Is jihad in Afghanistan, given the division among the fronts, an individual obligation, considering that the number of Afghans exceeds the number of their enemy by approximately three times?

The questioner : The questioner asks: Is jihad in Afghanistan, given the division among the fronts, an individual obligation, considering that the number of Afghans exceeds the number of their enemy by approximately three times? And is donating money better in such a situation?

The Shaykh : There is some error in this question. He says the number of Afghans is greater than the number of their enemy. It appears the questioner means that the enemy consists of Afghans, i.e., the communists among the Afghans. Thus, he seems to be ignorant of, or ignoring the fact that, if the fighting were only between the mujahideen from among the Muslims and the communists from among the Afghans, the matter would have ended. But behind these communists there is a known disbelieving, atheistic state. So I do not know why he limited the issue to this minimization of the enemy’s number relative to the mujahideen. In any case, this is a comment to point out the error in what the questioner said regarding the reality of the situation. As for the answer, I see that jihad in the lands of the Afghans, and in Palestine for example, and in every land of Islam where the feet of disbelieving polytheists have trod, it is obligatory for the Muslims to expel the disbeliever. This is a ruling in which I do not think Muslims would differ, because the jihad discussed by the scholars is of two types: an individual obligation and a collective obligation. The individual obligation in jihad is when some of the lands of Islam are invaded. As for the collective obligation, it is when jihad is for the purpose of expanding the territory of the Islamic state, or when jihad is for the purpose of spreading the Islamic call to the lands of the disbelievers. That is to say, Islam is not only about jihad, as some of those who deviate from the Book and the Sunnah on the Salafi methodology claim, or as some have seen, that there is no jihad in Islam except defensive jihad. As for jihad for the purpose of conveying the call, they deny it, and this is part of their deviation from their religion.
Jihad is of two types. The first is that whose ruling is an individual obligation, which is when some of the Islamic lands are invaded, and it becomes obligatory for the Muslims to mobilize in their entirety to repel the enemy from the land of the Muslims.
The second type of jihad is that whose ruling is a collective obligation, which is the jihad intended for conveying the call, and whose purpose is not to repel the enemy attacking the land of Islam.
Now, the land of Islam is under attack, not only in Afghanistan but also in Palestine. However, the means of jihad in Afghanistan, in the name of Islam, have achieved what, unfortunately, such jihad has not achieved in the land of Palestine, and that land was more deserving of it and more so.
Therefore, I ask myself: Is there anyone who says that jihad in Afghanistan is not an individual obligation? How can it be, when the lands of Islam have been invaded?
I say that the lands of the Russians, which include some Islamic lands that had Islamic governments, and which the Russians invaded about fifty years ago, or more or less, it is obligatory for the Muslims, if they were truly believing Muslims, to mobilize to expel the disbelievers from them. But unfortunately, what the Noble Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) informed us of in the authentic hadith has settled upon their hearts: . Love of this world and hatred of death is the affliction of the Islamic world today, after the great affliction, which is ignorance of Islam. It is obligatory upon us to strive in the path of Allah to expel the disbeliever from the land of Islam, despite the disagreement among us, and that this disagreement may harm the Muslims themselves. Therefore, they should unite. But we will return and say: Have you seen the affliction of the Muslims not agreeing on a single word? We used to hear words we did not believe, out of good opinion of these mujahideen who have been striving for about eight years with the simplest possible means. Today, have you seen how they have differed? Have you seen how this difference has weakened their might and imposed weakness and frailty upon them? How can the Islamic world today stand, given the severe disagreement among them, which is not limited to branches, as some doctors who claim knowledge by deceiving people and misleading the masses say when they hear people like us say that the disagreement is not limited to branches only, but is in the fundamentals, and even in the fundamental of fundamentals, which is faith in Allah the Exalted, as . How can this Islamic world, if they wanted to strive in the path of Allah, be unable to strive because they are divided among themselves? So to a single word, O Muslims, otherwise there is no victory without it.
I say, then, that jihad in Afghanistan is an individual obligation for everyone who is able, either with his person or with his wealth. It has come in the authentic hadith: . As for the other hadith: , there is no doubt that every Muslim who lives, not only in this time in which we have been afflicted with this new invasion, but before the Jewish invasion of Palestine, we must not die except with the determination in our hearts that whenever jihad in the path of Allah becomes feasible, we will strive. Otherwise, may Allah not forgive us, for we would die upon a branch of hypocrisy.