This is clear evidence that Mecca will never again become a land of disbelief; rather, it will remain an abode of Islam until the Hour is established—or until Allah wills otherwise.

The Prophet ﷺ then said, “But there remains striving and intention.” In other words, after the Conquest the task is jihad: the people of Mecca are to leave their city in order to fight. “Intention” means a sound, righteous resolve for striving in Allah’s cause, so that a person’s combat is undertaken with the aim that the word of Allah be uppermost.

He ﷺ further said, “When you are summoned to mobilize, then set out.” That is, if your ruler calls you to wage jihad for Allah’s sake, you must go forth. At that moment jihad becomes an individual obligation. Whenever the people are called to fight, it is mandatory for them to leave, and no one may stay behind except someone with a valid excuse, as Allah the Exalted says: “O you who believe! What is the matter with you that, when you are told, ‘March forth in the path of Allah,’ you cling heavily to the earth? Are you content with the life of this world instead of the Hereafter? Yet the enjoyment of this worldly life compared with the Hereafter is but little. If you do not march forth, He will punish you with a painful punishment and will replace you with another people, and you will not harm Him in the least” (al-Tawbah 9:38-39). This is one of the circumstances in which jihad is a personal duty.

The second circumstance is when the enemy reaches a Muslim town—when the foe advances until he surrounds and besieges it—at that point jihad becomes an individual obligation, and everyone who is able must fight, including women and capable elderly men, because this is defensive combat. There is a distinction between defensive fighting and offensive fighting. In such a case, all the people must rise to defend their land.