The Shaykh Al-Albani’s discussion with the student regarding the doubt that lawful jihad can be realized without an Amir or Imam.

The Shaykh : I am asking you a question here now: Can all Muslims reach a stage of readiness without an Imam? This is a very strange matter. Now, every Islamic party has an Amir and a president, and some of these parties claim that they are the Muslim community. Perhaps you are aware of this. So, how do you deny things that are necessary, to the point that some people have even rushed into them before their time? Now, I am asking, and briefly: How do you envision the establishment of the agreed-upon readiness without there being an Imam responsible for this group, its administration, and its guidance toward its interests in religion and worldly affairs? How?
The student : Yes, Shaykh, we said that fighting may be imposed on a part of the Ummah. That is, when they are attacked, they prepare, and they are a part of the Ummah, not the entire Ummah.

The Shaykh: All right.
The student : It is possible, I mean, Shaykh, that they be in a state of some kind of readiness.

The Shaykh : My brother, this has already been answered, may Allah reward you. We said that if a man is attacked in his own home, he defends himself with his stick or a stone.
The student: Yes.

The Shaykh : This does not require the matter to be prepared for.
The student : And even...

The Shaykh : So any country, any Islamic country.
The student: Yes.

The Shaykh : If it is attacked from the lands of the disbelievers, he must repel this disbeliever’s attack with whatever strength he has.
The student: Yes.

The Shaykh : But the jihad about which He, the Exalted, said: , this is not obligatory except after spiritual and material readiness at the same time. Is there a disagreement between us and you on this?
The student : There is no doubt, there is no disagreement. Then, I mean, even the division between us and you is a matter of defining the disagreement regarding this issue in the paragraphs I mentioned, I mean, with Shaykh Abu Malik. And I know for certain, I mean, I have heard.

The Shaykh: Yes.
The student : I mean, you have tapes on this. I am not saying that you say such and such, because I have heard this before.

The Shaykh : And it is, and it is.
The student : And it is that Muslims must fight if they are attacked.

The Shaykh: Yes.
The student : And I mean, this is what prompted us to come, because we see that the gap of disagreement is narrow.

The Shaykh: All right.
The student : And it is not, I mean, a major issue that is difficult to find agreement on. But I mean, I return to say that it is understood from the address, and I repeat that it is understood, and the brother previously mentioned some phrases, that Shaykh Abu Malik did not distinguish between defensive jihad and offensive jihad, which I mentioned, and he conditions both, and he called them "jihad with the sword," the presence of the general Imam. This necessitates, I mean, if what I understood and what others understood is correct, that he, I mean, says that Muslims now in areas of, I can call them, areas of conflict, such as Bosnia and Herzegovina, and also in Palestine, and such as.

The Shaykh : Eritrea, for example.
The student : Eritrea, then Kashmir.

The Shaykh: Yes.
The student : And others.

The Shaykh : Yes.
The student : It necessitates that he say that their action is like scattered dust.

The Shaykh : What is this?
The student : "Scattered dust" means they will not be rewarded for this action.

The Shaykh : Yes.
The student : Because they gathered as a group, they gathered and started planning for fighting without the presence of the general Imam.

The Shaykh: Yes.
The student : So this is what I want you to clarify, that the general Imam is not a condition for such a thing. And I hope that when we sit with Shaykh Abu Malik, God willing, he will say this statement, and that he will say that the phrase I mentioned, "there is no jihad except with the general Imam," is a phrase with no meaning.