Sheikh Muhammad Taher of the Leeds Grand Mosque (UK) has said that
"the real wor****p is not confined upon [sic] prayer and fasting only, in
fact, the One who made fasting obligatory is the same One who made
fighting
obligatory, and the same One who said: 'Fasting has been prescribed for
you,' is the same One who said,'Fighting has been pr3escribed for you, so
both are wor****p [sic].' "The Battle of Badr", Leeds Grand Mosque, 24 Dec
1999.
Osama Bin Laden, of course, takes the same line: in a fatwa issued
together
with four other Islamist leaders on 23 February 1998 he told all Muslims:
"The ruling to kill all Americans and their allies - civilians and
military - is an individual duty to all Americans who can do it in any
country where it is possible to do it..."
Most Muslims consider, however, that jihad is a responsibility of the
Muslim
community as a whole: the fact that some Muslims are performing jihad
excuses the others, or jihad must be led by the Caliph.
On the other hand in the opinion of the Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia,
Sheikh
Abdul Aziz Ibn Baz ( Mufti 1993 - 1999) the collective responsibility may
become an individual obligation in certain cir***stances:
1) if the Imam calls the people out
2) if Muslim territory is attacked
3) for soldiers in the Muslim ranks preparing to fight. (Ibn Baz et al,
"Muslim Minorities etc").
The Deputy Chairman of the European Council for Fatwa and Research, Faysal
Mawlawi, issued a fatwa on March 23 2003 concerning American bases in
Muslim
countries. This ruled that the Americans were aggressive troops and
launching jihad against them was an individual obligation of Muslims.
Mawlawi affirmed that in this the individual Muslim did not need the
permission of the Imam or Muslim ruler. Islamonline: "Seeking martyrdom by
attacking US military bases in the Gulf."
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