WarBy BBC TeamIslam and warIslam sets down clear guidelines as to when war is ethically right, and clear guidelines as to how such a war should be conducted. In brief, war is permitted:
War should be conducted:
Muslims must only wage war according to the principles of Allah's justice. Those who believe fight in the way of Allah, and those who disbelieve fight in the way of the Shaitan. Islam allows war in self-defence (Qur'an 22:39), to defend Islam (rather than to spread it), to protect those who have been removed from their homes by force because they are Muslims (Qur'an 22:40), and to protect the innocent who are being oppressed (Qur'an 4:75). But some Muslim thinkers in the past, and some more radical Muslim thinkers today, take a different view. They say that other verses in the Qur'an, the so-called 'sword verses', have "abrogated" (revoked or anulled) the verses that permit warfare only in defence. They used these 'sword verses' to justify war against unbelievers as a tool of spreading Islam (Qur'an 9:5, 9:29). Others take this further and regard non-Muslims, and Muslims who don't conform rigorously to the Islamic code, as non-believers and thus as "enemies of God" against whom it is legitimate to use violence. But the idea of a total and unrestricted conflict is completely unIslamic. Fight in the cause of God against those who fight you, but do not transgress limits. God does not love transgressors. Islam is in favour of peace and against violence. Murdering the innocent leads to punishment in Hell: If anyone killed a person - unless it was for murder or for spreading mischief in the land - it would be as if he killed the whole people The aims of warThe Qur'an emphasises that war should be fought only for noble motives without seeking any earthly reward: Those who readily fight in the cause of God are those who forsake this world in favor of the Hereafter. Whoever fights in the cause of God, then gets killed, or attains victory, we will surely grant him a great recompense. The conduct of warIslam bans the killing of non-combatants (Qur'an 2:190, above), or of a combatant who has been captured. Muslims are forbidden from attacking wounded soldiers (unless the wounded person is still fighting). The Prophet's view of non-combatants is shown by a hadith in which Muhammad sees a woman killed in the battlefield and condemns the action. When an enemy is defeated he should be made prisoner rather than be killed: So when you meet in battle those who disbelieve, then smite the necks until when you have overcome them, then make (them) prisoners, and afterwards either set them free as a favor or let them ransom (themselves) until the war terminates. Abu Bakr (the First Caliph) gave these rules to an army he was sending to battle:
A noble example of ideal Muslim conduct of war is the capture of Jerusalem by Saladin in 1187. Although a number of holy Muslim places had been violated by Christians, Saladin prohibited acts of vengeance, and his army was so disciplined that there were no deaths or violence after the city surrendered. The residents were taken prisoner, but their ransom was set at a token amount. Related LinksArticles
Published on BBC Religion & Ethics: 2004-02-16 © British Broadcasting Corporation BBC Religion & Ethics
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