DOCUMENT

JOIN THE CARAVAN

Imam Abdullah Azzam

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1. When the enemy enters the land of the Muslims, jihad becomes individually obligatory (fard `ayn), according to all the jurists, mufassirin and muhaddithin.

2. When jihad becomes fard `ayn, there is no difference between it and salah and fasting, according to the three Imams, Abu Hanifah, Malik and al-Shafi`i. As for the Hanbalis, they give priority to salah.

In "Bulghah al-Salik li-Aqrab al-Masalik fi madhhab al-Imam Malik" ("The Sufficiency of the Traveller on the Best Path in the School of Imam Malik"), the following is reported:

"Jihad in the Path of Allah, to raise the word of Allah, is fard kifayah once a year, so that if some perform it, the obligation falls from the rest. It becomes fard `ayn, like salah and fasting, if the legitimate Muslim Imam declares it so, or if there is an attack by the enemy on an area of people."

"Majma` al-anhur", a book of the Hanafi school, reports:

"If the sufficiency (to defeat the enemy) is not reached except by everybody participating, then at such a time it (jihad) becomes fard `ayn, like salah."

And in "Hashiyah Ibn `Abidin", another authoritative Hanafi text, we find,

"...and (jihad is) fard `ayn if the enemy has attacked part of the Islamic homeland. It thus becomes an obligation like salah and fasting which cannot be abandoned."

3. When jihad becomes fard `ayn, no permission of parents is required, just as parents' permission is not required to perform the dawn salah, or to fast Ramadan.

4. There is no difference between one who abandons jihad without excuse when it is fard `ayn, and one who eats without excuse during the day in Ramadan.

5. Donating money does not exempt a person from bodily jihad, no matter how great the amount of money given. Nor is the obligation of jihad, which is hanging over the person's neck, lifted from him; just as it is not correct to give money to the poor for missed fasts or prayers without making them up.

6. Jihad is the obligation of a lifetime, just like salah and fasting. As it is not permissible to fast one year in Ramadan and eat in the following Ramadan, or to pray one day and abandon salah another day, similarly one cannot perform jihad one year and abandon it for some years if he is capable of continuing.

7. Jihad is currently fard `ayn - individually obligatory, in person and by wealth, in every place that the Disbelievers have occupied. It remains fard `ayn continuously until every piece of land that was once Islamic is regained.

8. The word "jihad", when mentioned on its own, only means combat with weapons, as was mentioned by Ibn Rushd, and upon this the four Imams have agreed.

9. The implication of "fi sabilillah" (in the Path of Allah) is jihad, as Ibn Hajar has said.

10. The saying, "We have returned from the lesser jihad (battle) to the greater jihad (jihad of the soul)" which people quote on the basis that it is a hadith, is in fact a false, fabricated hadith which has no basis. It is only a saying of Ibrahim Ibn Abi `Abalah, one of the Successors, and it contradicts textual evidence and reality.

11. Jihad is the zenith of Islam, and proceeds in stages. Before it comes hijrah, then preparation (organisation), then ribat, then combat. Hijrah is necessary for jihad, for it has been reported in the authentic hadith reported by Imam Ahmad on the marfu' authority of Junadah, that "hijrah will not cease as long as jihad continues." Ribat refers to living on the Muslims' front-line to protect the Muslims. It is a necessity of combat, because battles do not occur every day. A person may perform ribat for a long time and only participate in one or two battles during this time.

12. Jihad today is individually obligatory (fard `ayn), by self and wealth, on every Muslim, and the Islamic community remains sinful until the last piece of Islamic land is freed from the hands of the Disbelievers, nor are any absolved from the sin other than the Mujahideen.

13. Jihad in the time of the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) was of different varieties. The Battle of Badr was recommended (mustahabb). On the other hand, the battles of The Trench and Tabuk were fard `ayn upon every Muslim. The entire community was summoned forth, in the case of Tabuk because of the fact that the Disbelievers attacked Madinah, the Land of Islam. The Battle of Khaybar (in the year 7 A.H.) was communally obligatory (fard kifayah), and the Messenger of Allah only permitted those who had witnessed Hudaybiyah (6 A. H.) to participate in it.

14. Jihad in the days of the Companions and Successors was mostly fard kifayah, because they were embarking on new conquests.

15. Today jihad in person is all fard `ayn.

16. Allah has not excused anybody to abandon jihad other than the ill, the cripple and the blind, as well as children who have not yet reached puberty, and women who have no way of emigrating and performing jihad, and those advanced in years. In fact, it is better for even the sick person whose illness is not serious, as

well as the cripple and the blind person, if they are able to make their way to the training camps in order to join the Mujahideen, teach them Qur'an, talk to them and encourage them to be brave, to do so, just as Abdullah Ibn Umm Maktum did in Uhud.

Anybody else has no excuse before Allah, whether he is a professional, a specialist, an employer or a great businessman. None of these is excused from performing jihad personally or permitted to merely contribute materially.

17. Jihad is a collective act of worship, and every group must have a leader. Obedience to the leader is a necessity in jihad, and thus a person must condition himself to invariably obey the leader, as has been reported in the hadith,

"You must hear and obey, whether it is easy or difficult for you, in things which are pleasant for you as well as those which are inconvenient and difficult for you."

NOTES FOR THOSE COMING FOR JIHAD

1. The jihad of ordinary people is different from the jihad of Islamic propagators. The propagators are always few, and as a rule they are the prime of the Ummah. They alone cannot continue a prolonged jihad, nor are they capable of confronting nations, and so the Ummah must participate with them. Any people will have many faults, so let not anybody think that an entire people is outstanding, bearing the mark of elite angels.

2. The Afghan people are like any other people in that there is ignorance and shortcomings among them, so let not anybody think that he will find an entire people without any deficiencies.

However, the difference between the Afghan people and others is that the Afghans have refused disgrace in their religion, and have purchased their dignity with seas of blood and mountains of corpses and lost limbs. Other nations have submitted to colonization and disbelief from the first day.

3. The Afghan nation is illiterate, and has been reared only on the Hanafi school of thought. No other school of jurisprudence has co-existed with the Hanafi school in Afghanistan, and thus many of them think that anything, which contradicts the Hanafi school, is not part of Islam. The absence of other juristic schools in Afghanistan has led to partisanship and prejudice in favor of the Hanafi school in the hearts of the Afghan people.

Therefore anybody who wishes to perform jihad with the Afghans should respect the Hanafi school.

4. The Afghans are a faithful people who recognize manhood, chivalry and pride, and do not appreciate trickery or hypocrisy. When they love a person, they will give their life and soul for him, and if they dislike him they will not show it at all. A person should desist from certain actions of the prayer when he first mingles with them, in order to give himself a valuable chance of reaching their hearts so that he will be able to instruct and educate them and thus improve their worldly and religious conditions. Imam Ahmad and Ibn Taymiyyah have given verdicts to this effect.

5. You should certainly know that the path of jihad is long and arduous, and that it is not easy for most people to continue the journey, even if they were very eager at the start. Desires and effusive feelings for jihad must definitely take root in the soul to enable it to bear hardships, and to rear it upon difficulties and adversities. Many youth came here zealous, but then their zeal steadily diminished, until they began disputing the very ordinance of jihad.

6. Allah has undertaken to support the Mujahideen, so whoever goes forth in His path, Allah will guide him, strengthen his determination, fortify his heart and make his feet firm.

"There are three whom Allah must help: the mujahid in the path of Allah, the reporter (of a message) who wishes to discharge his responsibility, and the one seeking marriage in order to guard his modesty."

7. Whoever wishes to come to Afghanistan should call one of the following telephone numbers in Peshawar:

43203

43708

42397

42311

42040

So, when you reach Peshawar, call one of these numbers, and ask the person who answers the call to come to where you are. Then, somebody will come to you and take care of you.

As for the mailing address, it is:

Peshawar University

P.O. Box 977

Peshawar, Pakistan

Oh Allah! You are free from all defect. Praise be to You. I bear witness that there is none worthy of worship other than You, I seek Your forgiveness and turn to you in repentance.

 

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