and steeds of war, by which you may strike fear into the enemy of Allah and your enemy.” [Al-Anfal: 60]
Failure to do so despite having the ability is among the characteristics of the hypocrites. Thus, the Lord of the worlds said concerning them: “Had they intended to go forth, they would have made preparation for it.” [At-Tawbah: 46]
I am firmly convinced that, today, no group of believers can undertake this material preparation without the knowledge of its rulers—as is well known. Accordingly, for any group to fight the enemies of Allah would be premature, just as was the case in the Meccan period. That is why they were not commanded to do so until the Medinan period. This is entailed by the divine text: “Allah does not burden any soul beyond its capacity.” [Al-Baqarah: 286]
Accordingly, I advise those young people who are enthusiastic for jihad and genuinely sincere to the Lord of all servants to turn their attention to reforming what is within, and to defer concern with what lies outside their power. This requires tireless effort and a long period of time, in order to bring about what I call tasfiyah (purification) and tarbiyah (cultivation). This task can only be undertaken by a group of sincere scholars and pious educators—and how few they are in this age, especially among the groups that rebel against the rulers!
Some may deny the necessity of this purification, as is the case with certain Islamic parties. Some may claim that its role has ended; so they have turned instead to political activity or jihad and neglected purification and cultivation. Yet they are all mistaken in this. How many violations of the Sharia they all commit because they neglect the duty of purification and rely on taqlid (uncritical adherence) and talfiq (piecemeal combination of legal rulings), through which they deem lawful much of what Allah has forbidden! This is the very example: rebelling against the rulers, even if no manifest disbelief has issued from them.
In conclusion, I say: We do not deny that there may be certain rulers against whom rebellion is obligatory, such as one who denied the lawfulness of fasting Ramadan, of the sacrifices on Eid al-Adha, and other than