Jihad (and the Legislation of Fighting)
The legislation of fighting and its four stages; the just-war philosophy.
Hijri 1 AH onward CE 622 CE onward
The struggle in the cause of Allah — in the Seerah, the point at which military fighting (qital) became permitted, after 13 Meccan years of enforced restraint.
Definition & the Meccan restraint
Throughout Makkah the Muslims were commanded to endure — “turn away from them” (Q 32:30), “endure with beautiful patience” (Q 70:5) — even as Yasir, Sumayyah and Bilal were tortured. Retaliation was withheld for a wiser long view (weighing masalih and mafasid, benefits and harms). Some hot-blooded youths wanted to fight and were rebuked (Q 4:77).
The first permission (Q 22:39–40)
“Permission [to fight] is given to those who are being fought, because they were wronged… those evicted from their homes without right, only for saying ‘Our Lord is Allah.’”
The philosophy is explicit: fighting is permitted for the oppressed to recover rights and freedoms seized by oppressors — a “just war” any society would recognise. Q 2:251 adds: were it not that Allah repels people by means of others, corruption would fill the earth.
The four stages
- Military jihad forbidden — the jihad of the nafs and patience (all 13 Meccan years).
- Permitted but not obligatory — voluntary, right after the Hijra (Q 22:39).
- Obligatory against the Quraysh only — the bulk of the Madinan phase.
- Against all the polytheists of Arabia — the final stage.
The expeditions
Two kinds: ghazwa (the Prophet ﷺ present, ~19 total, fighting in ~8) and sariyya (a detachment he sent, ~30–48 counted). Their aims: to show the Muslims were an independent force, to cut the Quraysh caravan lifelines (the Syria and Yemen routes), and to grow the state by alliances. Early expeditions — Ghazwa al-Abwa, al-Ushayra, Sariyya Nakhla — targeted only the Quraysh, leading to the Battle of Badr.
Lessons
- Jihad is a noble redress for the wronged, not the caricature of unprovoked war; for most of the ummah’s history it was not read as perpetual war on all mankind.
- Even prophets are not handed victory; effort, sacrifice and sincerity precede Allah’s help.
Cross-references
The Battle of Badr · Sariyya Nakhla (The Nakhla Expedition) · Quraysh · The Muhajirun (the Emigrants) · Muhammad ﷺ · The Hijrah (Emigration to Madinah) · Seerah Timeline
Sources
- S006 — Yasir Qadhi Seerah EP 035. Tafsir of Q 22:39–40, 2:251, 4:77; Sahih Bukhari & Muslim on the counts of ghazawat (Zayd ibn Arqam, Burayda); Ibn Ishaq, al-Waqidi, Ibn al-Jawzi.