Then, with respect to a fixed-term treaty (ʿahd muʾaqqat), some jurists maintain that the ruler may revoke it even without cause—this is the view reported from Abū Ḥanīfah. They support themselves with the divine statement, “And if you fear treachery from any people, then throw their treaty back to them on equal terms” (Q 8:58). According to them, the pact mentioned in the verse was time-bound, yet the Prophet ﷺ annulled it (1).

Third—and this is the position adopted by the majority—is that both open-ended and fixed-term treaties are permissible. A fixed-term treaty is binding upon both parties and must be fulfilled so long as the enemy does not breach it, for the obligation to honour all binding covenants remains. An open-ended treaty, however, is treated as a revocable contract: the ruler may dissolve it if he wishes or keep it in force if he wishes, just as with other revocable agreements such as agency, partnership, and the like.

This is the other opinion within the Ḥanbalī school, and it is also the position of al-Shāfiʿī.