Imam Ahmed Alhasan احمد الحسن a.s said
The most important objectives of the strive (Jihad) is the people abandoning the bondage of this Earth and the people and the Ego [and returning] to servitude to Allah, the One, the Conquer, and the recognition of the Supremacy of the Glorious, the Almighty, on both levels, legislation and execution, which are gathered in the Successor of Allah on His Earth. And the first battle of Jihad took place within the scope of this divine law (The Successor of Allah of His Earth), and it is the first law, which revolves around the acceptance of obedience [to The Successor of Allah] or the lack thereof, the Almighty said:
{And [mention, O Muhammad], when your Lord said to the angels, “Indeed, I will make
upon the earth a successive authority.” They said, “Will You place upon it one who causes
corruption therein and sheds blood, while we declare Your praise and sanctify You?” Allah said, “Indeed, I know that which you do not know.”} {The Holy Quran Surat Al-Baqarah (The Cow): 30}
and as a result;
{So the angels prostrated – all of them entirely.} {Except Iblees; he was arrogant and
became among the disbelievers.} {The Holy Quran Surat Şād (The Letter “Saad”): 73 & 74}
Thus, the Angels were victorious in this battle, while Iblis, Upon him the curse of Allah, was defeated, and this Jihad was from the first type, which is the Jihad of the self or as the Messenger of Allah said “The Greater Jihad”. And it must be that the striver/pursuer embarks on the greater Jihad (strive) [first] and then moves to the minor Jihad, while the Minor Jihad is one of the most important parts/aspects of the greater Jihad.
Perhaps some of them imagined that the Minor Jihad, presented from the hadith (narrations) of the Messenger of Allah, upon receiving his army unit (group of soldiers) whom were returning from the battlefield, greeted them as the people whom had completed the Minor Jihad while still remaining for them is the “Greater Jihad” or the Strive of the Self. However, the reality that the Messenger of Allah, Upon him and his progeny Peace, was trying to clarify in his speech is that the Jihad of the bodies (The Minor Jihad), may elapse, whereas the Jihad of the spirits (The Greater Jihad), it does not elapse as long as the human beings remain in this worldly life.
Furthermore, the Jihad of the bodies is only a response to the Jihad of the spirits, as the bodies are associated to the spirits and responsive to its will. Therefore, those returning [soldiers] were only a people who went into the heart [the midst] of the Greater Jihad and then moved to the Minor Jihad. Then they returned back and the Messenger of Allah, Upon him and his progeny Peace, reminded them that as long as they remain in this worldly life they should strive with themselves, lest they fall into that which Iblis, Upon him the curse of Allah, fell into, by denying the Successor of Allah on His Earth, which results in a manifest loss.
{Do the people think that they will be left to say, “We believe” and they will not be tried?}
{But We have certainly tried those before them, and Allah will surely make evident those
who are truthful, and He will surely make evident the liars.} {The Holy Quran Surat Al-
`Ankabūt (The Spider): 2 & 3}
Indeed, many of them denied the Successor of Allah on His Earth
(Ali Ibn Abi Talib, Upon him Peace) and failed the battle of the Greater Jihad. Thus, the Minor Jihad did not benefit them, or say, the fight of the bodies.
Consequently, the human being should beware of the Fitna (Sedition) [against] Allah and should strive with his self and obey/follow the Successor of Allah on His Earth, otherwise the fire [is his abode]. For verily, there is no Jihad, except, under the Banner of the Guardian of Allah on His Earth. And for those who claim to strive (al-Jihad) while requesting martyrdom under a Banner other than the Banner of the Successor of Allah on His Earth, verily, he rushes forth fighting for this world before fighting for the hereafter.
Narrated from Aban bin Taghalab, who said; “Abu Abdullah, Upon him Peace, whenever he mentions those who fight/kill in Al-Thaghour [a place in Qalqilya] he said: “Woe to them! what are they doing [by doing this]?! They are rushing to kill this world and kill the hereafter, for by Allah, there is no Martyr except our Shia (followers), even if they die on their bed).” [Al-Mahasin volume 1 page 164, The interpretation of the light of the two weighty things volume 5, page 245]
Therefore, it must be for the human beings that [they] engage [themselves] in the Greater Jihad first and foremost, and that they become acquainted with the Guardian of Allah and His Successor on His Earth. Then they may engage [themselves] in the Minor Jihad under the Banner [of the Successor of Allah], in order for his strive (Jihad) to be acceptable with Allah, and that it may be obedience to Him, the Glorious, otherwise he will be as the beast, nay rather, worse astray [in path]. Thus, it is either that he fights for the land, as the atheist fights for his land as an animal fights for his den, or that he fights for a belief that he does not understand, imitating the non-working scholars. Then after he dies, and after he has been drug to the fire, it becomes clear to him that the non-working scholars drove him to fight against Moses, Upon him Peace, or [against] Jesus, Upon him Peace, or [against] Muhammad, Upon him and his progeny Peace, or [against] Imam Al-Mahdi, Upon him Peace.
The Prince of the Believers, Upon him Peace, said: “The Jihad is a door from doors of Paradise, which Allah has opened especially for His special Guardians.” [Al-Kafi, volume 5 page 4. Nahjul Balagha, by the explanation of Muhammad Abdu, volume 1, page 67]. That is to say, that His Guardians are the real strivers/pursuers, and not that all strivers/pursuers (Mujahid) are a special Guardian of the Guardians of Allah, as some perceive. For verily, those Guardians [of Allah] are those whom strived/pursued with their selves (nafs) and entered in the midst of the Greater Jihad, and followed the Guardian of Allah and His Successor on His earth. So they were thereby the rightful Guardians of Allah, thus, becoming worthy of Allah opening up the door of Jihad [of Paradise] for them.
Ahmed Alhasan
The Strive (Jihad) Is The Door Of Paradise
قال الامام احمد الحسن ع
وبالفعل فقد أنكر كثير منهم خليفة الله في أرضه
(علي بن أبي طالب عليه السلام) وفشلوا في معركة الجهاد الأكبر
فلم ينفعهم الجهاد الأصغر أو قل قتال الأجساد
الجهاد باب الجنة ص 16، احمد الحسن ع
http://almahdyoon.org/sira/36-maktaba/kotob-alimam-ahmad-alhassan/10105-ajihadbabaljanna
First Mahdi : Yamani : Ahmed Alhasan 