Here is a light dialogue between al-Haq (Muwahhid) and al-Bathil (Munafiq) about the urgency of Jihad fie sabilillah. This dialogue will show how this Munafiq wants to twist the meaning of Jihad to become ambiguous, however the Muwahhid was able to hit back and straighten things out with answers that are very intelligent sourced from Al-Qur’an and Al-Hadith. Hope this dialogue can educate and open the hearts of those who hate jihad, Insha Allah.

[Munafiq]

“Do you know about Jihad fie sabilillah ?”

[Muwahhid]

We're not going to answer it by rationality, we'll answer it as how Rasulullah answered when the Sahabahs asked about it:

“What is the best hijrah?” He answered, “Al Jihad Fie sabilillah”, they asked, “What is jihad, O Rasulullah?” He answered, “Fighting the Kuffar if you meet them (at war)”. They asked, “What is the best jihad?” He answered, “The one whose horse is slain and his blood is spilled”. (Musnad Imam Ahmad)

In another narration, the Sahabah asked, “Which is the best (condition) of getting killed?” Rasulullah answered, “A person whose blood is spilled and his horse is slain.” (Abu Daud)

Hence, no man is able to say that the best jihad is seeking knowledge and so on, but the best jihad is getting killed. Also in the narration of Bukhari and Muslim, Rasulullah said:

“Go and return to the battlefield for Allah, it's better than the world and all its contents and the best Ghazwa is when his blood is spilled and his horse is slain.”

[Munafiq]
But our time today is not the same as in the past, where there was a Khilafah and so on, today there is no jihad with the swords, but today it is jihad with the pens, satellites and so on, through economics, voting and so on… We have to build the infrastructure of the Ummah before we go to war.

[Muwahhid]
The reason why we must fight today is because Allah commands us:

“So fight, [O Muhammad], in the cause of Allah ; you are not held responsible except for yourself. And encourage the believers [to join you] that perhaps Allah will restrain the [military] might of those who disbelieve. And Allah is greater in might and stronger in [exemplary] punishment.” (QS An-Nisaa: 84)

Allah makes it clear that we only have to strive and Allah will next determine the result. Stopping the jihad and preventing the Mujahideen or discouraging the people from fighting is the character of the Munafiqun. Allah Ta’ala says:

“So when you meet those kuffar [in battle], strike [their] necks….” (QS Muhammad 47: 4)

Allah does not say, when you are encountering the enemy, “seek knowledge” or “build the infrastructure”, but Allah commands us to fight them.

Furthermore, Allah commands us to call towards goodness and prevent munkar. A form of calling towards goodness and preventing munkar is to call on people to perform solat, fasting, helping the needy, etc., and among the things which has been agreed upon by the Ulama's is:

“There is none that can match the jihad fie sabilillah (when it becomes fardhu ‘ain)”

At the time when jihad becomes fardhu ‘ain, it is even above solat, zakat, hajj and all other ibaadahs, when we are fighting in a defensive jihad, jihad is our solat, we cannot stop the jihad even for solat, so how can we stop the jihad on the aim of seeking knowledge?

[Munafiq]
We cannot conduct jihad; if we have debts, pay the debt first.

[Muwahhid]
In the defensive jihad we do not need to pay the debt, Imam Ibnu Qudama Al Maqdisi in Al-Mughni volume 9, said:

“If jihad becomes Fardhu ‘ain, he does not have to ask permission from the person who gives him loans, that was the text of Imam Ahmad, from Ibnu Abbas, “If jihad becomes fardhu, 'ain he does not need to seek permission from the people who lent him the debt.”

[Munafiq]
Accomplish Solat first.

[Muwahhid]
Solat is an obligation and leaving it is kufr, but when jihad becomes fardhu ‘ain, it becomes more important than solat, the Imams of the four madzhab agreed that solat is fardhu, fasting is fardhu, zakat is fardhu, but when jihad becomes fardhu ‘ain, it is more important than all of the other ibaadahs, but he should be doing it as much as possible if he can do it, Imam Ahmad in fact said:

“If the enemies come, then during the time he is fighting, he is not responsible for all other obligations until the enemies stop.”

Imam Qurtubi said:

“It is a duty upon the Imam to keep conquering the enemies every year…”

Ibnu Katsir said:

“We must fight the kuffar, who are the nearest until we walk to come to them.”

Allah says:

“O you who have believed, fight those adjacent to you of the disbelievers.” (At-Tawbah : 123)

This has implications, if the enemies enter our country, they are very near to us, then we must fight against them, if they do not enter the Muslim countries but the government is declaring Kufr Bawah (Clear Blasphemy), they are the enemies who are the nearest to us. Then, if there is a Khilafah, the nearest enemies are the Kuffar who are outside the boundary of a country who do not have an agreement with us.

[Munafiq]
Why do we fight (go to war)?

[Muwahhid]
Because we are not Munafiqun and someone who does not go to war is a Munafiq, Prophet Muhammad SAW said:

“Whosoever dies without participating in an expedition (Jihad) nor having the intention to do so, dies on a branch of Nifaq (hypocrisy).”

And if we do not say so, Allah says:

“If you do not fight, He will punish you severely.”

Rasulullah said:

“Someone who does not fight, nor making preparation for the people who fight, nor looking after the families of those who fight, Allah will send him an adzab until the judgment day.”

[Munafiq]
After jihad, what do you do as a substitute? We need engineers, doctors, etc.

[Muwahhid]
We need engineers to build buildings, but it becomes unimportant if the Kuffar are still killing Muslims, Allah says:

“So fight, [O Muhammad], in the cause of Allah ; you are not held responsible except for yourself. And encourage the believers [to join you] that perhaps Allah will restrain the [military] might of those who disbelieve. And Allah is greater in might and stronger in [exemplary] punishment.” (QS An Nisaa, 4: 84)

Allah never commands us to terrify the Kuffar with the titles, status and education, Allah says:

“And prepare against them whatever you are able of power and of steeds of war by which you may terrify the enemy of Allah and your enemy and others besides them whom you do not know [but] whom Allah knows.” (QS Al-Anfal, 8: 60)

(saif al battar/ fursan/arrahmah.com)