On jihad in Afghanistan.

Al-Hawini: You previously issued a ruling that jihad in Afghanistan is an individual obligation. If Muslims were to implement this ruling now, it would require the lands of the Muslims to be emptied of Muslims so that they might rid themselves of the sin of neglecting this obligation. What is your statement?

The Shaykh : Of course, when we say that jihad in Afghanistan is an individual obligation, we mean that it is not permissible to leave the Afghan Muslims alone, and that it is obligatory for all Muslims to assist them with their bodies, their wealth, and their tongues, as he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: . However, when someone says—and we are not unique in this, for it is a scientific fact—that if Islamic lands are invaded by disbelievers, then Muslims must all mobilize, no one means that strange picture I described earlier, namely that the lands of Islam are emptied of their Muslim inhabitants. I will say something else: the lands of Afghanistan will not accommodate all these Muslims! But the intention is that those who mobilize to that land should be sufficient to expel the occupying disbeliever. I observe that at times many people assume imaginary scenarios and do not address reality. Did some of the Muslims fulfill this collective obligation and free the lands of Afghanistan from the communists, who are the tail of the Soviets, such that it could be said that if all Muslims had set out to assist them, the lands of Islam would have been emptied of their inhabitants? Why are we to be imaginary and not realistic? There is no doubt that many of the Muslims, among their youth and their wealthy, are falling short in every way in fulfilling the duty of assisting the Afghans with all the strength that falls under the general meaning of His saying (Glorified and Exalted is He): to the end of the verse. Therefore, no one imagines that when it is said to be an individual obligation, we want the Islamic lands to be emptied of their inhabitants so that they go to Afghanistan, and Afghanistan does not fully accommodate them. But it is obligatory for some of them, not specifically designated, to go such that this individual obligation is realized.
Yes.