| Answer: This is a very
delicate question that you have asked. You are right: the whole non-Muslim
world seems to be united against Islam and its followers. But don’t you
think that the real responsibility for such withering international
relations rests mainly with the Muslims themselves? Except for the Prophet
Muhammad (sws) and his Companions (rta), rest of the Muslims had only been
authorized by their Lord to present the message of Islam in a lucid and most
appropriate manner; but they went so much further as to threatening the
world into subjugation, in case they didn’t embrace Islam. This undoubtedly
gave rise to a nameless fear that cannot be overcome even by telling them
time and again that Islam is indeed the torchbearer of peace and universal
brotherhood.
As far as your question is
concerned, it must be kept in mind, that the only Jihād that an Islamic
state can undertake is against injustice and persecution. It must be noted
that this war against persecution may as well be waged against all the
perpetrators of persecution, be it a Muslim country or a non-Muslim one, if
diplomatic efforts fail to resolve the crisis. The Qur’ān reads:
What has come upon you that
you fight not in the cause of God, and for the oppressed men, women, and
children, who pray; ‘Get us out of this town, O Lord, whose people are
oppressors; so raise for us from Yourself one who will protect and raise for
us from Yourself one who will help. (4:75)
Only a state has the authority to launch an armed struggle against
persecution. The directives for Jihād were given when Muslims succeeded to
establish an Islamic State in Madīnah. The implication evidently is that the
authority to uplift arms rests with an Islamic state only. No individual or
a group of individuals have been authorized to undertake this job. The
Prophet (sws) is reported to have said:
A Muslim ruler is the
shield [of his people]. An armed struggle can only be carried out under him
and people should seek his shelter [in war]. (Bukhārī: No. 2957)
The jurists also subscribe
to this view. Thus, Sayyid Sabiq has delineated in Fiqhu’l Sunnah:
Among Kafāyah obligations, the third category is that for which the
existence of a ruler is necessary e.g. Jihād and execution of punishments.
Therefore, only a ruler has this prerogative. Because, indeed, no one else
has the right to punish another person.
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