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In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger.
Dear questioner, we would like to thank you for the great confidence you have in us. May Allah reward you for your sincere intention to back your Muslim brethren.
In these times, Muslims can support their brothers and sisters in Iraq by various means. They can back them by offering charity, paying Zakah, championing the Iraqi cause in the world mass media, exercising pressure on the public opinion, staging peaceful demonstrations against the US-led war on Iraq, fasting and supplicating Allah (the supplication at breaking the fast is heard), and earnestly invoking Allah to grant Muslims in Iraq, Palestine and in every corner of the world victory over their enemies, as supplication is an unfailing weapon.
Indeed, we appreciate your keenness to fight in the cause of Allah. However, you can participate in fighting the enemies of Islam only through a legal channel. Without the approval of the authorities in your country, there will be harmful undesirable consequences and you will not achieve your high aim.
Responding to the question, Dr. `Abdul-Fattah `Ashoor, Professor of the Exegesis of the Qur'an at Al-Azhar University, states the following:
"Traveling to join the fighting troops in Iraq cannot be done against the will of the authorities in your country. If you want to back the people of Iraq, you cannot do so individually against the will of the authorities in your country, as such a procedure will lead to bad and undesirable results.
If you want to support your oppressed brothers and sister in Iraq by traveling to join their fronts, then you can do so when the authorities in your country allow you to join them. This procedure can be done when the Iraqis themselves demand the help. In such a case, Muslim countries can arrange the process of sending troops to Iraq and through this legal channel you can ask the authorities to go there to help your oppressed brothers and sisters.
Indeed, the Iraqis are many in numbers and they are in no need for additional numbers of people to support them in fighting, as those who will travel to help them will need shelter, food, drink and necessary weapons. All these needs constitute additional burdens that can’t be sustained by the Iraqis in this critical time.
Indeed, the Iraqis are in a dire need for financial backing and for the championing of their cause in the world mass media.
Encouraging Muslims to pay voluntary charity and to strive hard to back their fellow oppressed Muslim brothers and sisters, Allah Almighty says, "…and strive with your wealth and your lives in the way of Allah!" (At-Tawbah: 41)
The financial support referred to in the above verse is a primary means of achieving victory. With money the Muslims can buy the necessary weapons for fighting, the basic needs for the soldiers, et cetera.
Having clarified the above, I add that you will be rewarded for having such a sincere intention to fight in the Cause of Allah. May Allah accept your good deeds and may He Almighty grant victory to our Muslim brothers and sisters in Iraq as well as in every part of the world where Muslims are oppressed."
It has become clear now that Jihad is not only restricted to joining the fighting troops in the battlefield. From your own position you can help the oppressed Iraqis as well as all oppressed Muslims in the world as we stated in the introduction above. Islam does not deny you the right to travel to join them. This is a sincere intention that should be encouraged and enhanced. However, to achieve fruitful results, Islam orders you to do that through a legal channel.
You can also read:
Backing Fellow Muslims in Iraq
Spending Zakah Money on Jihad
Jihad to Defend Iraq: Al-Azhar’s View
If you have any further questions, please don't hesitate to write back!
May Allah guide you to the straight path, and guide you to that which pleases Him, Amen.
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