In the name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Compassionate.
Section: Fighting the unbelievers—does the obligation to fight arise because they fight us, or is mere disbelief sufficient?
On this question the scholars hold two well-known positions:
- The view of the majority—Malik, Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Abu Hanifah, and many others.
- The view attributed to al-Shafiʿi, and occasionally advanced by some of Ahmad’s followers.
Those who adopt the second position state that the evidence entails killing every unbeliever—man or woman, able-bodied or incapable of fighting, whether at peace with us or at war—provided the person has reached puberty, for minors are not executed on this ground. In principle, the evidence would include women as well, yet they are not put to death because, once a Muslim force gains control over them, they become captives; they are therefore spared in the same way that houses are not demolished after coming under Muslim ownership.
According to this view, monks and non-monks alike are to be killed simply for their unbelief. Allah has made the command to kill conditional upon their being idolaters, saying, “Then slay the idolaters” (9:5). Thus every idolater must be killed, just as his meat is unlawful and marriage to him is unlawful solely because of his shirk. Likewise, anyone who abandons his religion and exchanges it must be killed—even if he is not among the combatants, such as monks. On this point there is no dispute; disagreement exists only concerning the female apostate.
The opinion of the majority, however, is the one indicated by the Quran, the Sunnah, and sound reasoning. Allah, the Exalted, says, “Fight in the way of Allah those who fight you…” (2:191-194) and concludes with, “And know that Allah is with the God-fearing.” His words “those who fight you” make the ruling conditional upon their fighting us, showing that this is the reason for the command to fight.
[Photograph of the first page of the printed edition]