A Militia, Not a Standing Army

To fight against the enemies of Allah, the Almighty and Majestic, demanded preparation, so the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) was now preparing the Muslim community and training it, and this training took two forms: one was spiritual training, and the second was physical training, or preparation. This leads into the fourth project, which is the establishment of the Muslim army. The establishment of the masjid has already been covered, the brotherhood has been covered, and the covenant has been covered, and now, number four, the establishment of the army.

To state it that way, though, is not really very accurate, because there were no professional soldiers. This was not a professional army; it was more of a militia, and the linguistic definition of the word militia fits the situation better. The American Dictionary says a militia is a citizen's army, as distinct from a body of professional soldiers, and there were no professional soldiers in the time of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him). Everyone who fulfilled five requirements was expected to participate in jihād fī sabīli Allāh, and these five requirements were: Islam, that is number one. Number two, bulūgh, the age of puberty. Number three, ʿaql, sanity. Number four, to be free of defects that would prevent a person from being able to participate, such as being blind or otherwise handicapped. And number five, financial ability, because the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) did not have the ability to sponsor every fighter as a government would sponsor its army — they had to finance themselves. Also, the same dictionary says that a militia is the whole body of physically fit male civilians, eligible by law, for military service. So the word militia suits it more than the word army.