Continuing our series on war and peace in Islam, there is confusion over the classical ‘covenant of security’ and when it applies and when it breaks. This will be continued over a number of articles as it’s a very important topic to be understood in light of the historical attrocities that have been committed in both Muslim and non-Muslim countries. Citizenship and residency visas are the modern equivalents of the classical sharia concept of Al-Amān (الأَمان) which are security covenants. Ahmed Al-Dawoody says, “Amān (literally, protection, safety) forms an essential part of the Islamic law of war.”[1] He continues, “Some contemporary Muslim scholars have likened this safe conduct status to the “passport” system. Indeed, this ancient safe conduct system is similar to the visa system in some respects. It is a temporary permission to stay in a foreign country and can be renewed after its expiry date.”[2] Fulfilling security covenants is a well-established rule, that was codified by the imams of the classical schools of thought and applied throughout Islamic history. While abuses, mistakes and collateral …

Continuing our series on war and peace in Islam, there is a clear difference between deception in war and treachery. Some may argue that since war is deception then it’s permitted to enter a land with a visa and then renegade on that based on an incorrect understanding of a hadith by Ka’b ibn Malik who reported that when the Prophet ﷺ intended to set out on a military expedition, he would pretend to go somewhere else. The Prophet would say, الْحَرْبُ خُدْعَةٌ “War is deception.”[1] This misconception shows the importance of understanding the Arabic language and the principles of Islamic jurisprudence (usul al-fiqh) before issuing Islamic edicts. We cannot read a hadith in English and apply the meaning of the word ‘deception’ in English and extract a ruling. There is a clear difference between deception (خُدْعَة) and treachery (خِيانَة) in Islam and even in the English language. Deception (خُدْعَة) in war is related to battle tactics and all militaries since wars began have used deceptive tactics against each other. During WWII Britain hatched an ingenious …

Continuing our series on war and peace in Islam, Islam categorically forbids treachery whether in peace or war. The Caliphate is not a treacherous state despite the attempts to malign Islamic history and the Islamic religion itself by the criminal acts of a tiny proportion of Muslims who contradicted the clear-cut rules of law in Islam. The Islamic civilisation flourished for over 1300 years with the caliphate and Islamic governance playing a pivotal role in this. This civilisation could not have remained in power for such a long period of time if it was known for treachery, injustice and tyranny. If the Islamic state had conducted itself in the same way as the hated western colonial powers, then its peoples would have rebelled en mass against Islamic rule which never occurred. In fact, all the internal rebellions against the caliphal governments ended up implementing the exact same system albeit with a different ruling family. This is because the rebellion was about “who” should rule, not “what” should be implemented. Islamic Spain is a stark example of …

Continuing our series on war and peace in Islam, the seeking of shahada (martyrdom) is something all Muslims would love to achieve due to the high status and honour given to the shaheed in the next life. However, martyrdom has conditions in order to be accepted. Attempting to gain martyrdom through disobeying Allah such as by treachery, would negate the honour of receiving the shahada. The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ said, إِنَّمَا الْأَعْمَالُ بِالنِّيَّاتِ “Verily, actions are only [accepted] by intentions.”[1] “This is one of the most comprehensive hadith of the Prophet ﷺ. It touches upon almost every deed of Islam…Imam AbuDawood stated that this hadith is one-half of Islam; that is, Islam compriseswhat is apparent, the deeds of Islam, as well as what is not apparent, theintention behind the deeds. Al-Shafi’i also said that it encompasses half ofknowledge, meaning that the religion concerns both what is external and whatis internal. The deeds are the external aspect and the intention behind them isthe internal aspect.”[2] Rumi (d.1273CE) narrates a famous story of Ali ibn Abi Talib where he stopped …

Continuing our series on war and peace in Islam, the justifications Jihadi-Salafi groups give for their attacks that breach well-established Islamic rules on covenants and treaties are based on their issuing of erroneous Islamic edicts (fatawa). Issuing fatawa is only for qualified scholars Ijtihad (اِجْتِهاد) is derived from the root word Jahada (جهد). Linguistically, it means striving or self-exertion in any activity, which entails a measure of hardship. The great scholars of Usul such as Abu al-Husayn Ali otherwise known as Al-Amidi (d.631 AH) and Mohammad bin Ali Al-Shawkani (d.1255 AH) defined it as, “the total expenditure of effort made by a jurist in order to infer, with a degree of probability, the rules of Shariah from their detailed evidence in the sources.”[1] Extracting Islamic edicts (fatawa) from the Qur’an and Sunnah via ijtihad is only for those who are qualified. If someone is seriously ill, they will go to a doctor to diagnose their illness and prescribe medicine. If they went to an unqualified person, then they may end up losing their life due …

Continuing our series on war and peace in Islam, we discuss the modern phenomenon of Jihadi-Salafism which post 9-11 has dominated the world scene as part of America’s war on terror. A brief history In the latter part of the 20th century, a number of Jihadi-Salafigroups emerged in the Muslim world. These groups were established as a reaction to the deaths and destruction inflicted upon Muslims in a number independence wars starting primarily with the Soviet invasion and occupation of Afghanistan (1979-1989). The resistance to the Soviet invasion was undertaken by Afghan mujahideen who had lived in the land for thousands of years, and who followed the Hanafi-Deobandi school of thought (mathhab). Throughout the 1980s many Arab volunteers who followed Salafism came to assist the Afghans bringing with them money from the Gulf countries who were rich in oil wealth. One of the most famous in this regard is Osama bin Laden whose family to this day are billionaires. The mujahideen were openly supported by America and the CIA who were actively training them as …

This is the first of a new series of articles addressing some misconceptions surrounding the issues of war and peace in Islam. It will focus primarily on the subject of Muslims living in non-Muslim countries who can face a moral dilemma with regards to split loyalties when their host country goes to war with a Muslim country. The Takfiri[1]Jihadi-Salafi groups in particular have attempted to influence Muslims across the world with their extreme misinterpretation of Islamic texts in order to justify treacherous actions, both in Muslim and non-Muslim countries. While their impact has been miniscule in comparison to other criminal acts, and blown out of all proportion by those interest groups who have nefarious agendas against the Islamic religion, their arguments still need to be addressed in order to remove any confusion that may arise in someone’s mind regarding such conduct. In most cases, as with any intolerant and extreme views, whether Muslim or not, other sociological and psychological factors are in fact the real motivations behind many of these despicable acts. Definition of jihad …