What is your response to those who say that the Shaykh’s fatwa prohibiting young men, as individuals, from going to jihad in Bosnia is an act of cowardice?

Al-Halabi: Our Shaykh, to follow up on this topic, a question or discussion took place between me and some of the brothers regarding the matter of Bosnia and Herzegovina. He called me on the phone and asked me what is the view ofThe Shaykh : Nasser regarding this situation that has befallen some of our Muslim brothers in some countries? Should the Muslim youth go there to fight jihad and the like? So I told himThe Shaykh : that this matter is not something that mere individual youth, even if they number a few hundred or even a few thousand, can undertake by going to that region or those countries. Rather, the matter requires great preparation and organization and the like. This is a summary of the Shaykh’s fatwa in this regard. Then I told him, “We ask Allah the Exalted not to let our enthusiasm and emotions drive us to recklessness, so that we end up with a second Afghanistan.” He then said a word that I would like the Shaykh to comment on as a benefit. He said, “We also do not want to be cowards.”

The Shaykh : What Allah willed.

The questioner : Yes.

The Shaykh : What Allah willed.

The questioner: It would be best if the Shaykh would speak briefly on this, may Allah reward you.

The Shaykh: Allah is the Helper, and there is no power nor strength except with Allah. The Companions of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) were never cowards, but at the same time, they were not people of foolishness or recklessness. They did not throw themselves into destruction before making preparations, above all else. And this is the easiest thing and the easiest form of jihad: migration from one land to another, from the lands of disbelief to the lands of Islam. We see now many Muslim youth, and some of them may say, as you quoted from your companion: “We do not want to be cowards.” Yet we find that due to their cowardice, they do not settle in their own country because they face some harassment from some official authorities. They do not have the patience to endure it, so they retreat and justify their retreat by settling in the lands of disbelief, in which the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade residing in many hadiths. For example, he (peace and blessings be upon him) said, and I will not prolong the discussion on this matter: This is a tangible fact, clear to the touch, that Muslims who travel—and I do not say migrate—from the lands of Islam to the lands of disbelief, because migration is the opposite of that; it is from the lands of disbelief to the lands of Islam.
We find that many of these youth do not have the literary courage to bear some of the harm that the first generation, the Companions of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), bore, which we cannot even imagine today. But when permission was revealed to them to fight the disbelievers and polytheists, they lived up to the good expectations of all people, whether they were Muslims or disbelievers. Do you not remember the story of the steadfastness of the people of Badr, who were about three hundred fighters facing a thousand men, with their numbers and strength multiplied many times over? Therefore, we advise these youth to remember with me the saying of the poet:
“Reason comes before the courage of the brave *** It is the first, and courage is the second place”
We do not want, in the name of courage, to drag ourselves in and destroy ourselves before adopting the means that would then allow us to make our blood cheap in the path of Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He. This is what I say to such an enthusiastic youth, and I am saying it to him while I do not know him personally. Tell him in my name: “Go and show your courage in those lands.” What will the poor man do? He will throw himself into destruction, without a doubt. I clearly remember that the saying of Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He: is the opposite of what we are currently taking as a reference and quoting from. But the truth is that the lesson lies in the generality of the wording, not in the specificity of the cause. The verse was revealed after Allah, the Exalted, had granted victory to His believing servants, the Ansar and the Muhajirun. The Ansar, as you know, were people of land, crops, and livestock, so they relied on these and did not become active in jihad in the path of Allah at that time. And after Allah, the Exalted, granted victory to these Muslims, jihad became a collective obligation, meaning to convey the call from a Muslim place to a non-Muslim place. Here, people’s capabilities differ in performing collective obligations. Some are content with the way of that Bedouin or Arab or Najdi who asked the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) what Allah had made obligatory for him every day and night. He said: The man said with complete sincerity: “By Allah, O Messenger of Allah, I will not add to them nor subtract from them.” The response of the Messenger (peace be upon him) was: , and in another narration: . On this occasion, it is fitting for me to remind you that the addition of is an anomalous addition, and although it was reported in Sahih Muslim and other authentic collections, it is not authentic. The denial of its authenticity does not stem from internal criticism, as some contemporary scholars say using modern hadith terminology, criticism of the text, but rather from criticism of the chain of narration. So this addition is anomalous and not authentic. The authentic version is or . The point of this hadith is that this man was content with performing what Allah had made an individual obligation for him. If he does not perform a collective obligation of jihad, nor does he perform the recommended practices, regular voluntary prayers, and supererogatory acts, he is a man content with this. Most people are like this. When Allah, the Exalted, knew from these Ansar, who were the cause of establishing the religion in their land, that they were relying on their crops, livestock, and harvest, Allah, the Exalted, revealed this verse to remind them that abandoning jihad in the path of Allah in general is throwing oneself into destruction. But this, as I said earlier, may be throwing oneself in a completely opposite way to how we are saying it now. Now, why do we not go and fight the Jews who have occupied our land and are next to us? Because we are fighting from every direction. So this jihad is before us, but we are unable to do it. So what drives us to those distant lands when our countries do not support us in this jihad? So we are living in dreams and illusions, and this is not as it was said:
“Sa'd drove them in, and Sa'd was wrapped *** This is not how, O Sa'd, camels are driven in”

The questioner : ... .

The Shaykh : Yes?

The questioner: “This is not how, O Sa'd, you drive in the camels”

The Shaykh: Ah, in terms of word order? May Allah reward you with good. I wonder if the mosque is close here or far?

The questioner: Right behind the house

The Shaykh: Please, go ahead. Do you have something?