It is prohibited to give yourself up to the enemy (the kuffaar)
13-04-2008
It is about time for the scholars, da’wah carriers and students of Sharee’ah to
say the truth publicly without any apologetic approach to their own brothers in
the mountains of Toro Bora, the fields of Afghanistan, the valleys of Chechnya,
and the cities of Iraaq. By Allaah! You are better, more honourable, more
dignified, more purified and more pious than us. By Allaah! You are practicing
the Deen of Allaah and following the Sunnah of Rasoul-ullaah (salla Allahu
alayhi wa salam) better than all of us. Verily the whole Ummah is needy for you,
rely on you and are dignified by you.
She (the Muslim Ummah) is inspired by your strength and motivated by your Jihaad and activities, which makes her move from time to time, and come out slowly by slowly from her stagnation. I pray to almighty Allaah (subhanahu wa ta’ala) to accept all of your deeds and fighting in the way of Allaah. I pray to almighty Allaah to forgive our sins of slaking and relaxation by sitting back instead to be with you. Verily! You represent the best of this Ummah.
You are the grand children of Abu Bakr, ‘Umar, ‘Uthmaan,
‘Alee, Khaaled, Hamzah (radiya Allaahu ‘anhum) and many other lions of Tawheed,
tigers of Jihaad and heroes whom everyone is terrified from. Whoever challenges
you will have their noses broken and faces submerged in mud. You will always (inshaa
Allaah) humiliate the enemies of Allaah and dignify the believers. Oh brothers
of Jihaad! It is about time for us to follow you, look up to you, trace your
foot steps, taste some of the fear you taste, sacrifice for Jihaad some of what
you have sacrificed, and not to ask for something in exchange for something, and
to practise as much as we can, inshaa-Allaah.
With full confession, the virtues of the Jihaad will always be for you and may
Allaah (subhanahu wa ta’ala) make us follow your foot steps, and the steps of
the messengers and their companions (may Allaah be pleased with them). We are
well aware of the fact that all the enemies of Allaah have gathered against you
and conspire to kill you in order to extinguish the flame of Jihaad, but Allaah
(subhanahu wa ta’ala) will fulfil his support even if Bush, Sharon and Fahd
dislike it.
Allaah (subhanahu wa ta’ala) says in the Qur’aan:
They (the non-Muslims) want to extinguish Allaah’s Light (the Sharee’ah,
Islaam, Tawheed etc.) with their mouths, but Allaah will not allow except that
his light should be perfected (prevail) even though the Kaafiroun (disbelievers)
hate (it). It is He Who has sent His Messenger with guidance and the deen of
truth (Islaam), to make it superior over all religions even though the
Mushrikoun (polytheists, pagans, idolaters, disbelievers etc.) hate (it). (EMQ
at-Tawbah, 9: 32-33)
Therefore we would like to remind you that you should never give yourself up or
surrender to the disbelievers, and neither should you ever allow them to arrest
you. Verily you know that Allaah has forbidden us to allow the kuffaar to be
above us (in charge or in authority). We should continue to carry da’wah and
engaging in Jihaad in order for Islaam to be dominant and for the Muslims to be
dignified. Verily to die with dignity is better than to live with humiliation.
To all Muslims, scholars, students of Sharee’ah, da’wah carriers and the
Mujaahideen in particular; please excuse us to advise you, remind you (and to
remind ourselves) that Islaam forbids us to give ourselves up to the
disbelievers or to be living under the authority of the disbelievers who are not
at war with us, not to mention to give ourselves up to people who are at war
with us. Therefore, whoever willingly likes to live under the governorship of
the disbelievers without one of the two following divine permits:
1. To carry da’wah to them while he is under their own covenant of security
2. To fight them during the absence of such covenant
It will become obligatory upon to make hijrah if you are capable of doing so.
Allaah (subhanahu wa ta’ala) says in the Qur’aan:
Allaah forbids the believers to allow the disbelievers to have a way above them
(to be in authority). (EMQ an-Nisaa’, 4:141)
And:
Verily! As for those whom the angels take (in death) while they are wronging
themselves (as they stayed among the disbelievers even though emigration was
obligatory for them), they (angels) say (to them): ‘In what (condition) were
you?’ They reply: ‘We were weak and oppressed on earth.’ They (angels) say: ‘Was
not the earth of Allaah spacious enough for you to emigrate therein?’ Such men
will find their abode in Hell.
What an evil destination! Except the weak ones among men, women and children who cannot devise a plan, nor are they able to direct their way.
For these there is hope that Allaah will forgive them,
and Allaah is ever oft Pardoning, Oft-Forgiving. He who emigrates (from his
home) in the Cause of Allaah, will find on earth many dwelling places and plenty
to live by. And whosoever leaves his home as an emigrant unto Allaah and His
Messenger, and death overtakes him, his reward is then surely incumbent upon
Allaah. And Allaah is ever oft Forgiving, Most Merciful.” (EMQ an-Nisaa’, 4:
97-100)
The hukm of giving yourself up to the kuffaar
It has been agreed upon by the people of ‘ilm (the scholars), who follow the
footsteps of the companions of Rasoul-ullaah (salla Allahu alayhi wa salam) that
it is not allowed for a Muslim to hand himself over to the disbelievers. This
has even been explained and classified in saheeh al-Bukhaarie (book 56, chapter
170, hadeeth number 3045) in the section titled: ‘Can a man give himself up to a
kaafir to become a prisoner?’ In this chapter, Bukhaarie quotes the hadeeth of
the 10 Ambassadors of the Messenger Muhammad (salla Allahu alayhi wa salam) who
had been intercepted during their expedition by the Lihyaan tribe. The 10
ambassadors were surrounded in all directions and forced to give themselves up
or be killed (if they refused). The 10 Ambassadors were under the leadership of
‘Aasim bin Thaabit al-Ansaarie, the son of Thaabit and the grandfather of ‘Aasim
bin ‘Umar al-Khattaab. Three of these Ambassadors agreed to be under the
captivity of the kuffaar (as they had permit) whereas ‘Aasim bin Thaabit
rejected and said: “By Allaah I will never give myself up to be under the
protection of the kuffaar…” and he fought till death.
Narrated by Abou Hurairah: Allaah’s apostle
sent a sariyyah (army unit) of ten men as spies under the leadership of `Aasim
bin Thabit al-Ansaarie, the grandfather of `Aasim bin `Umar al-Khattaab. They
proceeded till they reached Hadaah, a place between ‘Usfaan, and Makkah, and
their news reached a branch of the tribe of Hudhail called Banou Lihyaan.
About two-hundred men, who were all archers, hurried to
follow their tracks till they found the place where they had eaten dates they
had brought with them from Madeenah. They said, ’These are the dates of Yathrib
(i.e. Madeenah),’ and continued following their tracks When `Aasim and his
companions saw their pursuers, they went up a high place and the infidels
circled them. The infidels said to them, ‘Come down and surrender, and we
promise and guarantee you that we will not kill any one of you’, `Aasim bin
Thaabit, the leader of the sariyyah said, ‘By Allaah I will never give myself up
to be under the protection of the kuffaar. O Allaah! Convey our news to your
Prophet (salla Allahu alayhi wa salam).’
Then the infidels threw arrows at them till they martyred `Aasim along with six
other men, and three men came down accepting their promise and convention, and
they were Khubaib al-Ansaarie and Ibn Dathinah and another man. So when the
infidels captured them, they undid the strings of their bows and tied them. Then
the third (of the captives) said, ‘This is the first betrayal. By Allaah! I will
not go with you. No doubt these, namely the martyred, have set a good example to
us.’ So, they dragged him and tried to compel him to accompany them, but as he
refused, they killed him.
They took Khubaib and Ibn Dathina with them and sold them
(as slaves) in Makkah (and all that took place) after the battle of Badr.
Khubaib was bought by the sons of al-Haarith bin ‘Aamir bin Nawfal bin `Abdi
Manaf. It was Khubaib who had killed al-Haarith bin ‘Aamir on the day (of the
battle of) Badr. So Khubaib remained a prisoner with those people.
Narrated az-Zuhri: ‘Ubaidullaah bin ‘Iyaad said that the daughter of al-Haarith
had told him, ‘When those people gathered (to kill Khubaib) he borrowed a razor
from me to shave his pubes and I gave it to him. Then he took a son of mine
while I was unaware when he came upon him. I saw him placing my son on his thigh
and the razor was in his hand. I got scared so much that Khubaib noticed the
agitation on my face and said, ‘Are you afraid that I will kill him? No, I will
never do so.’ By Allaah, I never saw a prisoner better than Khubaib.
By Allaah, one day I saw him eating of a bunch of grapes in his hand while he was chained in irons, and there was no fruit at that time in Makkah.’ The daughter of al-Haarith used to say, ‘It was a boon Allaah bestowed upon Khubaib.’ When they took him out of the Sanctuary (of Makkah) to kill him outside its boundaries, Khubaib requested them to let him offer two rik`ah (prayer).
They allowed him and he offered two rik`ah and then said,
‘Hadn’t I been afraid that you would think that I was afraid (of being killed),
I would have prolonged the prayer. O Allaah, kill them all with no exception.’
(He then recited the poetic verse): ‘I being martyred as a Muslim, do not mind
how I am killed in Allaah’s cause, for my killing is for Allaah’s sake, and if
Allaah wishes, he will bless the amputated parts of a torn body.’ Then the son
of al-Haarith killed him. So it was Khubaib who set the tradition for any Muslim
sentenced to death in captivity, to offer a two rik`ah prayer (before being
killed). Allaah fulfilled the invocation of `Aasim bin Thaabit on that very day
on which he was martyred. The Prophet informed his companions of their news and
what had happened to them.
Later on when some infidels from Quraish were informed that `Aasim had been
killed, they sent some people to fetch a part of his body (i.e. his head) by
which he would be recognised. (That was because) `Aasim had killed one of their
chiefs on the day (of the battle) of Badr. So a swarm of wasps, resembling a
shady cloud, were sent (by Allaah) to hover over `Aasim and protect him from
their messenger and thus they could not cut off anything from his flesh.
Imaam al-Haafiz said (in regards to this hadeeth: ‘From this incident we learn
that it is a permit for a man in captivity to resist as much as possible and not
to let them (the kuffaar) take him even if he was to be killed, as a matter of
pride and dignity, and not to let the laws of the kuffaar apply to him; that is
if he wants to stand by the resolute will (not to give himself up).’
The Fuqaha (scholars) say that it is a matter of choice for a person (captured)
to accept the resolute will (fight till death) or the permit (to give in if
totally out numbered and faced with death) except Imaam Ahmad bin Hanbal who
said that it is forbidden, and Imaam ul-Aajuri who said that Ahmad bin Hanbal
said: ‘I do not like a man to give himself up, rather it is dearer to me to
fight his captivity even if he dies.’ Even if a person has been over taken by
disbelievers and is out numbered, there is an agreement (amongst scholars) that
there is more reward to take the resolute will (to fight till death) than to use
the divine permit.
And there is no doubt that it is better not to give
yourself up to the disbelievers as surrendering yourself will have great
consequences such as defeatism and humiliation, not to mention that it will
break the hearts of the believers, weaken the position of the Mujaahideen, enter
happiness into the hearts of the enemy, increase their moral and give them the
opportunity to show off and boast themselves above the believers. Moreover it
does not give the one who surrenders any security from what he feared in the
first place: death, which could have lead him to become Shaheed (a martyr) and
in the end results in more humiliation, faces fitnah on his deen, becomes weak
and suffers from sever torture.
Submitted by a Mujahid