Discussion on the condition of an amir for jihad

The Shaykh : Is an amir required for jihad in the path of Allah?
The student: It is not a condition.

The Shaykh : Is it not required? You mean it is not required?
The student : No, it is not a matter of chaos.

The Shaykh: Then.
The student : But if this is the condition, meaning if this is our condition, and it is found in the Book and the Sunnah, we want to know its evidence.

The Shaykh : My dear, you are engaged in da'wah, you are not a student now; you are engaged in da'wah.
The student : No, and I am a student...

The Shaykh : It is supposed that you are calling people.
The student : Yes.

The Shaykh : And you oblige people to your da'wah because you believe it is the truth, not that you call if such and such, and if not, that is the affair of the beginner student. But you call to jihad in the path of Allah and you explicitly say that nothing is required in it except such and such.
The student : Yes.

The Shaykh : The fundamental condition in all acts of worship is sincerity.
The student : Correct.

The Shaykh : And this... the second condition: under an Islamic banner. So how do you imagine an Islamic banner without an amir?
The student : No, it is possible to imagine an Islamic banner without an amir; the important thing is that the symbol of Islam is established, not a symbol among other symbols we hear of, like worldly symbols or...

The Shaykh : ...we are done with that.
The student : Hmm.

The Shaykh : Leave the other symbols; time is being wasted on us. We do not want to repeat things that are already settled. Do not repeat the second condition; this is settled. Do not repeat what is not a condition but is rather jahiliyyah, a blind banner. There is no need. I am telling you, how do you imagine jihad being established without an amir, or an Islamic banner as you say, without an amir? How do you imagine this? Is this not the greatest proof that you are calling to something you have not yet imagined?
The student : No, but I have imagined it.

The Shaykh : Okay, tell me how you imagine the Islamic banner without an amir.
The student : No, excuse me, no, jihad does not necessarily have to be the general, comprehensive jihad for which a great Islamic state is established.

The Shaykh : My brother, leave the talk that has no relation to us. I am asking you a question and the answer is clear. How do you imagine the establishment of an Islamic banner without an amir? I am not speaking of jahiliyyah. What is your evidence? Because now, in an hour or two, we will say that the time for iftar is approaching.
The student: All right.

The Shaykh : So, shorten the talk. I repeat and say: how do you imagine an Islamic banner under which jihad is fought, or under which Muslims fight, without these Muslims having an amir? How do you imagine this?
The student : I mean, let us suppose that there is a man, for example, from the imams of disbelief, and a man from the Muslims went to him, and a man from the Muslims went to him and killed him. Would that not be jihad in the path of Allah?

The Shaykh : I am telling you, answer my question, otherwise this session is of no use. How do you imagine the establishment of jihad under an Islamic banner? You are now talking about an individual.
The student : Yes.

The Shaykh : Jihad under an Islamic banner, does it mean an individual or a group?
The student : It is possible, of course, if it is through a group, they will have an amir, without a doubt, of course.

The Shaykh : It may be, meaning...
The student : Yes, it is a condition that they have an amir.

The Shaykh : ... .
The student : No, it is a condition that they have an amir, inevitably, if they are a group. But if, for example, an individual wants to set out on his own to fight in the path of Allah without an amir, then at that time it will also be jihad in the path of Allah without an Islamic banner. So I mean jihad in the absolute sense. But if there is a group that will set out, for example, three or more, there is no doubt that they will have an amir, inevitably.

The Shaykh : You understand that one person goes to fight, goes to attack the Jews and kills himself? That is your da'wah.
The student : This is the understanding from this talk.

The Shaykh: Yes.
The student : This is the understanding from this talk.

The Shaykh : No, what you understand from it is that every individual among the Muslims takes his weapon and attacks the Jews, for example, or others.
The student : It is permissible.

The Shaykh : Is it permissible or not permissible? That is the jihad you are calling to.
The student : No.

The Shaykh : Okay, what are you calling to?
The student : The jihad you are calling to is known; it has an amir and it has a pledge of allegiance as well.
The student : Ah, I mean, it is not a condition.

The Shaykh : What do you say, my brother? What was conveyed to you is this. But if you say a man took a risk and took his weapon and attacked the other, this does not need to be said to be under an Islamic banner.
The student : Ah, suppose we mean, look, we mean that if there is no doubt that a group will undertake jihad, then there is no doubt that they will have an amir.

The Shaykh : My brother... may Allah bless you. Do not say "if." What do you want it to be? Clarify...
The student : We want it to be through a group.

The Shaykh : Okay, you want it to be group jihad, not individuals.
The student : Without a doubt, of course.

The Shaykh : Okay, is it a condition that they have an amir?
The student : It is a condition that they have an amir, as long as, meaning...

The Shaykh : My dear, is it a condition or not? Two words. No, yes.
The student : Ah, it is a condition that there is an amir, but not an amir in the general sense, which is the caliph, meaning.

The Shaykh : ... .
The student : Ah, meaning it is a condition that they have an amir, but not in the general sense.

The Shaykh : Okay... in any case, an amir is a condition.
The student : Ah, an amir is a condition, not just in jihad, but in any Islamic group, whether they are going out for jihad.

The Shaykh : Shorten the matter. We are talking about jihad.
The student : No, I mean... we do not want to bring conditions that generally apply to jihad and non-jihad, meaning Muslims, whether they are traveling, for example, or they are in jihad, or they are in a place, they must have an amir who obliges them to obedience by the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him).

The Shaykh : We are now researching the amir in an absolute sense, then we will see what his attributes are. You have not conditioned in the jihad you started talking about except sincerity and the Islamic banner.
The student : Okay, it is known.

The Shaykh: All right.
The student: It is known.

The Shaykh : I told you this Islamic banner does not require an amir. I said no.
The student : It is known, of course, if the Muslims go out in a group, even if there is no jihad, they must have an amir.

The Shaykh : My brother, you specify, meaning specify your answer.
The student : Yes.

The Shaykh : Specify your answer.
The student : No, let him...The Shaykh : He is the one who speaks, let him...The Shaykh : speak.

The Shaykh : We say now we have reached a point where the least we can say, so that we do not wrong people by not hearing it, is that it is a condition in this Islamic banner that it has an amir, is that not so?
The student : Of course, without a doubt.

The Shaykh : Okay, now we have three conditions.
The student : But look, we can wait, because originally there are general conditions, meaning I did not mean the general conditions that are required.

The Shaykh : My dear, sincerity is also a general condition, I told you.
The student : Yes.

The Shaykh : The first thing I told you, and this recording is in front of you, is that sincerity is a condition in all acts of worship.
The student : And also...

The Shaykh : Allow me, why did you mention this and not mention the amir?
The student : By Allah, we mentioned it, it came to our mind, but if it comes to our mind, also the general amir of the Muslims, or an amir in a general sense, meaning in travel or in residence or in jihad, there is no harm in mentioning it, there is no harm in mentioning it.

The Shaykh : How is there no harm, my brother? For something that is a condition, one does not say "there is no harm."
The student : I mean, there is no harm in mentioning it now, meaning in our time, in our current time.

The Shaykh : ...now, since it is a settled condition.
The student : Ah, in our current talk, we can condition it, but I mean the conditions that are specific only to jihad, unlike the rest, for example, in the past Islamic state, an amir would go out, for example, in Hajj, an amir would go out with the people during Hajj, for example.

The Shaykh : So, remove the first condition, remove the first condition.
The student : But it is known.

The Shaykh : Remove the first condition.
The student : Which is sincerity.

The Shaykh : Yes.
The student : But it is known in our minds.

The Shaykh : Subhan Allah, because it is known, remove it.
The student : No.

The Shaykh : It is known and it is a condition in all acts of worship.
The student : Yes.

The Shaykh : We are asking about jihad, what distinguishes it from other acts of worship? You say now, do not bring sincerity, do not bring anything you say is shared.
The student : Yes.

The Shaykh : What is required in the jihad you are calling to?
The student : It is required that it be for the exaltation of the word of Allah, for the exaltation of the word of Allah.

The Shaykh : ...stay in your place.
The student : Okay, for the exaltation of the word of Allah, and that it be under an Islamic banner. This is what we understand, and of course, we know from the Islamic banner that if it is for a group, they must have an amir.

The Shaykh : The banner is raised over whom?
The student : I mean.

The Shaykh : Over the individual or over the group?
The student : It is raised over a group, an obligation in the path of Allah.

The Shaykh : So, jihad in the path of Allah, which is an individual obligation.
The student : Yes.

The Shaykh : Is it for an individual or for a group?
The student : It is possible that it is for an individual and it is possible that it is for a group.

The Shaykh : This is not an answer.
The student : Nor...

The Shaykh : My dear, we said that jihad is of two types: an individual obligation and a collective obligation. As for the collective obligation, if some people fulfill it, it is lifted from the rest. As for the individual obligation, it is obligatory for all Muslims to fulfill it. Why are you singling out a person who has performed the individual obligation of jihad? What is the individual obligation in jihad?
The student : It is not...

The Shaykh : What is the individual obligation in jihad?
The student : It is not upon every individual.

The Shaykh : Is it upon the individual or upon the group?
The student : It is upon the entire group, meaning each individual one by one.

The Shaykh : So it is upon the group. Does this group not require an amir?
The student : Rather, an amir is required for the group, whether they fight or sit, meaning whether the group fights or sits, they must have an amir.

The Shaykh : Okay, you... an amir in the sense of a caliph.
The student : I mean, it is not necessary that it be the amir of the journey; it is possible for him to have one.

The Shaykh : You are saying that an amir is required whether there is jihad or not, so then...
The student : It is not in the sense of a caliph.

The Shaykh: Yes.
The student : It is not in the sense of a caliph.

The Shaykh : And why is there an error if we say in the sense of a caliph?
The student : Yes, of course, there is an error.

The Shaykh: Why?
The student : Because the error that follows from that means that we want to pick the fruit before we plant the seed.

The Shaykh : I see you doing it that way.
The student : Hmm.

The Shaykh : That is how I see you doing it.
The student : No, if Allah wills, that is not what I am doing.

The Shaykh : This amir that you want to be other than a caliph.
The student : Yes, no, it is not necessary that he be a general caliph for all the Muslims, of course.

The Shaykh : You are telling me no... you are telling me no, I am far from your words. You want an amir for jihad other than the caliph. You say no, why?
The student : ... .

The Shaykh : Is this not your statement?
The student : Good, if Allah wills.

The Shaykh : I did not understand you, may Allah do you good, in any case, is this not your statement?

The questioner : Yes, we agreed, yes, this point, we agreed on this point.