Is the permission of the ruler necessary for jihad for the sake of Allaah?
Question

                Is the permission of the ruler necessary for jihad for the sake of Allaah?.
Praise be to Allah.In the answer 
    to question no. 20214 there is a 
    discussion of the rulings on jihad and types of jihad. It says that jihad 
    may be an individual obligation (fard ‘ayn) if the enemy attacks the 
    Muslims, and in that case fighting them becomes an obligation on every 
    Muslim, and the permission of the ruler is not required in that case. 
As for jihad 
    that is aimed at conquest and calling the kuffaar to Islam, and fighting 
    those who refuse to submit to the rule of Allaah, the permission of the 
    ruler is essential in this case, thus things will be controlled.  
Ibn Qudaamah 
    (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: 
The matter of 
    jihad is in the hands of the ruler and his ijtihaad, and the people must 
    obey him in whatever he sees fit with regard to that. End quote. 
    Al-Mughni (10/368). 
The permission 
    of the imam is to prevent the chaos that may result if some of the Muslims 
    declare war on the enemies of Allaah without taking into account their 
    circumstances and strength and the strength of their enemy. 
The scholars of 
    the Standing Committee said: 
Jihad to make 
    the word of Allaah supreme and to protect the religion of Islam and make it 
    possible to convey it and spread it and protect its sanctity is an 
    obligation on everyone who is able to do that. But it is essential that the 
    troops be organized and sent in an orderly fashion, lest it lead to chaos 
    and incidents that bring unfortunate consequences. Hence initiation of and 
    engagement in jihad is the responsibility of the ruler of the Muslims, and 
    the scholars must encourage him. If he initiates the jihad and mobilizes the 
    Muslims, then the one who is able to do so must respond to the call, 
    sincerely seeking the Countenance of Allaah, and in the hope of supporting 
    the truth, and to protect Islam. The one who stays behind when the call for 
    jihad is given and has no excuse, is sinning. End quote. 
Fataawa 
    al-Lajnah al-Daa’imah (12/12). 
If the people 
    come together in response to the call of their ruler, that will increase 
    them in strength, in addition to the fact that they are Islamically obliged 
    to obey him in whatever does not go against the laws of Allaah. Thus the 
    Muslims will be united in jihad, supporting Islam and defending the laws of 
    Allaah. 
Shaykh al-Islam 
    Ibn Taymiyah (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: 
It should be 
    noted that appointing a leader to run the people’s affairs is one of the 
    greatest of religious duties, without which no religious or worldly matters 
    can be established, because the best interests of the son of Adam cannot be 
    achieved without coming together, because they need one another. When they 
    come together, it is essential to have a leader. The Prophet  (peace and 
    blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “If three people set out on a 
    journey, let them appoint one of them in charge.” Narrated by Abu Dawood 
    from the hadeeth of Abu Sa’eed and Abu Hurayrah. Imam Ahmad narrated in his
    Musnad from ‘Abd-Allaah ibn ‘Amr that the Prophet  (peace and 
    blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “It is not permissible for three 
    people to be in the wilderness without appointing one of them in charge.” 
    The fact that it is obligatory to appoint one person in charge of a small 
    temporary group whilst travelling indicates that this is essential in all 
    kinds of groups. And Allaah has commanded us to enjoin what is good and 
    forbid what is evil, which can only be achieved from a position of strength 
    and authority, and the same applies to all the other things that He has 
    enjoined, such as jihad, justice, establishment of Hajj, Jumu’ah and Eid, as 
    well as supporting those who are wronged or oppressed, and carrying out hadd 
    punishments – it cannot be achieved except from a position of strength and 
    authority. Hence it was narrated that “the ruler is the shadow of Allaah on 
    earth” and “Sixty years with (even) an unjust ruler are better than one 
    night without a ruler.” Experience proves that this is so. End quote. 
Majmoo’ 
    al-Fataawa (28/390, 391). 
Shaykh Muhammad 
    ibn ‘Uthaymeen (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: 
It is not 
    permissible for the army to set out on a campaign without the permission of 
    the ruler, no matter what the situation, because the ones to whom the 
    command to fight and engage in jihad is addressed are the rulers, not 
    individuals. Individuals have to follow the decision-makers. So it is not 
    permissible for anyone to fight without the permission of the imam, except 
    in the case of defence. If the enemy attacks them suddenly and they are 
    afraid of his evil, then they may defend themselves, because fighting 
    becomes an individual obligation in that case.  
The reason why 
    that is not permitted is because the matter of jihad is the ruler’s 
    responsibility, and fighting without his permission is a transgression 
    against his rights and over stepping the mark. If it were permissible for 
    the people to fight without the permission of the ruler, that would lead to 
    chaos. Everyone who wanted to would mount his horse and go fight, and if the 
    people were allowed to do that it would lead to many negative consequences. 
    Some people would equip themselves on the grounds that they want to fight 
    the enemy but their real aim would be to rebel against the ruler, or to 
    spread evil by attacking another group of people, as Allaah says 
    (interpretation of the meaning): 
“And if two 
    parties (or groups) among the believers fall to fighting, then make peace 
    between them both”
[al-Hujuraat 
    49:9]
For these three 
    reasons and others it is not permissible to fight without the permission of 
    the ruler. End quote. 
Al-Sharh 
    al-Mumti’ (8/22). 

    And Allaah 
    knows best.