Why did the Companions not stop jihad when the disagreement between 'Ali and Mu'awiyah occurred and the Muslims split into two factions?

The student: Okay, how many caliphs were there in the time of 'Ali ibn Abi Talib?

The Shaykh : One person.
The student: Which one, 'Ali ibn Abi Talib?

The Shaykh : Yes.
The student: It was a great [event]; people rebelled against 'Ali, or was there no rebellion?

The Shaykh: Did they rebel with right or with wrong?
The student: They rebelled based on their own ijtihad, meaning they were on the right.

The Shaykh: And from the perspective of your ijtihad?
The student: That each of them was a mujtahid.

The Shaykh: And from the perspective of your ijtihad.
The student: Each of them was a mujtahid, and at the very least, they have a reward.
The student : In ... .
The student: Let me answer you... I am telling you that each of them was a mujtahid.

The Shaykh: ... Do you know why?
The student : Yes.

The Shaykh : ... .
The student : ... .

The Shaykh: You are speaking according to what you believe now. You do not believe that the truth was with 'Ali and that Mu'awiyah was mistaken. You do not believe in that.
The student: But they were all mujtahids.

The Shaykh: But this is a corrective statement; what is it correcting?
The student: Yes, I believe.

The Shaykh: There is no place for correction, but I will ask you a question.
The student: Specifically, that he was on the right.

The Shaykh: I am just asking you a question.
The student: On the right, according to the explicit hadith, but does that mean they were on misguidance... so this is misguidance.

The Shaykh: Yes.
The student : ... .

The Shaykh: Yes, they were on misguidance. You read the Qur'an.
The student: Ah, praise be to Allah.

The Shaykh: Ah, .
The student : .
The student: Misguidance means absolutely.

The Shaykh: ... What... .
The student: Meaning they were on absolute misguidance.
Another student: ...
The student: I mean, they were on absolute misguidance.

The Shaykh: Is the research absolute or restricted?
The student: If they made it absolute.

The Shaykh: Look, I am not answering you, but you are contradicting yourself in b-s-j-s-j-s-j.
The student: I am telling you.

The Shaykh: Is your research restricted or absolute?
The student: Where?

The Shaykh: Wherever... .
The student: Honestly, you are rambling. Honestly, I don't know... .

The Shaykh: Honestly, you are lost.
The student: No, I am not lost. No.

The Shaykh: Not lost. Okay, stay with me. Was your research restricted or absolute?
The student: I mean, any research we did on the issue of jihad.

The Shaykh: Your research, when you reached the caliphate between 'Ali and Mu'awiyah, was it restricted or absolute?
The student: No, it was absolute.
The student: ... O Shaykh... .

The Shaykh: ... Let's... it makes no difference between restricted and absolute.
The student: ... For example, please, my dear brother... honestly, in the past, even though there were factions and groups, none of them... .

The Shaykh: ... The hadith is not good, Professor.
The student: I am forced to... because you are asking... all the talk, and you don't give me a chance.
Another student: There is no power and no strength except with Allah.
The student: You don't give us a chance to speak; you only answer the questions that you ask, meaning you want to direct the conversation and steer it alone.

The Shaykh: By Allah, accuse us of whatever you want... .
The student: When I want to explain, you tell me I am opening a lecture. Of course not, but if I lengthen the talk, you say no, you have rambled... .

The Shaykh: ... Accuse us of whatever you want.
The student: I might get a little angry... .
Another student : My brother, what is the problem if he... and he asks and you answer.
Another student : No, that doesn't work.
Another student : If it is a mistake, you tell him it is a mistake and stop him at his limit.
Another student : I don't accept this talk at all. Then, when I want... to explain and he interrupts, I say, for example... mistake. I will tell him, yes, okay... .
Another student : You started it. You started the tone, my brother. May Allah reward you.
Another student : ... Mistake... .
Another student : I... .

The Shaykh: It is everything... .
The student: If the groups were many and the imams were many, existing before that.
Another student : One imam. That one is a rebel, that one rebelled against him, that one is mistaken. There is one imam in every era.
Another student : Not only in the time of Mu'awiyah or 'Ali ibn Abi Talib.
Another student : You are giving examples, and you gave an example of 'Ali, and he established the proof against you.
Another student : Okay, what about the examples after that?
Another student : He mentioned the ones after him... .

The Shaykh: ... I don't want to speak in another style. Why don't you acknowledge the truth? You are now accusing me of what is not in me. I am now describing you with what is in you. When the truth becomes apparent to you, why don't you acknowledge it? I know that you believe that 'Ali was on the right and that Mu'awiyah was not right and was mistaken. Why do you say each one is a mujtahid on his opinion? You are trying to blur the issue. Why don't you say it?
The student: My brother, in your heart, you don't... .
Another student : No... the issue.

The Shaykh: Why are you still... .
The student: Each one is rewarded for his ijtihad.

The Shaykh: The research is not fiqh; the research is political. The research is Islamic politics. Who governs the Muslim community? One imam, not two imams. So you are mixing the disagreement in fiqh issues with the disagreement in political issues . This is in Islam; this is a ruling.
The student : ... .

The Shaykh: But if one person disagrees with another in a fiqh issue, he does not fight, does not use force, and does not do anything. You are mixing Sha'ban with Ramadan. So when you brought your first example, I believe that you are bringing an example contrary to what you believe, because you believe that the truth is with 'Ali.
The student: Of course.

The Shaykh: Of course. So why did you bring it as an example, since Mu'awiyah made a mistake?
The student: He made a mistake.

The Shaykh: And he rebelled against 'Ali.
The student: He did not wait for 'Ali.

The Shaykh: Look, do you see, my brother, how he did not wait? What do I need to wait for? You brought an example we are discussing. Present it and say, by Allah, I want to stop at this example.
The student: He did not wait for 'Ali that I... .

The Shaykh: For what reason should I wait? This is an incorrect example.
The student: We still have the rest of the examples.

The Shaykh: The rest, each one is discussed. I mean, listen to you. You want one, two, three, four, five, and perhaps, if Allah wills, you have memorized the history and you will bring me dozens. I will record them in my mind and return to critique example number one, two.
The student: No, it is one example, and I have not finished yet.

The Shaykh: Look, this... he needs to bring the second example. He told you to go back to the first example... .
The student: Let him finish. Let him finish.
Another student : Please, please.

The Shaykh: Finish the example. Finish the first example.
The student : Go on.
Another student : Did it happen in the war between 'Ali ibn Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him) and Mu'awiyah (may Allah be pleased with him), and Mu'awiyah is the son of Abi Talib, his disagreement with his disagreement with 'Ali ibn Abi Talib, did he leave jihad or was he, for example, still doing jihad... .

The Shaykh: Does this have its relation to the completion of the question, or is it a new question?
The student: This... is an example of some.

The Shaykh: What comes to your mind, you say this is a completion of the question. This is a new, separate question.
The student: Why?

The Shaykh: I am telling you, leaving jihad, which he would leave, even if there was an imam who was pledged allegiance to, what does this example benefit you... This is you wronging us in this assembly. We say that jihad is obligatory and it must be under an Islamic banner, and it must have a Muslim emir over it, who is a caliph pledged to by the Muslims, so that there is agreement and jihad. How can they leave jihad when there is an imam responsible for the Muslims, and he is the one who raises the banner of Islam and the banner of jihad in the path of Allah?
The student : ... .

The Shaykh: What does this mean by this?
The student: Meaning they believed that jihad was dependent on the banner of one imam.

The Shaykh: Of course, for you, man, you are not a student of hadiths. The Messenger of Allah is telling you: . Do you know this hadith?
The student: This is regarding... .

The Shaykh: Each one, you tell me, okay, and then it turns out that from it comes death. How, okay, okay, what does it mean? Must there be one caliph or caliphs?
The student: There must be one caliph, but if.

The Shaykh: Then this one caliph.
The student: In the case of multiple caliphs.

The Shaykh: Listen to this.
The student : ... .

The Shaykh : The one true caliph, my dear, is the one who raises the banner of jihad. The others are invalid; they raised the banner of jihad from their own pockets. Some evil is less severe than other evil, but the important point is that the caliph exists. The caliphate continued until the era of the Turks. What are you arguing about?! I call all of this baseless argumentation, not a fight, because you are bringing up examples that contradict our research and contradict our reality. Why did they abandon jihad? Why would they abandon jihad? The condition that we understand from the hadith of Hudhayfah existed throughout the previous Islamic eras. As for saying that there were people who were rebels or aggressors who raised another Islamic banner and were aggressive toward the one who was pledged allegiance to, this does not invalidate the research we are following, because the one who raises the banner of true jihad existed in all these years. As for people who rebelled, that is none of our business; it is none of our business. And you agree with us that their rebellion was invalid, just as the rebellion of Mu'awiyah was invalid. As for Mu'awiyah, I say with my tongue, my heart, and my pen—may Allah be pleased with him—because good deeds erase thousands of sins. Therefore, I told you earlier that the issue you raised in the example you presented regarding the dispute between Mu'awiyah and 'Ali, is it general or specific? You did not know whether to say general or specific, even though it is a specific issue... There was misguidance in this matter, but in other matters, when he fought the Romans, he was in the right; he was truly fighting.
The student : Yes, he is.

The Shaykh : Of course, but the Muslim caliph exists, my brother. So what is your problem with the issue?
The student : When the Romans came, he fought under the banner of the Muslim caliph.

The Shaykh : Look, there is no power or strength except with Allah.
The student : ... .

The Shaykh : My dear, the Muslim caliph who fights in the path of Allah exists.
The student : But his existence is just an image.

The Shaykh : Who told you it was an image? 'Ali was an image.
The student : No, the point is whether the existence of the caliph is an image or whether he is followed.

The Shaykh : It is this.
The student : Under his banner.

The Shaykh : This is a question for you, and the answer is that 'Ali was an image.
The student : When he was not.

The Shaykh : When Mu'awiyah opposed him.
The student : Yes.

The Shaykh : And rebelled against him and called for the right of 'Uthman, and so on. 'Ali was an image.
The student : The caliph who was required to be pledged allegiance to was 'Ali ibn Abi Talib, but Mu'awiyah ibn Abi Sufyan...

The Shaykh : Look, now you have raised a second question. You said, "You are an image." I... Was 'Ali an image?
The student : No, he was not an image?

The Shaykh : Okay, so the answer is no, he was not an image.
The student : Okay, so what did we benefit from the answer? Can you explain it to me?

The Shaykh : You are the one asking, may Allah guide you. You are asking, glory be to Allah. My brother, you cannot, unfortunately, every person has a certain capacity. You cannot control the issue. You...
The student : No, the truth is that you are the one who scattered the topic...
The student : ... my friends...

The Shaykh: There is no power nor strength except with Allah.
The student : ... the young men... the topic... the truthThe Shaykh : In such issues, the matter is exhausting and without benefit. The truth is that a person must always and forever clear his mind in order to discuss any of the issues.

The Shaykh : Ah, by Allah.
The student : And if he does not clear his mind, no benefit can be gained.

The Shaykh : This is correct.