If the resistance is mounted by a slave, his master’s permission is required; otherwise, anyone who sets out merely to defend himself does what he can. If he knows that capture will mean death, but thinks imprisonment is likely, he may surrender. Whoever lives nearer to the town than the distance that allows the shortening of the prayer (qasr) is treated like its own inhabitants, and those who are at that distance must assist to the extent required whenever the townspeople cannot manage; those beyond them, according to one view, are likewise obliged—even if the nearer groups suffice. Should the enemy capture a Muslim, the sounder opinion is that marching out to free him becomes obligatory whenever rescue is thought possible.

Section

It is disliked to undertake an expedition without the permission of the imam or his deputy. When he dispatches a detachment, it is recommended that he appoint a commander over them and take from them a pledge to stand firm. He may seek help from unbelievers whose treachery is not feared, provided that, were the two unbelieving parties to unite, we would still be able to withstand them. He may also enlist a slave with his master’s consent and strong adolescents. The necessary equipment and weapons may be supplied from the public treasury or from his own funds. Hiring a Muslim to fight is invalid, whereas the imam may lawfully hire a dhimmi—according to one opinion, others may do so as well. It is disliked for a combatant to kill a close relative, and even more disliked to kill someone in a state of ihram.

I add: unless he hears him reviling Allah or His Messenger ﷺ—and Allah knows best.

It is forbidden to kill a child, an insane person, a woman, or one of indeterminate sex. It is permissible, however, to kill a monk, a hired worker, an old man, a blind man, or a cripple who neither fights nor advises, according to the sound view; such people may instead be enslaved, and their womenfolk and property taken as booty. It is lawful to besiege unbelievers in their towns and fortresses, to flood them with water, to bombard them with fire or catapults, and to attack them by night while they are heedless; this remains permissible even if a Muslim prisoner or merchant is among them, according to the prevailing opinion. If, once battle is joined, they shield themselves with women and children, it is permissible to shoot at them. Yet if they merely place them in front to keep us at bay and there is no necessity to shoot, the preferable course is to refrain. If they use Muslim captives as shields, we likewise refrain when no necessity presses; otherwise, according to the sounder view, shooting is allowed. And it is forbidden to leave the battle line unless