Egyptian Islamist Mahmoud Ismail: Why I Did Not Go Personally to Fight the Jihad

The following are excerpts from an interview with Egyptian Islamist lawyer Mahmoud Ismail

Interviewer: Many members of the Jihad organization went [to join the Jihad in Afghanistan]. Why didn't you go? You are a great supporter of this Afghan Jihad, why didn't you go?

Mamdouh Ismail: I personally didn't go because I felt back then that the Afghan Jihad did not need Arab Mujahideen and that "The people of Mecca know its paths best." That was my personal opinion. But from the religious perspective, Jihad is an individual duty for the people of Afghanistan and a collective duty for the rest of the Muslims. Whoever wants to volunteer, has the right to do so. In my opinion, from a religious standpoint, Jihad was a personal duty for the people of Afghanistan in order to liberate their country, but a collective duty for the rest of the Muslims. Whoever wanted to volunteer and help his brothers had the right to do so. There is no religious ban on this.