Before one can begin any action they must have
He always used to exert himself in
a pure intention and it must follow the Sunnah of
our beloved Prophet Muhammad, may the peace
and blessings of Allah be upon him, and one must
prepare oneself to do that action beforehand so as
to perfect it and beautify it for Allah’s sake.
So the one who wants to prepare their own selves
for Jihad and raise the banner of La Illaha
Illallah, they must make their intentions and
prepare themselves spiritually, militarily, financially,
and logistically. And from amongst preparing
oneself militarily is to exercise the body and to
prepare it for war which necessitates that it be
able to withstand long journeys and carry heavy
equipment and to be fit, generally speaking.
And from among the pure intentions is to train as
hard as possible in order to damage the enemies
of Allah as much as possible. And we see this from
the stories of the Shuhada’, that they would train
themselves with the intention of damaging the
enemies and striking hard against them. I give you
the example of our martyred brother Salman al-
Farsi, may Allah have mercy on him, and how the
brothers described him in Bosnia:
“Salman Al-Farsi loved training. He loved to train in
the cause of Allah, so that he could be as strong in the
fighting as he could and do as much damage to Allah’s
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enemies as possible.
training with this intention of damaging the enemies of
Allah.”1
And we see from the speeches of the True Scholars
of Jihad that they also placed much importance on
this subject. Here is part of the speech which Anwar
Sha’baan, may Allah have mercy on him, gave to the
Mujahideen in Bosnia just before ‘Operation Miracle’
in July 1995:
“So I congratulate you with the permission of Allah,
Glorified is He and exalted, on a near victory, on a
conquest from Allah, Glorified is He and exalted, and we
ask Allah to make us from amongst those who hurt our
enemies time after time. We love martyrdom in the Way
of Allah. Its time is when Allah wishes, but we ask our
Lord, Glorified is He and exalted, that He makes us from
those who damage his enemies and from those who
make his enemies taste punishment after punishment.”2 
So we see that the Mujahid who gives victory to
Allah’s Deen must fulfill the obligation of preparing
himself physically for Jihad, and by the permission
of Allah I will teach you some exercises to help you
strengthen your body and become fit.
A - Dhikr as an Exercise
1 In the Hearts of Green Birds
2 Ibid.
I mention dhikr as the first method of building
strength due to its significance in our time and age,
but also because of it being the way of the Salaf
foremost among them Ibn Taymiyyah, may Allah
have mercy on him, himself. From Ibn Taymiyyah’s
life we see that dhikr was not just a means to gain
Iman and gain deeds, but it actually gave their
body’s physical strength. Ibn al-Qayyim, may Allah
have mercy on him, narrates for us that among
the amazing things which he saw from his teacher
Ibn Taymiyyah was that he would sit between
Dhuhr and ‘Asr and he would have written a book,
and his students saw many great feats from him
in the battlefield. So Ibn Taymiyyah’s students
were amazed at how he was able to do all this,
and wondered where he was getting his strength
from! Ibn al-Qayyim continues his narration that
Ibn Taymiyyah would sit in his place after Fajr and
making dhikr and reading Qur’an until sunrise,
then he would turn around and he would say to
them “This is my provision and if I do not take my
provision, I lose strength.” Subhan’Allah! This is an
amazing statement that explains for us that the
dhikr and the worship are means of provision and
strength. So your first lesson in exercise is dhikr
and it might be that without it, you would not gain
much result.
B - Using Weights to Get in Shape is
Unrealistic
The reason we should aim to get into shape without
using weights is simply that the use of weights does
not bring permanent results, as you only keep the
strength you gained by continuing to use those
machines and bars. This is of course unrealistic for
the Mujahid in the front lines anywhere in the world
today. We find that this is a major setback for the
Americans and the NATO Crusading army as they
cannot go to any battlefront without carrying along
with them their bench, squat sets and sometimes
even their machines. And we have learned this from
the videos released by our brothers in Afghanistan.
The Mujahideen found upon capturing enemy bases
bars and weights in American barracks and bases.
So if this is the case for the enemies then obviously
this would not work for the Jihad and due to it being
a waste of money and effort as well as not being a
realistic option. So the Mujahid must learn to get in
shape and build strength and to continue to do so
wherever he is with little or no resources and to be
able to use his body and the ground alone to keep
in shape.
Another reason being that the places which one
can go to where weights and gyms are available are
not Islamic environments and definitely not fit for
the Mujahid in Allah’s cause. We find at these gyms
such as 24 Hour Fitna and LA Fitna that they are full
of music, semi-naked women, free mixing and the
danger of one showing off during a workout which
would destroy your intention and action.
C - Warm Ups and Cool Downs
Before beginning any workout, one must stretch
and warm up for at least 10 minutes before working
out to prevent injury and cramps and after working
out to cool down with stretches as well. Among
these stretches being:
• Active and Static Shoulder Bridges
• Sit-Ups
• V-sits
• Spinal Floor Twists
• Spread foot Squats
• Sit-up Series
• Throw-downs
A short description of some of these activities
follows:
1 – Sit-up Series
An example of a sit-up series would involve doing
10 normal sit-ups, then doing 10 where you put
your right leg on your left knee, and touch it with
23
 your right elbow and vice versa. Afterwards have a 4 - Shoulder Bridges
partner hold your legs aloft and do 10 regular sit-
ups. Then have your partner put your feet on their
knees, so your legs are at a 90 degree angle, and do
10 additional sit-ups.

2 - Throw-downs

Shoulder Bridges are sitting on your shoulders with

your legs holding you up and your toes aligned with
your knees. It can be either active or static, so you
either hold it for a few minutes or you move up and
down.
Throw-downs are done on your back, and involve
you lifting both legs up, and your partner throwing 5 – Spread-foot Squats
them down back to the ground, with you stopping
them before they hit the ground. This process
should be repeated several times.

3 – V-Sits

Spread-foot squats are simply squats you do

without using weights, and your legs are spread
apart farther than your shoulders.

6 - Spinal Floor Twists

V-sits are where you lift up your legs from a sitting
position, touch your toes, and then bring your legs
down without touching the ground. This process
should be repeated numerous times.
Spinal floor twists involve lifting your legs straight
up, then putting them to your left or right side while
keeping your back straight and both shoulders on
the ground.

24
 each day of the weekend, starting Friday)
• Wall-Sits (Sitting against the wall for an
extended period of time)

D - Sculpting Your Legs

Building your legs is the most important part of your • Jump Rope while running and walking
body to prepare for Jihad, and if you think Jihad • Crawling long distances
is anything but long walks, jogging and running • Active and Static Lunges
then you are quite mistaken. On top of that you’re
going to be carrying weapons and equipment! And
among the things which terrorizes the enemy very
much is when the Mujahideen strike them with
lightning speed and great planning. An example
for you is the massive jailbreak in Afghanistan of
last year that freed over 1,000 Muslims; it was done
with great swiftness that the Murtadeen became
dumbfounded. So it is has much benefit for the
Mujahid to be quick and be able to carry on with
a constant speed for extended periods of time
especially during raids on the enemy.

Building your leg strength is not that difficult, but it

does require effort and the ability to carry on even
when you are tired, and to continue being tired
for Allah’s sake, as this exhaustion is in the cause
of Allah and carries much reward for the Muslim. If
you cannot exhaust your body for this Deen then I
can guarantee that you will be exhausting it for a
Batil matter which will become a source of regret
and much worry for you on the Day of Judgment. I
suggest you start with these exercises:
• Walking Long Distances (at least 1 hour and
a half everyday)
• Interval runs on weekends (running till you
are tired, then fast walking for a while, then
running and repeating this cycle for an hour
E - Arm Strength
Although leg strength is important, building arm
strength is quite necessary as well. One doesn’t
need sophisticated exercise for arms but all it takes
is to add to duration, length and number of reps for
each one. Mainly focus on:
• At least 100-150 pushups per day, doing 10-
25 each time.
• Pull-Ups
• Walking on hands
• Push-up series (for example doing push-ups
with your hands held farther apart, then
closer together, or using your fists instead of
25
 your palms)
F - Diet
The diet of a person working out is just as important
as the workout itself, but here I wanted to mention
the difference between the Muslim and the Kafir in
their diets due to the grace and mercy Allah holds
for the Believer.
One should eat right after working out and should
postpone eating until after you have worked out.
It is recommended to eat a meal high in carbs and
protein, but more carbs than protein. Contrary
to what many people believe, you really only
need about 32 grams of protein, so don’t waste
your money on expensive protein milkshakes. A
recommended list of foods would be:
• Eggs (whites of eggs)
• Meat
• Fish
• Nuts
• Milk and water
• 100% Fruit juice
• Vegetables
• Rice
• Bread
• Cheese
One should eat some light food before a workout,
like an apple, some dates or some crackers and
water.
The Kuffar teach people that you should eat a very
large amount before a workout, and that you need
26
something like 3,000 to 4,000 calories for a male
who works out at a young age. And they used to
teach me that you should eat whenever you are
not hungry and gain weight to turn it into muscle.
Obviously this is un-Islamic and I learned during my
workouts that this is not true for the Muslim.
Nafi’ narrated that Ibn ‘Umar never used to take his
meal unless a poor man was called to eat with him.
One day I brought a poor man to eat with him, the
man ate too much, whereupon Ibn ‘Umar said, “O
Nafi’! Don’t let this man enter my house, for I heard
the Prophet saying, ‘A believer eats in one intestine (is
satisfied with a little food), and a kafir eats in seven
intestines (eats much food)’.”3
And I noticed that whether or not I ate a lot, it
did not affect my results. Nay! From the strangest
of things I found that I gained the most muscle
during the month of Ramadan! So I realized that
the Believer is not affected by food but rather his
strength comes from Allah. During Ramadan it is
best to workout after having eaten dates and drank
something and having prayed Maghrib then eating
more heavily after the workout. This schedule
during Ramadan gave me the best results and
here it is important to mention the importance of
Fasting Mondays and Thursdays not only due to this
blessing from Allah but due to its protection from
evil and a command from the Messenger of Allah,
may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,
to the young men and being from his Sunnah.
Alqama narrated: “While I was with ‘Abdullah,
‘Uthman met him at Mina and said, ‘O Abu ‘Abd ar-
Rahman! I have something to say to you.’ So both
of them went aside and ‘Uthman said, ‘O Abu ‘Abd
ar-Rahman! Shall we marry you to a virgin who
will make you remember your past days?’ When
‘Abdullah felt that he was not in need of that, he
beckoned me (to join him) saying, ‘O’ Alqama!’ Then I
heard him saying (in reply to ‘Uthman), ‘As you have
said that, (I tell you that) the Prophet once said to us,
‘O young people! Whoever among you is able to marry,
should marry, and whoever is not able to marry, is
recommended to fast, as fasting diminishes his sexual
power’.” 4
May Allah help you in your efforts in pleasing Him.
3 Sahih Bukhari: Book 7, Vol. 65, #305
4 Ibid., Book 7, Vol. 62, #3