Allaah Ta’ala says:
وَأَعِدُّوا لَهُمْ مَا اسْتَطَعْتُمْ مِنْ قُوَّةٍ وَمِنْ رِبَاطِ الْخَيْلِ تُرْهِبُونَ بِهِ عَدُوَّ اللَّهِ وَعَدُوَّكُمْ وَآخَرِينَ مِنْ دُونِهِمْ لا تَعْلَمُونَهُمُ اللَّهُ يَعْلَمُهُمْ وَمَا تُنْفِقُوا مِنْ شَيْءٍ فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ يُوَفَّ إِلَيْكُمْ وَأَنْتُمْ لا تُظْلَمُونَ
“Against them make ready your strength to the utmost of your power, including steeds of war, to strike terror into (the hearts of) the enemies, of Allaah and your enemies, and others besides, whom ye may not know, but whom Allaah doth know. Whatever ye shall spend in the cause of Allaah, shall be repaid unto you, and ye shall not be treated unjustly.” (Qur'an :Al-Anfal:60)
The Duty Of Every Muslim Is To Preach The Kalimah Of Tawheed
“Invite (all) to the Way of thy Lord with wisdom[1] and beautiful preaching; and argue with them in ways that are best and most gracious: for thy Lord knoweth best, who have strayed from His Path, and who receive guidance.” (QS An-Nahl: 125)
[1] Wisdom: are firm and right words that can distinguish between the haq(truth) and bathil (falsehood).
However, when da'wah towards the way of the Lord is hindered or even fought against, then Jihad is what would transpire.
“Fight in the cause of Allah those who fight you, but do not transgress limits; for Allaah loves not the transgressors.” (Qur'an:Al-Baqarah: 190)
"And fight them on until there is no more Tumult or oppression, and there prevail justice and faith in Allaah. but if they cease, Let there be no hostility except to those who practise oppression.” (QS Al-Baqarah: 193)
There are times when the jihad of the women is to go on hajj (pilgrimage) or umrah.
From ‘Aishah Radliyallaahu ‘anha (RA): I said: “O Rasulullah, are the women obligated to go for jihad?” He answered: “Yes, the jihad that have no war in it, i.e. hajj and umrah.” Riwaayah Ibnu Majah and its origins is the Book of Bukhari.
But sometimes, inevitably, women are also affected by the obligation to participate in jihad fie sabilillah.
Rasulullah SAW included the participation of women in battles. They treated injured people. Rasulullah (SAW) never gave them a part of the war spoils but give them from the surplus (remnants) of the distribution. (HR. Muslim)
Ibnu Qadamah Al-Hanbali said: the preconditions of the people affected by the obligation of jihad are seven i.e. Islam, baligh (in adulthood), sane, free, male, no fatal physical defect and the availability of monetary resources (funds). (Al-Mughni 10/366) Then, he added these requirements; the parental consent and permission to the debtor from the creditor. (Al-Mughni 10/381).
All the nine requirements apply in the state of jihad that is fardhu kifayah, if jihad is upgraded to fardhu 'ain, then the four preconditions would be dropped i.e. free, male, parental consent and permission to the debtor from the creditor. Therefore, the preconditions during the jihad that is fardhu 'ainare only five; Islam, baligh, sane, free from fatal physical defect and the availability of funds. Here, even the requirement of the availability of funds will be dropped when the enemies are attacking into the country (invasion).
All these preconditions have been set by the fuqaha (jurists) of the various recognized madzhabs, such as from the madzhab of Hanafi Alauddin Al-Kasani whom issued the fatwa: When the calls for battle are cried out as a result of the enemies' invasion of the country, it becomes fardhu `ain, obligatory upon every head of the Muslims, who fulfill the preconditions, based on the verses of Allah, “Go ye forth, (whether equipped) lightly or heavily,” (QS At-Tauba : 41). Hence, the slave goes to war without the permission of his master, THE WIFE WITHOUT HER HUSBAND'S CONSENT, as well as the child without his parent's permission. (Nihayatul Muhtaj 8/85) Fatwas that support this are plentiful.
From the above fatwa, we can know that there are times when jihad becomes fardhu ‘ain for every individual, inclusive of the women (whether they are still single or already married). Women had been plunging into the arena of jihad, also triggered by the fact that sometimes the enemy forces had female soldiers who waged war against the Muslimahs. Then inevitably, the women of the Islamic ummah must also participate to become the defence fortress of the Muslimahs by fending off the attacks of the soldiers from the kafir, murtadin or munafiqeen women, or any others who are attacking the Muslimahs or children, apart from their duties in treating the wounded as the Messenger of Allah had said as above.
Sometimes, the thaghut are tyrannizing; intimidating the Muslim women when their husbands, parents or the Muslim men are not there to protect them. There are also times when the Muslimeen are cornered by the attacks of the enemies, which requires the Muslimahs to come down to the arena of jihad, protecting their wounded siblings or the Muslims generally, and fight to the best of their abilities; defending their religion and for the sake of implementing the words of Rasulullah below:
From Sa’id bin Zaid RA, he said: Rasulullah SAW said, which means:“Whoever is killed while guarding his/her property is shaheed, whoever is killed while defending him/herself is shaheed, whoever is killed while defending his/her religion is shaheed, and whoever dies protecting his/her family is (also) shaheed.” (HR. Abu Dawud and Tirmidzi).
In these conditions, the Muslimahs, whether they like it or not, must have some skills and abilities to defend themselves, within the capacity that they possess, to deal with the period when their participations are required in the jihad arena or in all of the conditions described above. For that reason, women also need to do i`dad (with whichever military skills they are capable of) so that if at a later date when encountering or having to face situations like these, they can protect themselves or even the other Muslims.
“You must learn archery, because archery is among your best games.” (HR. Bazzar and Thabrani)
Rasulullah SAW also said: “Hurl your arrows, I am with you .” ( Bukhari)
In the same manner as the Sahabiyyah during the time of Nubuwwah, Nasibah binti Kaab who was known as Ummu Imarah. She also took part in battles. She related, “In the battle of Uhud, while carrying water, I came out a bit noon and saw the Mujahideens, until I found Rasulullah SAW. Meanwhile, I saw the forces of the Muslims turning topsy-turvy. So I approached Rasulullah while joining in the fight, shielding him with my sword and shooting with my arrows at times. I was wounded, but when Rasulullah SAW was cornered and Ibnu Qamiah was about to kill him, I shielded him along with Mus’ab bin Umair. I tried to strike Ibnu Qamiah with my sword, but he was wearing iron protectors and he managed to strike me on the shoulder till I got wounded”. Rasulullah SAW later commented, “Every time I looked at my left and right, I found Ummu Imarah shielding me in the battle of Uhud.” Ummu Imarah was so tough.
May the Muslimahs in this time of khalaf be able to become like Umm Imarah RA. Aamiin Yaa MuujibasSaailin.(Adapted from : Al Umdah fii i’dadil Uddah – Shaykh: Abdul Qadir Abdul Aziz Fakkallahu asrahu)
