Culture

The Obligation of Jihad

Jihad is initially a duty of sufficiency; it becomes an individual duty upon the Muslims who are attacked by the enemy and a duty of sufficiency upon the others. The obligation does not fall until the enemy is repelled and the land of Islam is purified of his squalor. The meaning of Jihad being a duty of sufficiency (Fardh Kifaya) is that we initiate the fighting of the enemy even if he did not attack us. If the Muslims failed to initiate the fighting at any given time they would all be sinful. For instance, if the Muslims in Egypt initiated the fighting, in their quality as part of the Islamic State, the Muslims in Indonesia would be absolved of blame, because the fighting of the belligerent Kuffar by the Muslims would effectively be undertaken, thus the duty of Jihad would be fulfilled.

However, if fighting broke out between the Muslims and the Kuffar, but the sufficiency was not fulfilled by the Muslims of Egypt alone, the obligation remains in force upon the Muslims of India and Indonesia; the obligation would fall upon the nearest to them until the sufficiency is fulfilled. If the sufficiency was not fulfilled until all the Muslims were involved, Jihad becomes obligatory upon every single Muslim until the enemy is defeated. Jihad remains a duty of sufficiency upon the Muslims generally, except for those called up by the Khalifah. Jihad becomes obligatory upon everyone called up by the Khalifah because Allah (swt) says: “O you who believe! What is the matter with you, that, when ye are asked to go forth in the cause of Allah, you cling heavily to the earth? Do you prefer the life of this world to the Hereafter? But little is the comfort of this life, as compared with the Hereafter.”; and because the Messenger of Allah (saw) said: “If you are asked to go forth then do so.” The Kifaya in Jihad within the Islamic State means that a sufficient number of Muslims must undertake the task of fighting; they could either be conscripts i.e. regular soldiers as was the case in the times of Omar, or volunteers who have voluntarily prepared themselves for Jihad as was the case in the days of Abu Bakr.

The initiation of Jihad does not mean that we straightaway fight the enemies; we must rather call them to Islam. The Muslims are forbidden from fighting those the Islamic Da’wah is yet to reach. It is imperative to call the Kuffar to Islam and if they reject, the Jizya will be imposed on them and if they refuse to comply, we will fight them. Muslim reported on the authority of Suleiman Ibnu Burayda on that of his father who said: “When the Messenger of Allah (saw) appointed anyone as leader of an army or detachment he would especially exhort him to fear Allah and to be good to the Muslims who were with him. He would say: Fight; do not embezzle the spoils; do not break your pledge; do not mutilate (the dead) bodies; and do not kill the children. When you meet your enemies who are polytheists, invite them to three courses of action. If they respond to any one of these, you also accept it and withhold yourself from doing them any harm. Invite them to Islam; if they respond to you, accept it from them and desist from fighting against them. Then invite them to migrate from their lands to the land of the Muhajireen (immigrants) and inform them that, if they do so, they shall have all the privileges and obligations of the Muhajireen. If they refuse to migrate, tell them that they will have the status of Bedouin Muslims and will be subjected to the commands of Allah like other Muslims, but they will not get any share from the spoils of war or alms except when they actually perform Jihad with the Muslims. If they refuse to accept Islam, demand from them the Jizya. If they agree to pay, accept it from them and hold off your hands. If they refuse to pay the tax, seek Allah's help and fight them.” Ibnu Abbas reported: “The Messenger of Allah (saw) never fought any folk before inviting them.” Farwah Ibnu Musayk reported: “I said: “O Messenger of Allah, shall I fight with my consenting folk those who reject?” He said: “Yes.”  Then after I left, he called me back and said: “Do not fight them until you call them to Islam.”

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