This article will be discussing the authenticity of the statement that Muhammad spoke of “greater jihad” vs. “lesser jihad,” with jihad against the self being “greater” and jihad against the infidels being “lesser.”
This statement has become rather popular in recent years, being promoted by modern apologists such as Craig Considine who quoted Muhammad as saying: “The jihad of the self (struggle against the personal self)” in answer to the question “What is the major jihad?”. It was also promoted in Yahiya Emericks The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Understanding Islam (2002). This claim also appears in ‘Umdat al-Salik or Reliance of the Traveler in section 09.0 Jihad, and Sunni Islam’s leading interpreters at Al-Azhar University in Cairo, Egypt, declared in 1991 this manual on Islamic law from the Shafi’i school of jurisprudence a reliable guide.
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Narration 1: Marfu report from Bayhaqis Kitab al-Zuhd Kabir
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For the most part, a reference is never actually given for the origin of the hadith that quotes Muhammad as saying this. However the origin of the quote appears to be from four different sources. The first is from the hadith collection of Kitab Al-Zuhd Kabir By Imam Bayhaqi, Hadith number 373. It reads:
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Narrated Jabir Bin Abdullah: a detachment of warriors came to the Messenger of Allah and he said, “you have reached that which is best, having come from the lesser Jihad to the greater Jihad”. They said: “what is the greater Jihad”? He said: “to strive against ones evil inclinations”
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Al-Bayhaqi after recording this hadith says: “This is a chain containing weakness”. Al-iraqi confirms this in Al-Mughni ‘an Haml al-Asfar (Riyadh: Maktabah al-Tabariyyah, 1995), 2:709; no.2584. Ibn Hajar states that three narrators in the chain, namely ‘Isa b. Ibrahim, Yahya ibn al-`Ala, and yayth b. Abi Sulaym are weak in Takhrij al-Kashshaf (Beirut: Dar al-Turath al-‘Arabi, 1997), 4:114; no.33. Ibn Rajab deemed it weak in Jami‘ al-‘Ulum wa’l-Hikam (Beirut: Mu’assasah al-Risalah, 1998), 1:489. Al-Qari recorded the hadith in his book of weak and fabricated hadith in al-Asrar al-Marfu‘ah (Beirut: al-Maktab al-Islami, 1986), no.211. As-Suyuti also did the same in al-Durar al-Muntathirah (Riyadh: University of Riyadh, 1983), no.245. Ibn Taymiyyah deemed it as having “no basis”. Al-Albani rejected the narration. Ibn Uthaymeen said it is “very weak or fabricated”. Gibril haddad endorses the view of Ibn Hajar that it contains weak narrators. Muhammad Munajjid of Islamqa said “this hadith is not Sahih”
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Narration 2: Marfu report from Tarikh Al-Baghdadi
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Another narration with similar wording appears in Tarikh al Baghdadi 13/493, once again attributed from Muhammad by Jabir Abdullah:
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Narrated Jabir: the Prophet, at the time he returned from a battle said: ‘We have all just returned to the best of places, and you have returned from the lesser Jihad to strive in the greater Jihad’. The companions asked: ‘What is the greater Jihad masulullaah?’ He answered: ‘The Jihad of someone against his desires’.”
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This is also a very weak hadith as it also contains Yahya ibn al-`Ala, a narrator mentioned above as one of the narrators rejected by Ibn Hajar in the hadith of Bayhaqi. Omar Shah in a study of 125 weak and fabricated hadith, on page 219 quotes a plethora of scholars who outright condemned Yahna. Al-Bayhaqi states that “he forges hadith”. Ad-Darqutni stated that “his hadith are renounced”. Amru Bin Ali and Al-Nasa’i said the same. Ibn Adil said “his hadith are false”. Ibn Hajar said: “he was accused of forging hadith”. Dhahabi said: “Abu Hatim said that he is not a strong narrator” and Ibn Maeen deemed him weak.
There is another narrator in the chain who is considered weak: Khalaf bin Muhammad bin Ismail al Khiyam. Al-Khateeb al-Baghdadi deems the hadith daif because of him. Al-Hakim said: “his hadith are unreliable”. Abu Ya’la said: “he often adulterates, is very weak and narrates unknown hadith”. Furthermore, Al-Hakim and Ibnu Abi Zur’ah stated in Mizanul I’tidal 1/662: “We often write statements from Khalaf bin Muhammad bin Ismail only as an example, and we remove ourselves of responsibility from him.”
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Narration 3: mawquf report from Sharh Hadith Labbayk without an Isnad
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Ibn Rajab attributes something similar in wording to `Abd Allah ibn `Amr ibn al-`As, a companion of Muhammad in Sharh Hadith Labbayk p. 128 but without any chain or reference, thus making this a weak narration.
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Narration 4: maqtu report from Siyaru A’laamin Nubala
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This is generally considered the most authentic of the four narrations on this issue. This narration is traced to Ibrahim b. Abi ‘Abla, and it was accepted as such by Ibn Rajab in Jami‘ al-‘Ulum wa’l-Hikam (Beirut: Mu’assasah al-Risalah, 1998), 1:489 and Nasa’i as Ibn Hajar stated in Takhrij al-Kashshaf (Beirut: Dar al-Turath al-‘Arabi, 1997).
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“You have returned from the lesser Jihad so is the greater Jihad you intend to do Jihad of the heart?”
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However, Daruqutni states that while Ibrahim bin Abi Ablah himself is believable, the chain of transmission is broken. [Siyaru A’laamin Nubala 6/324]. As a result of that, the statement above cannot be attributed to Ibrahim bin Abi Ablah unless the chain of transmission is authentic.
So to summarise, 4 hadiths exist on this topic and all of them are weak with the following scholars rejecting it:
1. Al-Bayhaqi
2. Al-Iraqi
3. Ibn Hajar
4. Abu Hatim
5. Al-Hakim
6. Ibn Taymiyyah
7. Al-Darqutni
8. Ibn Uthaymeen
9. Al-Albani
10. Ad-Dhahabi
11. Ibn Maeen
12. Gibril Haddad
13. Ibn Rajab
14. As-Suyuti
15. Al-Qari
16. Ibn Adil
17. Al-Nasa’i
18. Amru Bin Ali
19. Al-Khateeb Al-Baghdadi
20. Abu Ya’la
21. Ibnu Abi Zur’ah
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