weak but righteous—which of the two should one go to war with (1)? He replied: “As for the strong but morally corrupt man, his strength benefits the Muslims, while his moral corruption harms only himself. As for the righteous but weak man, his righteousness benefits only himself, while his weakness harms the Muslims. One should go to war with the strong but morally corrupt man.” The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “Indeed, Allah supports this religion through a morally corrupt man” (2); and it is also narrated: “through people who have no share [in the Hereafter]” (3).
If the strong man is not morally corrupt, he is more deserving of military command than someone more righteous in religion who cannot adequately take his place.
For this reason, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) appointed Khālid ibn al-Walīd to military command from the time he embraced Islam, and said: “Khālid is a sword whom Allah has unsheathed against the polytheists” (4), even though at times he would
(1) Manuscript Yā’ reads: “we go to war,” while manuscript Zā’ reads: “he goes to war.”
(2) Reported by al-Bukhārī (3062) and Muslim (111), from Abū Hurayra, may Allah be pleased with him.
(3) It is narrated in this wording from several Companions. The strongest of these reports is the hadith of al-Hasan from Anas, reported by al-Tirmidhī in *al-Ilal al-Kabīr* (2/955–956), al-Bazzār (1721), and al-Tabarānī in *al-Awsat* (1969) and *al-Saghīr* (1/121). Al-Tirmidhī related that al-Bukhārī said: “It is a hasan (good) hadith.”
It was also reported by al-Nasā’ī in *al-Kubrā* (8834), Ibn Hibbān (4517), al-Bazzār (1722), and al-Tabarānī in *al-Awsat* (2758), all through Abū Qilāba, from Anas. Ibn Hibbān and al-Irāqī, in *Takhrīj al-Ihyā’*, graded it authentic, while al-Haythamī said: “Its narrators are trustworthy.”
It was also reported by Ahmad (20454), Ibn Adī in *al-Kāmil* (2/150), and al-Tabarānī, as cited in *al-Majma‘* (5/548), through al-Hasan, from Abū Bakra. Al-Haythamī said: “The narrators in both chains are trustworthy.”
(4) Reported by Ahmad (43), Ibn Abī Āsim in *al-Āhād wa-l-Mathānī* (696), al-Tabarānī (3798), and al-Hākim (3/298), from Abū Bakr, may Allah be pleased with him. Regarding the chains of Ahmad and al-Tabarānī, al-Haythamī said in *al-Majma‘* (9/348): “The narrators in both chains are trustworthy.” It has corroborating reports from several Companions. Al-Bukhārī (4262) also reported from Anas, in the account of Mu’ta: “…until one of the swords of Allah took up the banner, whereupon Allah granted them victory.”