The Heart of Islam

Introduction

Islamic rules of warfare are complex, appear to be contradictory and require careful analysis. The simplistic visions of paradise for suicide bombers preached by militant jihadist clerics defy over 1,400 years of Islamic history and wisdom (El Fadl, 112-137). Yet those like Osama Bin Laden, Ayman al-Zawahiri, or Abu Musab al-Zarqawi are not ignorant of Islamic law and use it selectively to pursue their agenda of mass murder and hatred. This thesis will explain the difference between Islamic Warfare principles of early times and today's modern warfare and its conduct.

These principles are contained within a body of Islamic legal rulings that has grown over the centuries. They reflect the preIslamic war practices of the Arab tribes, early and more recent periods of Muslim expansion, and confrontations with Western and Eastern powers, such as the Mongols and the Crusaders. The two most important sources for Islamic law known as shari'ah are first, the sacred text, the Quran (the Muslim book of divine revelation) and second, the prophetic tradition. This tradition consists of short anecdotal accounts of the Prophet Muhammad's actions or opinions preceded by a list of transmitters, termed the hadith. References to this tradition will be limited to seven collections of hadith, and these will be identified by the names of their authors: al-Bukhari, al-Tirmidhi, Muslim, Abu Dawud, al-Nisa'i, al-Nawawi, and Ibn Majah.

We will gain an understanding of the complexities of Islamic rulings on warfare and obtain some insight into the Muslim vocabulary of war that extends well beyond the words “martyr” (shahid), and “holy war” (jihad). They will learn that Islamic rules of war evolved from the 27 battles in which Prophet Muhammad played a direct or indirect role. The commentaries of the Prophet's political successors, the first caliph, Abu Bakr, and second caliph, 'Umar, on warfare are also mentioned, as are modern revisions of these rules of war.

The concept of suicide is missing from earlier religious commentaries on war. This is, no doubt, because suicide is not permissible in Islam. (Khadduri, 8-15) Although fighting with apparent suicidal intent at times has been a historical characteristic as chronicled in battle epics and popular literature, the recent suicide bombings are a product of contemporary politics. If a would-be suicide bomber of Hamas, Islamic Jihad, or al-Qaeda were properly introduced to the richness of Islamic thought on warfare, he or she would realize that suicide bombings are not part of this heritage. Al-Qaeda, Hamas, Hizbullah, and other groups purposefully suppress this fact because it does not fit their agenda. They fear Islamic legacies, turath, that do not conform to their radical ideology.

Islamic texts on warfare actually focus on the concepts of just war, typologies of conflicts, treatment of the vanquished, division of spoils, and the upholding of Islamic law, given the travel and exchange between Muslim and non-Muslim territories. One such classic of the 14th century, The Dispelling of Fears in the Management of Wars (Tafrij al-qurub fi tadbir al-hurub by 'Umar ibn Ibrahim alAwasi ...