The Institutions of State in the Khilafah by Hizb ut-Tahrir

The army is divided into two parts: The “Reserves”, which consists of all the Muslims who are able to perform the military tasks; and the “regulars” that are permanent conscripts in the armed forces and receive salaries from the State’s funds just like any other employee. .

This is derived from the obligation of Jihad, for verily every Muslim is commanded to perform the duty of Jihad, and hence is obliged to train for it. As for the need to have a regular army, this is based on the Shariah principle which States, ‘That which is necessary to accomplish a duty is itself a duty.’ Since the duty of Jihad cannot be carried out continuously, and Islam and Muslims cannot be protected from the kuffar, except through the presence of a permanent army, the Imam is therefore obliged to have a regular army at his disposal. .

As for the allocation of salaries for the armed forces, it is obvious that they are to be treated like any other employee. A non-Muslim is not required to perform Jihad, but if he did it would be acceptable from him, and it would be permitted to pay him for it and to allocate funds for him. This is due to what Al- Tirmidhi narrated from Al-Zuhri that: .

“The Messenger of Allah (PBUH) sought the services of some of the Jews and he allocated a share to them.” Also Ibn Hisham narrated that: .

“Safwan b. Umayah went on an expedition with the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) to Hunain whilst still a mushrik, and the Prophet ( PBUH) allocated some money for him from the spoils of Hunain from Mu’allafati Qulubihim’s (new converts) share.” [al-Nasa’i, Sunan, #4723].

Thereupon, it is allowed for the disbeliever to fight for the Islamic army, and be given funds because of his presence with them. Moreover, the definition of ‘Imara’ or hiring as being a contract concluded over benefit in return for compensation means that hiring is allowed for every benefit which the employer can receive from the hired person. So hiring a person for the army and fighting is included in such a contract because it is a benefit. Thus, the general evidence of hiring over any benefit is a valid evidence for allowing the hiring of the kuffar for the Army, military service and fighting. .

This is with regards to non-Muslims. As for the Muslims, even though jihad is an act of worship, it is allowed to hire Muslims for military service and fighting because of the general evidence of hiring. Hiring is allowed to accomplish an act of Ibadah if its benefit extends to more than the one who carries it out. .

This is due to the saying of the Prophet (PBUH):. “The most worthy thing to take a wage on is teaching the Book of Allah”, as narrated by Bukhari [Sahih, #5737] on the authority of Ibn ‘Abbas. .

Teaching the book of Allah is worship, and since it is allowed to hire a Muslim to teach the Quran, lead the prayer, or give the Azan, which are all acts of worship, it is also allowed to hire a Muslim to do jihad and partake in military service, as all of these are acts of worship whose benefit extends beyond the one that performs them. Moreover, there is evidence of hiring Muslims for jihad even though it is a duty upon them which has been mentioned explicitly in a hadith. Abu Dawud [Sunan, #2526]. narrated from Abdullah b. Amru, he said that the Prophet (PBUH) said: .

"Al –Ghazi has his own wage and al Ja’il has his own wage and the wage of the Al Ghazi". .

A ‘Ghazi’ is a person who fights for himself. A ‘Ja’il’ is the one who has someone else to fight on his behalf in return for a wage he pays to him. It is indicated in the dictionary of Al-Muhit that “Al-ja’ala is the amount given to someone doing an action; and what is assigned to a Mujahid (Ghazi) if he made jihad on your behalf is also ju’l.” Thus, the hadith indicates that it is allowed for a person to pay a wage for somebody else to fight on his behalf, i.e. it is allowed for a person to be hired for fighting. .

Al –Bayhaqi narrated on the authority of Jubair b. Nufayr who said: .

The Messenger (PBUH) said: .

“Those of my Ummah who fight and take wages, and strengthen themselves against their enemy are like the mother of Moses who breastfed her son and got her reward (ajr).” Ajr here means the wage. Thus, soldiers are given salaries like other civil servants. .

Muslim soldiers would have their reward with Allah in their jihad even if they received salaries. This is due to the hadith of Al-Bukhari, which allows taking wage for teaching the book of Allah, which is an act of worship. This means such a teacher has the reward with Allah (PBUH) in accordance with his intention. .

The Islamic army is one army, consisting of many contingents which can be given numbers such as the first, second etc, or they can be named after the provinces or the districts, for example the army of al-Sham, the army of Egypt or the army of Sana. .

The Islamic army is stationed in special camps, and in every camp there is placed a group of soldiers in one complete unit or part of a unit, or many units. These camps have to be put in all provinces and some of them have to be put in military bases. Some of them will be mobile camps which will be in constant movement and will be massive forces. A name is given to each of these camps, like the camp of Habbaniyah, and for each camp there is a special banner. .

Some arrangements may be of the Mubah, such as, naming the armies after the names of the Wilayaat or giving them special numbers, a matter left to the opinion of the Khalifah and his ijtihad. Other arrangements are matters without which an obligation cannot be performed, such as the necessity to protect the country and to strengthen the army, like placing the armies at the frontiers, and putting some of these camps in all the Wilayaat and in strategic places to protect the country. .

‘Umar b. al-Khattab (ra) distributed the camps of the army over all the Wilayaat. So he positioned one unit in Palestine and one unit in Al-Mosul etc. He used to keep one army unit in the centre of the State and he used to keep one army unit ready to fight at a moment’s notice.