Appendix 1: Forty Hadiths from the Messenger of God on Striving

Appendix 1: Forty Hadiths from the Messenger of God on Striving

Below are forty accounts on striving that I present in the hope that they will serve as provisions for me on the day I stand before my Merciful Lord, and as a lesson and reminder for anyone who claims to follow Muhammad yet places a barrier between himself and striving. [Unless otherwise indicated, the hadiths that follow are from the Messenger of God].

1. “The bearers of the Quran are the leaders of the people of Paradise, those who strive in the path of God are its commanders, and the Messengers are the masters of the people of Paradise.^[146]

2. “Moses and Aaron supplicated, and the angels said, ‘Amen.’ Then God, Mighty and Majestic, said: ‘Your supplication has been answered, so remain steadfast. Whoever goes forth to fight in the path of God, Mighty and Majestic, will have his supplication answered as theirs was, until the Day of Resurrection.’”^[147]

3. “The most miserly of people is the one who is miserly with the greeting of peace, and the most generous of people is the one who gives of himself and his wealth in the path of God, Most High.”^[148]

4. “Whoever’s life ends with striving in the path of God, even for the brief interval of a she-camel’s milking, enters Paradise.”^[149]

5. “Above every act of righteousness is another act of righteousness, culminating in a man being killed as a martyr in the path of God.”^[150]

6. “Strive in the path of God. If you are killed, you will be alive with God, receiving provision. If you die, your reward falls upon God. And if you return, you return free of sins, turned back to God.”^[151] 7. “When those who set out for battle resolve to do so, God records for them deliverance from the Fire. When they make their preparations, God boasts of them before the angels. When their families bid them farewell, the walls and the houses weep over them. They come forth from their sins as a snake sheds its skin. God, Mighty and Majestic, appoints for each one of them forty thousand angels to guard him from in front of him, behind him, on his right, and on his left. No good deed does he perform except that it is multiplied for him. Each day he is credited with the worship of a thousand men, each of whom worships God for a thousand years, each year being three hundred and sixty days, each day like the lifetime of this world. When they come face to face with their enemy, the people of this world can no longer comprehend the reward God has prepared for them. When they go out to meet their enemy, the spearheads are leveled, the arrows are set to the bow, and men advance against men, the angels surround them with their wings and pray to God Most High for their victory and steadfastness.

A herald cries out, ‘Paradise lies beneath the shade of the swords.’ The thrust and the blow are lighter for the martyr than drinking cool water on a hot summer day. When the martyr is unhorsed by a thrust or a blow, he does not reach the ground before God, Mighty and Majestic, sends to him his bride from the heavenly women, who gives him glad tidings of the honor God has prepared for him. When he reaches the ground, she says, ‘Welcome to the pure soul that has departed from a pure body. Rejoice, for yours is that which no eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no human heart has ever conceived.’

God, Mighty and Majestic, says, ‘I will take his place in caring for his family. Whoever pleases them has pleased Me, and whoever angers them has angered Me.’ God places his soul in the crops of green birds that roam freely in Paradise wherever they wish, eating from its fruits and taking refuge in lamps of gold suspended from the Throne. Each man among them is given seventy chambers from the chambers of Paradise. The span of each chamber is like that between Sanaa and the Levant,^[152] and its light fills the horizons. In each chamber are seventy doors, and over each door hang flowing curtains. In each chamber are seventy tents. In each tent are seventy couches, and on each couch are forty mattresses, each mattress forty cubits thick. On each mattress are seventy wives from the heavenly women, loving and of similar age.”

The youth asked, "O Commander of the Faithful, tell me about this wife. What is she like?" He replied, "She is a pleasing, well-pleasing, and a desirable wife. She has seventy thousand male attendants and seventy thousand female attendants, adorned with golden ornaments and radiant white faces. They wear pearl crowns upon their heads and scarves around their necks, and carry cups and pitchers in their hands.

When the Day of Resurrection comes, the martyr will emerge from his grave with his sword drawn and blood gushing from his veins. His blood will retain its color, but its fragrance will be that of musk. He will appear on the plain of Resurrection. By the One in Whose hand is my soul, if the prophets encountered them on the road, they would dismount in their honor because of the distinction bestowed upon them. They will then come to tables of jewels and sit at them. Each of them will intercede for seventy thousand members of his household and his neighbors, to the point that two neighbors will dispute over which of them was closer to him. They will sit with me and Abraham, peace be upon him, at the table of eternity and look upon God Most High every morning and evening…’”^[153]

8. “The angels are allowed to record all the good deeds of the children of Adam except those of the fighters in the path of God, for they are unable to comprehend the extent of their reward.”^[154]

9. “Blessed is the one who remembers God often during [offensive] striving, for with every word he receives seventy thousand good deeds, each good deed multiplied tenfold, besides the further increase God has in store for him.” They said: ‘Messenger of God, does the reward for spending in the path of God receive the same reward even for those who are too weak to participate in the fighting?’ He said: ‘Yes.’”^[155]

10. “Those who strive in the path of God are like one who stands in devout worship, persisting in his fasting and prayer until he returns to his family.”^[156] 11. When the fighter sets out from the threshold of his door, God sends an angel with the record of his sins, and his sins are erased.”^[157]

12. “The dust of the path of God and the smoke of Hell will never combine.”^[158]

13. “Swords are the keys to Paradise.”^[159]

14. “No one who enters Paradise wishes to leave it except the martyr, for he longs to return and be killed ten times because of the honor he sees from God.”^[160]

15. Prophet Muhammad saw a man supplicating and saying: “O God, I ask You for the best of what may be asked of You, so grant me the best of what You give.” He said: “If your prayer is answered, your blood will be shed in the path of God.”^[161]

16. “I have two callings: poverty and striving.”^[162]

17. “A morning or evening march in the path of God is better than the world and all that is in it.”^[163]

18. “For my community, striving in the path of God takes the place of leaving ordinary life behind for worship.”^[164]

19. “God protects those who do not strive by means of those who do.”^[165]

20. Jafar al-Sadiq said: “By expending one’s lifeblood, the servant attains the favor of his Beloved and nearness to Him.”^[166]

21. The Commander of the Faithful, Ali, said: “[Offensive] striving is obligatory upon all Muslims, because God said: ‘Fighting has been prescribed for you’ [Quran 2:216]. If a group of Muslims undertakes striving (fighting), the rest are permitted to stay behind, so long as those on the front line are not in need of reinforcements. But if they do need reinforcement, then all are obliged to support them until that need is met. God Almighty says: ‘It is not for the believers to go forth all together’ [Quran 9:41]. But if a situation arises that requires them all, then they must all go forth. God, Mighty and Majestic, says: ‘Go forth, light and heavy, and strive with your wealth and your lives in the path of God [Quran 9:41].’’^[167]

22. Jafar al-Sadiq said concerning God’s words, “Go forth, whether light or heavy” [Quran 9:41]: “Young and old.”^[168]

23. Al-Sadiq was asked about the words of God, Mighty and Majestic: “‘Indeed, God has purchased from the believers their lives and their wealth in exchange for Paradise. They fight in the path of God, kill, and are killed. It is a true promise binding upon Him in the Torah, the Gospel, and the Quran. Who is truer to his promise than God? So rejoice in the bargain you have struck. That is the great triumph [Quran 9:111],’ ‘Is this for everyone who strives in the path of God, or for some rather than others?’

Abu Abdullah Jafar ibn Muhammad said: ‘When this verse was revealed to the Messenger of God, some of his companions asked him about it, but he did not answer them. Then God immediately revealed the following verse: ‘The repentant, the worshippers, the praisers, those who journey, those who bow, those who prostrate, those who enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong, and those who preserve the bounds of God. So give glad tidings to the believers [Quran 9:112].’

Through this verse, God, Mighty and Majestic, described the believers whose lives and wealth He purchased. Whoever desires Paradise, then let him strive in the path of God subject to these conditions. Otherwise, he falls among those of whom the Messenger of God said, ‘God will support this religion through people who have no share in it.’”^[169]

24. “The foundation of Islam is prayer, its branch is almsgiving, and its highest peak is striving in the path of God.”^[170] 25. “Strive in the path of God with your hands. If you are unable, then strive with your tongues. If you are unable, then strive with your hearts.”^[171]

26. “Hold fast to striving in the path of God under every just Imam, for striving in the path of God is one of the gates of Paradise.”^[172]

27. “Nothing is dearer to God, Most High, than two drops: a drop of blood in the path of God, and a teardrop in the depths of the night out of fear of God.”^[173]

28. “Every believer from my community is a truthful one and a martyr, and by this sword God honors whom He wills of His creation.” Then he recited: “Those who believe in God and His messengers, they are the truthful and the martyrs with their Lord [Quran 57:19].”^[174]

29. Jafar ibn Muhammad (al-Sadiq) said: “Every eye will be sleepless on the Day of Resurrection except three: an eye that stayed awake in the path of God, an eye that turned away from what God has forbidden, and an eye that wept out of fear of God.”^[175]

30. “Whoever keeps watch in the path of God for a day and a night, it is equivalent to fasting the month of Ramadan and standing its nights in prayer. He does not break his fast or leave prayer except for a need.”^[176]

31. “The best of people is a man who has dedicated himself exclusively to the path of God, fighting his enemies and seeking death or martyrdom in the battle line.”^[177]

32. “Standing for a day in the path of God is better than prayer in one’s home for seventy years, and a day in the path of God is better than a thousand days in what is besides it.”^[178]

33. “God raises the one who strives in His path one hundred degrees above others in Paradise, with the distance between each two degrees like the distance between Heaven and Earth.”^[179]

34. “Those who strive in the path of God are the leaders of the people of Paradise.”^[180]

35. “No drop is dearer to God, Mighty and Majestic, than two drops: a drop of blood in the path of God, and a tear shed in the darkness of night, by which the servant seeks nothing but God, Mighty and Majestic.”^[181]

36. “Know that striving is a gate among the gates of Paradise, which God has opened for His supporters.”^[182]

37. “Whoever equips a fighter even with a thread or a needle, God forgives his past and future sins.”^[183]

38. “Whoever supports a fighter with a single dirham will receive the reward of seventy pearls and rubies from Paradise, each one better than this world.”^[184]

39. “Keeping watch for a day in the path of God is better than a month of night prayer and fasting, and whoever dies while keeping watch in the path of God will have the reward of one who strives until the Day of Resurrection.”^[185]

40. “Whoever remains steadfast in keeping watch will not miss any good he seeks, nor fail to escape any evil he fears.”^[186]