“Do not be like the woman who unravels her yarn after it has been firmly spun, reducing it to loose strands, taking your oaths as a means of deceit among yourselves.” [al-Nahl: 92] [al-Nahl: 91, 92].

The Arabic word translated as “oaths” is the plural of “oath,” and every contract is an oath. It is said that a contract came to be called an oath because people used to conclude it by clasping right hands. This is indicated by His words:

“Except those polytheists with whom you have made a treaty and who thereafter have failed you in nothing and supported no one against you. Fulfil your treaty with them until the end of its term. Surely Allah loves the God-fearing.

“When the sacred months have elapsed, kill the polytheists wherever you find them, seize them, besiege them, and lie in wait for them at every place of ambush. But if they repent, establish prayer, and give zakat, then let them go their way. Surely Allah is All-Forgiving, Most Merciful.

“And if any one of the polytheists seeks your protection, grant him protection so that he may hear the word of Allah; then convey him to a place of safety. That is because they are a people who do not know.

“How can the polytheists have a covenant with Allah and His Messenger, except for those with whom you made a treaty at the Sacred Mosque? So long as they remain true to you, remain true to them. Surely Allah loves the God-fearing.

“How can this be, when, if they prevail over you, they will respect neither kinship nor covenant in your regard?” [al-Tawba: 4–8] [al-Tawba: 4–8].

Here, ill means kinship, while dhimma means covenant. These are the same two things mentioned in His words, “in whose name you appeal to one another, and the ties of kinship” [al-Nisā': 1], and in His words, “They observe toward no believer any kinship or covenant. It is they who are the transgressors.” [al-Tawba: 10] [al-Tawba]. Allah thus condemned them for severing the ties of kinship and breaking the covenant. The passage continues to His words: “If they break their oaths after making their covenant.” [al-Tawba: 12] [al-Tawba: 12].

This verse was revealed concerning the disbelievers of Mecca when the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—made peace with them in the year of al-Hudaybiyya, after which they broke the covenant by assisting Banū Bakr against Khuzā'a.

As for His words, Glorified is He, “A declaration of disavowal from Allah and His Messenger to those polytheists with whom you had made a treaty” [al-Tawba: 1] [al-Tawba], those were revocable covenants, not binding ones. They were open-ended, and he had the choice either to uphold or revoke them, as with an agency arrangement and similar matters. As for any jurist, whether one of our companions or otherwise, who says that a truce is valid only when fixed for a specific term, his position, besides being