What is your opinion regarding jihad in Afghanistan or elsewhere if it is under a banner that has some matters of shirk (associating partners with Allah) and other things?

The questioner : A question mentioned byThe Shaykh : Hamdan, when I was in prayer, regarding your opinion on jihad, whether in Afghanistan or elsewhere, if it is under a pure banner but they have some matters of shirk (associating partners with Allah), bid'ah (religious innovation), and ...?

The Shaykh : It is not hidden from anyone, if Allah wills, that jihad is of two types: jihad to repel an enemy that has raided some Islamic lands, and jihad to convey the Islamic call. The first type of jihad is, as you know, an individual obligation (fard 'ayn) if an Islamic country is raided; therefore, it is obligatory for all Muslims to rise and stand as one man to repel this enemy raid and drive it back on its heels. As for the jihad that is under an Islamic banner, it is not permissible for the one leading it to be an imam unless he is a just Muslim; some scholars also condition that he be a scholar, and we consider this correct, along with other conditions. If the second type of jihad involves these conditions, then it is not permissible to fight under his banner. However, in the case of an enemy raid, everyone must unite to repel the enemy group, and after that, they should consider choosing an imam to manage the jihad for conveying the Islamic call to other lands.

The questioner : ... is it an individual obligation (fard 'ayn) on Muslims without distinction, whether the location is in the face, in the middle, at the farthest part of the world, or the closest?

The Shaykh : The distinction, in my belief, is whether it is near or far, which is the ability to do so; for perhaps a near one cannot do it, and perhaps a far one can. So, everyone who is able and does not rise to fulfill the individual obligation (fard 'ayn) for those who went, the individual obligation (fard 'ayn) has not been fulfilled... Therefore, all able people must respond.