Assalamu alaikum
Please note I am not doing this to ridicule anyone but just trying to share with what I read and heard so we can all understand our religion better. I hope no one takes offence.
I could not help but reading your poat brother/sister that you mentioned about the Prophet (Sal Allaahu Alayhi wa Sallam) talking about return from the greater jihad to the lesser jihad. I don't think the hadith you mentioned in authentic because from I book that I have called The Book of Jihad and I quote.
A man asked the Prophet: What is Jihad? He (s.a.w) replied: “To fight against the disbelievers when you meet them (on the battlefield).” The man asked: “What kind of Jihad is the highest?” He (s.a.w) replied: “The person who is killed whilst spilling the last of his blood”
The classification of Jihad, such as that given above, is based upon a Hadith which states that at the time Rasulullaah ( صلى الله عليه وسلم ) returned home from the field of warfare he said: “We have all returned from Jihad Asghar to Jihad Akbar.” Some companions asked: “What is Jihad Akbar Rasulullaah?” He replied: “Jihad against the desires.”
That therefore is the proof for the case proposed by many people.
Al 'Iraqy in Takhriju AHadithil Ihya' states: “The mentioned Hadith is related by Imam Baihaqi with a da'if Sanad (weak chain of narrators) from Jabir”388.
Apart from the Hadith related by Imam Baihaqi there is also a Hadith related by Al-Khatib Al-Baghadadi from Jabir, which states: “the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم ), at the time he returned from a battle said: 'We have all just returned to the best of places, and you have returned from Jihad Asghar (the lesser Jihad) to strive in Jihad Akbar (the greater Jihad)'. The companions asked: 'What is Jihad Akbar Rasulullaah?' He answered: 'The Jihad of someone against his desires'.”389
It turns out that this Hadith is weak because within its Sanad there is a narrator by the name of Khalaf bin Muhammad bin Ismail al Khiyam who according to Al-Hakim: “His Hadiths are unreliable.” And Abu Ya'la al Khalili says: “He often adulterates, is very weak and narrates unknown Hadith.”390
Al-Hakim and Ibnu Abi Zur'ah state: “We often write statements from Khalaf bin Muhammad bin Ismail only as an example, and we remove ourselves of responsibility from him.”391
FALSE
And even more doubtful than that, there is within the Sanad of this Hadith a narrator by the name of Yahya bin Al Ula Al Bajili who according to Imam Ahmad is a known Kadhdhaab -liar-, and forger of Hadith. Also,
Amru bin Ali, An Nasai and Daruqutni state: “His Hadith are renounced.” Ibnu Adi states: “His Hadith are false.”392
Ibnu Taimiyyah states: “There is a Hadith related by a group of people which states that the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم ) said after the battle of Tabuk: 'We have returned from Jihad Asghar to Jihad Akbar'. This hadith has no source, nobody whomsoever in the field of Islamic Knowledge has narrated it. Jihad against the disbelievers is the most noble of actions, and moreover it is the most important action for the sake of mankind.”393.
Furthermore, besides the two stated weak Hadiths, there is the statement of a Tabi'i by the name of Ibrahim bin Abi Ablah to people who had returned from battle, which states: “You have returned from Jihad Asghar so is the Jihad Akbar you intend to do Jihad ul qalbi (Jihad of the heart)?”394
Daruqutni states that Ibrahim bin Abi Ablah himself is believable but the chain of transmission is broken395.
As a result of that, the statement above cannot be attributed to Ibrahim bin Abi Ablah unless the chain of transmission is authentic. And were we to establish that his statement is really valid, we must understand that he was a normal human being who may have occasionally said something imperfect. He was not infallible.
The Highest Level
On the basis of the above statements we can conclude by saying, that the evidence used as proof or the basis for establishing that Jihad against disbelievers on the battlefield is Jihad Asghar and Jihad against the desires and Shaitaan is Jihad Akbar, are weak if not false Hadith. Besides that the stated Daliil (evidence) are in opposition to Sahih Hadith, such as the ones below:
Hadith narrated by Imam Muslim396 from Abu Hurairah (r.a.a), who said:
The Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم ) was asked: “O Rasulullaah! What deed could be an equivalent of Jihad Fi Sabilillaah?” He answered: “You do not have the strength to do that deed.” The narrator said: They repeated
the question twice or thrice. Every time he answered: “You do not have the strength to do it.” When the question was asked for the third time, he said: “One who goes out for Jihad is like a person who keeps fasts, stands in prayer (constantly), (obeying) Allah's (behests contained in) the Aayah (of the Qur'an), and does not exhibit any lassitude in fasting and praying until the Mujahid returns from Jihad Fi Sabilillaah.”
There is also a Hadith narrated by Bukhari397 from Abu Hurairah (r.a.a) , who said: A man came to Allah's Messenger (صلى الله عليه وسلم ) and said, “Guide me to such a deed as equals Jihad (in reward).” He replied, “I do not find such a deed.” Then he added, “Can you, while the Mujahid has gone for Jihad, enter your mosque to perform Salat without cease and observe Saum without breaking it?” The man said, “But who can do that?”.
388 [Risalah Jihad, Hasan al-Banna]
389 [Tarikh al Baghadadi 13/493]
390 [Mashariul 'Ashwaq ila Masuril 'Ushshaq 1/31]
391 [Mizanul I'tidal 1/662] - 174 -
392 [Refer: Tahdhibut Tahdhib 11/261-262]
393 [Refer: Al Furqan baina Auliyair Rahman wa Auliyaisy Shaitaan, matter 44-45]
394 [refer: Siyaru A'laamin Nubala 6/325]
395 [Siyaru A'laamin Nubala 6/324]
396 [Hadith No. 4636]
- 175 -
I also also heard Sheik Feiz and Imam Anwar Al-awlaki say in their lectures say that this hadith is unauthentic.
Please someone if I have made a mistake correct me.
