Jihad is not incumbent upon women

Related from al-Asbagh ibn Nabatah who said: 'Amir-ul-Mu'mineen 'Ali (A) said:

'Allah has prescribed jihad for both men and women. The jihad of the man is to spend of his wealth and of his self until he is killed in the way of Allah. The jihad of the woman is to remain patient in the face of problem from her husband."

In another hadith: 'The jihad of the woman is to make a good wife for her husband.'

Related from Imam 'Ali (A) who said: 'The duty of jihad does not fall upon the slave when they can be dispensed with, nor upon the woman, nor upon he who has not reached maturity.'

Also from Imam 'Ali (A) who said:

'The Messenger of Allah (S) said: 'Allah has prescribed jihad for the men of my nation (Islam) and jealousy upon the women of my nation. And whoever of the women is patient and seeks a reward, Allah will give her the reward of a martyr.'

Related by Sayyid 'Ali ibn Tawous who said: 'I saw a hadith which said that Wahab was a Christian . . . until it mentioned his death and that his mother entered the battle. Then Imam al-Hussein (A) said to them both: 'Go back O mother of Wahab, you and your son are with the Messenger of Allah (S) for the duty of jihad has been lifted from women.' Imam Saadiq (A) was asked about how it came to be that the burden of the Jizyah tax has been lifted from women. He (A) said:

'Because the Messen ger of Allah (S) proh ibited the killing of women and children in dar al-harb 21 except when they take part in the fighting and even when they take part in the fighting then one should restrain oneself from fighting them as far as is possible. Because this is the case in dar al-harb then this is even more appropriate in dar al-Islam 22. If they were to refuse to pay the Jizyah tax then killing them is not possible and this being the case, th en th e Jizyah is lifted from them. If the men were to refuse to pay the Jizyah tax then they would be breaking the treaty and therefore killing th em would b e allowed because the killing of men is allowed in the lands of polytheism. The crippled, the blind, the old man, the women and children of the lands of war are not to be killed and because of this the burden of the Jizyah tax has been lifted from them.

Notes:

21. Meaning 'the land of war', this is a reference to non-Muslim country engaged in a war with the Muslims.

22. Meaning 'Muslim country'.

Adapted from the book: "War, Peace & Non-Violence" by: "Sayyid Muhammad Sadiq Shirazi"