Aslam

Praise be to Allah.The basic principle with regard to jihaad is that it is fard

kifaayah, i.e. if a sufficient number of people undertake this duty,

then there is no sin on the rest of the community. If it is fard kifaayah,

then the mujaahid is obliged to seek permission before going for jihaad. He

has to seek his parents’ permission if they are Muslim, regardless of

whether they are rich or not and regardless of whether they can do without

his help or not, because the texts clearly state that he has to seek his

parents’ permission. One such text was reported in al-Saheehayn

from ‘Abd-Allaah ibn ‘Amr, who said that a man came to ask the Prophet

(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) for permission to go for

jihaad. He said, ‘Are your parents still alive?’ [The man said]

‘Yes.’ He said, ‘Then your jihaad is with them.’ Imaam Ahmad, Abu

Dawood and Ibn Hibbaan narrated from Abu Sa’eed that the Messenger of

Allaah

(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) sent a man who had

made hijrah from the Yemen back to his parents. He (the Prophet

(peace

and blessings of Allaah be upon him)) said, ‘Did they give you

permission?’ [The man] said, ‘No.’ He said, ‘Go back to them and

seek their permission, and if they give you permission, then go for jihaad,

otherwise honour and respect them.’

The above applies in cases where jihaad has not become

obligatory on every single person, i.e., fard ‘ayn. If jihaad

becomes fard ‘ayn, then it is not obligatory to seek permission,

because in the case of things which are fard ‘ayn, there is no need

to seek the permission of anyone. Jihaad becomes fard ‘ayn

when a person is in the battlefield, if the enemy invades a Muslim country,

if the imaam appoints a person or urges him to fight, or if his particular

skills are needed because he has good knowledge of military matters or

weapons and so is needed by the mujaahideen, and there is no one else with

this knowledge or these skills. And Allaah knows best.