SECTION ON JIHAD · 30 – FOR SOMEONE OBLIGED TO GO TO WAR TO SEND ANOTHER IN HIS PLACE FOR A FEE
2525 – Abū Ayyūb heard the Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) say: “Soon, many cities will be conquered for you. You will be gathered as soldiers, and detachments will be sent from among you to those cities. None of you will wish to go in those detachments without payment; he will flee from among his people, then go about among the tribes and offer himself to them, saying, ‘Who will hire me for a wage so that I may perform his duty in the detachment?’ Be aware: even if he fights until the last drop of his blood, he is a hireling.”
EXPLANATION
This noble hadith is evidence that going to war for a wage is not permissible. Based on this hadith, Isḥāq ibn Rāhawayh and al-Awzāʿī said that one who participates in war for a wage does not receive a share of the material spoils. There are also imams, such as Mālikī and Ibn Ḥanbal, who say that if he personally participates in the war, he may receive a share.