of Allah.” He said, “What if he does not desist?” He said, “Seek the assistance of the Muslims around you against him.” He said, “What if there are no Muslims around me?” He said, “Seek the assistance of the authorities against him.” He said, “What if the authorities are far from me?” He said, “Fight in defense of your property until you become one of the martyrs of the Hereafter, or until you protect your property.”

Al-Nasāʾī recorded it (3544), as did al-Bayhaqī (8/336) and Aḥmad (5/294 and 294–295). I say: its chain of transmission is good. *

3248—(Is the cause of Allah confined only to one who is killed?! Whoever strives to support his parents is in the cause of Allah; whoever strives to support his dependants is in the cause of Allah; whoever strives for himself in order to preserve his chastity is in the cause of Allah; and whoever strives for worldly accumulation is in the cause of Satan. In another wording: the tāghūt [false deity].)

Al-Bazzār recorded it in his Musnad (2/370/1871—al-Kashf), as did al-Ṭabarānī in al-Muʿjam al-Awsaṭ (1/254/4372); and through his route, Abū Nuʿaym in al-Ḥilyah (6/196–197), and al-Bayhaqī in al-Sunan (9/25) and al-Shuʿab (6/412/8711 and 7/299/10377), through Aḥmad ibn ʿAbd Allāh: Riyāḥ ibn ʿAmr narrated to us: Ayyūb narrated to us, from Muḥammad ibn Sīrīn, from Abū Hurayrah, who said:

While we were sitting with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), a young man came out toward us from the mountain pass. When we saw him—or, in another narration, cast our eyes upon him—we said, “If only this young man would devote his youth, energy, and strength to the cause of Allah!” The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) heard what we said and said: … Then he mentioned it. The wording is al-Bayhaqī’s; al-Ṭabarānī said: