Question:
What is the ruling on Jihâd today?
Is it obligatory for some Muslims
or for all? When is it obligatory for
the entire Ummah if it only is
obligatory for some Muslims?
Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymîn:
Firstly, you have to know that
Jihâd is not obligatory for all
Muslims. This is impossible. Allâh
(ta’âlâ) said:
“And it is not for the believers to
go forth [to battle] all at once. For
there should separate from every
division of them a group
[remaining] to obtain
understanding in the religion and
warn their people when they
return to them that they might be
cautious.” (9:122)
If all were to have gone out in
Jihâd, the rest of the prescriptions
and rituals would have ended.
However, it can become Fardh
‘Ayn (obligatory for all Muslims) in
the following cases:
1 – On the frontline. If one comes
here, one should accomplish the
war.
Allâh (ta’âlâ) said:
“O you who have believed, when
you meet those who disbelieve
advancing [for battle], do not turn
to them your backs [in flight]. And
whoever turns his back to them
on such a day, unless swerving
[as a strategy] for war or joining
[another] company, has certainly
returned with anger [upon him] from Allah , and his refuge is Hell
– and wretched is the
destination.” (8:15-16)
2 – When the enemy attacks one’s
country. Here it becomes
obligatory to fight to defend
oneself and one’s Islamic country.
3 – When the LEADER orders him
to go out in Jihâd. Write the word
“LEADER” with capital letters. It
means that one has to have a
leader who leads the Islamic
army. When the LEADER orders
him to go out in Jihâd, he has to
go out. When he orders a
country’s population to go out in
Jihâd, they have to do it. For it is
forbidden to be disobedient
towards the rulers. When they are
told to do it, they become obliged
to fulfill it.
4 – When there is a need of the
person. An example of that is that
a person is a loner in knowing
how a specific weapon is to be
managed. In this case, it
becomes obligatory for him to
fight.
As for what is beyond these four
situations, it is not obligatory for
all Muslims to fight. Thereto,
JIHÂD MUST BE UNDER THE
LEAD OF A LEADER.
OTHERWISE, A GUERRILLA
WAR WOULD HAPPEN. THERE
HAS TO BE A LEADER WHO IS
LEADING THE ISLAMIC
UMMAH. YOU THEREFORE SEE
THAT IT DOES NOT GO WELL
FOR THOSE WHO GO OUT IN
JIHÂD WITHOUT THE
LEADERSHIP OF A LEADER.
There is a risk that they even
attack each other. If they were to
triumph, they begin to fight each
other.
I ask Allâh that He helps us strive
against ourselves. We have to
strive against ourselves at the
moment. Hearts are sick. The
limbs are deficient. Hearts fight
against each other. It is firstly this
that is in need of Jihâd.