Fear of War and Taking the Necessary Precautions
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The questioner:
There are two questions here that I am trying to combine. We observe that many people have excessive fear of war, and they forget the power of Allah and that nothing will befall them except what Allah has decreed for them. So, do you have a word for these people, Your Eminence the Shaykh?
The Shaykh:
Yes.
The questioner:
And should they leave the areas where they live and go to Makkah and al-Madinah?
The Shaykh:
It is obligatory for the believer in such a situation to ask Allah for well-being, to ask Allah to support His religion and elevate its word, to cause the enemies of Islam to fail, and to extinguish this fitnah (trial, discord or temptation) and restrain its evil. He must always have good opinion of Allah while taking the necessary precautions. If something happens, he takes the necessary precautions. If wars break out and he fears their evil, he guards against them as much as he can. Allah has commanded taking the necessary precautions, and commanded protection, and commanded people to carry weapons, and carry armor, and to guard against evil, as much as possible. This is a required command. So, if a war is decreed and a war comes about—because he does not know now whether a war will break out or not—these are matters in the hands of Allah (Exalted and Majestic is He). And the opinion, and Allah knows best, is that if it breaks out, it will not last long; because wars now are with destructive weapons and destructive things, so it may not last except a few hours and then end. So, the intended goal is only the elimination of the ruler of Iraq; this is the intended goal. So, this may not require a long period, and it may require a long period for other reasons. So, the believer asks Allah for well-being, and he is not overcome by panic, but he has strength, steadfastness, patience, and reliance upon Allah, and he asks for well-being, while being cautious of his sins and tightening himself up. He hastens to repent to Allah, and he guards against the evil of his self and his Shaytan (Satan), and he has a return to Allah and repentance to Him and self-accounting until he is upright in the obedience of Allah, and until he stays away from the prohibitions of Allah. For indeed, every person who does this, this is among the causes of safety from the fitnahs, and among the causes of their elimination, and among the causes of protection from their evil. Then, if it is decreed that you die, you die in a good state, in a sincere repentance, so you are in a great good. And if wars come to a place you fear from, you move from it to another place. So, if there is a danger that prevents the issue of an epidemic, if an epidemic like the plague descends, the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) commanded that the one in whom the plague descends does not go out fleeing from it, and does not enter the town in which he is. As for wars, a person guards against them according to his capacity and according to possibility, even by moving from one place to another if the place has danger from war, there is no blame in that when the necessary precautions are present. Yes.
There are two questions here that I am trying to combine. We observe that many people have excessive fear of war, and they forget the power of Allah and that nothing will befall them except what Allah has decreed for them. So, do you have a word for these people, Your Eminence the Shaykh?
The Shaykh:
Yes.
The questioner:
And should they leave the areas where they live and go to Makkah and al-Madinah?
The Shaykh:
It is obligatory for the believer in such a situation to ask Allah for well-being, to ask Allah to support His religion and elevate its word, to cause the enemies of Islam to fail, and to extinguish this fitnah (trial, discord or temptation) and restrain its evil. He must always have good opinion of Allah while taking the necessary precautions. If something happens, he takes the necessary precautions. If wars break out and he fears their evil, he guards against them as much as he can. Allah has commanded taking the necessary precautions, and commanded protection, and commanded people to carry weapons, and carry armor, and to guard against evil, as much as possible. This is a required command. So, if a war is decreed and a war comes about—because he does not know now whether a war will break out or not—these are matters in the hands of Allah (Exalted and Majestic is He). And the opinion, and Allah knows best, is that if it breaks out, it will not last long; because wars now are with destructive weapons and destructive things, so it may not last except a few hours and then end. So, the intended goal is only the elimination of the ruler of Iraq; this is the intended goal. So, this may not require a long period, and it may require a long period for other reasons. So, the believer asks Allah for well-being, and he is not overcome by panic, but he has strength, steadfastness, patience, and reliance upon Allah, and he asks for well-being, while being cautious of his sins and tightening himself up. He hastens to repent to Allah, and he guards against the evil of his self and his Shaytan (Satan), and he has a return to Allah and repentance to Him and self-accounting until he is upright in the obedience of Allah, and until he stays away from the prohibitions of Allah. For indeed, every person who does this, this is among the causes of safety from the fitnahs, and among the causes of their elimination, and among the causes of protection from their evil. Then, if it is decreed that you die, you die in a good state, in a sincere repentance, so you are in a great good. And if wars come to a place you fear from, you move from it to another place. So, if there is a danger that prevents the issue of an epidemic, if an epidemic like the plague descends, the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) commanded that the one in whom the plague descends does not go out fleeing from it, and does not enter the town in which he is. As for wars, a person guards against them according to his capacity and according to possibility, even by moving from one place to another if the place has danger from war, there is no blame in that when the necessary precautions are present. Yes.
Source
واجب أهل العلم — islamhouse.com (52:23)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.