Is returning from Afghanistan for any reason considered turning one’s back on the advance?

The questioner : I say, Professor: Is returning from Afghanistan for any reason considered turning one’s back on the advance?

The Shaykh : If the reason originates from himself first, and secondly he is not compelled to it, then it is fleeing. However, if it is as is rumored and said, that the commanders there say: “We are not in need of men now, but rather we are in need of money,” then this person who went to jihad in the path of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) remains, as they say in our region in Syria, “leaning on the walls.” He did not go for that purpose; he went to fight. So if he does not find a path or opportunity to fight in the path of Allah, and he asks permission from the commander responsible for him and he grants him permission, and the matter is not arbitrary or personal, then I do not consider it fleeing.