—than that it be attributed to Allah’s own ruling.
- These, then, are the etiquettes of Islamic warfare and jihad in the path of Allah: God-consciousness, reliance upon Allah the Exalted, calling people to what is good, and inviting them to enter the religion of Allah. Once a person embraces Islam, he is neither colonized, nor enslaved, nor oppressed; he is simply a Muslim who enjoys the same rights and bears the same duties as all other Muslims.
If they do not accept Islam, they remain free to keep their religion, provided they pay the jizya, which serves to safeguard their lives, protect them from their enemies, and ensure their interests.
Should they refuse even this and persist in blocking the call, preventing it from reaching those who are ready to heed it, the Muslims are compelled to fight them so that Allah’s message and His religion can reach wherever Allah wills. Yet even when combat takes place, it is a fight of mercy: no one unconnected with the fighting is to be killed. An elderly man is not slain, nor a monk in his monastery, nor a child, nor a woman. Battle is directed only at the obstinate combatants who bar the way to Allah’s religion. Moreover, this is not a war of vengeance in which mutilation or disfigurement of the dead occurs, so do not mutilate.
If a treaty is concluded with the enemy, it must be honored, its terms and clauses upheld, and it should be contracted on the personal guarantee of the commander, not in the name of Allah or His Messenger. This prevents any breach from being imputed to Allah’s covenant or the covenant of His Messenger, both of which are far above treachery.
In the same way, if the enemy is to surrender under a ruling, that ruling must be expressly attributed to the commander’s own ijtihad, not to the ruling of Allah, lest an error be ascribed to Allah’s laws. The commander, acting on his independent judgment, cannot know with certainty whether he has hit upon the exact truth that represents Allah’s ruling and intent, or whether he has missed it.