Article from Shaykh Abu Qatadah al-Filistini: "The Importance of Jihadi Media"

All praise be to Allah, prayers and peace be upon the messenger of Allah and those who follow him.

Our Sheikh, the magnificent scholar Abu Qatadah, may Allah protect you, look after you, and guide your footsteps on the path of the truth.

Our dear Sheikh, there are some brothers who work in the media field in the battlefields of Shaam who have forwarded some questions to your eminence and are waiting for a response for them. And may Allah reward you with goodness.

The questions: Our dear Sheikh may Allah protect you and look after you. May peace, mercy and blessings of Allah be upon you.

1) Does the media work in the residence like (editing and designing…etc.) take the reward of the Murabit (the one guarding in a battle) in the path of Allah and what is meant here are the Hadiths which mention the excellence of Ribat (guarding in a battle) such as “Ribat for a day in the path of Allah is better than Qiyam ul Lail (the night prayer) beside the Hajarul Aswad”. And if he is killed in this state, will there be an ongoing reward for him till the day of judgment?

2) Will the brother become sinful if he becomes negligent in his preparation for the media work? And his negligence caused the domination of the media that fights against Jihad or the media of the extremists and of those other than them, and so that negligence led to a number of youth being drawn towards the extremists, so will every one of them be sinful keeping in mind that a lot of brothers stay away from these categories like media and active military developments?

The Sheikh, may Allah protect him replied,

May peace, mercy and blessings of Allah be upon you.

Know my brother in the path of Allah, that indeed from amongst the greatest deed of Jihad and Qitaal (fighting) in the history of Islam and in the history of nations is the media work. It is half of the work for existence and victory. And here is our Messenger, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, instigating Hasan may Allah be pleased with him, to satirize the Mushrikeen while describing his words to be causing more damage than shooting arrows. Muslim narrated in his Sahih that ‘Ayisha may Allah be pleased with her, reported that Allaah’s Messenger may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him said, “Satirise against the (Kuffars of) Quraish, for (the satire) is more grievous to them than the hurt of an arrow”. So he sent for Ibn Rawaha and asked him to satirise against them, and he composed a satire, but it did not appeal to him. He then sent for Ka’b bin Malik (to do the same, but what he composed did not appeal to the Prophet). He then sent someone to Hassan bin Thabit. As he got into his presence, Hassan said: Now you have called for this lion who strikes (the enemies) with his tail. He then brought out his tongue and began to move it and said: By Him Who has sent you with Truth, I shall tear them with my tongue as the leather is torn. Thereupon Allaah’s Messenger may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him said: Don’t be hasty; let Abu Bakr who has the most knowledge of the lineage of the Quraish draw a distinction for you in regard to my lineage, as my lineage is the same as theirs. Hassan then came to him (Abu Bakr) and after making inquiry (in regard to the lineage of the Prophet) came back to him and said: Oh Allaah’s Messenger, he has drawn a distinction in your lineage (and that of the Quraish). By Him Who has sent you with Truth, I shall draw out from them (your name) as hair is drawn out from the flour. ‘A’isha said: I heard Allaah’s Messenger may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him as saying to Hassan: Verily Ruh-ul- Qudus (the holy angel) would continue to help you so long as you put up a defence on behalf of Allaah and His Messenger”. And she said: I heard Allaah’s Messenger may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him saying: Hassan satirised against them and gave satisfaction to the (Muslims) and silenced (the kuffar).

And here he is, commanding Umar Al Farooq to respond to Abu Sufyan after the battle of Uhud and teaching him what to say. Bukhari narrated in his Sahih on the authority of Baraa ibn Aazib, he said: “We met the Mushrikeen on that day (of the battle of Uhud), and the Prophet may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him positioned a batch of archers and made Abdullah the commander over them..” and he said: “….And Abu Sufyan ascended a high place and said, “Is Muhammad present with the people?” The Prophet said, “Do not answer him”. Abu Sufyan said, “Is the son of Abu Quhafa present with the people?” The Prophet said, “Do not answer him”. Abu Sufyan said, “Is the son of Al Khattab present with the people?” The Prophet said, “Do not answer him”. Abu Sufyan said, “All these people have been killed, for if they were alive, they would have responded”. At that instance, Umar could not help saying, “You have lied, Oh enemy of Allah! Allah has made to remain what will grieve you”. Abu Sufyan said, “Hubal has become high”. On that the Prophet may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him said “Reply to him”. They asked, “What should we say?” He replied, “Say, Allah is higher and more exalted”. Abu Sufyan said “We have (the idol) Uzza and there is no Uzza for you”. The Prophet said may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him “Reply to him”. They asked, “What should we say?” He said, “Say: Allah is our patron and you have no patron”. Abu Sufyan said, “(This is) a day in revenge for Badr. And victory in battle comes in turns. You will see some of your dead men mutilated, but neither did I command for this action, nor am I sorry for it.”

And here he is, setting up his Minbar (pulpit) for his poet to say about him and Islam the word of truth. So towards where are they going, those who have abandoned these mighty deeds without paying attention to it?

Indeed from amongst the greatest obligations on the leader is to set aside even if by force, men who will support the truth through speeches just as the fighter establishes the truth by his rifle. And if Jihad was void of this great action, we would not have been able to clarify ourselves nor to reply to our enemies, nor would we have been able to recruit the youth and men who would fill the battlefields and the front lines.

Indeed this is an obligatory work which is based on sufficiency (in numbers), and if the people in Jihad neglected this, then all of them without any exception will be held sinful. It is the equivalent of Jihad and Qitaal (fighting), and it is from Jihad. The Arabs used to hire a singer during journeys, and it was done by the Messenger of Allah may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him. And that is the reason for him saying, “Oh Anjasha, drive slowly (the camels) with the glass vessels (ie. the women)”. Bukhari narrated in Sahih on the authority of Anas bin Malik, “The Messenger may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him was in a journey, and he had with him a black slave who was called Anjasha, who was chanting (singing). So the Prophet may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him said to him, “Beware, oh Anjasha! Drive slowly (the camels) with the glass vessels (women)”. So if men and animals in their journey are in need of that which strengthens them by singing, then does not Jihad need that which strengthen its heart by transmitting the authentic news and scenes which strengthen the heart, and the messages which will make the soul firm?

Then what can be of greater reward than the one who inspires and defends the fighter and spreads his news which brings joy to the Muslim public when listening to his news! Indeed a lot of the truth which the Mujahid works for with his action and knowledge, truly and honestly will be lost and its effect would disappear if it did not have battalions of truth behind him that write about them, and support them. And by Allah! If I say that these people will have a greater reward than many of the Mujahideen who are present in the battlefields, then I would not have exaggerated nor been sinful.

Indeed a lot of our efforts will definitely get wasted and will be stolen by the others if there are no battalions of the media that document them and take them up and spread them with truth and certainty.

And indeed a lot of the lies which we are accused of cannot be fought back except by the strength of the speech and informing the people about it.

And indeed a lot of the youth of Islam will be stolen from us because of the strength of the enemy’s misguided, innovative or Kafir media.

And indeed, how much will we be deprived of the prayers of the sincere ones due to them not knowing our news!

And indeed a lot of the souls will be elevated and be delighted if the people are delighted with their news, and so their souls would rise up to give more offerings, efforts and sacrifices. And when they know that their efforts are being preserved and are moving towards their destination by the support of the truthful Mujahideen, then their souls would be glad to strive, spend and move forward.

In fact, any negligence in the media battle is greater than the negligence of the one fighting in the battlefield. And indeed the mistakes in the media will bring forth evil fruits more than the mistake in the battlefields.

By Allah, the one who stays awake at night doing this work is certainly equal to the one who stays awake at night guarding his brothers in the front lines and the battlefields. And he has a reward similar to that. And he has the reward of the scholar who stays awake at night to do a research for a matter related to the Shareeah and the religion. And if he dies in it while working sincerely and earnestly hoping for the reward, he will surely be raised with his brothers who died under bombardment and rubbles.

And indeed the eye of this person is like the eye that keeps guard in the path of Allah the Most High.

And I say this as an advice to the leaders of Jihad that if a brother is found with these capabilities and he refuses to accept it and work for it proficiently and with excellence, to prevent him from Jihad and Qitaal (fighting), to stop him from his following his personal interests, because if he abandons what he is good at which will benefit Jihad, and goes for an action that those other than him are good at, then it is from the type of following of personal interests, and not intending the Jihad in the religion.

And may Allah guide all to what He loves and is pleased with.

And praise be to Allah, the Lord of all that exists.