
2010.
Gabriele, Matthew. “The Provenance of the Descriptio Qualiter Karolus Magnus:
Remembering the Carolingians in the Entourage of King Philip I (1060–1108)
before the First Crusade.” Viator 39.2 (2008): 93–117.
Gellens, Sam. “The Search for Knowledge in Medieval Muslim Societies: A Compar-
ative Approach.” In Muslim Travellers: Pilgrimage, Migration, and the Religious
Imagination. Eds. Dale F. Eickelman and James Piscatory. Berkeley: University of
California Press, 1990. Pp. 50–68.
Goldziher, Ignaz. Muslim Studies. 2 vols. Trans. S.M. Stern and C.R. Barber. London:
George Allen and Unwin, 1967–1971.
Habib, Mohammad. The Political Theory of the Delhi Sultanate. Allahabad: Kitab
Mahal, 1961.
Haldon, John. The Byzantine Wars. Stroud: The History Press, 2008.
Halm, Heinz. The Empire of the Mahdi: The Rise of the Fatimids. Trans. Michael
Bonner. Leiden: Brill, 1996.
Ḥalwānī, Aḥmad ʿA. Ibn ʿAsākir wa-dawruh fī al-jihād ḍidd al-ṣalībīyīn fī ʿahd al-
dawlatayn al-nūrīya wa-l-ayyūbīya. Damascus: Dār al-Fidāʾ, 1991.
Hassan, Mona. “Modern Interpretations and Misinterpretations of a Medieval
Scholar: Apprehending the Political Thought of Ibn Taymiyya.” In Ibn Taymiyya
and His Times. Eds. Yossef Rapoport and Shahab Ahmed. Karachi: Oxford Uni-
versity Press, 2010. Pp. 338–366.
Heck, Paul L. “Eschatological Scripturalism and the End of Community: The Case of
Early Kharijism,” Archiv für Religiouswissenschaft 7 (2005): 137–152.
———. “Jihad Revisited.” Journal of Religious Ethics 32.1 (2004): 95–128.
Hillenbrand, Carole. The Crusades: Islamic Perspectives. Edinburgh: Edinburgh Uni-
versity Press, 1999.
———. “‘Abominable Acts’: The Career of Zengi.” In The Second Crusade: Scope and
Consequences. Eds. Jonathan Phillips and Martin Hoch. Manchester: Manchester
University Press, 2001. Pp. 111–132.
———. Turkish Myth and Muslim Symbol: The Battle of Manzikert. Edinburgh: Edin-
burgh University Press, 2007.
Hoch, Martin. “The Crusaders’ Strategy Against Fatimid Ascalon and the ‘Ascalon
project’ of the Second Crusade.” In The Second Crusade and the Cistercians. Ed.
Michael Gervers. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1992. Pp. 119–128.
———. “The Choice of Damascus as the Objective of the Second Crusade: A Re-
evaluation.” In Autour de la Première Croisade: Actes du Colloque de la Society for
the Study of the Crusades and the Latin East—Clermont-Ferrand, 22–25 Juin 1995.
Ed. Michel Balard. Paris: Sorbonne, 1996. Pp. 359–369.
———. “The Price of Failure: the Second Crusade as a Turning-Point in the His-
tory of the Latin East?” In The Second Crusade: Scope and Consequences. Eds.
Jonathan Phillips and Martin Hoch. Manchester: Manchester University Press,
2001. Pp. 180–200.
Ho󰀇fman, Valerie J. The Essentials of Ibāḍī Islam. Syracuse: Syracuse University Press,
2011.
Housley, Norman. “The Crusading Movement, 1274–1700.” In Oxford Illustrated His-
tory of the Crusades. Ed. Jonathan Riley Smith. Oxford: Oxford University Press,
1995. Pp. 260–293.
 bibliography 211

Humphreys, R. Stephen. From Saladin to the Mongols: The Ayyūbids of Damascus,

1193–1260. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1977.
———. “Ayyūbids, Mamlūks, and the Latin East in the Thirteenth Century.” Mamlūk
Studies Review, 3 (1998): 1–17.
Ibrahim, Yasir S. Al-Ṭabarī’s Book of Jihād: A Translation from the Original Arabic.
Lewiston and Queenston: the Edwin Mellen Press, 2007.
Imber, Colin. “The Persecution of the Ottoman Shiites according to the Mühimme
defterleri, 1565–1585.” Der Islam 56 (1979): 245–273.
———. Ebu’s-Suʿud: The Islamic Legal Tradition. Stanford: Stanford University Press,
1997.
Jones, Linda G. “A Case of Medieval Political ‘Flip-Flopping’?: Shifting Allegiances in
the Sermons of Qadi ʿIyad.” In Medieval Preaching and Political Society. Ed. Franco
Morenzoni. Turnhout: Brepols, 2013 (forthcoming).
Juynboll, G.H.A. Muslim Tradition: Studies in Chronology, Provenance and Authorship
of Early Ḥadīth. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1983.
———. Encyclopedia of Canonical Ḥadīth. Leiden: Brill, 2007.
Kelsay, John. Arguing the Just War in Islam. Cambridge: Harvard University Press,
2007.
Kennedy, Hugh. The Early ʿAbbāsid Caliphate. London: Routledge, 1981.
———. The Armies of the Caliphs: Military and Society in the Early Islamic State.
London: Routledge, 2001.
———. The Great Arab Conquests: How the Spread of Islam Changed the World We Live
In. Philadelphia: Da Capo Press, 2007.
Khadduri, Majid. War and Peace in the Law of Islam. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins
University Press, 1955.
Khalek, Nancy. Damascus after the Muslim Conquest: Text and Image in Early Islam.
New York: Oxford University Press, 2011.
Khayat, Henri M. “The Šīʿite Rebellions in Aleppo in the 6th A.H./12th A.D. Century.”
Rivista degli Studi Orientali 46 (1971): 167–195.
Landau-Tasseron, Ella. “Jihād.” In Encyclopaedia of the Qurʾān. 6 vols. Ed. Jane
Dammen McAuli󰀇fe. Leiden: Brill, 2001–2006. 3:35–43.
———. “Is Jihād Comparable to Just War? A Review Article.” Jerusalem Studies in
Arabic and Islam 34 (2008): 535–550.
Laoust, Henri. “Remarques sur les expéditions de Kisrawan sous les premiers mame-
louks.” Bulletin du Musée de Beyrouth 4 (1942): 101–103.
Lassner, Jacob. The Shaping of ʿAbbasid Rule. Princeton: Princeton University Press,
1980.
Lev, Yaacov. Saladin in Egypt. Leiden: Brill Academic Publishers, 1999.
———. “The Jihad of Sultan Nur al-Din of Syria (1146–1174): History and Discourse.”
Jerusalem Studies in Arabic and Islam 35 (2008): 227–284.
Lewis, Bernard. The Emergence of Modern Turkey. Oxford and New York: Oxford
University Press, 2002.
Lindsay, James E. “ʿAlī Ibn ʿAsākir as a Preserver of Qiṣaṣ al-Anbiyāʾ: the Case of David
ibn Jesse.” Studia Islamica 82 (1995): 45–82.
———. “Caliphal and Moral Exemplar? ʿAlī Ibn ʿAsākir’s Portrait of Yazīd ibn Muʿā-
wiya.” Der Islam 74 (1997): 250–278.
———, ed. Ibn ʿAsākir and Early Islamic History. Princeton: Darwin Press, 2001.
212 bibliography

———. “Ibn ʿAsākir, His Taʾrīkh madīnat Dimashq, and its Usefulness for Under-
standing Early Islamic History.” In Ibn ʿAsākir and Early Islamic History. Ed. idem.
Princeton: Darwin Press, 2001. Pp. 1–23.
———. “Sarah and Hagar in Ibn ʿAsākir’s Taʾrīkh madīnat Dimashq.” Medieval Encoun-
ters: Jewish, Christian and Muslim Culture in Con󰀅luence and Dialogue 10 (2008):
1–14.
———. “David Son of Jesse and Muḥammad Son of ʿAbd Allāh: Warlords, State
Builders, Paradigms of Piety.” In Historical Dimensions of Islam: Essays in Honor
of R. Stephen Humphreys. Eds. James E. Lindsay and Jon Armajani. Princeton:
Darwin Press, 2009. Pp. 3–13.
Lloyd, Simon. “The Crusading Movement, 1096–1274.” In The Oxford Illustrated His-
tory of the Crusades. Ed. Jonathan Riley Smith. Oxford: Oxford University Press,
1995. Pp. 34–65.
Lyons, Malcolm and D.E.P. Jackson. Saladin: The Politics of Holy War. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 1999.
Madden, Thomas F. The New Concise History of the Crusades. New York: Rowman
and Little󰀈椀eld, 2005.
Madelung, Wilferd. The Succession to Muhammad: A Study of the Early Caliphate.
New York: Cambridge University Press, 1997.
McCarthy, Richard J. The Theology of al-Ashʿarī. Beirut: Imprimerie Catholique, 1953.
Mehren, August Ferdinand. Exposé de la réforme de l’islamisme commencée au
IIIème siècle de l’Hégire par Abou-ʾl-Hasan Ali el-Ashʿari et continuée par son école
avec des extraits du texte arabe d’Ibn Asâkir. Leiden: Brill, 1878.
Melchert, Christopher. “The Etiquette of Learning in the Early Islamic Study Circle.”
In Law and Education in Medieval Islam: Studies in Memory of George Makdisi.
Eds. Joseph E. Lowry, Devin J. Stewart, and Shawkat M. Toorawa. London: The
E.J.W. Gibb Memorial Trust, 2004. Pp. 33–44.
Meri, Josef. The Cult of Saints among Muslims and Jews in Medieval Syria. New York:
Oxford University Press, 2002.
Messier, Ronald A. The Almoravids and the Meanings of Jihad. Santa Barbara: Prae-
ger, 2010.
Mottahedeh, Roy P. and al-Sayyid, Ridwan. “The Idea of the Jihad in Islam before
the Crusades.” In The Crusades from the Perspective of Byzantium and the Muslim
World. Eds. Angeliki E. Laiou and Roy P. Mottahedeh. Washington, DC: Dumbar-
ton Oaks, 2001. Pp. 23–29.
Mourad, Suleiman A. Sīrat al-sayīd al-masīḥ li-Ibn ʿAsākir. Amman: Dār al-Shurūq,
1996.
———. “Jesus According to Ibn ʿAsākir.” In Ibn ʿAsākir and Early Islamic History. Ed.
James E. Lindsay. Princeton: Darwin Press, 2001. Pp. 24–43.
——— and James E. Lindsay. “Rescuing Syria from the In󰀈椀dels: The Contribution of
Ibn ʿAsakir of Damascus to the Jihad Campaign of Sultan Nur al-Din.” Crusades 6
(2007): 37–55.
———. “The Symbolism of Jerusalem in Early Islam.” In Jerusalem: Idea and Reality.
Eds. Tamar Mayer and Suleiman A. Mourad. London: Routledge, 2008. Pp. 86–
102.
——— and James E. Lindsay. “Ibn ʿAsakir and the Intensi󰀈椀cation and Reorientation
of Sunni Jihad Ideology in Crusader-Era Syria.” In Just Wars, Holy Wars, & Jihads:
 bibliography 213

Christian, Jewish, and Muslim Encounters and Exchanges. Ed. Sohail H. Hashmi.
New York: Oxford University Press, 2012. Pp. 107–124.
———. “Hypocrisy.” Encyclopedia of Islamic Political Thought. Eds. Gerhard Böwer-
ing, Patricia Crone, Wadad Kadi, Devin Stewart, and M. Qasim Zaman. Princeton:
Princeton University Press, 2012.
Mouton, Jean-Michel. “Yūsuf al-Fandalāwī, cheikh des malékites de Damas sous les
bourides.” Revue des Études Islamiques 51 (1983): 63–75.
al-Munajjid, Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn. Wulāt Dimashq fī al-ʿahd al-ʿuthmānī. Damascus: no pub-
lisher, 1949.
al-Nadawī, Muḥammad. Ahamīyat al-jihād li-nahḍat al-ʿālam al-islāmī. Bangalore:
Furqania Academy Trust, 1999.
Newman, Andrew J. Safavid Iran: Rebirth of a Persian Empire. New York: I.B. Tauris,
2006.
Peters, Edward. The First Crusade: The Chronicle of Fulcher of Chartres and Other
Source Materials. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1998.
———. “The Firanj Are Coming—Again.” Orbis 48.1 (2004): 3–17.
Peters, Rudolph. Jihād in Classical and Modern Islam. Princeton: Markus Wiener,
1996.
al-Qaḥṭānī, Saʿīd ibn ʿAlī. al-Jihād fī sabīl Allāh. Riyad: Maktabat al-Rushd, 1990.
Qutb, Sayyid. Al-Jihād fī sabīl allāh. In Thalāthat rasāʾil fī al-jihād. Amman: Dār
ʿAmmār, 1991. Pp. 107–151.
———. Fī ẓilāl al-qurʾān. 6 vols. Cairo: Dār al-Shurūq, 1992.
———. Milestones: Maʿalim 󰀇椀ʾl-tareeq. Ed. A.B. al-Mehri. Birmingham: Maktabah
Booksellers, 2006.
Ra󰀇f, Thomas. Remarks on an Anti-Mongol Fatwā by Ibn Taymiyya. Leiden: Brill, 1973.
Rapoport, Yossef and Ahmed, Shahab, eds. Ibn Taymiyya and His Times. Karachi:
Oxford University Press, 2010.
Richards, John F. The Mughal Empire. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1996.
Riley-Smith, Jonathan. The Oxford Illustrated History of the Crusades. New York:
Oxford University Press, 1995.
———. “Islam and the Crusades in History and Imagination, 8 November 1898–11
September 2001.” Crusades 2 (2003): 151–167.
———. The Crusades: A Short History. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2005.
———. The Crusades, Christianity, and Islam. New York: Columbia University Press,
2008.
———. The First Crusade and the Idea of Crusading. Philadelphia: University of
Pennsylvania Press, 2009.
Sachedina, Abdulaziz. The Islamic Roots of Democratic Pluralism. New York: Oxford
University Press, 2001.
Salibi, Kamal. Munṭalak Tārīkh Lubnān. New York: Caravan, 1979.
Savage, Elizabeth. A Gateway to Hell; a Gateway to Paradise: The North African
Response to the Arab Conquest. Princeton: Darwin Press, 1997.
Savory, Roger. Iran Under the Safavids. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1980.
Sharon, Moshe. Black Banners from the East: The Establishment of the ʿAbbāsid
State—Incubation of a Revolt. Jerusalem: Magnes Press, 1983.
Shaqqūr, ʿAbd al-Salām. al-Qāḍī ʿIyāḍ al-adīb: al-adab al-maghribī fī ẓil al-Murābiṭīn.
Rabat: Dār al-Fikr al-Maghribī, 1983.
214 bibliography

al-Shihābī, Qutayba. Muʿjam Dimashq al-tārīkhī. 3 vols. Damascus: Wizārat al-Tha-

qāfa, 1999.
Sivan, Emmanuel. Radical Islam: Medieval Theology and Modern Politics. New
Haven: Yale University Press, 1985.
Sizgorich, Thomas. Violence and Belief in Late Antiquity: Militant Devotion in Chris-
tianity and Islam. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2009.
Stewart, Devin J. “The Maqāmāt of Aḥmad b. Abī Bakr b. Aḥmad al-Rāzī al-Ḥanafī
and the Ideology of the Counter-Crusade in Twelfth-century Syria.” Middle East-
ern Literatures 11.2 (2008): 211–232.
Tabbaa, Yasser. “Monuments with a Message: Propagation of Jihād under Nūr al-
Din.” In The Meeting of Two Worlds: Cultural Exchange between East and West
during the Period of the Crusades. Ed. Vladimir P. Goss. Kalamazoo: Medieval
Institute Publications, 1986. Pp. 223–240.
———. The Transformation of Islamic Art during the Sunni Revival. Seattle: University
of Washington Press, 2001.
Talmon-Heller, Daniella. Islamic Piety in Medieval Syria: Mosques, Cemeteries and
Sermons under the Zangids and Ayyubids (1146–1260). Leiden: Brill, 2007.
Thomas, David. “Apologetic and Polemic in the Letter from Cyprus and Ibn Tay-
miyya’s Jawāb al-ṣaḥīḥ li-man baddala dīn al-Masīḥ.” In Ibn Taymiyya and His
Times. Eds. Yossef Rapoport and Shahab Ahmed. Karachi: Oxford University
Press, 2010. Pp. 247–265.
———. “Christian-Muslim Misunderstanding in the Fourteenth Century: The Corre-
spondence between Christians in Cyprus and Muslims in Damascus.” In Towards
a Cultural History of the Mamluk Era. Eds. Mahmouad Haddad, Arnim Heine-
mann, John L. Meloy, and Souad Slim. Beirut: Orient Institut, 2010. Pp. 13–30.
al-Tikriti, Nabil. “Kalam in the Service of the State: Apostasy and the De󰀈椀ning
of Ottoman Islamic Identity.” In Legitimizing the Order: Ottoman Rhetoric of
State Power. Eds. Hakan T. Karateke and Maurus Reinkowski. Leiden: Brill, 2005.
Pp. 131–149.
Tor, Deborah. “Privatized Jihad and Public Order in the Pre-Seljuq Period: The Role
of the Mutatawwiʿa.” Iranian Studies 38.4 (2005): 555–573.
———. Violent Order: Religious Warfare, Chivalry, and the ʿAyyār Phenomenon in the
Medieval Islamic World. Würzburg: Ergon Verlag, 2007.
ʿUmar, ʿUmar A. al-Jihād fī sabīl Allāh. Damascus: Dār al-Maktabī, 1999.
van der Krogt, Christopher. “Jihad without Apologetics.” Islam and Christian-Muslim
Relations 21.2 (2010): 127–147.
Walker, Paul E. Exploring an Empire: Fatimid History and its Sources. London: I.B.
Tauris, 2002.
Waterson, James. The Ismaili Assassins, A History of Medieval Murder. Yorkshire:
Frontline Books, 2008.
Wellhausen, Julius. The Religio-Political Factions in Early Islam. Trans. R.C. Ostle and
S.M. Walzer. Amsterdam and Oxford: North-Holland Publishing Co.; New York:
American Elsevier Publishing Co., 1975.
Wink, André. al-Hind: The Making of an Indo-Islamic World. 3 vols. Leiden: Brill,
1990–2004.
Yāsīn, Muḥammad N. Ḥaqīqat al-jihād fī al-islām. Al-Naqra: Dār al-Arqam, 1984.
 INDEX

(Note: since the terms Ibn ʿAsākir and Jihad are repeated almost on every page, we did not
provide index references for them).

ʿAbbasid Revolution, 27 Abū al-Faḍl ibn al-Fuḍayl, 69, 151, 159, 171
ʿAbbasids, 7, 23, 24, 26–28, 31, 49, 51, 108 Abū al-Faḍl al-Miṣrī, 55
ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀṣ, 9, 163, Abū al-Faraj Aḥmad al-Ṣūrī, 38, 41
181 Abū al-Fatḥ al-Maqdisī, 40
ʿAbd Allāh al-Anṣārī, 89 Abū Ghālib ibn al-Bannā, 53, 68, 139, 151, 175,
ʿAbdallah ʿAzzam, 121 183
ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAsākir (nephew of Ibn Abū Ḥanīfa, 118
ʿAsākir), 85, 185 Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī al-Maqdisī, 39
ʿAbd Allāh ibn Masʿūd, 69, 70, 137 Abū al-Ḥasan Jamīl al-Maqdisī, 39, 43, 44
ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Muḥibb, 64, 93, 94, 113, 203 Abū al-Ḥasan al-Kattānī, 34
ʿAbd Allāh al-Qurashī, 85, 185 Abū al-Ḥasan al-Nabulusī, 39
ʿAbd Allāh ibn Sallām, 139, 141 Abū Hurayra, 69, 70, 74, 77, 135, 145, 147, 149,
ʿAbd Allāh al-Sulamī, 43, 89, 193 157, 161, 167, 175, 177
ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz al-Ṣāliḥī, 86, 89–91, 93, 187, 191, Abū al-Ḥusayn al-Abbār, 34
195, 203 Abū al-Ḥusayn Muḥammad al-Maqdisī, 39,
ʿAbd al-Ghanī al-Maqdisī, 46, 114 41
ʿAbd al-Munʿim al-Qushayrī, 37, 68, 137, 141, Abū al-Ḥusayn Yaḥyā al-Maqdisī, 39
149, 161 Abū al-Maʿālī al-Qurashī, 44
ʿAbd al-Raḥīm ibn ʿAsākir (nephew of Ibn Abū al-Maḥāsin ibn al-Muwa󰀇faq, 69, 151,
ʿAsākir), 85, 185 159, 171
ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿAsākir (nephew of Ibn Abū Manṣūr al-Tamīmī, 43, 44
ʿAsākir), 85, 185 Abū Muḥammad al-Faqīh, 68, 147, 167
ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Qurashī, 85, 89, 185 Abū Muḥammad al-Sarrāj, 34
ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Sulamī, 89, 193 Abū Muḥammad al-Sulamī (relative of
ʿAbd al-Wāḥid al-Qurashī, 85, 185 al-Sulamī), 34, 43, 44, 193
Abdel Haleem, M.A.S., 16 Abū Muḥammad al-Sulamī (teacher of Ibn
Abou el-Fadl, Khaled, 121 ʿAsākir), 37, 67, 69, 157
Abraham, 7, 33, 78, 81, 165 Abū Mūsā al-Ashʿarī, 155
Abū ʿAbd Allāh al-Adīb, 41, 68, 135, 147, 155, Abū Naṣr ibn ʿAbd Allāh, 68, 175
157, 159, 167 Abū Naṣr al-Asadī, 68, 153
Abū ʿAbd Allāh al-Faqīh, 41, 68, 145, 179 Abū al-Qāsim ibn ʿAbd al-Wāḥid, 68, 157
Abū ʿAbd Allāh al-Maqdisī, 39 Abū al-Qāsim al-Ḥā󰀈椀ẓ, 68, 163, 177
Abū Aḥmad al-Ṣūrī, 38 Abū al-Qāsim al-Mustamlī, 37, 67, 68, 157,
Abū ʿAlī al-ʿĀbir li-l-Ruʾya, 34 163
Abū Bakr, 23 Abū al-Qāsim ibn al-Samarqandī, 68, 135,
Abū Bakr al-Anṣārī (teacher of Ibn ʿAsākir), 149, 169, 175, 177
42, 68, 137, 173 Abū al-Qāsim al-Shaybānī, 68, 135, 153, 161,
Abū Bakr al-Anṣārī (student of Ibn ʿAsākir), 173
86–89, 189, 191 Abū Saʿd al-Qushayrī, 55
Abū Bakr ibn al-Ṭayyib, 107–108 Abū Sahl ibn Saʿdawayh, 68, 159
Abū Bakr ibn Yaḥyā, 68, 151, 159, 171 Abū Saʿīd al-Khudrī, 145, 149, 157
Abū Dāwūd, 159 Abū Sufyān, 76, 181
Abū Dharr al-Ghifārī, 69, 135, 173 Abū Turāb al-Anṣārī, 3
216 index

Abū Umāma, 72, 153, 159 Bahrām, 108

Abū al-Wahsh ibn al-Muslim, 3 Banū Munqidh, 52
Abū al-Waqt ibn ʿĪsā, 69, 151, 159, 171 Banū Qurayẓa, 19, 57
Abū Yaʿlā, 107 Banū Thaqīf, 19
Acre, 9 Bar Kokhba Revolt, 20
Adam, 7, 177 Battle of ʿAyn Jālūt, 60, 61
Afghanistan, 117 Battle of Badr, 19, 21, 76
Africa, 26 Battle of Dandanqān, 30
Agag, 18 Battle of Khaybar, 19
Aḥmad al-Bukhārī, 62 Battle of Manzikert, 31
Aḥmad ibn ʿAsākir (nephew of Ibn ʿAsākir), Battle of Tabūk, 21, 76, 139, 157
85, 185 Battle of the Trench, 19, 57
Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal, 66 Battle of Uḥud, 76, 181
Aḥmad al-Qaysī, 34 Baybars, 61
Aḥmad al-Rāzī, 45 Bayt Lihyā, 33, 34, 36, 43, 114
Aigle, Denise, 112 Bilād al-Shām (see also Syria), 3
al-Ājurrī, 55 Bilbis, 109
Aleppo, 28, 31, 35, 45, 47, 48, 51, 58, 59, 105 al-Birzālī, 83–89, 91, 92, 112, 125, 127, 128, 189,
Alexandria, 83 191, 193, 195, 199, 201, 203
Ali, 10, 29, 120 al-Bisṭāmī, 41
ʿAlī ibn Munqidh, 52, 53 al-Bukhārī, 66, 109, 137, 145, 149, 167, 177
Almohads, 61, 62 Burayda ibn al-Ḥuṣayb, 171
Almoravids, 61, 62 Burhān al-Dīn al-Balkhī, 48
Alp Arslan, 31 Būrids, 48
Amalek, 18 Buyids, 28, 29, 60
Amalekites, 18 Byzantine Empire/Byzantines, 10, 19–21, 24,
Amīnīya School of Shā󰀈椀ʿī law, 3 25, 28, 31, 34, 66, 106, 119
Anas ibn Mālik, 71, 73, 78, 153, 163, 171, 177
Anatolia, 26, 31, 32, 47, 66, 119 Caesarea, 97
al-Andalus (see also Spain), 61 Cairo, 45, 49, 97, 107–109
An-Naʿim, ʿAbdullahi Ahmed, 121 Central Asia, 4, 26, 43, 67
Antichrist (al-Dajjāl), 8, 9 Ceuta (Sabta), 61
Antioch, 24, 35, 120 Chaghri Beg, 30
Arabia, 23, 24 China, 4
Arabs, 20, 28, 120 Christians/Christendom, 20–22, 24, 28, 32,
Armenians, 108, 109 35, 45, 57, 60, 71, 80, 104, 105, 107–111, 113,
ʿAsākir family, 3 115, 119, 153
Ascalon, 11, 12, 52, 53 Church of Rome, 21, 31, 73
al-Ashʿarī, 11 Clermont, 9, 31, 32
Ashʿarīs/Ashʿarism, 5, 11, 113, 114 Constantine, 20
al-Ashraf, 98, 99 Constantinople (see also Istanbul), 8, 119
Asia Minor, 24 Crusaders (see also Franks), 3–5, 9, 29,
ʿAṣrūnīya Market, 50 30, 32, 35, 38–40, 42, 45, 46, 52, 58–60,
Ayyubids, 46, 61, 64, 95–99, 111 62, 80, 95, 96, 99, 104–106, 109, 112, 113,
al-ʿAẓīmī, 35 119–121
al-ʿAzīz biʾllāh Crusades, 21, 29, 45, 47, 72, 105, 106, 120; First
Crusade, 4, 24, 32, 35, 38–40, 45, 46, 111;
Bāb al-Ṣaghīr Cemetery, 114 Second Crusade, 21,36, 45, 47, 48, 52, 53,
Badr al-Jamālī, 109 111; Fifth Crusade, 95, 97, 98; Crusade of
Baghdad, 4, 27, 28, 37, 42, 49, 53, 67, 107, 108, Frederick II, 64, 95–98
110, 113, 135, 137, 139, 161 Cyprus, 106, 108
Bahāʾ al-Dīn ibn Ṣaṣrā, 86, 185
 index 217

Damascus, 3–6, 10, 11, 13, 28, 32–34, 36–42, Goliath, 18

44, 45, 47–54, 59–64, 67, 80–85, 88–91, Gregory VII, 32
93–99, 105, 112–116, 125, 187, 189, 191, 195, Guibert of Nogent, 9, 10
197, 201
Dār al-Ḥadīth, see Nūr al-Dīn’s House of Hadith (see also Sunna), 5, 8, 12, 13, 24, 33,
Hadith 34, 37, 42–44, 50, 54, 56, 59, 62, 63, 66, 67,
Dār al-Wikāla (Halll of Zakāt) in Damascus, 83, 85, 86, 88–93, 95, 96, 114, 115, 120, 121,
39 125, 127, 185, 193
David, 7, 18 Hadīya, 91, 199
Dāwūd al-Ẓāhirī, 171 Hagar, 7
Daylamīs, 29 al-Ḥalḥūlī, 37, 45
Day of Judgment/Day of Resurrection/Last Ḥama, 52, 83
Day, 8, 9, 22, 23, 71, 72, 74, 77, 79, 81, 133, Haman, 18
135, 147, 159, 161, 163, 165, 167, 169, 175, Ḥamdānids, 28, 31, 48
177 Ḥanbalīs/Ḥanbalism, 5, 11, 62, 107, 111, 113, 114,
Deborah, 18 116, 118
Delhi Sultans, 30 al-Ḥanafī, 58, 59, 104
al-Dhahabī, 4, 5, 37, 83, 87 Ḥanafīs/Ḥana󰀈椀sm, 97, 107, 116
Ḍiyāʾ al-Dīn al-Maqdisī, 46 al-Ḥārith al-Ashʿarī, 141
Dome of the Rock, 6 Ḥarrān, 113
Donner, Fred, 22 Hārūn al-Rashīd, 24
Druzes, 104, 107–110, 112, 114–118 Hasan al-Banna, 121
al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAsākir (son of Ibn ʿAsākir), 85,
Ebu s-Suʿud Efendi, 117, 118, 120 185
Edessa, 24, 47, 120 al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAsākir (nephew of Ibn
Egypt, 3, 5, 9, 18, 24, 28, 35, 45, 46, 49–51, 58, ʿAsākir), 3, 13, 60, 83, 85–88, 90, 91, 185,
60, 64, 74, 75, 79, 82, 96, 106, 109–111, 113, 187, 195
115, 116, 120, 165 Ḥassān al-Anṣārī, 34
Esther, 18 Herat, 4, 67, 151
Europe, 31, 32, 72, 96, 119, 120 Hibat Allāh ibn ʿAsākir, 3, 43, 44
Hibat Allāh ibn Ṣaṣrā, 185
Faḍāla ibn ʿUbayd, 71, 159 Hijaz, 4, 23, 110, 112
al-Faḍl al-Tamīmī, 85, 185 Hijra, 21
Fakhr al-Dīn Maʿn, 116 Hindus, 28–30, 115
al-Faraḍī, 68, 171 Holy Land, 98
Faraj, Muhammad ʿAbd al-Salam, 121 Hülegü, 108, 110
Fatima, 29 al-Ḥurr al-ʿĀmilī, 120
Fatimids, 5, 10, 28, 29, 38, 45, 49–51, 75, 104, al-Ḥusayn, 7, 10
108–113
al-Fazārī, 24, 25 Ibn Abī Zayd, 107
al-Findalāwī, 21, 36, 37, 45 Ibn al-ʿAlqamī, 108, 110
France, 31 Ibn al-Athīr, 35
Franks (see Crusaders), 3, 7, 9–12, 21, 24, 32, Ibn al-Bāqillānī, 108
36–38, 47–53, 60, 64, 65, 71, 82, 94, 108, Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī, 115
120 Ibn Isḥāq, 19
Frederick II, 64, 95, 96–99 Ibn Jumʿa al-Maqarrī, 114, 115
Fulūs Mosque, 88 Ibn Khaldun, 4
Furūʿ al-󰀇椀qh, 33 Ibn Killis, 108
Ibn Māja, 161
Galilee, 17, 60 Ibn Manẓūr, 16
Ghayth al-Ṣūrī, 39, 40, 44 Ibn Masʿūd, 41, 42
al-Ghazālī, 63 Ibn al-Mubārak, 24, 25, 35, 52, 53, 66, 74, 75
218 index

Ibn Nubāta, 31 Jordan River, 97

Ibn Qāḍī ʿAjlūn, 115 Judea, 17
Ibn Qayyim al-Jawzīya, 121
Ibn Qudāma, 46 Kaʿba, 77, 78, 157
Ibn al-Ṣābūnī, 88, 89, 91, 189, 191, 193, 199 Kallāsa School, 92, 201
Ibn al-Sallār, 92–94, 203 al-Kāmil, 96–99
Ibn al-Sibṭ, 68, 175 Karak, 99
Ibn al-Ṭabarī, 68, 177 Kelsay, John, 121
Ibn Taymīya, 106–107, 109–114, 116, 118, Khālid al-Nābulusī, 91, 197
120–122 al-Khaṭīb al-Baghdādī, 3, 37, 67
Ibn Ṭūlūn, 28, 116 al-Khātūn ʿIṣmat al-Dīn, 63, 88
Ibn ʿUrwa al-Mawṣilī, 83 al-Khātūnīya School of Hadith, 63, 88, 189
Ibn ʿUrwa School of Hadith, 83 al-Khawārij, 27
Ibrāhīm al-Khushūʿī, 86, 88, 90, 92, 187, 189, Khaybar (see also Battle of Khaybar), 19, 23,
195, 201 77
Ibrāhīm al-Qurashī, 89–92, 195, 197, 199 Khayr al-Dīn al-Ramlī, 116
Il-Khans, 64, 82, 94, 106, 112, 114, 120 Khurāsān, 4, 107
ʿImrān ibn Ḥuṣayn, 70, 151 Khuraym ibn Fātik, 173
India, 26, 115 Khurram Pasha, 114, 115
Iran, 4, 24, 28, 43, 64, 67, 82 Kufa, 4
Iraq, 24, 28, 35, 43, 59, 60, 64, 67, 82, 107, 108, Kurds, 47
120
Isfahan, 4, 67, 157 Lake Van, 31
al-Isfarāyīnī, 107 Lebanon (see also Mount Lebanon), 3, 120
Islamic umma, 17, 23
Israel, 3 al-Mahdī (Islamic eschatological 󰀈椀gure), 8,
Israelite Kingdom/Israelites, 17, 18, 20, 24, 79, 80
141, 143 al-Mahdī biʾllāh, 107
Istanbul (see also Constantinople), 116 Maḥmūd of Ghazna, 29, 30, 115
Italy, 28 al-Māliḥ, 94, 201
Mālik ibn Anas, 66, 147, 169
Jābir ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Anṣārī, 179 al-Malik al-Ashraf, 9, 106
Jael, 18 al-Malik al-Nāṣir, 112
Ja󰀇fa, 97, 98 al-Malik al-Ṣāliḥ, 59
al-Jammāʿīlī, 62 Malik Shāh, 30
al-Jazīra (see also Mesopotamia), 98 Mālik ibn Anas, 107
Jerusalem, 3, 6, 8, 9, 17, 24, 32, 33, 35, 38–40, Mālikīs/Mālikism, 36, 61, 107, 116
62, 85, 96–99, 120 Mamluks, 46, 49, 60, 61, 64, 82, 94, 95, 112, 115,
Jerusalemites (al-Maqādisa), 38, 45, 46, 62 120
Jesus/Christ, 7–9, 17, 20, 31, 32, 71, 79–81, 141, al-Maʾmūn, 7, 24
143 Manzikert, 31
Jewish Revolt, 20 Marāgha Observatory, 108
Jews/Judaism, 21, 22, 108, 110, 115, 153 Mary, 7, 79, 80, 141, 143
Jews of Egypt, 108 Masʿūd of Ghazna, 30
Jews of Khaybar, 19, 23 al-Mawṣilī, 94, 203
Jews of Medina, 19, 23, 57 Mecca, 4, 23, 36, 75–79, 83, 112, 119, 181
Jezreel Valley, 60 Medina, 4, 17, 19, 21, 23, 75–77, 105, 106, 112
Jizya (poll-tax on non-Muslims), 9, 22 Mediterranean, 21, 61, 119
John the Baptist/John son of Zechariah, 7, Mehmed II, 119
79–81, 143 Merv, 4
John’s tomb, 80 Mesopotamia (see also al-Jazīra), 21, 28, 47,
Jordan, 3 58, 97
 index 219

Middle East, 82, 114 Nishapur, 4, 37, 41, 67, 145, 157
al-Miḥna (the inquisition), 7 Niẓām al-Mulk, 29, 30, 110, 120
Mizza, 63, 85 Niẓāmīya madrasa, 4
Mongols (see also Il-Khans), 27, 49, 60, 61, Nizārīs Ismāʿīlīs, 29, 59, 104, 107–110, 116
108, 110, 112 Normans, 28, 104
Mordecai, 18 North Africa, 24, 36, 83, 105, 107
Morocco, 59, 61, 104 al-Nuʿmān ibn Bashīr, 139
Moses, 18, 81, 141 Nūr al-Dīn, 3, 5–7, 9, 10, 12, 30, 36, 42, 45–54,
Mount Lebanon (see also Lebanon), 114, 116 56, 58–60, 63–66, 78, 83, 86–88, 93, 99,
Mount Qāsyūn, 36 109, 110, 113
Muʿādh ibn Jabal, 153 Nūr al-Dīn’s House of Hadith, 50, 54, 58, 64,
al-Muʿaẓẓam, 96, 97 65, 83, 85, 86, 88, 91, 92, 96
Mughals, 30 Nūr al-Dīn’s Small School (al-Madrasa
Muhammad/Messenger of God/ al-nūrīya al-ṣughrā), 60
Prophet, 4, 6, 7, 9, 11, 12, 17–25, 29, 34, Nuṣayrīs, 104, 107–110, 115–118
41, 54–58, 66, 69–78, 80, 95, 105–107, 109, al-Nushbī, 60, 90, 91,195, 199
110, 112, 119, 120, 133, 135, 137, 139, 141, 143,
145, 147, 149, 151, 153, 155, 157, 159, 161, 163, Öljeitü, 112, 114
165, 167, 169, 171, 173, 175, 177, 179, 181, 183, Orontes River, 52
189, 191, 195, 197, 201 Ottomans, 31, 49, 114, 116–120
Muḥammad al-Anṣārī, 88, 187
Muḥammad al-Birzālī, 88, 92 Palestine/Palestinian territories, 3, 116
Muḥammad al-Faraḍī, 91, 199 People of the Book, 21, 115
Muḥammad ibn ʿAsākir (brother of Ibn Persia, 18, 28
ʿAsākir), 85, 93, 185 Pharaoh, 79, 165
Muḥammad ibn ʿAsākir (grandson of Ibn Philistines, 18
ʿAsākir), 85, 185 Pilate, 20
Muḥammad ibn ʿAsākir (great-nephew of
Ibn ʿAsākir), 86, 91, 185 al-Qāḍī ʿIyāḍ, 59–62, 104
Muḥammad ibn al-Muḥibb, 93, 94, 203 Qarāmiṭīs, 108
Muḥammad al-Tamīmī, 85, 185 al-Qāsim al-Birzālī, 83, 92
al-Muḥibbī, 116 al-Qāsim ibn ʿAsākir (son of Ibn ʿAsākir), 3,
Muslim ibn al-Ḥajjāj, 66, 109, 137, 139, 145, 85–88, 185
149, 155, 179, 181 al-Qāsim ibn ʿAsākir (great nephew of Ibn
al-Mustanṣir biʾllāh, 109 ʿAsākir), 93, 94, 203
al-Mustaʿṣam, 108 Qayrawān, 107
al-Muʿtamid, 28 Qizilbash, 117
Muʿtazila, 108 al-Qudūrī, 107
al-Muwa󰀇faq, 28 al-Quʿnubī, 169
Muẓẓa󰀇far al-Muqriʾ, 34 al-Qurashī family, 3
al-Qushayrī, 37, 137
Nablus, 38, 39 Quṭuz, 61
Nakhichevan campaign, 117
al-Nasāʾī, 157, 171, 173, 179 Rabadha, 173
al-Nāṣir Dāwūd, 61, 98, 99 al-Rabaʿī, 6
Naṣīr al-Dīn al-Ṭūsī, 108, 110 Rabwa, 10
Naṣr al-Maqdisī, 63, 191 Rā󰀈椀ḍīs (see also Shiʿis), 29, 108–110,
Naṣr Allāh ibn ʿAsākir (nephew of Ibn 112
ʿAsākir), 85, 86, 185 Rashiduns, 23, 27, 28, 106, 117
al-Nawawī, 55 Reconquista, 28, 61, 105, 106
Nayrab, 36 Ridda wars, 24
Near East, 9, 32, 47 Riley-Smith, Jonathan, 120
220 index

Rome, 8 Sunna (see also Hadith), 105

Roman Empire, 17, 20, 21 Sunnis/Sunnism, 3, 5, 7, 10, 11, 13, 25, 28–30,
Romanus Diogenes, 31 35, 36, 38, 45, 46, 48–51, 53, 54, 56–59,
61, 65, 80, 95, 97–99, 104–106, 108–117,
Sabaeans, 115 119–122
Sachedina, Abd al-Aziz, 121 Susa, 18
Sacred Mosque in Mecca, 76, 139 Syria (see also Bilād al-Shām), 3–11, 13, 24,
Safavids, 117, 118, 120 28–32, 35, 37, 38, 45–51, 57–59, 64–66, 71,
Sahl ibn Saʿd al-Sāʿidī, 161 74, 80, 82, 85, 94, 96, 97, 104–107, 109–111,
al-Sakhāwī, 45, 46 113–120
Saladin/Salāḥ al-Dīn, 3, 9, 46, 49, 85, 97, 99,
109–111 Tabūk (see also Battle of Tabūk), 19, 23, 77
Ṣāliḥīya School, 85 Taha, Mahmud Muhammad, 121
Samson, 18 Ṭāʾif, 19, 23, 77
Samuel, 18 Taqawīya School, 85
Saracens, 32 Tarsus, 24
Sarah, 7 Temple of Jerusalem, 6, 20, 79, 143
Satan, 79, 143 Temple Mount, 6
Saul, 18 Thawr ibn Yazīd, 6
Sayf al-Dīn ibn Zangī, 47 Theodosius, 20
Sayyid Qutb, 121 Timurids, 30
Seljuks, 29–31, 48, 59, 60, 97 al-Tirmidhī, 143, 159
Seville (Ishbīlya), 83, 87 Transjordan, 99
al-Shā󰀈椀ʿī, 25, 26 Transoxiana, 4
Shā󰀈椀ʿīs/Shā󰀈椀ʿism, 3, 25, 56, 63, 85, 107, 111, Travels in search of religious knowledge
113–116, 185 (ṭalab al-ʿilm), 4
Shah Ismail, 117 Treaty of Karlowitz, 119
Shah Tahmasb, 117 Tribe of Benjamin, 18
Shams al-Dīn ibn Ṣaṣrā, 85, 185 Tughril Beg, 30
Sharīʿa, 110, 115, 118 Tunisia, 107
Shāwar, 109 Turkey, 3, 31, 119
Shayzar, 52 Turkmans, 31, 47
Shiʿis/Shiʿism (see also ʿAlawīs, Daylamīs, Twelvers/Twelver Shiʿis, 29, 31, 48, 59, 110,
Druzes, Fatimids, Nizārīs, Rā󰀈椀ḍīs, and 117, 120, 121
Twelvers), 28–30, 45, 48, 51, 57–61, 65, Tyre, 9, 38, 44
104–107, 109–112, 114, 116, 117, 120, 121
Shīrkūh, 109, 110 ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb, 139
Sibṭ ibn al-Jawzī, 96–99 Umayyad Mosque of Damascus, 3, 34, 36, 43,
Sicily, 24, 28, 35, 104 44, 58, 63, 80, 81, 83, 84, 86–92, 97, 99, 187,
Sind, 24 189, 191, 195, 197
Sīra, 18, 20, 23 Umayyads, 3, 7, 23, 27, 31
Sisera, 18 ʿUqaylids, 48
Spain (see also al-Andalus), 24, 25, 28, 35, ʿUqba ibn ʿĀmir, 72, 159, 169
104 Urban II, 9, 31, 32, 48
St. Augustine, 21 Usāma ibn Munqidh, 52
South Asia, 30 Uṣūl al-󰀇椀qh, 33
Spain (see also al-Andalus), 61, 83, 105 ʿUtba ibn ʿAbd al-Salamī, 73, 183
Strait of Gibraltar, 61
al-Subkī, 13 al-Wāsiṭī, 55, 59–61, 104
Ṣūfī Cemetery, 114
al-Sulamī, 9, 33–37, 42–45, 55, 61, 66, 71, 74, Yaʿlā al-Sarrāj, 34
89, 90, 104, 113 Yāqūt ibn ʿAbd Allāh, 85, 185
 index 221

Yazīd ibn Muʿāwiya, 7, 10 Zangī, 47, 48

Yūsuf al-Birzālī, 88, 89, 91, 189 Zangids, 45
Yūsuf al-Nābulusī, 92, 199, 201 Ẓāwiya of Naṣr al-Maqdisī, 63, 89, 191
Zechariah, 80, 143
al-Ẓāhir Baybars, 94 Ziauddin Barani, 115
Ẓāhirīya Library, 60, 63, 64, 82, 94, 201 Zoroastrians/Zoroastrianism, 24, 115
 INDEX OF QURʾANIC & BIBLICAL REFERENCES

Qurʾan, 17–24, 29, 33–35, 39, 54, 57, 66, 74–79, Q. 54, 77
81, 105, 112, 120, 125, 165 Q. 54:40–55, 79, 165
Q. 2:191, 115 Q. 54:55, 77, 78, 165
Q. 2:193, 20 Q. 61:1–2, 75, 141
Q. 2:216, 23 Q. 61:1–14, 75, 141
Q. 3, 181 Q. 97, 77
Q. 3:169, 76, 181 Q. 97:1–5, 77, 157
Q. 3:169–174, 181 Q. 99:1–8, 169
Q. 4:97, 26 Q. 99:7–8, 76, 169
Q. 8, 19
Q. 8:20, 57, 105 Bible, 18, 20, 165
Q. 8:39, 20 Torah, 20
Q. 8:45–46, 57, 105 Exodus 17, 18
Q. 8:67, 19 Deuteronomy 25:17–19, 18
Q. 8:1–75, 21, 76 Judges 5:24–27, 18
Q. 9, 139 Judges 15:15–16; 16:30, 18
Q. 9:1–129, 21, 76 Samuel, 19
Q. 9:5, 22, 115 1 Samuel 15:33, 18
Q. 9:13–14, 22 1 Samuel 18:7, 18
Q. 9:20, 76, 139 Kings, 19
Q. 9:29, 22 Esther 2:5, 18
Q. 9:71, 57, 105 Esther 3:1, 18
Q. 9:88, 22–23 Esther 7:10, 18
Q. 9:111, 21–22, 36 Esther 9:5–6, 18
Q. 18, 77 Esther 9:14–15, 18
Q. 18:29, 71, 77, 78, 155 Esther 9:16, 18
Q. 18:29–31, 78, 155 Gospel/Gospels, 17, 80
Q. 21:57–58, 33 Matthew 2:13–22, 11, 80
Q. 23:50, 10 John 18:36, 20
Q. 33:21, 22, 57