All of the nations today are standing with their claws clamoring over the lands of the Muslims. All this power lay to waste from one aspect of this deen, and that is Jihad in the path of Allah. This is path that Allah obligated upon us by His words.
This is a part of the deen that the kuffar nations have said is *terror and extremism and fundamentalism*. And they have been helped by some of those that ascribe to Islam using hypocritical methods, and words such as saying that “Jihad is only defensive and not offensive”, that “Jihad is not allowed except to rescue the occupied territories of Palestine” and that the “Jihad (even defensive at that) can only take place with the permission of the ruler.” Or that “Jihad is not appropriate in this day and age, the age of the new world order and peace.”
One thing we do know is that ever since the time of the Prophet (saw) the ummah was clear on the topic of Jihad and what it was about. Its markers and Fiqh were made clear and obvious. We are not in any need for any alphabet-soup group to come and develop new ways of understanding the Jihad. We have enough in our heritage to know about the conditions, obligations, sunnah and factors of Jihad.
Above all of this, we know that the Jihad of fighting will remain in the Ummah until Allah’s Legislation rules over the earth. This is from the Thawabit of Jihad in the path of Allah.
The proofs from the Qur’an:
1. “O you who believe! Whoever from among you turns back from his religion, Allāh will bring a people whom He will love and they will love Him; humble towards the believers, stern towards the disbelievers, fighting in the Way of Allāh, and never afraid of the blame of the blamers. That is the Grace of Allāh that He bestows on whom He wills. And Allāh is All Sufficient for His creatures’ needs, All Knower.” [5:54]
There is a point related to eloquence in Arabic in this ayah. Whenever a present tense verb is used in this manner it indicates continuity.
Shaykh ul-Islām Ibn Taymiyyah said: “There is no group that apostates from Islām except that Allāh brings fourth a people that He loves and that wages Jihād for His sake and they are the at-Tā’ifah al-Mansūrah until the last hour.”
2. “And fight them until there is no more Fitnah (disbelief and worshipping of others along with Allah) and (all and every kind of) worship is for Allah (Alone). But if they cease, let there be no transgression except against Az-Zalimun (the polytheists, and wrong-doers, etc.)” [2:193]
The Fitnah here is Kufr and fighting will remain until it is removed. The scholars say that Kufr will remain until Isa ibn Maryam descends and breaks the cross, kills the swine, and abolishes the Jizyah, and then his followers will die and then the last hour will come when there is no more believers and it comes upon the most evil of creation.
3. “Fight against those who (1) believe not in Allah, (2) nor in the Last Day, (3) nor forbid that which has been forbidden by Allah and His Messenger (4) and those who acknowledge not the religion of truth (i.e. Islam) among the people of the Scripture (Jews and Christians), until they pay the Jizyah with willing submission, and feel themselves subdued.“ [9:29]
The Kuffar use this against the Muslims but the truth has been established and is fixed.
“There is no compulsion in religion. Verily, the truth has become distinct from the falsehood. Whoever disbelieves in Taghut and believes in Allah, then he has grasped the most trustworthy handhold that will never break. And Allah is All-Hearer, All-Knower.” [2:256]
4. “Verily, Allah has purchased of the believers their lives and their properties; for the price that theirs shall be the Paradise. They fight in Allah’s Cause, so they kill (others) and are killed. It is a promise in truth which is binding on Him in the Taurat (Torah) and the Injeel (Gospel) and the Qur’an. And who is truer to his covenant than Allah? Then rejoice in the bargain which you have concluded. That is the supreme success.” [9:111]
This truth has been fixed and can not be restricted to one time and not another.
Evidence from the Sunnah:
1. the Hadith of Urwah: Narrated ‘Urwa Al-Bariqi: The Prophet said, “Good will remain (as a permanent quality) in the foreheads of horses (for Jihad) till the Day of Resurrection, for they bring about either a reward (in the Hereafter) or booty (in this world.)”
Ibn Hajr, in his explanation of sahih al Bukhari, said that Imam Ahmad used this as a proof because he explained this hadith to imply that Jihad would remain. In the last part of the Hadith, the reason for the good in the forelocks of the horses is due to the reward they bring or the spoils of war. Naturally, this can only take place in Jihad. In this Hadith there is also an encouragement upon keeping horses to wage jihad. Islam will remain until the day of judgment because as long as there is Jihad there will be mujahideen, and they are Muslims.
2. In abu dawud, Hadith from Anas: The Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) was reported to have said: “The Jihad will remain from the time Allah sent me until the time which the last of my Ummah fights the Dajjal. It will not be invalidated by the crime/corruption of the corrupt one nor by the justice of the just one.”
Jihad will remain because the kuffar will remain until the time of Isa when he (as) kills the Dajjal.
3. In the two sahih: “There will never cease to be a group from my Ummah fighting upon the truth until the last hour is established.” In the narration of Bukhari: “They will not be harmed by those that oppose them or abandon them.” In Imam Ahmad’s narration: “They will not be concerned by those that oppose them or abandon them.”
This hadith and others like these confirm the quality that the Qur’an gave the believers: waging jihad in the path of Allah not fearing the blame of the blamers.
4. The hadith narrated by Abu Hurayrah about the command: The Prophet (saw) said, “I have been commanded to fight the people until they testify to la ilaha illah Allah Muhammad rasulullah and establish the salah and pay the zakah and if they do that then they are safe in their blood and wealth except for the command of Islam and their account is with Allah.” (Muslim)
This is from the Thawabit without doubt. These texts that have been mentioned are clear cut.
If we understand this Thabit and put it in front of us, then no matter how difficult it gets and what happens, we must always be there to support the banner of Jihad for that is where the victorious group is that Allah is pleased with.
If we believe that, then we must hold that the powers of Kufr and the Munafiq nations of the Arab regimes can not ever succeed in erasing the banner of Jihad. They might be able to restrict to one place but it will always be even if all of mankind and jinn gather to eliminate the Jihad, they will not be able to because it was raised by Allah and His permission, and it is He who made it such that it would remain until the last of the Ummah fights the Dajjal.
This is the Aqidah that we must depart with in our battles and fights, the Aqidah of Yaqin and the belief in the promise of Allah.
(reference: notes from Thawabit ‘ala darb al Jihad)
Submitted by a Mujahid
