such as two tribes driven by tribal zealotry, and they come to blows, we are obliged to make peace between them. Should one of the two aggress against the other, we must fight that aggressor until it returns to Allah’s command—despite the fact that it is still made up of believers. Even so, we must distinguish between defensive fighting and offensive fighting. Offensive fighting means that we take the fight to others only when the Lawgiver has permitted us to do so, whereas defensive fighting is unavoidable—when attacked, we have no choice but to defend ourselves.

We ask you to draw people’s attention to this point, for in the newspapers and magazines we repeatedly see nothing but “The homeland! The homeland! The homeland!” with no mention of Islam. This is a serious deficiency. The nation must be guided back to the proper path and the correct method. We ask Allah to grant us and you success in that which He loves and is pleased with.

9- Abu Bakrah Nufayʿ ibn al-Ḥarith al-Thaqafī—may Allah be pleased with him—reported that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said: “When two Muslims confront each other with their swords, both the killer and the one killed are in the Fire.” I said, “Messenger of Allah, that is clear regarding the killer, but what of the one who is killed?” He replied, “He was eager to kill his companion.” Agreed upon.

[Explanation]
His words, “When two Muslims confront each other with their swords,” mean that each intends to kill the other and has drawn his sword against him. The same ruling applies if he brandishes any other weapon—such as a rifle—or anything capable of killing, like a rock and the like.