The army is divided into two parts:

1) The Reserves: They consist of all the Muslims who are able to perform the military tasks.

2) The Regulars: They are permanent conscripts in the armed forces who receive salaries from the State’s funds just like any other employees.

This is derived from the obligation of Jihad, for verily every Muslim is commanded to perform his duty of Jihad, and obliged to train for it. Therefore all the Muslims represent the (army) reserves. As for making part of them into the army, this is based on the Shar’ai principle that states: “That which is necessary to accomplish a duty is itself a duty”. This is because the duty of Jihad cannot be constantly carried out and Islam and Muslims cannot be protected from the Kuffar, except with 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 just like other employees, which is evident. A non-Muslim is not required to perform Jihad, but if He did it would be acceptable from him, then it would be permitted to pay Him for it and to allocate funds for him. This is due to what At-Tirmithi narrated from Az-Zuhri that the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) allocated shares to some of the Jews who fought with him. Also Ibn Hisham narrated that Safwan bin Umayya went on an expedition with the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) to Hunain whilst He was still a mushrik, so the Prophet (pbuh) gave to Him like He gave to the Mu’allafati Qulubuhum (new Muslims) from the spoils of Hunain. It was also narrated in the Seerah of Ibn Hisham; “There was amongst us a strange man, nobody knew who He was, it is said that He was Kuzman. The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said when his name was mentioned to him,

‘Indeed He is of the people of fire.’ He said,

‘At the day of Uhud, Kuzman fought so strongly that He alone killed seven to eight of the mushrikeen…’” This is in addition to what was reported about Safwan. These evidences indicate that a Kafir can be with the Islamic army and be given property or money for his service. The definition of ‘Ijara’ or hiring as being a contract over a benefit means that hiring is allowed for every benefit that the hiring person can receive from the hired person. So the hiring of a person for the army and fighting is allowed because it is a benefit. Thus, the general evidence of hiring over any benefit or benefits is valid for allowing hiring of a Kafir for the Army, or for 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 the army and to fight because of the general evidence of hiring where hiring is allowed for carrying out the 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.” [Narrated by Bukhari on the authority of Ibn Abbaas] Teaching the book of Allah is a worship and since it is allowed to hire a Muslim to teach the Qur’an, lead the prayer, or give Azaan, which are all acts of worship, it is also allowed to hire a Muslim to do Jihad and be in the army. Moreover, there is evidence for the hiring of Muslims for Jihad even though it is a duty upon them. Abu Dawood narrated that ‘Abdullah bin ‘Umar said that the Prophet (pbuh) said; “Al-Ghazi has his own Ajr and Al-Ja’il has his own Ajr and the Ajr of the Al-Ghazi.” Al-Ghazi is a person who fights for him. Al-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-Muheet, 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 with a wage. Ajr is both the wage (Ujrah) and reward (Thawab). As for what is well known among people that ‘Ajr always means the reward which comes from Allah (swt) to His servant for doing a good deed and that ‘Ijara’ is the reward for an action from one person to another which includes ‘Ajeer’ or labour. In fact, there is no support for this differentiation. Rather what the language indicated is that the Ajr is the reward for an action. It came in the dictionary Al-Muheet that Al-’ajr is the reward on the action, like the Ijara. The meaning of the Hadith is that Al-Ghazi (fighter) has his own reward while the Ja’il has his own reward and the reward of the one whom He hired to fight on his behalf. Here the word Ghazi, (the fighter) indicates that what is meant by Ajr is reward (Thawab), and the word Al-Ja’il indicates that Ajr means reward (Thawab) as well, because these two words (Ghazi and Ja’il) are both the indication (Qareena) that decides the intended meaning. Al-Bayhaqi narrated on the authority of Jubayr bin 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 Musa who breastfed her son and got her reward (Ajr).’” Ajr here means the wage. Furthermore, performing Jihad is not limited to those who seek nearness to Allah (swt) (Ahl-ul-Qurba), so it is proper to employ people to do Jihad, and pay them salaries like other employees.

The armed forces are one entity that is the army. Special divisions that are specially organised and given a particular culture are selected from amongst the army, and they are called the police force.

It is confirmed that the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) used the army as his armed forces, and He (pbuh) selected a section or a division to perform the duties of the police. So He (pbuh) prepared the army, led it and also appointed Ameer to be in the command of the army. Al-Bukhari narrated from Anas that He said; “Qays Ibnu Sa’d used to be to the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) like the man of Shurta (police) to the Ameer.” This refers to Sa’d Ibnu Ubadah Al-Ansari Al-Khazraji. Al-Tirmithi narrated the Hadith as; “Qays Ibnu Sa’d was to the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) like the man of Shurta (police) to the Ameer.” Al-Ansari said; “It means that He takes charge of the affairs of the Ameer.’’ Ibnu Hayyan interpreted this Hadith by saying; “This was a precaution from the Messenger (pbuh) against the Mushrikeen in case they entered his court.” The Shurta (police) is also that which comes ahead of the army. Al-Azhari said; “The Shurta of something would be the best part of it, and the Shurta are the elite of the army. It is also said that they are the group who come ahead of the army, and they were called the Shurta because of the distinctive signs they had and the uniforms they wore.” This meaning is chosen by Al-Asm’i. All this serves as evidence that the Shurta (Police) are part of the armed forces, and that it is the Khaleefah who appoints the chief of police as He appoints the Ameer of the army, and that the Shurta (police) is part of the army. Whether the police are to be a part of the army, or to be left independent from it is a matter left to the Khaleefah to decide. It is, however, understood from the Hadith that the chief of police is appointed to deal with that which comes to the Imam, similar to that of the ruler. He would be in charge of forming an armed force, ready to execute the orders of the Imam or the ruler in whatever matter they need to be executed and to prevent any danger that may affect or undermine the safety of the Imam. It is understood linguistically as well, that the Shurta (police) is an army division with its own emblem that comes ahead of the army. As for the Shurta that comes ahead of the army, it is known as the military police, this is undoubtedly part of the army. As for the police, which is at the disposal of the ruler, there is no indication they must form part of the army as their function is to be at the disposal of the ruler. However, there are other indications that they are part of the armed forces of the State. Therefore, the Khaleefah is allowed to make it part of the army or a force separate from it. Nevertheless, since the armed forces were considered as a single entity in terms of their appointment by the Khaleefah, their link with Him and in the receiving of their orders, then dividing them into an army and a police force would weaken their access to the same weaponry and military equipment by keeping the police constantly preoccupied with the ordinary issues facing the ruler. Therefore, it would be better for the armed forces to be a single entity so that access to the same weaponry remains strong for all the armed forces, by following the same regulations regarding the preparation for Jihad. Therefore, the armed forces are the army from which some units would be selected to perform the task of policing, whilst remaining part of the army. Other units would then replace these units after a while. This would ensure that the ability of all the armed forces to perform Jihad remains the same and ready at all times.

The Shurta are charged to keep order, supervise internal security and carry out all executive matters. This is due to the Hadith of Anas mentioned before saying that the Messenger (pbuh) had taken Qays bin Sa’d before Him in his capacity as the leader of the police. This indicates that the Shurta or the Police usually work before the ruler i.e., they carry out or implement what the ruler requires, e.g., implementing Shari’ah, maintaining order, providing security, carrying out patrols at night to chase away thieves, arrest corrupt people and those with evil intentions in society. ‘Abdullah bin Mas’ood used to be the Ameer of the patrols by night at the time of Abu Bakr. ‘Umar bin al-Khattab used to carry night patrols by himself, and He used to have in his company his servant and sometimes ‘Abdul Rahman bin ‘Awf. Therefore, what is done in some Islamic countries where people have to appoint guards for their homes and shops to guard them at night, or when the State appoints guards at the cost of the people is wrong. This is because it is basically night patrol that is the duty of the State and the function of the police, so the people should not take charge of that nor bear its expenses.

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 name of provinces or the districts, for example the army of Ash-Sham, the army of Egypt or the army of Sana’a.

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 would be mobile camps that would be in constant movement and would 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.

These arrangements may be of the Mubah such as naming the armies after the names of the Wilayaat or giving them special numbers, so it is left to the opinion of the Khaleefah and his Ijtihad. There may also be matters that are necessary to protect the country and to strengthen the army such as placing the armies in camps, putting some of these camps in all the Wilayaat and placing them in strategic places to protect the country.

‘Umar bin Al-Khattab distributed the camps of the army over all the Wilayaat so He made Palestine as one unit and Al-Mosul as one unit. 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.