Islam: A Guide for Jews and Christians - Electric Scotland

208 t CHAPTER EIGHT
rists. The obligation to wage jihad was, Shafii explained, a collective
one (fard kifaya) since all that was required was that some
Muslims—the obligation bound “adult, free men who had the
means and the health”—take up arms against the infidel. If no one
does, the punishment will fall on all, however.
The discussion of warfare is prolonged and detailed among the
jurists, who tried to make sense of what the Quran said about such
matters and what the hadith revealed about Muhammad’s own
counsel and practice, though obviously in quite different circumstances.
The degree of harm that might be inflicted on the enemy,
to his person, his property, or his liberty, was a major concern. The
caliph had large discretion in such matters, whether to pardon,
ransom, enslave, or kill prisoners of war. All agreed that adult
males might be slain during hostilities but not women and children,
provided they were not involved in the actual fighting. There
was, however, a sharp division of opinion—the Quran and Prophetic
example were unclear here—on whether or not it was legitimate
to execute prisoners of war. At issue was the reason there was
warfare in the first place: if it was, as many alleged, because of
unbelief, then there should be no exceptions to the death sentence.
If, however, it was all about war, then the capacity to fight was the
determinant, and so the elderly, infirm, monks, and perhaps many
others might be spared.
Finally, there is a nice discussion that finds a later juridical echo
in the Christians’ Requerimiento with regard to the infidels of the
New World who had to be “invited” to become Christians before
they could be attacked. According to some Muslim jurists, the infidels
of the Abode of War had also to be read a version of their
Miranda Rights before they were assailed. The Quran has God say,
“We never chastise them until We send forth a Messenger” (17:15),
a statement that, when taken with the pertinent hadith, was understood
to mean that hostilities with the unbelievers could not begin
until they had been formally summoned to Islam and had refused.
This was not a majority opinion, however. There were enough reports
of Muhammad’s own unannounced attacks to make most
jurists conclude that in this instance, “the practice of the Prophet
had abrogated his words.”