Shaykh Abdul-Qādir Bin Abdil-Azīz

At-Tibyān Publications

The Third Issue: Definition of Dār Al-Islām and Dār Al-Kufr

(The following is an excellent series translated by At-Tibyan Publications. It addresses the issue of Dar al-Islaam and Dar al-Kufr and their corollaries. These series is a good refutation against those who say, “Today, there is no such ruling of Darul Islaam and Darul Kufr… simply because we don’t have a Khilaafah or Khaleefah to begin with! Therefore the rulings of the Dar for each type is not applicable!”)

Imām Ibn Al-Qayyim, may Allāh be merciful to him, stated, “The majority have stated that Dār Al-Islām is that which the Muslims have arrived in and upon which the rulings of Islām have been implemented. And that upon which the rulings of Islām have not been implemented is not Dār Al-Islām, even if it is attached to it. As this At-Tā’if was very close to Makkah, yet it did not become Dār Al-Islām with the Conquest of Makkah.” [“Ahkām Ahl Ath-Thimmah”, by Ibn Al-Qayyim, Vol. 1/366, Pub. “Dār Al-’Ilm Lil-Malāyīn”, 1983]

Imām As-Sarkhasī Al-Hanafī said, “According to Abū Hanīfah, may Allāh, Ta’ālā, have mercy on him, their state only becomes Dār Al-Harb with three conditions; the first of them: That it is neighboring the land of the Turks, (and) there is no state of the Muslims between it and Dār Al-Harb. And the second: That no Muslim remains in it who is secure with his Īmān nor any Thimmī secure with his Amān. And the third: That they display the rulings of shirk within it. And from Abū Yūsuf and Muhammad, may Allāh, Ta’ālā, be merciful to them both, if they show the rulings of shirk within it, then their state has become a Dār of Harb, because the area is only attributed to us or to them through consideration of the strength and the control, so every place in which the ruling of shirk is apparent, then the strength in that place is for the mushrikīn so it is a Dār of Harb. And every place in which what is apparent is the ruling of Islām, then the strength is for the Muslims.” [“Al-Mabsūt” by As-Sarkhasī, Vol. 10/114, Pub. “Dār Al-Ma’rifah”]. So the two companions (of Abū Hanīfah) made the cause (of the ruling) to be the control and the rulings.

And the ’Ulamā’ did not consider the conditions which Abū Hanīfah, may Allāh be merciful to him, mentioned, to the point that his two companions; Al-Qādhī Abū Yūsuf and Muhammad Ibn Al-Hasan Ash-Shaybānī, contradicted him, as As-Sarkhasī mentioned. And it was also mentioned by ‘Alā’ Ad-Dīn Al-Kāsānī, and he accounted for their saying with his statement, “Verily, every state is attributed, either to Islām or to kufr. And the state is only attributed to Islām if its rulings are implemented in it, and it is attributed to kufr if its rulings are implemented in it. Just as you say that Jannah is the abode of peace, and the Fire is the abode of ruin, due to the presence of flawlessness in Jannah and ruin in the Fire. And because the dominance of Islām or kufr is through the dominance of their rulings.” [“Badā’i’ As-Sanā’i’”, by Al-Kāsānī, Vol. 9/4375, Pub. Zakariyyā ‘Alī Yūsuf]. So Al-Kāsānī made the cause of the ruling upon the Dār to be the type of rulings implemented in it.

And Ibn Qudāmah refuted the conditions of Abū Hanīfah, as he said, “And whenever the people of a country apostatize and their rulings are implemented in it, then they become a Dār of Harb concerning taking their wealth as Ghanīmah and taking their offspring which were born after the apostasy, as slaves. And it is upon the Imām to fight them, as Abū Bakr As-Siddīq, may Allāh be pleased with him, fought the people of apostasy with the Jamā’ah of the Sahābah. And because Allāh, Ta’ālā, ordered the fighting of the disbelievers in (many) places in His Book, and those ones are the most deserving of them to be fought. Because leaving them might tempt the likes of them to imitate them and apostatize with them, then the harm will become great through them. And if he fights them, then whoever is captured is killed, those of them who flee are pursued, their injured are finished off, and their wealth is taken as Ghanīmah, and this was the opinion of Ash-Shāfi’ī. And Abū Hanīfah said, ‘It does not become a Dār of Harb until three things are joined in it: That it neighbors Dār Al-Harb (and) there is nothing between them both from Dār Al-Islām. The second: That no Muslim or Thimmī remains secure in it. The third: That their rulings are implemented in it.’” Ibn Qudāmah said, “And with us, that it is the Dār of kuffār in which there are their rulings, so it is a Dār of Harb.” [“Al-Mughnī Wash-Sharh Al-Kabīr”, Vol. 10/95]. So Ibn Qudāmah made the cause for the ruling upon the Dār to be the type of rulings that are implemented in it.

And Imām As-Sarkhasī Al-Hanafī said in his Sharh of the book “As-Siyar Al-Kabīr”, “And the state becomes the Dār of the Muslims by the implementation of the rulings of Islām.” Vol. 5/2197

And for Al-Qādhī Abī Ya’lā Al-Hanbalī, “Every state in which the control is for the rulings of kufr instead of the rulings of Islām, then it is Dār Al-Kufr.” [“Al-Mu’tamad Fī Usūl Ad-Dīn”, by Abū Ya’lā pg. 276, Pub. “Dār Al-Mashriq” in Bayrūt, 1974. And ‘Abdul-Qāhir Al-Baghdādī has likewise in “Usūl Ad-Dīn” by him, pg. 270, Pub. “Dār Al-Kutub Al-’Ilmiyyah”, 2nd Edition].

And Shaykh Mansūr Al-Bahūtī said, “And Hijrah is obligatory upon whoever is unable to openly display his religion in Dār Al-Harb, and it is that in which the control is for the rulings of kufr.” [“Kash’shāf Al-Qinā’”, by him, Vol. 3/43].

Source: Mujahideen