What is better: seeking knowledge or responding to the call for jihad? And is the excuse of seeking knowledge and staying away from jihad permissible?

The questioner : The question that follows: Your Eminence, what is more obligatory and preferable: seeking knowledge or responding to the call for jihad? And is the excuse of seeking knowledge and staying away from jihad permissible?

The Shaykh : Seeking knowledge is like jihad in the path of Allah, and it is undoubtedly a form of jihad in the path of Allah. It is also of two types: an individual obligation (fard 'ayn) and a collective obligation (fard kifayah). If the knowledge intended in the question is what most students today study in the regular curriculum, whether in schools or in the circles known from the past, then it is a collective obligation. However, if the knowledge intended is that which is individually obligatory regarding the correction of creed, for example, taking a lesson or lessons in correcting creed, or lessons in correcting ritual purity and prayer, or any act of worship for which one is accountable, then in that case it is an individual obligation. Here, two matters, or two obligations, meet, each of which is an individual obligation. The first obligation is jihad in Afghanistan, as we said. The second obligation is in the second scenario of seeking knowledge, which is individually obligatory knowledge. This scenario is closer to imagination than to reality. Here, there is a conflict between two obligations. In this case, the person who is obligated is the one who must weigh the two matters: whichever he feels is more beneficial for him in disciplining his self and obeying his Lord, he should prioritize over the other.
For example: This example is well-known among some jurists who derive their knowledge from the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). A single young man has a certain amount of money that allows him to perform one of two obligations: the first is Hajj to the House of Allah the Exalted, and the second is to protect himself by getting married. What should he do? Should he get married before performing Hajj, or perform Hajj before getting married?
The answer: This varies depending on the young man. For example, some young men are eager to get married, and they have a strong drive, intensity, and a strong desire and lust for marriage. For such a person, it is said: This money you have is better used to get married than to go to the House of Allah the Exalted with the intention of performing what Allah has made obligatory upon you, because you might cause a problem there due to your sexual heat. So, protect yourself first, then strive to gather the amount that enables you to perform the second obligation, which is Hajj.
And if the young man is not of this description, but rather has a coolness in his sexual nature, then he...
Praise be to Allah.

The questioner : May Allah have mercy on you.

The Shaykh : ...then in this case, he should perform Hajj, and then also strive to gather the amount that enables him to fulfill the obligation of marriage. We firmly believe that marriage is obligatory for a single young man; based on his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): .
We do not see the non-obligation of marriage except in a rare case, which may even be imaginary for most young men; that is, if he does not know or feel what is called today "sex," so he does not think about marriage at all and does not look at women. His look at the women he passes by and whose appearance catches his eye is like his look at men, or even at inanimate objects. This is an imaginary scenario. But if such a young man were to exist, it is not obligatory for him, because there is no fear for him. However, if he is as is expected of young men, and as is the nature of creation, as our Lord (Blessed and Exalted is He) indicated in His saying: ; then he must strive to get married, and until he is able to get married, .
In summary: The point of this example is that the student of knowledge whom we described as having an individually obligatory duty to acquire knowledge is faced with this obligation of jihad, which is also an individual obligation. Here, the student of knowledge is the one who judges and prioritizes one of the two obligations over the other, as we said regarding the young man who has money that allows him to perform only one of the two obligations: either marriage or Hajj. The matter varies from one young man to another, as detailed previously. Thus, the student of knowledge should do the same.
What kind of knowledge is this?
It is individually obligatory knowledge, that which is an individual obligation. As for the collective obligation, there is no comparison, and the question is not valid. For example—and I conclude the answer: A man performed Hajj to the House of Allah the Exalted and fulfilled the obligation of Hajj. He has an amount of money that allows him to perform Hajj again, but he has not yet gotten married. Should he be told: Perform Hajj then get married? We tell him: Get married; because this second Hajj is a voluntary act and not an obligation.

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh : So, the obligation must be prioritized. Here, there are two obligations, both of equal weight. The one who prioritizes is not the one being asked or the mufti, but rather the one asking, because he knows himself better than others. And here comes his saying (peace and blessings be upon him), as it appears to me: , or .
Other than that?