The title Amir ul-Jihad (أَمِير الجِهاد) which literally means the Leader of War, is a grammatical construction (إِضافَة Iḍāfah) mostly used to indicate possession. As a formal title it was not used in the time of the Prophet ﷺ or the Rightly Guided Caliphate. Only the title Amir was used without the appendage for the overall commanders of a battle. It was also used for the commanders of smaller expeditions (sariyya) since the word Amir is a general term for any leader of any function even if it’s over two people. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
إِذَا خَرَجَ ثَلاَثَةٌ فِي سَفَرٍ فَلْيُؤَمِّرُوا أَحَدَهُمْ
“When three are on a journey, they should appoint one of them as their Amir.”[1]
The Prophet ﷺ would give the Amir of any expedition whether a small platoon (faṣīlah) or a large brigade (لِواء liwaʾ) a white flag called a liwaʾ which is the same word as a brigade. This flag is a special flag for the commander of an expedition (sariyya) or campaign, and by extension the commander in-chief of all the armed forces i.e. the caliph. Ryan Lynch says, “the Arabic term amīr is used to refer to a military commander regardless of his position in the chain of command.”[2]
The first liwaʾ to be raised in Islam was for Hamza ibn ‘Abd al-Muttalib in the month of Ramadan, seven months after the hijra of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ where he led an expedition of thirty men. The one who carried the liwaʾ was Abu Marthad Kinaz ibn al-Husayn al-Ghanawi.[3] Thirty men is the size of a modern-day platoon (فصيلة faṣīlah) headed by a Lieutenant (ملازم mulazim).
Abu Huraira narrates that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ sent out an expedition of ten men as spies, and their Amir was Asim bin Thabit al-Ansari.[4] Ten men is the size of a modern-day section (فرقة firqa) headed by a Corporal (عَرِيف‘arif).
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ appointed Zaid ibn Haritha as the Amir of the Expedition to Mut’ah in charge of three thousand men and gave him a white liwaʾ.[5] Three thousand men is the size of a modern-day brigade (liwaʾ) headed by a one-star Brigadier-General (عَمِيد ‘amid).
The title Amir ul-Jihad which some modern structuralists have used within their models originates from Al-Mawardi’s wiliya – The Emirate of Jihad (الْإِمَارَةِ عَلَى الْجِهَادِ). Al-Mawardi describes this government function: “The Emirate of Jihad is particularly concerned with fighting the mushrikun and it is of two kinds:
1- That which is restricted to the affairs (siyasa) of the army and the management (tadbir) of war, in which case the conditions pertaining to special emirate (Amir Al-Khass) are applicable.
2- That in which all laws regarding the division of booty and the negotiation of the peace treaties are delegated to the amir, in which case the conditions pertaining to general amirate (Amir Al-‘Amm) are applicable. Of all the authorities of governance this is the most important with respect to its laws, and the most comprehensive with regard to its sections and departments.
This type of emirate, when special (khass), is subject to the same rulings as the general (‘amm)…”[6]
Al-Mawardi’s two types of Amir map to three modern day positions:
- Commander in-chief
- Chiefs of Staff
- Defence Secretary
The administrative systems (‘idara) can be adopted from any system, and we are not obliged to use the same army ranks, titles and formations as those used in the time of the Prophet ﷺ or later. Each time period will have its particular challenges, and the armed forces need to be structured in such a way to meet these. When the military is slow to reform, it can lead to disaster on the battlefield, as many battles of the first and second world wars show us.
Al-Mawardi’s first type of Amir is akin to an Executive Minister, who is a liaison between the caliph and the rest of the armed forces. We call this Executive Minister a Defence Secretary or Minister of Defence in modern times. This type of Amir can also map to the Joint Chiefs of Staff who are tasked with managing the day-to-day affairs of the army.
The second type of Amir Al-Mawardi describes is equivalent to a governor, who is the commander in-chief of his province, and by extension the caliph who is the commander in-chief over the entire state.
Notes
[1] Sunan Abi Dawud 2608, https://sunnah.com/abudawud:2608
[2] Ryan J. Lynch, ‘Arab Conquests and Early Islamic Historiography: The Futuh al-Buldan of al-Baladhuri,’ I.B. Tauris, 2020 p.147
[3] Ibn Sa’d, Tabaqat, https://shamela.ws/book/1686/392
[4] Sahih Al-Bukhari 3045, https://sunnah.com/bukhari:3045
[5] Ibn Sa’d, Tabaqat, https://shamela.ws/book/1686/487#p1
[6] Abu l-Hasan al-Mawardi, The Laws of Islamic Governance, translation of Al-Ahkam as-Sultaniyah, Ta Ha Publishers, p.57; https://shamela.ws/book/22881/64
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