jihad - Khadijah Mosque

Jihadbe argued that the jihadis might have gone farbeyond the pale in robbing these banks.What is AI-FaiIn fiqh, Al-Fai means booty taken from theenemy through means other than combat, orwithout formal war. Booty acquired throughcombat or formal war is called Ghanimah, orwar booty. Examples of Al-Fai are assets that ahost country confiscates from its enemies, orships with economic goods belonging to acountry at war seized in international waters.Al-Fai originally referred to booty taken fromthe enemy. It was however usually taken fromnon-Muslims considered harbi (enemy at war).It was first mentioned in the Holy Quran, inChapter 59, verses 6-9. Al-Fai is considered aspart of the state’s treasury and is to be used forpublic interest.However, non-Muslims living in a Muslimcountry as citizens cannot be considered asharbi. In traditional fiqh, they are usuallyreferred to as zimmis or people who are underthe protection of the Muslim state. As citizens,the safety of their lives and properties areguaranteed by the state.The same rule applies to non-Muslims whoenter a Muslim country with proper permitssuch as visas and work permits. Even a citizenof a hostile country who enters a Muslim statewith proper documents and permits is not to beharmed. Such people are usually termedmusta’man or mu’ahid. It is obligatory on allMuslims in that country to honour the securityand protection guaranteed to the non-Muslims,whether they are citizens or non-citizens, asstated in the Quran, 9:6.Rights of ZimmisIslam provides the zimmis with the freedomto practise their own laws and religious beliefsonce they have pledged allegiance to thecountry and have agreed to serve in the militaryin defence of the country or, alternatively, pay apoll tax. This freedom extends to all their affairssuch as civil, penal and other matters. They areallowed to solemnise marriages according totheir own customs and religion. They are alsoIf Islam prohibitsextra-judicialtreatment of theharbis, how can itallow such treatmenton the zimmis?Committing robberyagainst a zimmibecause the victim is anon-Muslim clearlycontradicts theteachings of ProphetMuhammad pbuh whohas said: “He whohurts a zimmi hurtsme, and he whohurts meannoys Allah.”permitted to do what Muslims are not allowedto, such as the consumption and sale of alcoholand pork. A small minority of Islamic scholarsalso view that contracts entailing riba or interestare permissible if they involve non-Muslimsonly. In the case of formal war between a Muslimand non-Muslim country, Islam has rules indealing with citizens of the hostile non-Muslimcountry (harbi). Messengers and officials whoenter the Muslim country officially areprotected. So are the businessmen who havelegal business with citizens of the Muslimcountry. As long as any citizen of the hostilecountry has been granted protection by any68 Masjid Khadijah