The Prophet ﷺ also said: “In Paradise there are one hundred levels, the distance from one level to the next being like the distance between heaven and earth. Allah has prepared them for those who wage jihad in His cause.” Agreed upon (1).
He ﷺ also said: “Whoever’s feet become dusty in Allah’s cause, Allah will forbid the Fire from touching him.” Narrated by al-Bukhārī (2).
And he said: “A day and night spent guarding the frontier is better than fasting for a month and standing in prayer throughout its nights. If he dies, the reward for the deed he used to perform will continue to accrue to him, his provision will continue to be granted to him, and he will be safe from the trial of the grave.” Narrated by Muslim (3).
It is related in the Sunan collections: “One day spent guarding the frontier in Allah’s cause is better than a thousand days spent anywhere else.” (4)
He ﷺ also said: “Two eyes will not be touched by the Fire: an eye that wept out of fear of Allah, and an eye that spent the night keeping watch in Allah’s cause.” (5) Al-Tirmidhī said: This is a sound hadith.
And in the Musnad of Ahmad (6): “Standing guard for one night in Allah’s cause is better than a thousand nights during which one stands in worship
(1) Its source was cited above (p. 98).
(2) (907), from a hadith narrated by Abū Abs Abd al-Rahmān ibn Jabr (may Allah be pleased with him).
(3) (1913), from a hadith narrated by Salmān (may Allah be pleased with him).
(4) Recorded by Ahmad (470), al-Tirmidhī (1656), al-Nasā’ī (3167), and others through various chains from Zuhrah ibn Ma'bad, from Abū Sālih, the freedman of Uthmān, from Uthmān ibn Affān, reporting the same narration. Al-Tirmidhī said: “It is a hasan sahih gharīb hadith.”
(5) Recorded by al-Tirmidhī (1639), Ibn Abī Āsim in al-Jihād (146), and others, from a hadith narrated by Ibn Abbās (may Allah be pleased with them both). Al-Tirmidhī classified the hadith as hasan. It is corroborated by reports from Anas, Abū Rayhāna, and Uthmān ibn Affān (may Allah be pleased with them).
(6) (433). Also recorded by Ibn Mājah (2766), Ibn Abī Āsim in al-Jihād (150, 151), al-Tabarānī in al-Kabīr (145), al-Hākim (2/81), and others, from a hadith narrated by Uthmān (may Allah be pleased with him). Al-Hākim said: “Its chain of transmission is sound, though al-Bukhārī and Muslim did not record it.” There is disagreement as to whether it is mursal or marfū; in al-Ilal (3/36), al-Dāraqutnī held that the mursal version is the correctly preserved one.