“With all this, it is not desirable that all of the believers take the field [in time of war]. From within every group in their midst, some shall refrain from going forth to war, and shall devote themselves [instead] to acquiring a deeper knowledge of the Faith. and [thus be able to] teach their home-coming brethren, so that these [too] might guard themselves against evil.” (The Quran, 9:122)
Points of Reflection
1. An important principal pertaining jihad can be deduced from the above verse – the inappropriateness for the entire Muslim community to be in battlefield. There must be a few who stays behind and this impresses upon Muslims that Islam’s mission is not limited to armed jihad alone, even though it is a great act of devotion.
2. In the context of dakwah, the verse teaches that dakwah needs multiple approaches and role players.
3. Three dakwah roles can be identified from the verse; fighting in the battlefield, learning about religion and preaching to people. The best Muslim is the one who is capable to combine the three roles in his life.
4. It can also be deduced from the verse a lesson that there should be three groups within a Muslim community; mujahid (fighter), faqih (scholar) and munzir (warner / preacher).
5. The verse teaches Muslim principles of human resource management; a) distribution of labour, and b) work delegation for effective dakwah work.
6. Although Islam endows great reward and status upon a mujahid, it also reminds him that he has a disadvantage compared to those who stay behind i.e. he may have missed the opportunity to deepen his religious knowledge. Therefore, he must be humble to learn the religion from others. A mujahid’s high status in Islam does not make him know all things or an expert in all fields.
