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Fi sabilillahThe phrase fi sabilillah (فِي سَبِيلِ ٱللَّٰهِ, fī sabīli llāhi) is an Arabic expression meaning "in the cause of God", or more befittingly, "for the sake of God".[1] Alternative spellings for fi sabilillah include fisabilillah and fisabillillah The phrase - which relates the distribution of zakat - is found frequently in the Quran, e.g. in surah 9, verse 60:
From the above context it is closely associated with alms-giving or charity, meaning "he dedicated the revenue or profit to be used in the cause of God", i.e. "he gave to charity". A classical example discussed by Lane in his Arabic-English Lexicon of 1863 is that of Umar who decided to give the revenue of a palm grove of his to charitable use. Because of these connotations, the phrase is closely associated with the concept of zakah in fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence).[citation needed] With regards to this phrase's use in Qur'an 9:60 above, according to Maududi majority of earliest Muslim scholars opined fi-sabilillah to mean Jihad,[3] for example, the 14th century scholar Ibn Kathir explained it as: "In the cause of Allah is exclusive for the benefit of the fighters in jihad, who do not receive compensation from the Muslim Treasury."[4] However, Maududi also points out that early scholars were mistaken in limiting Jihad here only to fighting as its peaceful, non-militaristic connotation is also relevant and applicable here.[3] Shafi Usmani interprets it as a religious cause which can include military Jihad or performing some other personal religious duty, such as the Hajj.[5] The progressive scholar, Ghamidi, interprets it broadly as "works in the service of religion".[6] See also
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