Al-Tabari’s Book of Jihad

The Book of Jihad” (Kitab al-Jihad) is part of the fragmentary “Book of the Disagreement among Muslim Jurists” (Kitab Ikhtilaf al Fuqaha’) by Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari the famous Muslim historian and Qur’anic commentator.

The Book of Jihad” (Kitab al-Jihad) is part of the fragmentary “Book of the Disagreement among Muslim Jurists” (Kitab Ikhtilaf al Fuqaha’) by Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari (ca. 839 – ca. 923 C.E.), the famous Muslim historian and Qur’anic commentator. It consists of several sections that deal with different issues related to jihad in classical Islam such as the rules of declaring and conducting war against enemy states and the rules of making peace with the enemy. The present annotated translation of the “Book of Jihad” is based on the original manuscript located in Istanbul, Turkey. This work will appeal to scholars of Islamic Studies as well as Religion, History and Political Science.

Table of Contents

Preface

Foreword by Yitzhak Nakash

Translator’s Introduction

Translation of al-?abari’s Book of Jihad

Al-Tabari’s Introduction: On the Interpretation of Qur’anic Verses Regarding Jihad

Sections

(1)         On the Prophetic Tradition (sira) of Fighting Disbelievers

(1.1)      On the Disagreement (ikhtilaf) Regarding the Obligation of Inviting Disbelievers to Embrace Islam at the Jurists’ Time

(2)         On the Consensus Among Muslim Jurists Regarding the Legitimacy of Shooting the Disbelievers’ Army with Any Type of Weapon if There Are No Muslim Captives, Children, or Women With Them

(2.1)      On the Disagreement Regarding Shooting Disbelievers if There Are Among Them Muslim Children, Captives, or Those Whom Muslims Are Not Permitted to Put to Death      Deliberately

(2.2)      On the Disagreement Regarding the Participation of Those Whom Muslims Should Not Kill Deliberately in Military Actions Against the Muslim Army

(3)         On the Consensus Among Muslim Jurists Regarding the Killing of Disbelievers’ Combatants Unless They Are Given a Pledge of Security, Embrace Islam, or Are Captured

(3.1)      On the Disagreement Regarding the Treatment of Non-Combatant Disbelievers’ Men

(4)         On the Consensus Among Muslim Jurists Regarding Duels with the Permission of the Imam

(4.1)      On the Disagreement on Having a Duel Without the Permission of the Imam

(5)         On the Consensus Among Muslim Jurists That the Messenger of God Made Peace with the Polytheists of Quraysh

(5.1)      On the Disagreement of the Historians Regarding the Duration of the Peace Agreement Between the Messenger of God and Quraysh

(6)          On the Consensus Among Muslim Jurists Regarding the Invalid Peace Agreement with Disbelievers

(6.1)       On the Disagreement Regarding What is Permissible in Making Peace with Disbelievers, the Duration of the Agreement, and the Situation in Which Making Peace is Permitted

(6.2)       On the Disagreement Regarding the Permitted Peace between Muslims and Disbelievers if the Latter Are More Powerful than the Former

(7)         On the Consensus Among Muslim Jurists That If Disbelievers Make Peace with Muslims Provided That They Give the Muslims One Hundred Heads from Their Slaves, This Agreement Would Be Valid

(7.1)      On the Disagreement Regarding the Case If the Disbelievers Give Muslims One Hundred Heads From Their Children

(8)         (No consensus)

(8.1)      On the Disagreement Regarding the Allocation of Shares In the Booty for the Youth, Servant, Slave, Woman, and the Protected Non-Muslims

(9)  On the Consensus Among Muslim Jurists Regarding Prohibited Escape from the Battlefield

(9.1)      On the Disagreement Regarding the One Who Deserves God’s Punishment Due to His Escape from the Battlefield and the State in Which Turning Away From the Enemy is Permitted

(10)       (No consensus)

(10.1)    On the Disagreement Regarding What Constitutes an Invalidation of the Covenant of Protected Non-Muslims

(11)       On the Consensus Among Muslim Jurists Regarding the Observance of the Whole Muslim Army of the Pledge of Security Given to Disbelievers

(11.1)    On the Disagreement Regarding Who is Permitted to Grant Disbelievers a Pledge of Security and the Saying or Action Which Constitutes a Pledge

(11.2)    On the Disagreement If the One Who Has Been Given a Pledge of Security by Muslims Is Not Identified Later

(11.3)    On the Disagreement Regarding the Injured Enemy Person Who Claims That He Comes Asking Muslims for a Pledge of Security

(12)       On the Consensus Among Muslim Jurists That Whoever Enters the Territory of Islam With a Pledge of Security Should Not Be Harmed On the Consensus Among Muslim Jurists That if the One Who Has Been Given a Pledge of Security Intends to Return to the Territory of War, the Imam Should Escort Him to His Secure Place

(12.1)    On the Disagreement Regarding the Place to Which the Imam May Escort Him and the Duration of Residence in the Territory of Islam

(13)       On the Consensus Among Muslim Jurists Regarding the Disbeliever Who Is Given a Pledge of Security for Him and Other Disbelievers Who Did Not Witness the Agreement On the Consensus Among Muslim Jurists Regarding the Disbeliever Who Is Given a Pledge of Security on a Certain Condition

(13.1)    On the Disagreement if the Condition for Giving the Pledge Is Not Fulfilled by the Disbeliever

(13.2)    On the Disagreement Regarding a Disbeliever Who Enters the Territory of Islam Without a Pledge of Security, Then He Embraces Islam

(13.3)    On the Disagreement if an Enemy Person Is Captured in the Grand Mosque in Mecca Without Having a Pledge of Security

(13.4)    On the Disagreement Regarding the Prisoners of War Who Claim That They Have Been Given a Pledge of Security by a Muslim

(14)       On the Consensus Among Muslim Jurists Regarding Some of the Rulings in Dealing with Slaves for Enemy People Who Embrace Islam

(14.1)    On the Disagreement Regarding the Slave of an Enemy Person Who Has Been Sent by His Master to the Territory of Islam and Then He Embraces Islam

(14.2)    On the Disagreement Regarding the Enemy Person Whose Slave Embraces Islam in the Territory of War, Then His Master Sells Him Before He [the Master] Embraces Islam

(14.3)    On the Disagreement Regarding the Enemy Person Who Enters the Territory of Islam with His Muslim Slave and Intends to Return to the Territory of War with Him

(15)       On the Consensus Among Muslim Jurists that if an Enemy Person              Enters the Territory of Islam with a Pledge of Security Then Embraces Islam and Muslims Conquer His Territory, All That He Brought with Him Would Remain His Property

(15.1)    On the Disagreement Regarding His Property in the Territory of War

(16)       On the Consensus Among Muslim Jurists Regarding What Is Permitted to the Enemy Person Who Has Been Given a Pledge of Security to Carry with Him to the Territory of War

(16.1)    On the Disagreement Regarding What is Impermissible for the Enemy Person to Carry to the Territory of War

(16.2)    On the Disagreement Regarding the Property of an Enemy Person in the Land of Islam If He Was Killed in the Territory of War

(17)       On the Consensus Among Muslim Jurists Regarding the Enemy Person Who Dies in the Territory of Islam and Leaves Property

(17.1)    On the Disagreement Regarding the Rights of the Enemy Person’s Heirs If He Dies in the Territory of Islam

(17.2)    On the Disagreement Regarding the Enemy Person Who Has Been Given a Pledge of Security If He Commits Criminal Acts in the Territory of Islam

(18)       On the Consensus Among Muslim Jurists That It Is Forbidden for a Muslim to Make an Unlawful Sale to an Enemy Person Given a Pledge of Security

(18.1)    On the Disagreement Regarding the Case of a Muslim Who Buys a Slave From an Enemy Person Given a Pledge of Security If the Latter Has Already Manumitted the Slave in the Territory of War

(18.2)    On the Disagreement Regarding the One Who Has Been Given a Pledge of Security or the Protected Non-Muslim If He Is a Spy for Disbelievers

 (19)      On the Consensus Among Muslim Jurists That Injuries Inflicted by Enemy People Against Each Other in the Land of the Enemy Are Void

(19.1)    On the Disagreement Regarding the Injuries They Inflict, Loans, and Usurpations [of others’ properties], and on Applying the ?add on Those Who Commit Such Crimes

(19.2)    On the Disagreement Regarding the Permissibility of Applying the ?udud in Enemy Territory

(20)       On the Consensus Among Muslim Jurists That If an Enemy Person Embraces Islam, He Should Not Be Excused for Ignoring What He Is Obligated to Do

(20.1)    On the Disagreement Regarding Other Cases [Related to This Question]

(21)       On the Consensus Among Muslim Jurists That Four-Fifths of the Booty Is Assigned to the Combatants

(21.1)    On the Disagreement Regarding Who Among the Combatants Deserves [the Booty]

(22)       On the Consensus Among Muslim Jurists Concerning the Detachment’s Share in the Army’s Booty and Vice Versa

(22.1)    On the Disagreement Regarding [the Share of the Booty]   for a Detachment and on How the Booty Is to Be Divided

(22.2)    On the Disagreement Regarding the Case of the One Who Joins the Muslim Army in the Territory of War Before the Booty Is Distributed

(22.3)    On the Disagreement Regarding the Share of the One Who Dies or Is Put to Death Before the Booty Is Collected

(23)       On the Consensus Among Muslim Jurists That If a Sick Person Witnesses Combat With the Army, He Should Be Given His Share from the Booty

(24)       On the Consensus Among Muslim Jurists That Whatever Booty the Army Acquires in Enemy Territory, Four-Fifths of It Should Be Given to Those Who Fight to Get It

(24.1)    On the Disagreement Regarding the Case if Muslim Combatants Enter Enemy Territory Without Getting the Imam’s Permission

(25)       On the Consensus Among Muslim Jurists That a Horseman Should Be Awarded More from the Booty Than a Foot Soldier

(25.1)    On the Disagreement Regarding the Exact Additional Amount That the Horseman Deserves Over the Foot Soldier

(26)       On the Consensus Among Muslim Jurists That Whoever Fights Riding One of the Pure Arabian Horses Should Be Considered a Horseman Deserving a Horseman’s Share

(26.1)    On the Disagreement Regarding the Share of Jades, Hackneys, or Others That Are Not Fit for Use in Combat

(27)       On the Consensus Among Muslim Jurists That If a Horseman Has With Him Other Horses, He Should Receive a Share for Himself and a Share for One of His Horses

(27.1)    On the Disagreement Regarding the Share of More Than One Horse

(28)       On the Consensus Among Muslim Jurists That Whoever Fights Riding His Horse, Then His Horse Dies (or Becomes Weak), Should Receive the Share of a Horseman

(28.1)    On the Disagreement Regarding the Case of the One Whose Horse Dies (or Becomes Weak) Before Collecting the Booty

(28.2)    On the Disagreement Regarding the Case of Sea Raiders Who Travel in Ships and Some of Them Have Horses While Others Are Foot Soldiers

(29)       On the Consensus Among Muslim Jurists That Whatever Shares an On-Land Horseman Receives Are the Same As a Horseman in a Sea Raid

(30)       On the Consensus Among Muslim Jurists That Raiders May Eat from the Food of the Enemy

(30.1)    On the Disagreement Regarding the Case of the Raider Who Carries the Food or Fodder to the Territory of Islam or Sells Some of It

(31)       On the Consensus Among Muslim Jurists That It Is Forbidden for Any of the Army Combatants to Take for Himself Something from the Enemy properties That They Own

              (31.1)    On the Disagreement Regarding Taking Properties Other Than Gold and Silver

(31.2)    On the Disagreement Regarding the Permission to Use What Is Acquired from Enemy Properties Whose Destruction Is Forbidden

(32)       On the Consensus Among Muslim Jurists That It Is Forbidden for Muslims if They Gain Enemy Property That They Destroy It by Burning or Destroy It With Any Type of Mischief

(32.1)    On the Disagreement Regarding the Permission to Destroy Enemy Property or Burn It Before Gaining It and Before Overcoming the Enemy

(32.2)    On the Disagreement Regarding the Permission to Ruin the Spoils from the Enemy’s Clothes and Properties

(33)       On the Consensus Among Muslim Jurists That Whoever from the Military’s Men Is Able to Carry an Item of Enemy Property May Leave It Behind and Not Take It to the Collected Booty

(33.1)    On the Disagreement Regarding the Trivial Thing That Has Only a Small Value

(33.2)    On the Disagreement Regarding the Spoil of a Slain Enemy Combatant

(33.3)    On the Disagreement Regarding the Extra Spoil That Is  Lawful for the One Who Is Given It by the Imam

(33.4)    On the Disagreement Regarding the Place in Which the Imam is Permitted to Divide the Booty

(33.5)    On the Disagreement Regarding Hiring Someone Who Takes Out the Booty to the Territory of Islam

(33.6)    On the Disagreement Regarding the Sunna of Dividing Booties

(34)       On the Consensus Among Muslim Jurists That the Prophet Used to Take for Himself, from the Whole Booty, a Chosen Property That He Dedicated to Himself

(34.1)    On the Disagreement Regarding the Status of This Chosen Property After His Time

(35)       On the Consensus Among Muslim Jurists That If Women and Children Are Captured and Taken to the Territory of Islam, They Should Be Considered Booty

(35.1)    On the Disagreement Regarding the Permissibility of Ransoming Them With Their Men

(35.2)    On the Disagreement Regarding the Polytheist Captives Who Embrace Islam After the Imam Has Overcome Them

(35.3)    On the Disagreement Regarding the Rule Concerning What the Polytheists Acquire from Muslim Properties

(35.4)    On the Disagreement Regarding the Rule Concerning a Man Who Buys a Concubine or a Slave from the Collected Booty

(35.5)    On the Disagreement Regarding the Rule Concerning the Polytheists’ Children

(35.6)    On the Disagreement Regarding What Prohibits the  Shedding of an Enemy’s Blood

(35.7)    On the Disagreement Regarding the Rule Concerning a Man from the Army Combatants Who Manumits One of the Captives

(35.8)    ON THE DISAGREEMENT REGARDING THE RULE CONCERNING A MAN FROM THE ARMY WHO PUTS A CAPTIVE TO DEATH

(36)       On the Consensus Among Muslim Jurists That the Separation Between a Child and His Mother Is Not Permitted

(36.1)    On the Disagreement Regarding the Permissibility of the Separation Between Him and Someone Other Than His Mother

(37)       On the Consensus Among Muslim Jurists That the Prophet Gave the Captives of Quray’a What They Asked for

(37.1)    On the Disagreement Regarding a Similar Such Judgment and Who Should Be Permitted to Follow His Judgment

(37.2)    On the Disagreement Regarding the Case of a Muslim Man Who Is Discovered to Be Leading the Enemy Into Knowledge of the Muslims’ Vulnerable Places

(37.3)    On the Disagreement Regarding What the Punishment Should Be for the One Who Steals from the Booty

(38)       On the Consensus Among Muslim Jurists That Whatever Is Lawful to Sell Is Also Lawful to Be Divided in the Booties

(38.1)    On the Disagreement Regarding the Permissibility of Dividing Things on Which There Is Disagreement on the Permissibility of Their Sale

(38.2)    On the Disagreement Regarding the Ruling Concerning the Properties of Monks

(38.3)    On the Disagreement Regarding What Is Acquired from Treasures and Items Found in Enemy Territory

(39)       On the Consensus Among Muslim Jurists That a Muslim Captive May Ransom Himself from the Enemy

(39.1)    On the Disagreement Regarding the Obligation to Pay What He Guarantees Them Under Duress

(40)       On the Consensus Among Muslim Jurists That the Muslims’ Imam May Ransom Muslim Captives from the Enemy

(40.1)    On the Disagreement Regarding Other Things With Which It Is Permitted to Ransom Them

(41)       On the Consensus Among Muslim Jurists That If a Muslim Captive Who Is in Enemy Hands Is Able to Free Himself from Them by Putting Them to Death, He May Do That to Free Himself from Them

(41.1)    On the Disagreement Regarding the Case in Which They Are the Ones Who Release His Shackles and Provide Him With Security

(41.2)    On the Disagreement Regarding the Rule Concerning a Muslim Man Who Buys a Captive from Among Muslim Captives

(41.3)    On the Disagreement Regarding the Permissibility for a Captive or a Musta’min to Have Intercourse With a Slave Woman of His or With His [Free] Women Captured In Enemy Territory

(41.4)    On the Disagreement Regarding the Permissibility for Muslim Captives to Fight Alongside the Enemy Against Another Enemy

(41.5)    On the Disagreement Regarding What Is Permitted for a Captive to Do

Notes

Glossary of Arabic Terms

Selected Bibliography

Index

 

Bibliographic Information

Title: Al-Tabari’s Book of Jihad

Author: Muhammad Tabari

Publisher: E. Mellen Press

 Language: English

Length: 405

ISBN: 9780773454583

Pub. Date: 2012/12/26