As I understand it, Offensive Jihad which is the initiation of warfare against the kuffar based on their rejection of Islam is proven from the Qur'an, Sunnah and the Madhahib of the Salaf:
Allah said:
"Fight those who do not believe in Allah or in the Last Day and who do not consider unlawful what Allah and His Messenger have made unlawful and who do not adopt the religion of truth from those who were given the Scripture - [fight] until they give the jizyah willingly while they are humbled.(9/29)
and one of the 12th Century Judges of Muslim Spain, Ibn Rushd(Averroes) wrote:
They (The Jurists) agreed regarding the people who are to be fought that they are
all of the polytheists
because of the Words of the Exalted:
"And fight them until Fitnah is no more, and the religion is totally for Allah"(8/39)
[ Bidayat al Mujtahid 2/144 ]
however, there is a hadith which in my perspective seems to imply the opposite:
The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: Do not desire an encounter with the enemy; but when you encounter them, be firm.
[ Sunnah Ref: Sahih Muslim 1741 ]
because if it is believed that it is an obligation to perform offensive jihad, then it would only be natural that one would want to encounter the enemy so that he can fulfil this obligation. But we are told to not desire that
, and I'm not sure how to reconcile these two commands. So far I considered two possibilities:
The hadith is from the period of the prophet's life before offensive jihad was commanded, so it would have been abrogated when the order to be at war against the kuffar in general was revealed
the hadith was limited in scope to a specific expedition, meaning the prophet and sahaba were about to set off on a specific expedition, but for various and innumerably possible reasons such as muslim military weakness or other circumstances, the prophet wished to avoid a military engagement in that specific time.
Since I have no idea which is the case or if at all, I beseech the experts at Islam stack exchange 👍