As for pure offensive jihad, only one of two kinds of men is eager for it: either a person of towering faith who fights so that the word of Allah may be supreme and so that all religion may belong to Allah, or someone driven by the desire for spoils and captives.

Defensive jihad, on the other hand, is pursued by everyone, and only the coward—condemned by both the Sharia and sound reason—shrinks from it (1). Purely offensive jihad undertaken for Allah’s sake is the concern of the leaders of the believers. As for the jihad in which one is both pursuer and pursued, it attracts the best of people, who seek thereby to exalt Allah’s word and His religion, while the average among them engage in it for self-defence and out of love for victory (2).

Section (3)

Once this is understood with respect to the ends—namely the various forms of jihad—the same applies to the means, such as racing and archery contests. It is well known (4) that when the stake comes from only one side, the most the one who puts it up hopes for is to come out intact; his eagerness is therefore like that of the defender, not the attacker, because he stands to gain nothing (5) from the other party. The aim of the other contestant is of the same kind as that of the attacker. Thus the first person’s effort (6) parallels defensive jihad, whereas the latter’s effort parallels offensive jihad.