The Relied-Upon Legal Rulings of the Ḥanafī School Regarding the Nature of the Obligation of Jihād
Al-Bidā’i uṣ-Ṣanā’i fī Tartīb ish-Sharā’i
By: `Alā ad-Dīn ‘Abū Bakr bin Mas’ūd al-Kāsānī [d. 587 AH/1191 CE]
Translated by Abu Najm bin al-Iskandar
Section: Clarifying the Nature of the Obligation of Jihād
As for clarifying the nature of the obligation of Jihād, then the command [to perform] it does not cease being in effect in one of two ways: 1) if there is a general call to arms, and 2) if there is no general call to arms, then [Jihād] is a communal obligation. It means that [Jihād] is obligatory upon everyone who is from the people of Jihād [i.e., capable of it]; however, when some [from each community] perform [Jihād], it is dropped from the rest; due to His statement ﷻ:
{فَضَّلَ اللَّهُ الْمُجَاهِدِينَ بِأَمْوَالِهِمْ وَأَنْفُسِهِمْ عَلَى الْقَاعِدِينَ دَرَجَةً وَكُلا وَعَدَ اللَّهُ الْحُسْنَى}
[النساء: 95]
{Allah has favored those who fight with their wealth and lives a degree above those who sit back [from fighting]. Allah has promised good to each of them…}[An-Nisā’: 95]
Allah ﷻ promised good to Mujāhidīn and those who sit behind; and if Jihād was individually obligatory in all circumstances, He would not have promised good to those who sit behind because sitting behind would be prohibited; and [due to] His statement ﷻ:
{وَمَا كَانَ الْمُؤْمِنُونَ لِيَنْفِرُوا كَافَّةً فَلَوْلا نَفَرَ مِنْ كُلِّ فِرْقَةٍ مِنْهُمْ طَائِفَةٌ لِيَتَفَقَّهُوا فِي الدِّينِ}
[التوبة: 122]
{And all the believers should not go out to fight. If only from each group, a party would march forth, in order that [those who stay behind] may gain knowledge in the Dīn…}[At-Tawbah: 122]
And because of what Jihad is obligated for- and it is Da’wah to Islam, to elevate the true Dīn, to repel the evil of Disbelievers and their subdual- [this] takes place through the performance of [Jihād] by some [from each community].
As such, the Prophet ﷺ used to dispatch war parties and if [Jihād] had been an individual obligation in all circumstances, it would have been unimaginable for him to sit back from any [war parties] nor would he have permitted anyone else to stay behind from any of them. And since [Jihād] is a communal obligation, it would not be allowed for the Imām to vacate a group of fighters- in whom is adequacy and sufficiency to fight the enemy- from a border town from among towns bordering [the land of non-Muslims].
Thus, when they perform [Jihād], [its obligation] drops from the rest. And if the people of the border town are too weak to keep the Disbelievers at bay and they are fearful of the enemy, then it is required for the nearest Muslims behind them, then the nearest [after them] to march to them and to aid them with weapons, horses, and wealth; due to what we mentioned in that [Jihād] is obligatory for everyone from among the people of Jihād [i.e. everyone who is capable]. However, the obligation drops from them by means of the occurrence of sufficiency with some [from their community]. As long as [sufficiency] does not take place, [the obligation] does not drop.
It is not permissible for the slave to depart [for Jihād] except with the permission of his owner, nor for the wife except with permission form her husband due to [the obligation of] serving the owner and fulfilling the rights of the marriage.
All of that [i.e. serving an owner and fulfilling the rights of marriage] is an individual obligation, thus it has precedence over a communal obligation; likewise, the child should not depart [for Jihād] except with permission from both parents, or one of them if the other is deceased because good towards the parents is an individual obligation, and thus it takes precedence over a communal obligation.
The base ruling is that every trip in which one is not safe from destruction [i.e. death] and in which there is great risk, it is not permissible for the child to depart for it without permission from his parents because they would fear for their child and they would be harmed by that. And every trip in which the risk is not great, it is permissible for [the child] to depart without [the parent’s] permission if he would not be neglecting them, due to the lack of harm [in doing so].
Among our Mashayikh are those who make an exception for trips to study without their permission because they would not be harmed by that, rather they would be benefited by it. Thus, the trait of disobedience [opposite of goodness] would not be connected to [the trip].
This is when there is no general call to march; as for when the call to march is general through the enemy laying siege to a town, then [Jihād] is an individual obligation required for every single one of the Muslims among those able to do so, due to His statement ﷻ:
{انْفِرُوا خِفَافًا وَثِقَالا}
[التوبة: 41]
{March forth, light and heavy…}[At-Tawbah: 41]
It is said that [this verse] was revealed regarding the call to march; and [due to] His statement ﷻ:
{مَا كَانَ لأَهْلِ الْمَدِينَةِ وَمَنْ حَوْلَهُمْ مِنَ الأَعْرَابِ أَنْ يَتَخَلَّفُوا عَنْ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ وَلا يَرْغَبُوا بِأَنْفُسِهِمْ عَنْ نَفْسِهِ}
[التوبة: 120]
{It is not for the people of Madinah and those around them of the Bedouins to stay behind the messenger of Allah and prefer their lives to his life.}[At-Tawbah: 120]
[Jihād is an individual obligation in the case of a general call to march] because the obligation for everyone before the generality of the call to march is established due to the dropping [of the obligation] from the rest [of the community] by means of the performance of some [of the community].
Thus, when the call to march forth is generalized, the fulfillment of [the objective of Jihād] is not realized except with everyone. So, [Jihād] remains an obligation for everyone individually in the same position as fasting and prayer; the slave may depart [for Jihād] without permission from his owner and the wife without permission from her husband- because the utilization of the slave and the wife with respect to the obligatory acts of worship is specifically legally exempted from the domain of the owner and husband [respectively], just as in fasting and prayer.
Likewise, it is permissible for the child to depart [for Jihād] without permission from the parents because the right of the parents does not take precedence over the individual obligations like fasting and prayer. And Allah ﷻ knows best. ~end quote
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