under religious law and by the mere act of pledging allegiance to the imam. It is also obligatory because neglecting it exposes the Muslims to danger and causes them harm, just as fulfilling a guarantee is obligatory towards the one to whom it was given. For, by accepting their stipends, the “stipendiary soldiers” have undertaken to defend the Muslims. People have therefore felt secure in this undertaking, relied upon them, and refrained from defending themselves. Their reliance is greater than that of a principal upon his agent or an investor upon the person managing his capital. If some of these soldiers are negligent and fail in their duty, this causes the gravest harm to the Muslims.

By abandoning their obligation to fight in defence of the Muslims, they have inflicted immense harm upon them in their religious and worldly affairs. The resulting harm to the Muslims—in their religion, their worldly affairs, their lives, their offspring, and their wealth—is beyond anyone’s ability to measure. Thus, the wrongdoing committed by soldiers who abandon jihad in defence of the Muslims is among the gravest forms of wrongdoing. By contrast, the harm that befalls an individual soldier himself concerns wrongdoing against his own soul. The same applies to sins confined to himself, such as drinking wine and committing sexual immorality: these constitute wrongdoing against himself alone.

His punishment and the blame he deserves for abandoning jihad are therefore far greater than the blame and punishment he deserves for those sins. If both punishments cannot be imposed, punishment for abandoning jihad takes precedence over punishment for these sins, just as the benefit of jihad to him and to the Muslims may