and capture them, besiege them, and lie in wait for them at every place of ambush. But if they repent, establish prayer, and give zakah, then let them go their way. Surely Allah is All-Forgiving, Most Merciful.”

“If any of the polytheists seeks your protection, grant him protection so that he may hear the words of Allah, then escort him to a place of safety. That is because they are people who do not know.”

“How can the polytheists have a treaty with Allah and His Messenger, except 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 righteous.”

“How could they, when, if they gain the upper hand over you, they respect neither ties of kinship nor covenant with you?”

Here, ill means kinship, and dhimmah means a covenant. These are the two bonds mentioned in His words:

“In whose name you make demands of one another, and be mindful of the ties of kinship.”

The passage continues to His words:

“They respect neither ties of kinship nor covenant with a believer.”

Thus Allah condemned them for severing ties of kinship and breaking covenants. Then come His words:

“But if they break their oaths after making their covenant.”

This was revealed concerning the disbelievers of Mecca, with whom the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, concluded a peace treaty in the year of al-Hudaybiyah. They subsequently broke the treaty by assisting Banū Bakr against Khuzāʿah.

As for His words—glorified be He:

“A declaration of release from treaty obligations, from Allah and His Messenger, to those polytheists with whom you made treaties.”

Those treaties were revocable, not binding, since they were open-ended. He had the choice of maintaining or terminating them, as with an agency agreement and similar arrangements.

As for those jurists, whether of our school or others, who say that a truce is valid only if it has a fixed term, their position—besides being contrary to Ahmad’s principles—is refuted by the Quran and by the practice of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, with most of those with whom he concluded treaties, for he did not