The Ruling on Preparation for Jihad
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Is preparation for jihad an individual obligation or a collective obligation?
Preparation for jihad and engaging in jihad are a collective obligation. So, for example, if we find a community preparing for jihad in the path of Allah, and they have sufficient numbers, then it becomes a recommended practice for the others and is not obligatory. And if no one is found, then all of them have sinned by not preparing and not fighting.
But the matter, as you see, is that in the present time there is no sincerity with Allah, neither on the part of the people, nor on the part of the rulers of the people.
As for the people, you find that the majority of them and most of them are completely heedless of this, and they have no readiness; they are in heedlessness. In fact, they have not even engaged in the jihad of their own selves against the prohibitions of Allah.
As for the rulers, as you see, they are also completely heedless of this. And so the Muslim community has now become a torn and scattered community, and the disbelievers have become those who have control over the world. It is not possible for us to have control over the world and over the disbelievers except by returning to the religion with which Allah sent Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) and implementing it in belief, speech, and action; in the worship of Allah, and in the treatment of the servants of Allah. For this reason, when Abu Sufyan told Heraclius what he knew of the characteristics of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) and his conduct,Heraclius said to him: [If what you say is true, he will possess what is under these two feet].
We are now in a state that is truly pitiful. We ask Allah the Exalted to restore the glory of the Muslim community.
The questioner: If a person is given the opportunity for preparation, and he prepares himself for jihad with weapons, does jihad become an individual obligation for him?The Shaykh: It is a collective obligation; jihad does not become an individual obligation except in certain circumstances specified by the scholars: The first: when one is present in the battle line: due to the saying of Allah the Exalted: [Al-Anfal: 15-16], and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) informed that turning one’s back on the day of battle is one of the destructive sins.
Second: When the enemy besieges his town: he must defend to lift the siege from his town,And in this case, the scholars said: It becomes an individual obligation; because this is like facing the two battle lines.
Third: When the Imam calls him to arms: if he says, “So-and-so, go out,” it becomes an individual obligation,And it is not permissible to say: “Tell someone else,” no, he must obey.
Fourth: When the need calls for him specifically: for example, if he is knowledgeable about a type of weapon, and no one but he can use it, then here it is incumbent upon him to engage in combat with this weapon which no one knows but he.
These four circumstances are those in which the scholars mentioned that jihad becomes an individual obligation. Other than that, it is a collective obligation.
Then, whether it is a collective obligation or an individual obligation, it must have conditions,The most important of them: Capability. If a person does not have capability, he does not throw himself into destruction,Allah the Exalted said: [Al-Baqarah: 195].
Preparation for jihad and engaging in jihad are a collective obligation. So, for example, if we find a community preparing for jihad in the path of Allah, and they have sufficient numbers, then it becomes a recommended practice for the others and is not obligatory. And if no one is found, then all of them have sinned by not preparing and not fighting.
But the matter, as you see, is that in the present time there is no sincerity with Allah, neither on the part of the people, nor on the part of the rulers of the people.
As for the people, you find that the majority of them and most of them are completely heedless of this, and they have no readiness; they are in heedlessness. In fact, they have not even engaged in the jihad of their own selves against the prohibitions of Allah.
As for the rulers, as you see, they are also completely heedless of this. And so the Muslim community has now become a torn and scattered community, and the disbelievers have become those who have control over the world. It is not possible for us to have control over the world and over the disbelievers except by returning to the religion with which Allah sent Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) and implementing it in belief, speech, and action; in the worship of Allah, and in the treatment of the servants of Allah. For this reason, when Abu Sufyan told Heraclius what he knew of the characteristics of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) and his conduct,Heraclius said to him: [If what you say is true, he will possess what is under these two feet].
We are now in a state that is truly pitiful. We ask Allah the Exalted to restore the glory of the Muslim community.
The questioner: If a person is given the opportunity for preparation, and he prepares himself for jihad with weapons, does jihad become an individual obligation for him?The Shaykh: It is a collective obligation; jihad does not become an individual obligation except in certain circumstances specified by the scholars: The first: when one is present in the battle line: due to the saying of Allah the Exalted:
(15) O you who have believed, when you meet those who disbelieve advancing [for battle], do not turn to them your backs [in flight]. (16) And whoever turns his back to them on such a day, unless swerving [as a strategy] for war or joining [another] company, has certainly returned with anger [upon him] from Allah, and his refuge is Hell - and wretched is the destination.
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا إِذَا لَقِيتُمُ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا زَحْفاً فَلا تُوَلُّوهُمُ الْأَدْبَارَ * وَمَنْ يُوَلِّهِمْ يَوْمَئِذٍ دُبُرَهُ إِلَّا مُتَحَرِّفاً لِقِتَالٍ أَوْ مُتَحَيِّزاً إِلَى فِئَةٍ فَقَدْ بَاءَ بِغَضَبٍ مِنَ اللَّهِ وَمَأْوَاهُ جَهَنَّمُ وَبِئْسَ الْمَصِيرُSecond: When the enemy besieges his town: he must defend to lift the siege from his town,And in this case, the scholars said: It becomes an individual obligation; because this is like facing the two battle lines.
Third: When the Imam calls him to arms: if he says, “So-and-so, go out,” it becomes an individual obligation,And it is not permissible to say: “Tell someone else,” no, he must obey.
Fourth: When the need calls for him specifically: for example, if he is knowledgeable about a type of weapon, and no one but he can use it, then here it is incumbent upon him to engage in combat with this weapon which no one knows but he.
These four circumstances are those in which the scholars mentioned that jihad becomes an individual obligation. Other than that, it is a collective obligation.
Then, whether it is a collective obligation or an individual obligation, it must have conditions,The most important of them: Capability. If a person does not have capability, he does not throw himself into destruction,Allah the Exalted said: