It is not befitting to address issues of jihad and involvement in fitnah (trial, discord or temptation) with mere enthusiasm; rather, one must exercise deliberation and wisdom.

The Shaykh : But I am saying that the evidence that matters are handled by emotions is that America is right next to us here. We need to go fight them in Iraq. Why don't we fight them here? Allow me, allow me.

The questioner : If it is better to fight here, we fight them here...

The Shaykh: Allahu Akbar.

The questioner : I am saying that people look at the fighting from the perspective of Iraq because Iraq is a center of power.

Another questioner : Because fighting is currently available...

The Shaykh : May Allah guide you, O Ali. May Allah guide you.

The questioner : There is a ready army and a confrontation... and there is a need, and the equipment we are talking about, the required equipment, is available.

Another questioner : ... Tomorrow he will tell you, "My brother, do not send me people. I do not want anyone. I am self-sufficient. You manage your affairs at your place..."

Another questioner : This is the declared statement now. He will say, "We do not want it now."

Another questioner : Shaykh, if we leave America and do not fight them and stay in our homes, will they leave us alone?

The Shaykh : Glory be to Allah! When I say, "Be the locks of your homes," what does this mean? It means that you are unable to perform jihad. But if you are able to perform jihad, it is forbidden for you to be the locks of your homes. Glory be to Allah!

The questioner : Is it better, regardless of our position, to leave them alone until they destroy what remains of Islam?

The Shaykh : Leave whom?

The questioner : The Americans will pass through Iraq whether you fight them or not.

Another questioner : They are a danger to the Ummah (the Muslim community).

The Shaykh : This question is strange, and do not hold it against me. The summary of the whole discussion is that I want to let the Americans pass through the Islamic lands. Glory be to Allah! The issue, may Allah reward you, is viewed from one angle, while it should be viewed from other angles. Now I will say something that is both religious and realistic. I have said this more than once to some of the enthusiastic young men like you: if the Americans fight Iraq, it is like if the Jews attacked us. We would want to repel the Jews, and likewise we would want to repel the Americans. But where are you, O Abu Yahya? May Allah guide you. This is not the issue. Look, the problem is the difference between the Americans here and the Americans there. There, they will take cover behind the Muslims. So when you imagine that you want to be reinforcements for the Iraqis against the Americans, your imagination contradicts reality. This is unlike if we fought the Americans here and fought the Jews, not the Muslims. This is not the same thing. May Allah guide you.

The questioner : ... .

The Shaykh : My brother, the Palestinians will be with us. What will they say? "A second line," do you see how it is? So there is a difference between this picture and that picture. So now, all your search and argument, despite the fact that there are very dangerous openings there, is that we want to perform jihad and fight with Iraq. Against whom? The Americans. You imagine that the Americans are in the forefront. On the contrary, allow me, sir, this is another aspect that differs from the issue here. You imagine that you will go as reinforcements for the Iraqis to fight the Americans. No, you will fight the Muslims. The Muslims here are the problem. If the matter were as you imagine, Jordanian Muslims and Iraqi Muslims fighting American polytheists, no one would differ on this issue. But you are ignoring reality. This painful reality is that this mistake occurred: they made room for the European countries and America to enter the Islamic lands there in order to fight the Muslims against each other.

The questioner : Allow me. Be a little more open-minded.

The Shaykh : Allow me. Take what you will. The patience of Ayyub, if Allah wills, despite the noses of some people. So I will say that a discussion took place between me and some of the enthusiastic ones. They imagined that when the Americans want to fight Iraq, they will leave the Arab armies in their places and they will advance with their armies. Who will they fight? The Iraqis. I said, Glory be to Allah! People, you differ from us in that the Americans came to these lands not to defend their interests? No two people differ on this word, and no two goats butt heads over it. We will say, based on that, is it in the interest of the Americans to spill the blood of one American in the path of fighting Iraq, when they are able to fight the Iraqis using the Saudis, the Egyptians, the Syrians, and so on? The sacrificial goat will be these Muslim armies, these Arab ones that they call them. So the Americans will be in the rear and fight with destructive weapons, while the armies will be the Muslim armies. And so I do not know if you are imagining the realistic picture. And yet you say you want to fight with Iraq. If you want to fight the Muslims.