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War and
Peace in the Quran
By: Muhammad Abdel Haleem
Topics Discussed
- The Sources of Islamic Law
- Normal Relations
- Justifications and Conditions
for War
- Righteous Intention
- Jihad as an Obligation
- Who Is To Be Fought?
Discrimination and Proportionality
- The Sword Verse
- Cessation of Hostilities
- Sanctity of Treaties
- Prisoners of War
- Resumption of Peaceful
Relations
- Humanitarian Intervention
- International Co-operation
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1. The Sources of Islamic Law
The Qur'an is the supreme authority in Islam and the primary source of Islamic
Law, including the laws regulating war and peace. The second source is the
hadith, the traditions of the Prophet Muhammad's acts and deeds, which can
be used to confirm, explain or elaborate Qur'anic teachings, but may not
contradict the Qur'an, since they derive their authority from the Qur'an itself.
Together these form the basis for all other sources of Islamic law, such as
ijma' (consensus of Muslim scholars on an opinion regarding any given subject)
and qiyas (reasoning by analogy). These and others are merely methods to
reach decisions based on the texts or the spirit of the Qur'an and hadith.
The Qur'an and hadith are thus the only binding sources of Islamic law.
Again, nothing is acceptable if it contradicts the text or the spirit of these
two sources. Any opinions arrived at by individual scholars or schools of
Islamic law, including the recognized four Sunni schools, are no more than
opinions. The founders of these schools never laid exclusive claim to the truth,
or invited people to follow them rather than any other scholars. Western writers
often take the views of this or that classical or modern Muslim writer as "the
Islamic view", presumably on the basis of assumptions drawn from the Christian
tradition, where the views of people like St Augustine or St Thomas Aquinas are
often cited as authorities. In Islam, however, for any view of any scholar to
gain credibility, it must demonstrate its textual basis in the Qur'an and
authentic hadith, and its derivation from a sound linguistic
understanding of these texts.
Ijtihad - exerting one's reason to reach judgments on the basis of these
two sources is the mechanism by which Muslims find solutions for the
ever-changing and evolving life around them. The closing of the door of
ijtihad' is a myth propagated by many Western scholars, some of whom imagine
that "the door" still remains closed and that Muslims have nothing to fall back
on except the decisions of the Schools of Law and scholars of the classical
period. In fact, scholars in present-day Muslim counties reach their own
decisions on laws governing all sorts of new situations, using the same
methodology based on the Qur'an and hadith and the principles derived
from them, without feeling necessarily bound by the conclusions of any former
school of law.
In the Quran and hadith, the fundamental sources of Islamic teachings on
war and peace are to be found.
2. Normal Relations
The Islamic relationship between individuals and nations is one of peace. War is
a contingency that becomes necessary at certain times and under certain
conditions. Muslims learn from the Qur'an that God's objective in creating the
human race in different communities was that they should relate to each other
peacefully (Quran 49:13).1
The objective of forming the family unit is to foster affection mercy, and that
of creating a baby in its mother's womb is to form bonds of blood and marriage
between people:
It is He who created the human being from fluid, making relationships of
blood and marriage. Quran 25:54
Sowing enmity and hatred amongst people is the work of Satan:
Satan wishes to sow enmity and hatred between you with intoxicants and
gambling. Quran 5:91
Division into warring factions is viewed as a punishment that God brings on
people who revert to polytheism after He has delivered them from distress:
...He able to divide you into discordant factions and make you taste the
might of each other... Quran 6:65
War is hateful (2:216), and the changing of fear into a sense of safety is one
of the rewards for those who believe and do good deeds (Quran 24:55). That God
has given them the sanctuary of Mecca is a blessing for which its people should
he thankful (Quran 29:67).Paradise is the Land of Peace - Dar al-Salam -
Quran 5:127).
3. Justifications and Conditions for War
War may become necessary only to stop evil from
triumphing in a way would corrupt the earth (Quran 2:251). For Muslims to
participate in war there must be valid justifications and strict conditions must
be fulfilled. A thorough survey of the relevant verses of the Qur'an shows that
it is consistent throughout with regard to these rulings on the justification of
war, and its conduct, termination and consequences.
War in Islam as regulated by the Qur'an and hadith has been subject to
many distortions by Western scholars and even by some Muslim writers. These are
due either to misconceptions about terminology or - above all -using quotations
taken out of context.2 Nowhere in the Quran is changing people's
religion given as a cause for waging war. The Qur'an gives a clear instruction
that there is no compulsion in religion (Quran 2:256). It states that people
will remain different (Quran 11:118), they will always have different religions
and ways and this is an unalterable fact (Quran 5:48) - God tells the Prophet
that most people will not believe "even if you are eager that they should"
(Quran 12:103).3
All the battles that took place during the Prophet's lifetime, under the
guidance of the Qur'an and the Prophet, have been surveyed and shown to have
been waged only in self-defense or to pre-empt an imminent attack.4
For more than ten years in Mecca, Muslims were persecuted, but before permission
was given to fight they were instructed to restrain themselves (Quran 4:77) and
endure with patience and fortitude:
Pardon and forgive until God gives his command. Quran 2:109; see also
29:59; 16:42
After the Muslims were forced out of their homes and their town, and those who
remained behind were subjected to even more abuse, God gave His permission to
fight:
Permission is given to those who fight because they ham been wronged, and God
is indeed able to give them victory; those who have been driven from their homes
unjustly only because they said, "Our Lord is God"-for had it not been for God's
repelling some men by means of others, monasteries, churches, synagogues and
mosques, in which the name of God is much mentioned, would certainly have been
destroyed. Verily God helps those that help Him - lo! God is Strong, Almighty -
those who, if they are given power in the land, establish worship and pay the
poor-due and enjoin what is good and forbid iniquity. Quran 22:39-41
Here, war is seen as justifiable and necessary to defend people's right to their
own beliefs, and once the believers have been given victory they should not
become triumphant or arrogant or have a sense of being a superpower, because the
promise of help given above and the rewards are for those who do not seek to
exalt themselves on earth or spread corruption (Quran 28:83).
4. Righteous Intention
Righteous intention is an essential condition. When fighting takes place, it
should be fi sabil illah - in the way of God - as is often repeated in
the Qur'an. His way is prescribed in the Qur'an as the way of truth and justice,
including all the teaching it gives on the justifications and the conditions for
the conduct of war and peace. The Prophet was asked about those who fight for
the booty, and those who fight out of self-aggrandizement or to be seen as a
hero. He said that none of these was in the way of God. The one who fights in
the way of God is he who fights so that the word of God is uppermost (hadith:
Bukhari).
This expression of the word of God being "uppermost" was misunderstood by some
to mean that Islam should gain political power over other religions. However, if
we use the principle that "different parts of the Qur'an interpret each other",
we find (Quran 9:40) that by simply concealing the Prophet in the cave from his
trackers, after he had narrowly escaped an attempt to murder him, God made His
word "uppermost", and the word of the wrongdoers "lowered". This could not be
described as gaining military victory or political power.
Another term which is misunderstood and misrepresented is jihad. This
does not mean "Holy War". "Holy War" does not exist as a term in Arabic, and its
translation into Arabic sounds quite alien. The term which is specifically used
in the Qur'an for fighting is qital. Jihad can be by argumentation
(25:52), financial help or actual fighting. Jihad is always described in the
Qur'an as fi sabil illah. On returning from a military campaign, the Prophet
said to his followers: "We have returned from the minor jihad to the major
jihad - the struggle of the individual with his own self."
5. Jihad as an Obligation
When there is a just cause for jihad, which must have a righteous intention, it
then becomes an obligation. It becomes an obligation for defending religious
freedom (Quran 22:39-41), for self-defense (Quran 2:190) and defending those who
are oppressed: men, women and children who cry for help (Quran 4:75). It is the
duty of the Muslims to help the oppressed, except against a people with whom the
Muslims have a treaty (Quran 8:72). These are the only valid justifications for
war we find in the Qur'an. Even when war becomes necessary, we find that there
is no "conscription" in the Qur'an. The Prophet is instructed only to "urge on
the believers" (Quran 4:64). The Qur'an - and the hadith at greater
length - urge on the Muslim fighters (those who are defending themselves or the
oppressed) in the strongest way: by showing the justice of their cause, the bad
conduct of the enemy, and promising great rewards in the afterlife for those who
are prepared to sacrifice their lives and property in such a good cause.5
6. Who Is To Be Fought? Discrimination and Proportionality
In this regard we must discuss two verses in the
Qur'an which are normally quoted by those most eager to criticize Qur'anic
teachings on war: 2:191 ("slay them wherever you find them") and verse 9:5,
labeled the "Sword Verse". Both verses have been subjected to
decontextualisation, misinterpretation and misrepresentation. The first verse
comes in a passage that defines clearly who is to be fought:
Fight in the way of God those who fight against you, but do not transgress.
God does not love the transgressor. Quran 2:190
"Those who fight against you" means actual fighters - civilians are protected.
The Prophet and his successors, when they sent out an army, gave clear
instructions not to attack civilians - women, old people, religious people
engaged in their worship - nor destroy crops or animals.
Discrimination and proportionality should be strictly observed. Only the
combatants are to be fought, and no more harm should be caused to them than they
have caused (Quran 2:194). Thus wars and weapons of destruction that destroy
civilians and their towns are ruled out by the Qur'an and the word and deed of
the Prophet, these being the only binding authority in Islamic law. The
prohibition is regularly reinforced by, "Do not transgress, God does not love
the transgressor". Transgression has been interpreted by Qur'anic exegetes as
meaning, "initiation of fighting, fighting those with whom a treaty has been
concluded, surprising the enemy without first inviting them to make peace,
destroying crops or killing those who should be protected" (Baydawu's commentary
on Q. 2:190).
The orders are always couched in restraining language, with much repetition of
warnings, such as "do not transgress" and "God does not love the transgressors"
and "He loves those who are conscious of Him". These are instructions given to
people who, from the beginning, should have the intention of acting "in the way
of God".
Linguistically we notice that the verses in this passage always restrict actions
in a legalistic way, which appeals strongly to Muslims' conscience. In six
verses (Quran 2:190-5) we find four prohibitions (do not), six restrictions: two
"until", two "if", two "who attack you", as well as such cautions as "in the way
of God", "be conscious of God", "God does not like aggressors", "God is with
those who are conscious of Him", "with those who do good deeds" and "God is
Forgiving, Merciful." It should be noted that the Qur'an, in treating the theme
of war, as with many other themes, regularly gives the reasons and
justifications for any action it demands.
Verse 2:191 begins:
Slay them where you find them and expel them from where they expelled you;
persecution [fitna] is worse than killing.
"Slay them wherever you find them," has been made the title of an article on war
in Islam.6 In this article "them" is removed from its context, where
it refers back to "those who attack you" in the preceding verse. "Wherever you
find them" is similarly misunderstood: the Muslims were anxious that if their
enemies attacked them in Mecca (which is a sanctuary) and they retaliated, they
would be breaking the law. Thus the Qur'an simply gave the Muslims permission to
fight those enemies, whether outside or inside Mecca, and assured them that the
persecution that had been committed by the unbelievers against them for
believing in God was more sinful than the Muslims killing those who attacked
them, wherever they were. Finally, it must be pointed out that the whole passage
(Quran 2:190-5) comes in the context of fighting those who bar Muslims from
reaching the Sacred Mosque at Mecca to perform the pilgrimage. This is clear
from verse 189 before and verse 196 after the passage. In the same way, the
verse giving the first permission to fight occurs in the Qur'an, also in the
context of barring Muslims from reaching the Mosque to perform the pilgrimage
(Quran 2:217).
7. The Sword Verse
We must also comment on another verse much referred to but notoriously
misinterpreted and taken out of context - that which became labeled as the
"Sword Verse":
Then, when the sacred months have passed, slay the idolators wherever you
find them, take them and besiege them and prepare for them every ambush.
Quran 9:5
The hostility and "bitter enmity" of the polytheists and their fitna
(persecution) (Quran 2:193; 8:39) of the Muslims grew so great that the
unbelievers were determined to convert the Muslims back to paganism or finish
them off.
They would persist in fighting you until they turn you back from your
religion, if they could. Quran 2:217
It was these hardened polytheists in Arabia, who would accept nothing other than
the expulsion of the Muslims or their reversion to paganism, and who repeatedly
broke their treaties, that the Muslims were ordered to treat in the same way -
to fight them or expel them.
Even with such an enemy Muslims were not simply ordered to pounce on them and
reciprocate by breaking the treaty themselves; instead, an ultimatum was issued,
giving the enemy notice, that after the four sacred months mentioned in 9:5
above, the Muslims would wage war on them. The main clause of the sentence "kill
the polytheists" is singled out by some Western scholars to represent the
Islamic attitude to war; even some Muslims take this view and allege that this
verse abrogated other verses on war. This is pure fantasy, isolating and
decontextualising a small part of a sentence. The full picture is given in
9:1-15, which gives many reasons for the order to fight such polytheists. They
continuously broke their agreements and aided others against the Muslims, they
started hostilities against the Muslims, barred others from becoming Muslims,
expelled Muslims from the Holy Mosque and even from their own homes. At least
eight times the passage mentions their misdeeds against the Muslims. Consistent
with restrictions on war elsewhere in the Qur'an, the immediate context of this
"Sword Verse" exempts such polytheists as do not break their agreements and who
keep the peace with the Muslims (9:7). It orders that those enemies seeking safe
conduct should be protected and delivered to the place of safety they seek
(9:6). The whole of this context to v.5, with all its restrictions, is ignored
by those who simply isolate one part of a sentence to build their theory of war
in Islam on what is termed "The Sword Verse" even when the word "sword" does not
occur anywhere in the Qur'an.
8. Cessation of Hostilities
Once the hostility of the enemy ceases, the Muslims must stop fighting (Quran
2:193; 8:39):
And if they incline to peace, do so and put your trust in God. Even if they
intend to deceive you, remember that God is sufficient for you. Quran 8:61-2
When the war is over, the Qur'an and hadith give instructions as to the
treatment of prisoners of war and the new relationship with the non-Muslims. War
is certainly not seen as a means in Islam of converting other people from their
religions. The often-quoted division of the world into dar al-harb and
dar al Islam is seen nowhere in the Qur'an or hadith, the only
authoritative sources of Islam. The scholars who used these expressions were
talking about the warring enemies in countries surrounding the Muslim lands.
Even for such scholars there was not a dichotomy but a trichotomy, with a third
division, dar al-sulk, the lands with which the Muslims had treaty
obligations.
The Qur'an and hadith talk about the different situations that exist
between a Muslim state and a neighboring warring enemy. They mention a state of
defensive war, within the prescriptions specified above, the state of peace
treaty for a limited or unlimited period, the state of truce, and the state
where a member of a hostile camp can come into a Muslim land for special
purposes under safe conduct.7
9. Sanctity of Treaties
The Prophet and his companions did make treaties, such as that of Hudaybiyya in
the sixth year of the hijra and the one made by 'Umar with the people of
Jerusalem.8 Faithfulness to a treaty is a most serious obligation
which the Qur'an and hadith incessantly emphasize:
Believers, fulfill your bonds. Quran 5:1
Keep the agreements of God when you have made them and do not break your
oaths after you have made them with God as your bond ... Quran 16:91
Covenants should not be broken because one community feels stronger than
another. Quran 16:92
Breaking treaties puts the culprit into a state lower than animals (Quran 8:55).
As stated above, even defending a Muslim minority is not allowed when there is a
treaty with the camp they are in.
10. Prisoners of War
There is nothing in the Qur'an or hadith to prevent Muslims from
following the present international humanitarian conventions on war or prisoners
of war. There is nothing in the Qur'an to say that prisoners of war must be held
captive, but as this was the practice of the time and there was no international
body to oversee exchanges of prisoners, the Qur'an deals with the subject. There
are only two cases where it mentions their treatment:
O Prophet! Tell the captives you have, "If God knows goodness in your heart
He will give you better rewards than have been taken from you and forgive you.
He is forgiving, merciful ".And if they intend to be treacherous to you, they
have been treacherous to God in the past and He has put them into your hands.
8:70-1
When you have fully overcome the enemy in the battle, then tighten their
bonds, but thereafter set them free either by an act of grace or against ransom.
47:4
Grace is suggested first, before ransom. Even when some were not set free, for
one reason or another, they were, according to the Qur'an and hadith, to
be treated in a most humane way (Q.76:8-9; 9:6o; 2:177). In the Bible, where it
mentions fighting, we find a different picture in the treatment administered to
conquered peoples, for example:
When you march up to attack a city, make its people an offer of peace. If they
accept and open their gates, all the people in it shall be subject to forced
labor and shall work for you. If they refuse to make peace with you in battle,
lay siege to that city. When the Lord your God delivers it into your hand, put
to the sword all the men in it. As for the women, the children, the livestock
and everything else in the city, you may take these as plunder for yourselves.
And you may use the plunder the Lord your God gives you from your enemies. This
is how you are to treat all the cities that are at a distance from you and do
not belong to the nations nearby.
However, in the cities of the nations the Lord your God is giving you as an
inheritance, do not leave alive anything that breathes. Completely destroy them
- the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites - as
the Lord your God has commanded you. Otherwise they will teach you to follow all
the detestable things they do in worshipping their gods, and you will sin
against the Lord your God. Deuteronomy20:1O-189
11. Resumption of Peaceful Relations
We have already seen in the Qur'an 22:41 that God promises to help those who,
when He has established them in a land after war, " ... establish worship and
pay the poor-due and enjoin what is good and forbid iniquity".
In this spirit, when the Muslim army was victorious over the enemy, any of the
defeated people who wished to remain in the land could do so under a guarantee
of protection for their life, religion and freedom, and if they wished to leave
they could do so with safe conduct. If they chose to stay among the Muslims,
they could become members of the Muslim community. If they wished to continue in
their faith they had the right to do so and were offered security. The only
obligation on them then was to pay jizya, a tax exempting the person from
military service and from paying zakat, which the Muslims have to pay - a
tax considerably heavier than the jizya. Neither had the option of
refusing to pay, but in return the non-Muslims were given the protection of the
state. Jizya was not a poll-tax, and it was not charged on the old, or
poor people, women or children.10
12. Humanitarian Intervention
Humanitarian intervention is allowed, even advocated in the Qur'an, under the
category of defending the oppressed. However it must be done within the
restrictions specified in the Qur'an, as we have shown above. In intervening, it
is quite permissible to co-operate with non-Muslims, under the proviso:
Co-operate in what is good and pious and do not co-operate in what is sinful
and aggression. Quran 5:2
13. International Co-operation
In the sphere of war and peace, there is nothing in the Qur'an or hadith
which should cause Muslims to feel unable to sign and act according to the
modern international conventions, ,and there is much in the Qur'an and hadith
from which modern international law can benefit. The Prophet Muhammad remembered
an alliance he witnessed that was contracted between some chiefs of Mecca before
his call to prophet-hood to protect the poor and weak against oppression and
said:
I have witnessed in the house of lbn Jud'an an alliance which I would not
exchange for a herd of red camels, and if it were to be called for now that
Islam is here, I would respond readily.11
There is nothing in Islam that prevents Muslims from having peaceful, amicable
and good relations with other nations when they read and hear regularly the
Qur'anic injunction, referring too members of other faiths:
God does not forbid you front being kind and equitable to those who have
neither made war on you account of your religion nor driven you from your
homes. God loves those who are equitable. Quran 60:8
This includes participation in international peace-making and peace-keeping
efforts. The rule of arbitration in violent disputes between groups of Muslims
is given in the Qur'an:
If two, of the believers take up arms against one another, make peace between
them. If either of them commits aggression against the other, fight against the
aggressors until they submit to God's judgment. When they submit make peace
between them in equity and justice. God loves those who act in justice. 49:9
This could, in agreement with rules of Islamic jurisprudence, be applied more
generally to disputes within the international community. For this reason,
Muslims should, and do, participate in the arbitration of disputes by
international bodies such as the United Nations.
Modern international organizations and easy travel should make it easier for
different people, in accordance with the teachings of the Qur'an, to "get to
know one another", "co-operate in what is good" and live in peace. The Qur'an
affirms:
There is no virtue in much of their counsels: only in his who enjoins
charity, kindness and peace among people... Quran 4:114
Excerpted from "Understanding The Quran" by
Muhammad Abdel Haleem
Source:
http://www.islamicity.com/articles/Articles.asp?ref=IV0603-2947
NOTES:
1. See Chapter 6 below.
2. Slay them wherever you find them: Humanitarian Law in Islam, by James
J.Busuttil, Linacre College, Oxford., in Revue de Droit Penal Militaire at de
Droit de la Guerre,
1991, pp. 113-40.
3. See chapter 6 below.
4. See A- M. al-'Aqqad, op.cit.. (Cairo, 1957) pp, 187-91, quoting a survey by
Ahmad Zaki Pasha.
5- See for example 3:169-72; 9:120-1 and many hadiths in the chapters on jihad
in the various collections of hadiths.
6. Busuttil, op. ,cit. P.127. The rendering he uses runs: Idolatry is worse than
carnage. This corrupts the meaning. It is clear from the preceding words, "those
who have turned you out that fitna means persecution. This meaning is borne out
by the identical verb (turning out/expelling) preceding the only other verse
(2:217) where the expression, "fitna is worse than killing" appears. Here the
statement is clearly explained: Fighting in [the prohibited month] is a grave
(offence) but graver is it in the sight of God to prevent access to the Sacred
Mosque and drive out its people."
7. 'Aqqad, op.cit., pp.204-9.
8. See Chapter 6.
In the 'New Testament Jesus gives the high ideal that if someone hits you on one
check, you should turn the other cheek. Pardon and forgiveness on the individual
level is also highly recommended in the Qur'an. "Good and evil deeds are not
alike, Requite evil with good, and he who is your enemy will become your dearest
friend, but none will attain this attribute save those who patiently endure;
none will attain it save for those who are truly fortunate" (4 1:34-5). And see
45:14. But when it comes to the places of worship being subjected to destruction
and when hopeless, old men, women and children are persecuted and when
unbelievers try to force believers to renounce their religion, the Qur'an
considers it total dereliction of the duty for the Muslim state not to oppose
such oppression and defend what is right.
10. See Chapter 6.
11. Red camels were proverbial in Arabia as the best one can have.
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