The Sariyyah of ʿAbdullāh ibn Jaḥsh

Then there is another sariyyah that happened, and this sariyyah is quite important because of its consequences: the sariyyah of ʿAbdullāh ibn Jaḥsh (may Allah be pleased with him). This was a small group of Companions who were sent out to pursue a caravan belonging to Quraysh. ʿAbdullāh ibn Jaḥsh, the leader of this sariyyah, was handed a letter by the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him). That letter was sealed, and the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) told ʿAbdullāh ibn Jaḥsh not to open it until after two days. He told him to go to such and such a place, and after two days, to open the letter and read it.

ʿAbdullāh ibn Jaḥsh opened the letter after two days, and it stated that he should go to such and such a place, and this place was between Makkah and al-Ṭāʾif, and that he should ask the members of his sariyyah to follow him, but make it voluntary on them. So this was a voluntary sariyyah — he asked them whether they wanted to join him or not. Probably the reason was that this was quite a risky operation: these men were going deep into the territory of the disbelievers, between Makkah and al-Ṭāʾif. So now the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) was not raiding a caravan passing next to Madīnah, because the route from Makkah to Syria passes next to Madīnah, giving the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) the opportunity to intersect those caravans. Now he was going after the caravans of Quraysh which were between Makkah and al-Ṭāʾif. So this was quite risky, and they would be quite far away from their base in Madīnah. So the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) made this a voluntary sariyyah. ʿAbdullāh ibn Jaḥsh told the members of the sariyyah what the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) had said: "I am going to go, and whoever wants to follow me, it is up to you." So it was voluntary on all of them, including ʿAbdullāh ibn Jaḥsh. They all said, "We are willing to go with you, we are going to go" — because ʿAbdullāh ibn Jaḥsh told them, "Whoever wants to stay and stand back, and whoever wants to go and possibly die, is welcome to come." They saw it as quite a risky operation. They said they were all willing to die in the path of Allah, they were going to go with him. So none of them stayed behind.

This can be contrasted with all of the news of soldiers defecting from their armies: some people are forced to fight, while some people volunteer for it, and this shows the difference between when somebody is doing something for the sake of this world, for greed or for the expansion of territory or for power, compared to when somebody is doing something virtuous for the sake of Allah, the Almighty and Majestic. This again shows the difference between fighting for the sake of Allah and fighting for other reasons, as already noted: all war is evil, except if it is fought for the sake of Allah, the Almighty and Majestic. So here, they all volunteered to go.