The clay said, "The commanders were leading their forces against the enemy and they saw before them a great force. They were worried with the numerical superiority of the enemy and they believed that victory or defeat depended on numbers. However the pious slaves of Allah are confident that often a small party defeats a large one. Allah says,
This was the army of Yusha', alaihissalam, at whose hands the sacred land was conquered by the will of Allah. He was not worried with the large numbers of the enemy nor with strategy to increase the men of his army. He was more concerned with quality than with quantity, for wars are won not with large numbers but with high spirit, faith and belief. He received the command that those who had their hearts set on the world should separate from the army for they would not be able to fight.قَالَ الَّذِينَ يَظُنُّونَ أَنَّهُمْ مُلاقُو اللَّهِ كَمْ مِنْ فِئَةٍ قَلِيلَةٍ غَلَبَتْ فِئَةً كَثِيرَةً بِإِذْنِ اللَّهِ وَاللَّهُ مَعَ الصَّابِرِينَ"...But those who were certain that they would meet Allah said, 'How many a small company has overcome a large company by permission of Allah. And Allah is with the patient'." - [QS.2:249]
He engaged in Jihad with his small army against the enemy but was concerned that the encounter may extend into the night. He wished that Allah should grant them victory before sunset. So, he prayed to Allah that the sun should stop its movement towards the night to let them overpower the enemy in day light. Indeed, it was witnessed that Allah delayed the sunset until He gave them victory. This was a great sign from Allah. This account has come to us from our beloved Prophet (ﷺ). Narrated Abu Huraira, radhiyallahu 'anhu, that the Prophet (ﷺ) said,
The Messenger of Allah(ﷺ) has narrated the story of Prophet Yusha', alaihissalam, in this Hadith. Yusha' bin Noon succeeded Prophet Musa, alaihissalam, as Prophet. Also, according to some traditions, he was the one who accompanied Prophet Musa on his journey towards, and meeting with, Al-Khidr. The Hadith narrates the account of one of his jihad. Before he set off for the jihad he let his people know that three types of men should not join the army. The first type was, he who had married but not consumated the marriage. Second, he who 'was building his house but not raised the roof till then. Thirdm, he who had bought pregnant camel and cattle and their term was not over by that time.غَزَا نَبِيٌّ مِنَ الأَنْبِيَاءِ فَقَالَ لِقَوْمِهِ لاَ يَتْبَعْنِي رَجُلٌ مَلَكَ بُضْعَ امْرَأَةٍ وَهْوَ يُرِيدُ أَنْ يَبْنِيَ بِهَا وَلَمَّا يَبْنِ بِهَا، وَلاَ أَحَدٌ بَنَى بُيُوتًا وَلَمْ يَرْفَعْ سُقُوفَهَا، وَلاَ أَحَدٌ اشْتَرَى غَنَمًا أَوْ خَلِفَاتٍ وَهْوَ يَنْتَظِرُ وِلاَدَهَا. فَغَزَا فَدَنَا مِنَ الْقَرْيَةِ صَلاَةَ الْعَصْرِ أَوْ قَرِيبًا مِنْ ذَلِكَ فَقَالَ لِلشَّمْسِ إِنَّكِ مَأْمُورَةٌ وَأَنَا مَأْمُورٌ، اللَّهُمَّ احْبِسْهَا عَلَيْنَا. فَحُبِسَتْ، حَتَّى فَتَحَ اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ، فَجَمَعَ الْغَنَائِمَ، فَجَاءَتْ ـ يَعْنِي النَّارَ ـ لِتَأْكُلَهَا، فَلَمْ تَطْعَمْهَا، فَقَالَ إِنَّ فِيكُمْ غُلُولاً، فَلْيُبَايِعْنِي مِنْ كُلِّ قَبِيلَةٍ رَجُلٌ. فَلَزِقَتْ يَدُ رَجُلٍ بِيَدِهِ فَقَالَ فِيكُمُ الْغُلُولُ. فَلْتُبَايِعْنِي قَبِيلَتُكَ، فَلَزِقَتْ يَدُ رَجُلَيْنِ أَوْ ثَلاَثَةٍ بِيَدِهِ فَقَالَ فِيكُمُ الْغُلُولُ، فَجَاءُوا بِرَأْسٍ مِثْلِ رَأْسِ بَقَرَةٍ مِنَ الذَّهَبِ فَوَضَعُوهَا، فَجَاءَتِ النَّارُ فَأَكَلَتْهَا، ثُمَّ أَحَلَّ اللَّهُ لَنَا الْغَنَائِمَ، رَأَى ضَعْفَنَا وَعَجْزَنَا فَأَحَلَّهَا لَنَا"A prophet amongst the prophets carried out a holy military expedition, so he said to his followers, 'Anyone who has married a woman and wants to consummate the marriage, and has not done so yet, should not accompany me; nor should a man who has built a house but has not completed its roof; nor a man who has sheep or shecamels and is waiting for the birth of their young ones.' So, the prophet carried out the expedition and when he reached that town at the time or nearly at the time of the `Asr prayer, he said to the sun, 'O sun! You are under Allah's Order and I am under Allah's Order O Allah! Stop it (i.e. the sun) from setting.' It was stopped till Allah made him victorious. Then he collected the booty and the fire came to burn it, but it did not burn it. He said (to his men), 'Some of you have stolen something from the booty. So one man from every tribe should give me a pledge of allegiance by shaking hands with me.' (They did so and) the hand of a man got stuck over the hand of their prophet. Then that prophet said (to the man), 'The theft has been committed by your people. So all the persons of your tribe should give me the pledge of allegiance by shaking hands with me.' The hands of two or three men got stuck over the hand of their prophet and he said, "You have committed the theft.' Then they brought a head of gold like the head of a cow and put it there, and the fire came and consumed the booty. The Prophet (ﷺ) added: Then Allah saw our weakness and disability, so he made booty legal for us." - [Sahih al-Bukhari]
The reason for rejecting these people was that they could not be expected to concentrate on the war. These things occur in a man's life very seldom, and in many cases, just once. Besides, man depends on these very things-wife, house and cattle. These were the basic needs of that time and part of man's livelihood. If a man's mind is occupied with these things then he will not perform the important obligation of jihad well. For, it calls upon the warrior to place his life at stake but if his heart is set elsewhere how will he do it. That is why Prophet Yusha' refused to include these three kinds of men, in his army.
When they marched forward and the war commenced, the fighting proceeded well into the time of Asr. The situation was very delicate, on the one hand, war was at a stage when a little effort would bring victory but a slight miscalculation could spell defeat, and, on the other, there was the Asr Salat to be offered within time. Yusha' hoped to gain victory before sunset and darkness. That called for continuous engagement with the enemy which would leave the Salat unobserved. So, he first addressed the sun, "You are under orders and we too are under orders." (That is, you are bound by the Command of Allah to follow the determined orbit and we are bound by His command to wage jihad and to offer the Salat at the appointed time). He then made the supplication, "O Allah! Cause the sun to stop its progress."
That was a Prophet's supplication. He was a Prophet engaged in the cause of Allah. Why should it not receive approval? Skywatchers saw that the sun came to a halt and Yusha' continued to fight with determination until Allah granted him victory.
References :The spoils were collected as was their custom. It was not lawful for those people to take the spoils for themselves but these things were given away for Allah's sake. They would collect the wealth and place it on the top of a mountain. A fire would descend from the heaven and burn the spoils to ashes, and that was considered a sign that their offering was approved. If no fire descended or if the fire did not burn the spoils to ashes then it meant that the offering was rejected.
When Yusha' placed the spoils for the fire, a fire did descend but did not touch the spoils. So, he said, "Someone has betrayed trust. That would be investigated by every tribe sending a representative to me to swear allegiance." Accordingly, every representative shook hands with the Prophet but when one of them came and extended his hand for the handshake, Yusha' told him that the betrayal was done by his tribe and every member must swear allegiance individually so that the culprit could be found out. Hardly had about three men sworn, allegiance when he held them as betrayers. They confessed their guilt and returned gold equal to the head of a cow. They had concealed it. It was placed with the spoils and a fire from heaven devoured it.
This was the command for earlier people. Later, however, Allah made the spoils lawful for the Ummah of beloved Prophet (ﷺ). They are commanded to keep aside one-fifth of the spoils for Allah and His Messenger, for the Bayt Al-Maal. (The poor, needy, orphans are helped by the Bayt Al-Maal, State Treasury.) The rest of the spoils are the share of the ghazi (the warriors who return alive) and shuhada's heirs."
Then the clay said, "The advance of Yusha' in Jihad affirms that jihad and fighting was prescribed for the previous Ummah. It is not peculiar to the Ummah of the Prophet (ﷺ) alone. It proves that Jihad is approved by Allah and liked by Him. He had prescribed it in all earlier Shari'ah too. In fact, Jihad is another name for the sovereignty of Allah, Rabb of the worlds, and for the upholding of His Word. The blessings that Allah bestows on the warriors (literally, the mujahideen) and the Muslims cannot be imagined without Jihad. It is for this reason that the Bani Isra'il were punished by Him when they refused to wage jihad under Propet Musa against the Amaliqah in Syria. Allah said,
The punishment of Allah followed. Allah said,قَالُوا يَا مُوسَى إِنَّا لَنْ نَدْخُلَهَا أَبَدًا مَا دَامُوا فِيهَا فَاذْهَبْ أَنْتَ وَرَبُّكَ فَقَاتِلا إِنَّا هَا هُنَا قَاعِدُونَ"They said, 'O Moses, indeed we will not enter it, ever, as long as they are within it; so go, you and your Rabb, and fight. Indeed, we are remaining right here'." - [QS.5:24]
Thus they travelled all day and in the evening they imagined that they had reached their destination. But when they woke up in the morning they found themselves at the same place from where they began. Hence, the plain in which they moved round and round is called the plain of tiyah. The word is from 'teeh' meaning 'straying', 'labyrinth', 'maze', 'wilderness'. These people too were trapped in the labyrinth of shock and worry a punishment against abandoning the obligation of jihad.قَالَ فَإِنَّهَا مُحَرَّمَةٌ عَلَيْهِمْ أَرْبَعِينَ سَنَةً يَتِيهُونَ فِي الأرْضِ فَلا تَأْسَ عَلَى الْقَوْمِ الْفَاسِقِينَ"(Allah) said, 'Then indeed, it is forbidden to them for forty years [in which] they will wander throughout the land. So do not grieve over the defiantly disobedient people'." - [QS.5:26]
The Qur'an frequently speaks of the jihad of the earlier Prophets. Their jihad was in the literal sense meaning warfare. For instance, we are told,
Jihad is the distinction of the Believer and his honour. For the followers of Islam, Allah has placed in it recognition, protection, blessings and plenty of goodness. Whenever Muslims discharged this obligation, Allah gave them honour and excellence. But, whenever they neglected it, the other nations overwhelmed them and their enemies did not fear them in the least. In spite of wealth, means and luxury, sinful life and great numbers they were disgraced and defeated. This is Allah's decree for them and this is what history reveals for us.وَكَأَيِّنْ مِنْ نَبِيٍّ قَاتَلَ مَعَهُ رِبِّيُّونَ كَثِيرٌ فَمَا وَهَنُوا لِمَا أَصَابَهُمْ فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ وَمَا ضَعُفُوا وَمَا اسْتَكَانُوا وَاللَّهُ يُحِبُّ الصَّابِرِينَ"And how many a prophet [fought and] with him fought many religious scholars. But they never lost assurance due to what afflicted them in the cause of Allah, nor did they weaken or submit. And Allah loves the steadfast." - [QS.3:146]
We also learn from this hadith that when a selection is made for an important undertaking, the selectees must be capable in all respects for the responsibility placed on them. They must concentrate fully on the duties assigned to them. Jihad, in particular, is not possible without whole-hearted dedication. Yusha' bin Noon had, therefore, barred such people from participation in jihad as had other things on mind and so could not be expected to give exclusive attention to jihad.
This hadith tells us also that a commander of the forces must keep himself aware of the psychology of his warriors and their temperament. It is necessary for him to adopt such means as will encourage his men to be firm-footed on the battle field and fight with concentration. This is what Yusha' did. He did not include those people in his army who were liable to be occupied with family and material problems in the midst of the intensity of war and thus have a bad effect on the morale of the whole army.
It is part of the blessings of jihad that Allah displays His unbelievable Powers whereby He helps His Messengers achieve their aim. We have seen that He answered the supplication of Yusha' and suspended the solar movement to extend hours of daylight. This was, without doubt, the miracle of Yusha'and a great blessing of j ihad. The army was thus enabled to gain victory during the day. Similarly, it was a miracle at the hands of Prophet Yusha' and a blessing of jihad that those who had misappropriated the spoils of war were traced out when Allah revealed to him that they belonged to the tribe of the man with whom he shook hands.
The earlier people were not permitted to use the spoils even though they underwent the rigours of jihad. It is the immense mercy of Allah for the Muslim Ummah when He permits them to use the spoils of war. The spoils are referred to as lawful and pure. Allah says,
And finally, cheating and misappropriation are the worst of crimes and Allah even witholds the reward of such a great effort as jihad if anyone cheats or is mistrustful. This is more marked when spoils of war are involved although cheating is unlawful at all times. It is at its worst in war because there is a share in the booty for every warrior, heir of the martyrs and the Public Treasury, and to cheat is therefore the same as cheating every individual of the nation. The same should apply to state property and cheating in state dealings is a great crime and sin. Hence, those people who misuse the State Exchequer and Public Property fall under this category and are cheaters and mistrustful. And Allah knows best."فَكُلُوا مِمَّا غَنِمْتُمْ حَلالا طَيِّبًا وَاتَّقُوا اللَّهَ إِنَّ اللَّهَ غَفُورٌ رَحِيمٌ"So consume what you have taken of war booty [as being] lawful and good, and fear Allah . Indeed, Allah is Forgiving and Merciful." - [QS.8:69]
وَقَاتِلُوا فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ الَّذِينَ يُقَاتِلُونَكُمْ وَلا تَعْتَدُوا إِنَّ اللَّهَ لا يُحِبُّ الْمُعْتَدِينَ"Fight in the way of Allah those who fight you but do not transgress. Indeed. Allah does not like transgressors." - [QS.2:190]
- Maulana Muhammad Zakaria Iqbal, Stories from the Hadith, Darul Isha'at
- Shaykh ul-Islaam Ahmad ibn Taymiyyah, The Religious and Moral Doctrine of Jihaad, Maktabah Al Ansaar
