I say, and success is by Allah, that jihad against the unbelievers is a collective obligation (fard kifaya). It is specifically incumbent on the Amir al-Mu’minin, and on the whole community of Muslims if there is no amir as we find al-Fawakih ad-Dawani. It says in the Mukhtasar that jihad should be fought on the most pressing front every year, even if one fears brigands. It is a collective obligation (fard kifaya), like visiting the Ka’ba, even if it is done under an unjust ruler. That applies to every responsible, capable male.
As for the difference between jihad against the unbelievers and jihad against apostates, al-Maghili Muhammad al-Hajj,
“There are three sorts of unbelievers. The first are those who are unmistakably
born unbelievers like Jews, Christians, Magians and others who have inherited
outright unbelief from their fathers. The second are those who were Muslims and
then apostatized openly from the deen of Islam and accepted another
religion of disbelief. The third are those who claim to be Muslims but
whom we judge to be unbelievers because they have committed outward actions
which only an unbeliever could commit.”
There is no disagreement among scholars that the children and wives of born unbelievers can be taken captive and their property divided. There is disagreement about those who are unbelievers through apostasy. Ibn al-Qasim said about a group of Muslims in a fortress who had apostatized from the deen of Islam to disbelief, “Their children and wives should not be taken captive, but their property is booty for the Muslims.” Ibn Rushd said that this was the correct position because the apostates were originally free. He said that the majority of scholars and Imams of former times followed the position of Ibn al-Qasim regarding apostates.
As you know, anyone who does any action which make him automatically an unbeliever is asked to repent. If he repents, he is left alone. If he does not repent, he is killed with the sword for disbelief but his children are not enslaved. These children are compelled to accept Islam. Their umm walads whom they have made pregnant are part of the property of the Bayt al-Mal. I see no harm in that. Even so, these children are not enslaved. As for any property which is found, which was looted from Muslims, its proper owner can take it when he finds it without any question because they looted it from him claiming to be Muslims. What they have looted is not the same as what the born unbeliever has looted.
The Madkhal contains judgments regarding the apostates and states that the land of the apostates is different from the Land of war (Dar al-Harb) in four ways:
(1) No truce can be concluded with apostates permitting them to remain in their land.
(2) No peace can be concluded with them allowing them to remain apostates for a sum of money.
(3) Their children are not enslaved nor are their women taken captives.
(4) Those who capture their property do not own it.
It also differs from the land of Islam in four aspects:
- Apostates can be fought from the front and the rear, just like idol worshippers.
- They can be killed when captured and when they are resisting.
- Their property becomes booty for the Muslims.
- Marriage with them is not valid.
This is enough to achieve the answer to the point.
O Allah! Show us the true as true and make us follow it! Show us the false as false and make us avoid it!Intro and Summary
