Therefore, defensive combat is broader in scope than offensive combat and carries a more general obligation. For that reason it becomes incumbent upon everyone (1) to fight in it: the slave, whether or not he has his master’s permission; the son, even without his parents’ permission; and the debtor, without (2) his creditor’s consent. Such was the case in the jihad of the Muslims at Uhud and the Battle of the Trench.

In this type of jihad it is not a condition that the enemy be no more than twice the number of the Muslims, for at Uhud and the Trench the enemy were many times their size, yet jihad remained obligatory upon them. At that point (3) it was a jihad of necessity and repulsion, not one of elective choice.

Because of this, the prayer of fear is permitted in it (4) according to the circumstances at hand (5). As for offensive jihad, if one fears that the enemy might get away but does not fear their counter-attack, is the prayer of fear still permissible? There are two scholarly opinions on the matter, both transmitted from Imam Ahmad (6).

It is clear that the jihad in which a person is both the pursuer and the pursued carries a weightier obligation (7) than the jihad in which he is the pursuer but not pursued, and people are naturally more eager (8) for the former from both perspectives.