that it remains in force and is applied whenever circumstances call for it.
When the Muslims are strong enough to take the initiative—engaging the enemy and waging jihad in the path of Allah—they do so, acting upon the verse in Sūrah al-Tawbah and all that conveys the same meaning. If, however, they lack the power to start the fight, then they combat only those who fight and transgress against them and leave alone those who leave them alone, in accordance with the verse in Sūrah al-Nisāʾ and its counterparts. This view is sounder and more deserving of acceptance than the claim of abrogation, and it is the position adopted by Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah, may Allah have mercy on him.

I say: this falls under the juristic principle of weighing benefits and harms—one of the most vital gateways in Islamic law and one of its firmly established paths. When many enthusiastic Muslim youths, eager for jihad, ignored this principle, they brought upon themselves and their community nothing but calamities and heartbreak.

Behold, one of the young Muslim states—Afghanistan—has been toppled! Behold, thousands of Muslims in Afghanistan have been killed, mutilated, and driven from their homes!