The Gates of Jihad in This Era

Question:
I say: Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success, what are the gates of jihad that you see in this era, and to which you point for us to work in them to attain the great reward?

Answer:
Its types are many. Whoever wants to look into them should refer to the book *Al-Ma'arif* by Ibn Qayyim. Jihad.
First, jihad is against Shaytan. You strive against Shaytan by disobeying his commands and doing what he forbids. You strive against Shaytan by doing what he commands you to do, by doing what he forbids you from doing, and by leaving what he commands you to do. This is the jihad against Shaytan.
Second is the jihad against the self. The self needs to be striven against because it does not want to work, nor does it want idleness; it wants laziness, it wants sleep, it is stingy with water, and it is cowardly in fighting in the path of Allah. If you obey it, it will dominate you; it will dominate you, and you will become a slave to it, a slave to your desires. It is necessary to restrain the self by compelling it to obey Allah and preventing it from disobeying Allah; otherwise, it will drag you, drag you, toward evil and distance you from good, unless you train it and accustom it to the obedience of Allah, Mighty and Majestic. The poet said: "The self desires if you let it desire, and if you turn it back to little, it is content. If you desire for it and give it what it wants, then its tongue will always be desiring, always desiring. But if you turn it back to little and accustom it to that, it will be sufficient, and it will shift." This is a jihad that never ceases; it is a continuous jihad. Your jihad is with Shaytan and your jihad is with the self.
Jihad against the siege by the Muslims, and that is through enjoining good and forbidding evil. The siege, since this, yes, that is through enjoining good and forbidding evil. The fourth in this is the jihad against the hypocrites, those who raise doubts and speak with old words, so they need jihad to refute their falsehood, respond to them, and break their arguments. Do not forget that they are cultured and educated, and they have the ability to attack. When you see them, their books amaze you, , they have eloquence and rhetoric, and they have a web in what they write, what they say, what they preach, and what they author. They need jihad. O Prophet, fight the disbelievers and the hypocrites, and be severe with them, and their refuge is Hellfire, a terrible abode. So the hypocrites are not fought with weapons because they claim Islam; they pray, fast, and worship with the people. They are not fought with weapons; they are fought with argument and Islam, and that is by refuting their falsehood and exposing their doubts. How many of them there are today. How many of them are on the radio, how many of them are in the newspapers and magazines, how many of them are in the publications. They attack the Muslims and Islam, and they bring doubts, and they bring words that appear to be arguments, but in their essence they are false. So they need jihad, the jihad against the hypocrites. The fifth is the jihad against the disbelievers, and that is with weapons, and that is with weapons, to exalt the word of Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He).
These are the types of jihad, and everyone has a share and a portion from these types, no matter his size. He strives against Shaytan, he strives against his self, he strives against the disbelievers among the Muslims, he strives against those closest to him, his family, he strives against them he strives against his family, he strives against the disbelievers around him. He strives against the hypocrites, and how many hypocrites there are today. He strives against the disbelievers if jihad is established, he strives against the disbelievers if the knowledge of jihad is established with the rulers, he strives against the disbelievers if the knowledge of jihad is established with the rulers of the Muslims. You strive with them. From the scholars, yes.