Refutation of Jihadist Narrative of Darul Islam and Darul Harb
New Age Islam Staff Writer
7 December 2020
One of the narratives mistakenly utilized by the Jihadists
is the division of the world into Darul Harb and Darul Islam. According to
them, Darul Islam is a land controlled by Muslims in a bid to implement Islamic
laws and principles, whereas Darul Harb is a land not governed by an Islamic
state. For the purpose of gaining support from mainstream Muslims, Jihadist
groups claim that their understanding of this binary division of the world is
based on the four schools of thought, their jurists and authorities in Islamic
law. This claim can be easily refuted by the one who reads and understands the
corpus of the four widely known jurists of Islam.
Abu Muhammad al-Maqdisi, a Wahhabi-Jihadist cleric, “the
most influential Jihadi Theorist” as per the Combating Terrorism Center of the
United States Military Academy (USMA), and best known as the spiritual mentor
of the founding father of ISIS Abu Musab al-Zarqawi (the initial leader of
al-Qaeda in Iraq) writes,
And we hold the view of the jurists regarding the abode
[Dar] wherein if the laws of kufr were uppermost and the dominance therein was
for the kuffar [‘unbelievers’] and their legislations then it is dar al-kufr.
This term is applied to the abode if the rulings of Kufr are uppermost, even if
the majority of its people are Muslims, just as the term dar al-Islam is
applied upon the abode in which the laws of Islam are uppermost, even if the
majority of its inhabitants are kuffar as long as they are submitting to the
rule of Islam [Dhimmah]” [Al-Maqdisi, This is Our Aqeedah pp.25)
Al-Maqdisi believes that no state currently meets the
criteria for Darul Islam. He asserts that the implementation of Sharia as state
law is a precondition for Darul Islam (see ‘This is our Aqeedah’). This way his
assertion inspires the jihadist supporters worldwide to declare war on the
leaders of the Muslim majority countries without forgiving the civilians. As a
result the entire world has become a site for potential conflict.
The paradigm of Darul Islam and Darul Harb developed
throughout Islamic history under political and jurisprudential definitions,
though the binary division of the world as such is not mentioned directly in
the Quran and Ahadith. These terms were devised by the early Muslim jurists,
almost a century after the Prophet (peace be upon him) to suggest legal
rulings, facing the challenges of the time.
However, as a result of the political fragmentation of the
Muslim world, historical changes and establishment of the new world order, the
concept of Darul Harb has been completely affected and has almost no
significance today among mainstream Muslims. Many contemporary Muslim jurists
across the world regard the democratic countries as part of the Darul Islam or
Darul Amn, arguing that Muslims therein can freely practice and proselytize
their faith and creeds. They quote all of the four schools of Islamic
jurisprudence, Hanafi, Shafei, Maliki and Hanbali to support their argument.
The below are some quotations taken from classical and traditional corpus of
Islamic jurisprudence, which reject the Jihadist definition of the Darul Islam
and Darul Harb, and suggest that the present states of the world cannot be
declared Darul Harb.
In accordance with the traditional and classical
scholarship, the countries that provide with the right to practice ritual
prayers [salah/prayer], the annual fast of Ramazan [Roza/Siyam], the
building of mosques, the call to prayer [azan], and the right to exhibit the
wearing of Islamic dress and the performance of Muslim marriage cannot be
declared ‘Darul Harb’. These countries, according to some contemporary jurists,
are Darul Amn [the abode of peace], and to some, are Darul Islam [the abode
where Islam is freely practiced].
For example, Abul Hasan al-Mawardi, the Iraqi judge and
scholar of Muslim polity and law says,
The public acts of worship of Islam such as group prayers in
mosques and calls for prayers are the criteria by which the Prophet, peace be
upon him, differentiated between the Darul Islam [the Land of belief] and the
Darul Harb [the Land of Disbelief].
Imam Nawawi, a popular classical Syrian scholar, supports
al-Mawardi’s definition of Darul Islam and writes in his great legal work
‘Rawda al-Talibin’,
“If a Muslim is able to declare his Islam
openly and living therein (non-Muslim majority countries), it is better for him
to do so, because this fulfils the criteria for a country to be Darul Islam”
In his book on
Safi’ii jurisprudence, ‘Al-Hawi al-Kabir, Imam Mawardi further says,
“Where a Muslim is capable of
protecting and isolating himself, even if he is unable to proselytize and
engage in combat, in such case it would be compulsory for him to remain in this
place and not emigrate. For such a place, by the fact that he is able to
isolate himself, has fulfilled the criteria of Darul Islam”
The in-depth understanding of the corpus of Hanafis, Shafiis, Malikis and Hanbalis
suggests that open practice of Islamic acts such as ritual prayers, annual
fast, call to prayers [azan] etc. are sufficient for the land to be considered
Darul Islam even if it is a non-Muslim majority country. For example, the Shafi
position is based on a sunna (as narrated in a hadith) that fighting or Jihad
should not take place in a region where the call to prayer (azan) is heard, as
the free practice of Islam indicates that the land in general was not hostile
to Muslims and Islam. Imam Bukhari and Imam Muslim report a hadith in this
regard,
“Whenever Allah’s Apostle attacked some people, he would
never attack them till it was dawn. If he heard the Azan [the call to prayer],
he would delay the fight, and if he did not hear the Azan, he would attack them
immediately after dawn” (Sahih Bukhari)
Imam Nawawi interprets this hadith,
This hadith is evidence that verily the call to prayer
[azan] forbids invading a people of that area and this is an evidence of their
Islam.
To sum up the Jihadists have no proof to support their claim that their understanding of Darul Islam and Darul Harb is based on four schools of thought.