Laws of war and peace
Family: War, peace and the conduct of conflict · 63 entries
Entries on this theme
Event
Salim ibn Umayr's mission to kill Abu Afak
c. 625 CE · c. 3 AHIbn Ishaq relates that Abu Afak, of Banu Amr ibn Awf and then of Banu Ubayda, showed his hypocrisy openly when al-Harith ibn Suwayd ibn al-Samit was killed, and composed verses reviling a rider who had split the sons of Qayla and broken their unity; the Prophet said: who will deal with this wretch for me? and Salim ibn Umayr, one of the Weepers, went out and killed him; Umama al-Muzayriyya spoke two verses on it.Umayr ibn Adi al-Khatmi's mission to kill Asma' bint Marwan
c. 625 CE · c. 3 AHIbn Ishaq relates from Abdullah ibn al-Harith ibn al-Fudayl from his father that Asma' bint Marwan, of Banu Umayya ibn Zayd and married to Yazid ibn Zayd of Banu Khatma, showed hypocrisy after Abu Afak's killing and composed verses reviling Islam and its people and inciting against the Prophet, which Hassan ibn Thabit answered; when it reached the Prophet he said 'is there no one to deal with the daughter of Marwan for me?' Umayr ibn Adi al-Khatmi heard him, went to her house that night and killed her, and the Prophet told him 'you have helped God and His Messenger, Umayr', and that no two goats would butt heads over her. Ibn Ishaq says that day was the first on which Islam became strong among Banu Khatma.Abd al-Rahman ibn Awf's detachment to Dumat al-Jandal
c. 627 CE · c. 6 AHIbn Ishaq tells it from Ata' ibn Abi Rabah, from a man who asked Abdullah ibn Umar about letting the turban's end hang behind: Ibn Umar was one of ten Companions sitting with the Prophet in his mosque when a young Ansari asked which believers were best and wisest; the Prophet then addressed the Muhajirun with the five afflictions, then ordered Abd al-Rahman ibn Awf to prepare for a detachment, wound a black cotton turban on him with his own hands leaving four fingers hanging behind, handed him the banner and charged him: fight in God's way, do not steal from the spoils, do not break faith, do not mutilate, do not kill a child. Ibn Hisham adds: he set out for Dumat al-Jandal.The capture of Thumama ibn Uthal al-Hanafi and his acceptance of Islam
c. 628 CE · c. 6 AHIbn Ishaq relates from Abu Sa'id al-Maqburi from Abu Hurayra: a cavalry party of the Prophet's seized a man of Banu Hanifa without knowing who he was; the Prophet said 'this is Thumama ibn Uthal al-Hanafi, treat your captive well', and had his household's food and his milch-camel sent to him; he kept inviting him to Islam and Thumama answered: if you kill, you kill a man of blood, and if you want ransom, ask what you will; then he ordered him released, and Thumama went to al-Baqi', purified himself and pledged Islam; when he then ate little, the Prophet said the unbeliever eats with seven bowels and the believer with one. Ibn Hisham adds his umra and loud talbiya at Mecca, and his cutting off the grain of al-Yamama from Mecca until the Prophet wrote to him to let the caravans through.Zayd ibn Haritha's raid on Banu Fazara and the killing of Umm Qirfa
c. 628 CE · c. 6 AHZayd ibn Haritha raided Wadi al-Qura and met Banu Fazara; some of his men were hit, he was carried off wounded from among the dead, and Ward ibn Amr ibn Madash was killed, so Zayd swore no water would touch his head from major impurity until he raided Fazara. When he recovered the Prophet sent him with an army; he slaughtered them at Wadi al-Qura, Qays ibn al-Musahhar al-Ya'muri killed Mas'ada ibn Hakama ibn Malik ibn Hudhayfa ibn Badr, and Umm Qirfa, Fatima bint Rabi'a ibn Badr, an old woman married to Malik ibn Hudhayfa, was captured with a daughter and Abdullah ibn Mas'ada. Zayd ordered Qays to kill Umm Qirfa, 'and he killed her violently', and they brought her daughter and Ibn Mas'ada to the Prophet; the daughter fell to Salama ibn al-Akwa', the Prophet asked for her and gave her to his maternal uncle Hazn ibn Abi Wahb. The episode is contested and carries perspectives.Zayd ibn Haritha's raid on Judham and the Prophet's restitution
c. 628 CE · c. 6 AHWhen Dihya ibn Khalifa al-Kalbi returned from Caesar, al-Hunayd ibn Us and his son of the Dula' of Judham robbed him in the valley of Shinar; men of the Dubayb, Rifa'a ibn Zayd's clan who had converted, recovered his goods. When Dihya complained to the Prophet and asked for al-Hunayd's blood, the Prophet sent Zayd ibn Haritha with an army, which raided from al-Awlaj at al-Maqis, took property and people, killed al-Hunayd and his son and three others, and captured converts among them. A party of the Dubayb with Hassan ibn Milla rode to Zayd, who had Umm al-Kitab recited and proclaimed their quarter inviolable; they then rode to Rifa'a and three nights on to Medina, where the Prophet read his own letter to Rifa'a, asked three times what he should do about the dead, and sent Ali with his sword to Zayd, who restored everything down to a woman's cushion. Ibn Ishaq has it from men of Judham learned in it.The Prophet refuses to return runaway slaves at Hudaybiyya
c. March 628 CE · Dhu al-Qa'da 6 AHThe Treaty of Hudaybiyya
c. March 628 CE · Dhu al-Qa'da 6 AHIn Dhu al-Qa'da 6 AH (March 628 CE), the Prophet marched towards Mecca with 1,400 companions for Umrah; halted at al-Hudaybiyya by Quraysh, negotiations through Suhayl ibn Amr produced a historic ten-year peace treaty described in the Qur'an as a 'Manifest Victory'.Abu Sufyan's mission to Medina
629 CE · 8 AHFrightened by what had been done at al-Watir, Quraysh sent Abu Sufyan ibn Harb to Medina to stiffen the pact and extend its term. The Prophet gave him no answer; Abu Bakr and Umar declined to intercede; Ali advised him to grant protection himself, which he did and returned home empty-handed.Khuza'a's appeal to Medina
629 CE · 8 AHAfter al-Watir, Amr ibn Salim al-Khuza'i stood before the Prophet in the Medina mosque and recited his plea invoking the pact of the fathers — 'and that was what stirred the conquest of Mecca' — then Budayl ibn Warqa' arrived with Khuza'i men reporting Quraysh's backing of Bakr.The Bakr–Khuza'a clash at al-Watir
629 CE · 8 AHA night raid by Banu al-Dil of Banu Bakr — secretly armed and joined by men of Quraysh — on Khuza'a at their watering place al-Watir in lower Mecca. The breach of the Hudaybiyya truce it caused is the spark the tradition gives for the conquest of Mecca.Ghalib ibn Abdullah's raid on the land of Banu Murra and the killing of Mirdas ibn Nahik
c. 629 CE · c. 8 AHGhalib ibn Abdullah al-Kalbi al-Laythi's detachment to the land of Banu Murra; Mirdas ibn Nahik, an ally of theirs from al-Huraqa of Juhayna, was killed there by Usama ibn Zayd and a man of the Ansar after he had said 'I testify there is no god but God'. When they told the Prophet, he said to Usama: 'Who will answer for la ilaha illa Allah on your behalf?' and kept repeating it until Usama wished his Islam had begun that very day and that he had not killed him, and vowed never again to kill a man who said it.Ibn Abi Hadrad's raid on Batn Idam and the killing of Amir ibn al-Adbat
c. 629 CE · c. 8 AHA detachment the Prophet sent before the conquest of Mecca to Idam, with Abu Qatada and Muhallim ibn Jaththama among its men; Amir ibn al-Adbat al-Ashja'i passed them and gave the greeting of Islam, but Muhallim attacked and killed him over an old grudge and took his camel and goods; Ibn Abi Hadrad says Qur'an 4:94 was revealed about them. At Hunayn Uyayna ibn Hisn and al-Aqra' ibn Habis disputed the blood before the Prophet until blood-money was accepted, and the Prophet prayed three times: 'O God, do not forgive Muhallim'.The conversion of Abu Sufyan ibn Harb
January 630 CE · Ramadan 8 AHAt Marr al-Zahran on the eve of the Conquest, al-Abbas brought Abu Sufyan into the Muslim camp; after witnessing the ten thousand campfires and parading contingents, Abu Sufyan professed Islam, and the Prophet granted general sanctuary to whoever entered his house.The proscribed persons on the day of the Conquest
January 630 CE · Ramadan 8 AHPrior to entering Mecca, the Prophet ordered the army to fight only those who offered armed resistance, except for a small named group of individuals accused of apostasy combined with murder, severe physical harm, or treasonous incitement, ordered slain even if found under the Kaaba's curtains. Several were executed, while others were granted protection and returned to Islam.The Prophet's sermon at the Kaaba and general amnesty
January 630 CE · Ramadan 8 AHStanding at the threshold of the Kaaba, the Prophet addressed the assembled people of Mecca, abolishing pre-Islamic blood feuds, reciting Qur'an 49:13 on human equality, returning the hereditary custodianship of the key to Uthman ibn Talha, and declaring a comprehensive general amnesty with the renowned words: 'Go, for you are the free ones' (al-Tulaqa').Hatib ibn Abi Balta'a's letter to Quraysh
630 CE · 8 AHThe killing of Ibn al-Anwa' and the sermon on Mecca's sanctity
January 630 CE · Ramadan 8 AHAfter the general safety was proclaimed, Khirash ibn Umayya ambushed and killed Ibn al-Anwa' al-Hudhali to settle an old blood dispute; the Prophet strongly condemned the murder, paid the full wergild from his own funds, and the next day delivered a decisive sermon proclaiming the perpetual inviolability of Mecca's blood, trees, and game.Umm Hani gives protection to two men on the day of the conquest
c. January 630 CE · Ramadan 8 AHThe distribution of Hunayn spoils at al-Ji'rana
February 630 CE · Dhu al-Qa'da 8 AHAt al-Ji'rana the Prophet divided the vast spoils of Hunayn (twenty-four thousand camels, forty thousand sheep, and four thousand silver awqiya); he warned against the misappropriation of spoils, and bestowed major grants upon Meccan notables and Najdi tribal chieftains to reconcile their hearts to Islam. وعند البخاري جمع النبي الأنصار في قبة من أدم بعدما قالت فيهم نفسها حين أعطى قريشاً وتركهم «وسيوفنا تقطر من دمائهم»، فقال «أما ترضون أن يذهب الناس بالأموال وتذهبون بالنبي إلى رحالكم»، وقال «الأنصار شعار والناس دثار، إنكم ستلقون بعدي أثرة فاصبروا حتى تلقوني على الحوض» ،. وجاءه وفد هوازن يسأل رد الأموال أو السبي فخيرهم بينهما فاختاروا سبيهم فردّهم.The capture and release of Hatim al-Ta'i's daughter
c. 631 CE · c. 9 AHA cavalry force of the Prophet took Hatim's daughter among the captives of Tayy after her brother Adi fled to Syria, and she was held in the enclosure by the mosque door. For three days she addressed the Prophet, the father is dead and the envoy absent, be gracious to me, until Ali ibn Abi Talib signalled her to speak again; the Prophet released her, told her to wait for trustworthy kin, then clothed her, mounted her and provisioned her, and she joined her brother in Syria.The stoning of the Ghamidi woman
c. 631 CE · 9 AHIn 9 AH a woman of Ghamid came to the Prophet and confessed to fornication; he repeatedly turned her away hoping she would recant, then deferred her until she bore and weaned her child, whereupon she was stoned — an application of the prescribed penalty which the Prophet described as a repentance that would suffice seventy of Medina's people were it apportioned.The complaint of Ali's troops after Yemen and the Prophet's words: do not complain of Ali
March 632 CE · Dhu al-Hijja 10 AHWhen Ali came up from Yemen to meet the Prophet at Mecca for the Farewell Pilgrimage he hurried ahead, leaving a companion over his troops who clothed every man in a robe from the Yemeni cloth Ali carried; when Ali met the army and saw the robes he ordered them stripped before reaching the Prophet, and the troops voiced their grievance. The Prophet stood and said: people, do not complain of Ali, for by God he is too rough in God's cause to be complained of. Ibn Ishaq gives two reports, from Yazid ibn Talha ibn Rukana and from Abu Sa'id al-Khudri.Musaylima's letter to the Prophet and the reply
c. March 632 CE · c. Dhu al-Hijja 10 AHAt the end of 10 AH Musaylima ibn Habib wrote to the Prophet: from Musaylima the messenger of God to Muhammad the messenger of God; I have been made a partner with you in the matter, half the earth is ours and half Quraysh's, but Quraysh are a people who transgress. Two envoys brought it. The Prophet asked what they themselves said; they said, as he says; he said that were envoys not immune from death he would have struck off their heads, then wrote: from Muhammad the messenger of God to Musaylima the liar, peace on whoever follows guidance; the earth is God's, He gives it to whom He wills of His servants, and the outcome is for the God-fearing.
Work
Hatib's letter to Quraysh
The letter Hatib ibn Abi Balta'a sent to warn Quraysh that the Prophet had resolved to march on Mecca; hidden in a woman's braided hair, it was intercepted at al-Khaliqa and its contents known.The Prophet's letter to the kings of Himyar
A letter the Prophet sent to al-Harith ibn Abd Kulal, Nu'aym ibn Abd Kulal and al-Nu'man, qayl of Dhu Ru'ayn, Ma'afir and Hamdan, in answer to their letter announcing their Islam: it records meeting their envoy at Medina on his return from the land of the Romans, sets out the Muslims' duties of prayer, zakat, the fifth of booty with the Prophet's share and safi, the sadaqa rates on crops, camels, cattle and sheep, and rules that a Jew or Christian who converts is a believer while one who keeps his faith is not turned from it and owes a jizya of one full dinar per adult or its value in cloth. A second part addresses Zur'a Dhu Yazan, commending the envoys under Mu'adh ibn Jabal and stating that sadaqa is unlawful for Muhammad and his household.
Person
Abdullah ibn Khatal
A former Muslim sent by the Prophet to collect sadaqa; he killed his Muslim servant over a meal, apostatized with the collected camels, and kept two singing girls who performed lampoons against the Prophet; he was ordered killed on the Conquest and slain clinging to the Kaaba curtains.al-Huwayrith ibn Nuqaydh
A Qurashi in Mecca who persistently harassed the Prophet; when al-Abbas was escorting the Prophet's daughters Fatima and Umm Kulthum to Medina, al-Huwayrith prodded their camel so they fell; he was ordered killed on the Conquest and slain by Ali ibn Abi Talib.Miqyas ibn Subaba
A man of Banu Sahm who came to Medina feigning Islam to claim blood money for his brother killed accidentally; after accepting the wergild, he murdered his brother's killer and fled back to Mecca an apostate; proscribed on the day of the Conquest and slain by Numayla ibn Abdullah.Sara, mawla of Banu Abd al-Muttalib
A freedwoman attached to a family of Banu Abd al-Muttalib. In this edition she is named both as one of two possible carriers of Hatib's letter, and as a woman who had harmed the Prophet in Mecca — ordered killed at the conquest, then amnestied; years later a horse trampled her at al-Abtah in Umar's caliphate.Abdullah ibn Sa'd ibn Abi Sarh
A scribe of revelation who apostatized back to Quraysh; proscribed on the day of the Conquest, he was sheltered by his foster brother Uthman ibn Affan who pleaded for him until the Prophet granted him pardon; he returned to Islam and later governed Egypt under Umar and Uthman.al-Walid ibn Uqba ibn Abi Mu'ayt
A maternal half-brother of Uthman ibn Affan, he embraced Islam on the day of the conquest; Ibn Abd al-Barr says the commentators do not disagree that verse 6 of al-Hujurat was revealed about him when the Prophet sent him to collect alms from Banu al-Mustaliq, and Ibn Hajar points to the weakness of the chains of that story; Uthman made him governor of Kufa in 25 AH and removed him after he was flogged for drinking wine, as the two collections report; he withdrew from the civil strife and stayed at al-Raqqa until he died in Mu'awiya's caliphate.Fartana
One of the two singing slave-girls of Abdullah ibn Khatal in Mecca who performed lampoons against the Prophet; proscribed on the day of the Conquest, one was killed while the other fled, sought protection, and embraced Islam.Hatib ibn Abi Balta'a
A Companion settled in Mecca without clan or kin there, a halif with children and wealth among them. When the Prophet resolved on the march to Mecca, Hatib wrote to warn Quraysh; the letter was intercepted, and the tradition holds that the Prophet excused him citing the people of Badr — and that the opening of Sura al-Mumtahana came down concerning him.Khirash ibn Umayya al-Ka'bi
A warrior of Banu Ka'b of Khuza'a who, following the conquest of Mecca, ambushed and killed Ibn al-Anwa' al-Hudhali for pre-Islamic blood; the Prophet strongly condemned the act, paid the victim's wergild himself, and delivered the sermon of Mecca's perpetual inviolability.Nawfal ibn Mu'awiya al-Dili
Chief of Banu al-Dil of Banu Bakr in the truce years; he led the night attack on Khuza'a at al-Watir seeking blood-revenge and refused to halt at the sanctuary's bounds — the breach that precipitated the conquest of Mecca.
Concept
Reconciliation of hearts (al-mu'allafa qulubuhum)
A legal category of recipients of zakat and spoils established in Islamic law to reconcile hearts to the faith and cement communal stability; widely applied by the Prophet at al-Ji'rana through major grants of camels and silver to Meccan and Najdi tribal chiefs.Captives in a religious war and married women (Q. 4:24)
The commentary on the Qur'anic verse about married women and those whom the right hand possesses, a point of disagreement on whether capture ends a marriage and on the conditions for lawful captivity. Rashid Rida reports the majority reading as an exception, and the Hanafi and some Hanbali view on women captured with their husbands. With Muhammad Abduh he holds that captivity is lawful only in a religious war and not in a war for worldly gain.Guaranteed loan (ariya madmuna)
A legal principle of property liability established in prophetic tradition when the Prophet borrowed one hundred coats of mail from Safwan ibn Umayya before Hunayn, assuring him: 'Not by force, but a guaranteed loan to be returned.'Emancipation of enemy slaves upon fleeing to Muslim lines
A legal principle in Islamic law of war established during the siege of Ta'if when the Prophet proclaimed: 'Whichever slave descends from the fortress to us is a free man', freeing over a dozen men including Abu Bakra as 'freemen of God' and refusing to return them upon Ta'if's submission.Conquest by force (anwa)
Fath 'anwa in al-Baladhuri is taking a town or land by combat and siege: his example is Khaybar — he reports via Abd al-Razzaq from Ma'mar from al-Zuhri 'that the Prophet took Khaybar by force ('anwatan)', so its goods and Khaybar itself were divided among the fighters — in Ibn Abbas's report 'Khaybar was divided into one thousand five hundred and eighty shares' matching the number of combatants, the Prophet's safaya from it being an allotment from which he provisioned his wives, his uncle Abbas, Abu Bakr, Umar, al-Hasan, al-Husayn and Banu al-Muttalib; 'anwa contrasts with sulh — what was taken by treaty remained with its people on the treaty terms, like Fadak, while what was taken by force became booty divided among those present at the conquest.Prohibition of misappropriating spoils (ghulul)
A strict legal and ethical prohibition forbidding the misappropriation of spoils before equitable distribution; emphasized by the Prophet at al-Ji'rana holding up a tuft of camel hair and warning that ghulul brings disgrace and fire on the Day of Resurrection even down to a needle and thread.Precincts (harim)
Harim (sanctum, enclosure) in the lexicon is what is forbidden and not to be violated, the courtyard of a house or mosque, and the protected zone; in law it is what surrounds a thing and serves its rights and uses, which its owner alone may use, and for the Shafi'is what the full use of the thing needs. It differs from hima, the ruler's reserving of land from grazing for the Muslims' good. It is not lawful to revive the harim of a well, a river or a spring, and the majority hold that the harim of a settled land cannot be owned, while al-Shafi'i holds that it can. The extent of the harim varies: for a well the Hanafis fix a measure, the Malikis and Shafi'is leave it to need, and the Hanbalis separate an old well from a new one, giving fifty cubits for the old and twenty-five for the new. For a river, Abu Yusuf and Muhammad give a harim of half or the full width on each side; Abu Hanifa gives none on another's land without proof; the Shafi'is and Hanbalis allow what is needed to throw out the silt. The harim of a tree is five cubits for the Hanafis; the harim of a house is what its occupant uses; the harim of a village is its woodcutting and pasture; the harim of cultivated land is what its cultivation needs. Building is allowed in the harim of a house and forbidden in the harim of a river, and what is built there is pulled down. The harim takes the ruling of what it belongs to: each forbidden thing has a harim around it, and the harim of a duty is what the duty cannot be done without.Hudna (truce with non-Muslims)
Hudna, in the lexical sense, is calm; as a technical term it is an agreement to refrain from fighting with the enemy for a period. The Hanafis call it a settlement for money or without money when the imam sees benefit; the Hanbalis define it as a contract by the imam or his deputy to cease fighting non-Muslims for a known period matching the need. It differs from aman, the lifting of the licence to kill a belligerent and take his property for a time, and from the dhimma contract, which is a permanent safe-conduct while hudna is temporary. Its legitimacy rests on the Qur'an (Surat al-Tawba, and Surat al-Anfal 61), on the Prophet's truce with Quraysh at Hudaybiyya for ten years, and on consensus that it is permitted in general, and may be obligatory in necessity.Khayl (horses)
Khayl is the collective of horses; it is feminine with no singular of its own form — a stated singular being kha'il, plurals khuyul and akhyal — and was named for their prancing self-admiration; it covers Arab and non-Arab horses, male and female, as in Surah al-Nahl ayah 8, and is applied to cavalrymen as in Surah al-Isra ayah 64; the jurists' usage stays within the first linguistic sense. The Law urges acquiring horses for jihad and tethering them for the cause of God, by Surah al-Anfal ayah 60 and the hadith "goodness is tied to the forelocks of horses until the Day of Resurrection". On their zakat, the majority, including Abu Yusuf and Muhammad on whom the Hanafi fatwa rests, hold none is due unless they are for trade, by "a Muslim owes no sadaqa on his horse and his servant" and "I have exempted you from sadaqa on horses and slaves", and because they are not grazing livestock; Abu Hanifa obliges it on pastured horses when they are male and female, with two reports when all female, and on the apparent report none when all male though the Nawadir questions oblige it. On eating them, the majority — the Shafiis, Hanbalis and a Maliki view — permit it; the Hanafis on the preponderant view and a second Maliki view hold it lawful with light disapproval, also the view of al-Awza'i and Abu Ubayd, while a transmission from Abu Hanifa and a Maliki view give grave disapproval. On their booty share, the majority allot the horseman three shares, one for him and two for his horse, the view of Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz, al-Hasan, Ibn Sirin, al-Thawri, al-Layth ibn Sa'd, Ishaq and Abu Thawr, for Ibn Umar's report that at Khaybar he allotted the horseman three shares, two for the horse and one for him; Abu Hanifa gives the horse one share for Mujamma' ibn Haritha's report on the Khaybar division, weakened by Ibn Hajar, and because it is an animal with a share not exceeding one like the human; no more than one horse shares at the Hanafis except Abu Yusuf, the Malikis and the Shafiis since no one fights on more than one; the Hanbalis, and Abu Yusuf among the Hanafis, let two horses share and no more, per al-Awza'i's report that no man received for more than two horses even with ten, since a second is needed — constant riding of one weakens it and bars fighting on it — while a third is dispensable. The jurists do not dispute the permissibility of horse racing, with a prize or without. Other questions attach to horses in their places: a donkey stallion covering mares in zakat, the purity of their urine for a fighter on enemy soil under impurities, women riding under prohibition and permission, and barring the dhimmi from riding under jizya.The offices of Quraysh at Mecca
The offices on which Mecca's pre-Islamic government rested in al-Raheeq al-Makhtum's account: the five gathered by Qusayy (Dar al-Nadwa, the banner, the custody of the Kaaba, the watering and the feeding of pilgrims) later divided between Abd al-Dar and Abd Manaf, and the further offices distributed among the clans (divination arrows, votive property, counsel, blood-money, the war standard, the camp and cavalry, embassy), forming what the author calls a quasi-democratic statelet; before them, the three hajj prerogatives of Mudar.Nakth (breaking a covenant or contract)
Nakth is, in the lexicon, the undoing of what has been tied or agreed, and in the term, breaking covenants and contracts. It is forbidden by the law, and the lawgiver made it the cause of rejecting a treaty when the polytheists break it. The jurists differ on starting to fight before notice of the breach and on the breaches of truce-holders and protected people.The political condition of the Arabs before Islam
al-Raheeq al-Makhtum's picture of rule in Arabia at the rise of Islam: crowned but dependent kings in Yemen, al-Hira and al-Sham, and independent tribal chiefs in the interior with a king's authority; the tribe as a miniature government founded on asabiyya, its chief entitled to the quarter, the choice share, the roadside booty and the remainder; the frontier regions in decay between masters and slaves, the inland tribes fragmented with no king, and the religious government of the Hijaz respected but weak.Prohibition of killing women, children and non-combatant labourers in war
A foundational rule of Islamic laws of war proclaimed by the Prophet at the Battle of Hunayn upon seeing a slain woman: 'She was not one to fight', ordering Khalid ibn al-Walid never to kill children, women, or hired labourers.Sayf (the sword) and its rulings
The sayf is a known kind of weapon, plural asyaf, suyuf or asif; it is used figuratively for a sharp tongue. The rulings on the sword concern cleaning it of impurity, a preacher leaning on it at the Friday sermon, carrying it in pilgrimage garb, decorating it with silver or gold, and carrying out retaliation with it. The Hanafis hold that retaliation may be carried out only by the sword, while the Malikis, Shafi'is and a Hanbali report hold that the victim's kin may do to the offender as he did.Shijaj (wounds to the face and head, and their penalties)
Shijaj is the plural of shajja, a wound to the face or the head only. Most jurists count ten or eleven kinds: the scratch, the weeping, the bleeding, the incision, the flesh-tearing, the simhaq, the mudiha (which exposes the bone), the hashima (which breaks it), the munaqqila (which displaces the pieces), the ama (which reaches the lining of the brain) and the damigha (which pierces it). Below the mudiha there is no fixed arsh, so a just assessment is owed; from the mudiha upward a fixed arsh applies, five camels for the mudiha. Retaliation for a deliberate wound is due for the mudiha by agreement, and not for those above it. Most jurists hold that retaliation or compensation for a wound is ordered only after it heals. The rules differ by school when a wound heals without a mark.Siege (hisar)
Siege (hisar) is hemming in an enemy in a town, castle or fortress, and cutting off entry and exit until he surrenders. The ruler or his deputy may lawfully besiege unbelievers in their lands and fortresses by consensus, even when women and children are among them, and the Prophet besieged the people of Ta'if. When the ruler besieges a fortress he may take it in one of five ways: they accept Islam and their blood, property and young children are secured; they offer money for a truce or a poll-tax; he conquers it; he sees fit to withdraw; or they submit to a judge's ruling. Islam accepted during a siege before surrender secures life and property; after conquest it secures life only. On besieging rebels, the Shafi'is forbid denying them food and drink, while the Malikis allow denying supplies and water unless women and children are among them. When the besieged offer money to lift the siege, the ruler does not accept unless the Muslims face destruction.Ta'addi (transgression against persons, property, honour and the state, and the transfer of a cause)
Ta'addi is injustice and overstepping of right. It has two senses: attack on another's right, and the transfer of a ruling to another place. Every kind is forbidden and carries sin and liability, and may bring a penalty or discipline. Usurpation, destruction and theft oblige return or the value; a depositee is liable only for negligence or wrong; a pledge and a loan are disputed; an agent is trusted. Attack on a person requires retaliation or blood-money; attack on honour is forbidden and may be resisted. The transfer of a cause (ta'addi al-'illa) is its extension to branches, and fire spreading beyond one's land is liable.Ta'dhib (torment or punishment beyond the lawful: the prisoner, the thief, animals)
Ta'dhib is inflicting punishment or harm. The basis is prohibition, since it punishes without right. It is lawful in discipline, the fixed penalties, retaliation and discipline by the ruler; the Hanafis allow cauterising for treatment when it is needed; and the jurists allow burning enemies in war when they cannot be taken otherwise, but not after capture. A captive may be made to reveal hidden property, and is not tormented at the start; an accused man of known goodness is not punished, one of unknown standing is detained, and one known for wrongdoing may be detained and beaten according to some. Torment of animals by starving them or using a living creature as a target is forbidden; branding and training are lawful to the extent of need.Tashhir (publicly exposing or disgracing someone)
Tashhir is publicising or spreading something, and its ruling depends on who does it and on the person exposed. The rule is that disgracing one Muslim before others by naming faults is forbidden; it is forbidden when the person is innocent of what is said of him, or when he has the fault but does not flaunt it and his exposure does no harm to others, since that is backbiting. A man may not expose himself. It is lawful to expose one who openly flaunts a sin; it is recommended or required to warn against those whose trustworthiness is impugned, such as narrators, witnesses and innovators whom people follow, with a sincere intention. The ruler may publicise a punishment as ta'zir or with the hadd, for example by carrying out hadd punishments in public and making a false witness known.Tasliib (crucifixion as a punishment, and the cross as an object)
Tasliib is the known form of execution by crucifixion, and the cross is the wooden post or its image. Crucifixion as such is forbidden for its torture and mutilation; the exception is highway robbers, by the text of the Qur'an, who are killed and then crucified according to al-Shafii and Ahmad, or crucified alive and then killed according to Abu Hanifa, Malik and al-Awza'i; the period is three days for Abu Hanifa and al-Shafii. For a Muslim, making, owning, selling or working on a cross is forbidden; a cross on a garment is disliked; a cross on the qibla wall of a worshipper is disliked; theft of a cross is not punished by amputation for the Hanafis and Hanbalis; destroying a Muslim's cross carries no liability; and the protected people may not display their crosses.Wathani (the idolater: his status, rights and obligations)
A wathan is an idol with a body of wood, stone or other material; the wathani is the worshipper of idols and one who follows that religion. The idolater differs from the associator (mushrik), the unbeliever (kafir), the apostate, the Zoroastrian and the atheist; idolatry is one kind of unbelief. Scholars agree that the idolater is an unbeliever; Muslims must call him to Islam, and war is not declared before the call. Idolaters acknowledge the Creator but deny God's oneness; one who dies in idolatry is held to abide in the Fire with the unbelievers. In war, the fighting men may be killed after the call, while women, children, the insane and the hermaphrodite may not, by agreement; most jurists exempt the old. The women and children of a conquered people may be enslaved. Most jurists accept the jizya from a non-Arab idolater but not from an Arab. On conversion, the profession of the two testimonies suffices in the four schools. Marriages among idolaters are valid for most jurists, while a Muslim may not marry an idolatress. The flesh of an idolater's slaughter is not lawful, nor his game, except fish and locusts.
Group
Banu Bakr ibn Abd Manat
A tribe of Kinana that entered Quraysh's pact at Hudaybiyya; the night attack by its Banu al-Dil clan on Khuza'a at al-Watir — secretly armed by Quraysh — broke the truce and set off the conquest of Mecca.Khuza'a
The tribe of the Meccan lowland, long allied to the Prophet's house by marriage and oath; it entered his pact at Hudaybiyya, was attacked at al-Watir by Banu Bakr with Quraysh's secret aid, and its appeal to Medina set off the conquest of Mecca.
Screening Room
What is missing? Tell us · A theme is open when it has a reviewed guide, 10 questions, 25 entries across 5 classes, and voices from several traditions and regions.