Dar al-Harb and Dar al-Islam (the Abodes of War and Peace): Difference between revisions

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[[w:Divisions_of_the_world_in_Islam#Dar_al-Harb_.28House_of_war.29|Wikipedia's article]] on the divisions of the world in [[Islam]] contains very little information about the '''dar al-harb'''.  This article seeks to expand upon Wikipedia's information and tie it to the modern world.

''Dar al-Harb'' (دار الحرب "house of war"; also referred to as ''dar al-Garb'' "house of the West" in later Ottoman sources) is an Islamic term used for countries which are not under Islamic rule.

It further explains that [[jihad]] ("Holy War") is a Divine institution of warfare to extend Islam into the ''dar al-harb'' or to defend Islam from danger.<ref>Glasse, Cyril. (2002). [http://books.google.com/books?id=focLrox-frUC&printsec=frontcover&dq=the+new+encyclopedia+of+islam#v=onepage&q=&f=false ''The New Encyclopedia of Islam:  Revised Edition of the Concise Encyclopedia of Islam'']. (p.240). Walnut Creek, CA: AltaMira Press.</ref>

According to Professor Gamal M. Badr, Adjunct Professor of Islamic law at New York University, in his article titled "A Survey of Islamic International Law", during the Islamic age of expansion jurists elaborated the theory that the rest of the world outside the domain of Islam was collectively ''dar al-harb'', and the normal relationship between it and the Muslim state was considered to be war.  Any truces could not exceed a duration of ten years (a precedent set during Muhammad's lifetime).<ref name="Religion and International Law">Janis, Mark W. & Evans, Caroline. (1999). [http://books.google.com/books?id=8CxMFjU12OUC&printsec=frontcover&dq=religion+and+international+law#v=onepage&q=&f=false ''Religion and International Law'']. (p. 95). The Hague, Netherlands: Kluwer Law International - Martinus Nijhoff Publishers.</ref>

{{Quote|2=The Ummah has no Imam (Khalifah) who rules by what is contained in the Quran and Sunnah, who acts as a shield to protect us and whose duty it would be to protect the Muslims of Iraq, Palestine, Afghanistan, Chechnya and countless other places where the Muslim blood flows.  Therefore it is paramount for us to work to re-establish Dar al-Islam, the Islamic Khilafah state through emulating the non-violent methodology of the Prophet (saw) in how he transferred Dar al-Kufr to Dar al-Islam and in the pursuit of this it is inevitable that we will be tried and tested.}}

The ''harbi'' is a non-Muslim living in an area which is not subject to Islam and consequently considered a land of war.  According to the [[Madh'hab|Muslim jurists]], the ''harbi'' has no rights: his blood and his property being licit prey to any Muslim.<ref> Ye'or, Bat (Author). Kochan, Mariam & Littman, David (Translators). (2002). [http://books.google.com/books?id=n4kTdYgwQPkC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_navlinks_s#v=onepage&q=&f=false ''Islam and Dhimmitude: Where Civilizations Collide'']. (p. 55). Cranbury, NJ: Associated University Presses.</ref>

{{Quote|1=Al-Qa'ida spokesman Suleiman Abu Gheith, 2002|2=If by religious law it is permitted to punish a Muslim [for the crime he committed] - it is all the more permitted to punish a ''Harbi'' infidel [i.e. he who belongs to ''Dar Al-Harb'' 'the domain of disbelief'] in the same way he treated the Muslim.<ref>[http://memri.org/bin/articles.cgi?Page=archives&Area=sd&ID=SP38802 'Why We Fight America': Al-Qa'ida Spokesman Explains September 11 and Declares Intentions to Kill 4 Million Americans with Weapons of Mass Destruction] - MEMRI: Special Dispatch, No. 388, June 12, 2002</ref>}}

''The Reliance of the Traveller'' recognizes the ''dar al-harb'' as "enemy lands" and provides Muslims with instructions and rules regarding such territory.  For example, it explains that based on the Prophet's words: "There is no usury (riba) between the Muslim and the hostile non-Muslim in enemy lands (dar al-harb)," it is permissible (according to Abu Hanifa and Muhammad) for Muslims to take interest from non-Muslims in enemy lands, so long as it is not done through deception, because their property is lawful to Muslims in their own lands.<ref>Ahmad ibn Naqib al-Masri & Nuh Ha Mim Keller. (1997). [http://www.amazon.com/Reliance-Traveller-Classic-Islamic-Al-Salik/dp/0915957728/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1255736904&sr=8-1#reader ''Reliance of the Traveller: The Classic Manual of Islamic Sacred Law Umdat Al-Salik'']. (p. 944, w43.2). Beltsville, MD: Amana Corporation.</ref>  According to this manual of [[fiqh]], Muslim authorities whose land borders enemy territory (dar al-harb) are obligated to undertake jihad against enemies, dividing the spoils of battle among combatants, and setting aside a fifth for deserving recipients.<ref>Ahmad ibn Naqib al-Masri & Nuh Ha Mim Keller. (1997). [http://www.amazon.com/Reliance-Traveller-Classic-Islamic-Al-Salik/dp/0915957728/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1255736904&sr=8-1#reader ''Reliance of the Traveller: The Classic Manual of Islamic Sacred Law Umdat Al-Salik'']. (p. 647, o25.9). Beltsville, MD: Amana Corporation.</ref>

The following is an excerpt from an essay published in September 2001, titled “The Truth of the New Crusader War," by an author who calls himself “The Crusader Vanquisher Salah Al-Din":

{{Quote|2=First of all, we must clarify an important issue, and this is whether America is a country of war [Bilad Harb] or a country with which we have an agreement [Bilad Ahd]… It is agreed that it is a country of war, and it is permitted for Muslims to strike a country of war with all [kinds] of blows, because the blood, money, and honor of its residents are permitted. This is what the Messenger of Allah did with the Muharibeen [those from Dar Al-Harb, i.e. from territory not yet under Islamic rule that must be conquered ]: He abducted them like he did with the Banu 'Uqail; he plundered their merchant caravans as he did with the Quraysh; he assassinated their leaders as he did with Ka'ab Ibn Al-Ashraf and Salamah bin Abi Al-Huqaiq; he burned their land as he did with Banu Al-Nadhir; he destroyed their fortifications as he did in Taif, and other things.  

The seventh case: It is permitted for Muslims to kill inviolable infidels if the latter had an agreement with the Muslims and broke the agreement, and the imam had to kill the inviolable ones to make an example of them, like the Prophet did with Banu Qurayza.<ref>[http://memri.org/bin/articles.cgi?Page=archives&Area=sr&ID=SR2504 Contemporary Islamist Ideology Authorizing Genocidal Murder] – MEMRI: Special Report – No. 25, January 27, 2004</ref>}}

{{Quote|1=Dr. Hani Al-Siba'i, the director of the Al-Maqreze Centre for Historical Studies, 2005|2="The term 'civilians' does not exist in Islamic religious law. Dr. Karmi is sitting here, and I am sitting here, and I'm familiar with religious law. There is no such term as 'civilians' in the modern Western sense. People are either of Dar Al-Harb or not...<br><br>

...If Al-Qa'ida indeed carried out this act [the London Bombings], it is a great victory for it. It rubbed the noses of the world's eight most powerful countries in the mud. This victory is a blow to the economy..."<ref>[http://memri.org/bin/articles.cgi?Page=archives&Area=sd&ID=SP93205 Director of London's Al-Maqreze Centre for Historical Studies Hani Sibai: There are No 'Civilians' in Islamic Law; The Bombing is a Great Victory for Al-Qa'ida, Which ‘Rubbed the Noses of the World's 8 Most Powerful Countries in the Mud'] - MEMRI: Special Dispatch - No. 932, July 12, 2005</ref><br>}}

The following fatwa (translated from the [[Arabic]]), was posted on the Al-Muhajiroun website in Arabic, as well as in an English version.  It was also signed, in the Arabic version, by Muhammad bin Abdallah Al-Musa'ari "Abu Majed,"  Secretary General of the Committee for the Protection of Legitimate Rights (in [[Saudi Arabia]]), and appeared under the emblem of the "Shari'a Court of the UK."

The following year Sheikh Bakri clarified his stance regarding ''dar al-harb'', and in an article posted on the Al-Muhajiroun website he appeared to deviate from the Al-Qaeda ideology of jihad against those Muslims who do not put Shari'a into practice.  He asserted that it was vital for Muslims to establish the Khilafah ([[Caliph|Caliphate]]), and explained that jihad becomes a religious obligation only "when the enemy enters Muslim land, such as Palestine, Chechnya, Kosova or Kashmir."  Bakri also argued that the well-known Islamic concepts of Dar Al-Islam versus Dar Al-Harb no longer apply, meaning that the implicit obligation of Muslims to wage war on Dar Al-Harb ("The Abode of War," i.e. territory ruled by non-Muslims) is no longer applicable.  He argued that the concept of Dar Al-Islam implies the existence of a Khilafa (Caliphate) and that because there is no Khilafa nowadays (since the abolition of the Ottoman Caliphate in March 1924), there is no Dar Al-Islam and, consequently, no Dar Al-Harb.  Nevertheless, he continued, when the kuffar (infidels) occupy Muslim land, then this occupied land becomes, to all practical purposes, Dar Al-Harb, and Muslims are required to fight for its liberation, "as in Palestine, Chechnya, Bosnia, etc."  Such territories may also be defined as Dar Al-Ghasab ("usurped land"). Among such territories he listed Kashmir, Palestine and Northern Spain.<ref>[http://memri.org/bin/articles.cgi?Page=archives&Area=sd&ID=SP43502 Islamist Leader in London: No Universal Jihad As Long As There is No Caliphate] -  MEMRI: Special Dispatch - No. 435, October 30, 2002</ref>

{{Quote|1=Sheikh Yousef Al-Qaradhawi, head of the European Council for Fatwa and Research, 2003|2=The martyrdom operations carried out by the Palestinian factions to resist the Zionist occupation are not in any way included in the framework of prohibited terrorism, even if the victims include some civilians...<br><br>

In 2008, Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei issued a decree to act against [[Israel]], which he called "an infidel that should be warred against" (Kafer-e-Harbi ) because of the "slaughter of the Palestinian Muslims" and the "plunder of Islamic lands". He stated: "All Palestinian fighters and all believers in the Islamic world must help the defenseless [Palestinian] women, children, and people in Gaza. Anyone who dies in this legitimate and sacred defense is a shahid [martyr]."<ref>[http://memri.org/bin/articles.cgi?Page=archives&Area=sd&ID=SP216908 Khamenei Decrees: Israel is Kafer-e-Harbi; Iranian Martyrdom Seekers Await Khameini's Orders; Iranian Student Organizations Threaten to Take Over Egyptian, Jordanian Diplomatic Representations] - MEMRI: Special Dispatch - No. 2169, December 31, 2008</ref>

On December 13, 2006, Islamist websites posted a new hour-long video from the Caucasus, produced by Nuriddin Media, called "Dar Al-Harb of Dagestan."  The video had many disturbing images that MEMRI felt it necessary to edit.

Towards the end, the video shows images of the aftermath of the November 26, 2006, Russian raid on the mujahideen safe house near Dagestan - a raid in which Abu Hafs Al-Urduni, the commander of the foreign mujahideen in the Caucasus, was killed.<ref>[http://memri.org/bin/articles.cgi?Page=archives&Area=sd&ID=SP140306 Islamist Websites Monitor No. 38 - New Video from the Caucasus: "Dar Al-Harb of Dagestan"] - MEMRI: Special Dispatch, No. 1403, December 31, 2006</ref>}}

{{Quote|1=Gulboddin Hekmatyar, Afghan Islamist leader of a militia that joined the Taliban and Al-Qa'ida<br>in a "holy war" against all international and peacekeeping forces in Afghanistan, 2002|2=American forces are guarding the presidential palace and foreign forces are in control of all the airports in the country. We think that it is not permissible under the shari'a to cooperate with the occupiers. It is also not permissible to join this government, because it is an agent government. Islam does not permit a Muslim to live in submission under infidels and aggressors. I think that Afghanistan is currently categorized as a 'Domain of War' [Dar Al-Harb]. All Afghans must remove the invading forces from their country. It is not possible for us to reach a dialogue now with those who supported the United States, because there will be no benefit in establishing contact and dialogue with them. They sided with the Russians in the past and received weapons and financial aid from them.<ref>[http://memri.org/bin/articles.cgi?Page=archives&Area=sd&ID=SP45503 Interview With Afghan Islamist Leader On Jihad Against U.S.] - MEMRI: Special Dispatch, No. 455, January 3, 2003</ref><br>}}