replied "'I don't accept bribes, except for the bribe which God offers me'" (p.31), also another proof of opposition by the same person "'The man who stayed [at home] used to give a donation to the warrior. But for a man selling his won capacity for warfare, I don't know what that is'" (p.30) From those two quotes on could surely see no relation between Jihad and Ji'ala since Ibn Umar was raised by an influential Muslim leader (caliph). Also the Qur'an (holy book in Islam) doesn't mention this kind of activity. The Qur'an mentions that a person could donate money or gifts to the men leaving for Jihad, but that person will not receive any service in return for what he donated. Ibn Umar used to do this.Also Michael Bonner tried to prove his point by talking about how several Hadiths, which means "formally recorded saying of the prophet Muhammad and of those around him, passed down through a process of oral transmission, supplemented at some point by writing." (p.xii), by using quranic verses, and by also translating poems after the spread of Islam. First of all Hadiths can be interpreted differently by Muslim lawyers, for example Iraq and Medina had different interpretation about the Hadith of Companions. In addition, the Qur'an is the language of God, and some parts in the Qur'an, it's true meaning is still unclear, and different people have different interpretation. He used a quranic verse as a strong point to back up his point, but as mentioned above there are different interpretations. The prophet set certain conditions for jihad and it didn't mention Ji'ala at all. Finally, he mentions a poem written by a Muslim poet. Poems are completely irrelevant to prove a sensitive point, they are not mean to be used to prove a religious point, it's a form of art, and the Arabs back then were known for writing beautiful poems for the purpose of competing with other poets. So, these poems shouldn't be used to back up historical activit...
