According to Islam there is ethics in warefare of not killing women and children or elderly!
It isn't a matter of one on one, it is a matter of-- if they had that swaggering show of courage as they so love to boast, they wouldn't kill civilians only to gasconade they are better equipped and better trained.. how easy it is to push a button and do away with folks? - ever heard of Guerrilla warfare? or I suppose it should all come down to your private definition of honor and success in battle and the end result of both...
Respected scholars, as-salamu `alaykum.
On Wednesday morning, March 3, 2008, a group of prominent rabbis issued an unprecedented fatwa allowing the Israeli occupation army to bombard the Palestinian civil gatherings. The fatwa also called upon this army to annihilate and burn the Palestinian civilians.
Is this reasonable? And what is the Islamic attitude toward killing civilians?
Jazakum Allahu khayran.
Wa`alaykum as-salam wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh.
In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger.
Dear sister in Islam, thank you for the confidence you place in us, and we implore Almighty Allah to help us serve His cause and render our work for His Sake.
Islam stands against killing innocents. Even in war times, Islam does not allow killing civilians who have nothing to do with war, women, children, and worshippers in their places of worship. Also, it does not allow demolishing places of worship or destroying trees.
This clarifies that war in Islam is not meant to destroy and ruin. War in Islam should abide by morality and the ethics and regulations abided by Islam. Given this, the difference between Zionists' destructive wars and our moral wars becomes clear.
In his response to your question,
Dr. Muhammad Abdel-Latif Al-Banna, the managing editor of IslamOnline.net's (Arabic) Shari `ah Department, said,
People can see the difference between Zionists' destructive wars and our moral wars, but it is quite strange that their wars are now backed by rabbinic fatwas based on the Torah. That is why we are going to highlight and affirm the difference between their wars and our morality-based wars where women, old people, and civilians are not to be killed, and as long as the person in question is not a warrior. Adversely, in their wars children are killed, houses demolished, electricity cut, blockade imposed, and starvation spread. This clearly shows the immoral features of their wars and that they never comply with any peace pact. Even the absence of international condemnation testifies to collusion with them.
Zionists' War: Destructive
Now, it is not strange that such a fatwa be issued by Jewish rabbis, especially after destroying the infrastructures in Lebanon and killing civilians during their wars in different countries. For instance, they killed the students of Bahr Al-Baqar School in Egypt, murdered summer visitors in Palestine, and destroyed residential buildings in Beirut. They do all this under a religious cover or legitimacy. In my opinion, this legitimacy is most obviously based on the religious Hebraic state as a reference, because their Torah allows killing civilians and destroying humans and facilities.
Such is their distorted Torah on which they depended in issuing such fatwas that contradict all agreements and covenants. In spite of this, we have not heard – so far – any international jural organization blaming them, correcting their notions, or condemning what they have said.
Our Wars: Moral
They called upon their army to destroy and kill others, although this army was in no need for their fatwa. On the other hand, our Islamic Shari`ah is moral and decent in all its wars. It preserves lives, maintains honors, and never destroys people's facilities or property.
Concerning the battlefield where everybody is either killing or killed, Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) taught his Companions that the message of fair war in Islam should make it clear to all people that Muslims are heralds of peace. Therefore, if they indulge in any war, it should be undertaken through their morals, including justice with which no one is to be wronged.
It has been narrated by Abu Dawud on the authority of Khalid ibn Al-Fazar, who said, "Anas ibn Malik told me that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said, 'Set out in the Name of Allah, with (the help of) Allah, and according to the religion of the Messenger of Allah. Do not kill any man far advanced in years, nor a child, a baby, or a woman. And do not go into excesses. Gather your spoils of war together, do what is right, and do good; truly, Allah loves the good-doers'" (Abu Dawud, Sulayman ibn Al-Ash`ath, Sunan, the book of Jihad, hadith No. 2247, Dar Al-Hadith, Cairo).
This text clarifies that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) specified certain categories to be exempted from killing in wars; including:
Old people, children, and women: not to be killed
Old people:
In principle, they are not to be fought because of their old age. Thus, as a sign of respecting their old age and because they do not (usually) indulge in war, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) commanded that they are not to be killed.
Yet still, we should differentiate between two kinds of old people: First, those who only seek to find their livelihood with no intention of fighting; such have nothing to do with war or fighting; second, those who set plans for war, conspire against Muslims, and dedicate all their experience in life to this goal; it is permissible to fight such people.
Sheikh MuhammadAbu Zahrah, the well-known Muslim scholar, (may Allah have mercy upon him) said, "Old people are of two types: Those who are in charge of wars and have relevant (effective) opinions, and those who are not competent for this, nor do they have anything to do with war. The latter are not to be killed, because there are not enough reasons that obligate fighting (or killing) them. The former, however, can be legally killed, for they are warriors because of their opinions, planning, and conspiring.
In this regard, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) ordered that Durayd ibn As-Simmah be killed in the battle of Hunayn. Although he was one hundred and twenty years old (120), this man was mindful enough to give effective advice, which he had already given in that battle, so he was a warrior because of this" (Muhammad Abu Zahrah, Nazariyyat Al-Harb fi Al-Islam, p. 38).
Women, Workers, and Children:
The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade killing these people, because they do not usually indulge in war. This is because – in principle – women do not fight and children do not carry weapons, choose (to fight), or realize (what war means). By the same token, workers are originally meant for construction, and war in Islam is not meant for destruction.
I mentioned these categories together under this title because the (relevant religious) texts have something in common concerning them, and these people themselves have a common denominator: They do not usually indulge in war. Moreover, in most cases war is imposed on them. For all these reasons, they have been tackled together under one title.
There are many texts to this effect, including a hadith narrated on the authority of Rabah ibn Rabi`, who said, "We were with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) in a battle when he saw the people assembling around something. He ordered a man to go and see what those people were assembling for. The man came back and said they were assembling around a killed woman. He (the Prophet) said, 'This (woman) would not fight for sure.' " The narrator said, "Khalid ibn Al-Waleed was in charge of the vanguard, so he (the Prophet) sent a man to Khalid to tell him: 'Do not kill a woman or a wageworker' " (Narrated by Abu Dawud, Book of Jihad, Hadith No. 2295).
This hadith includes two important remarks: First, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) denounced that a woman be killed; and secondly, he (peace and blessings be upon him) directly ordered Khalid – as well as all Muslim leaders – not to kill a woman or a wageworker.
This clearly indicates that killing women and wageworkers is not permissible as long as they do not fight or indulge in war. If, however, they do so, it will then be permissible to kill them, because leaving them would be (a support for) killing Muslims.
The reason why workers are not to be killed is that "they do not fight, nor do they have anything to do with war. This is because such people would not fight, as war is usually connected to warriors, and because war (in Islam) is not meant for fighting nations, but for warding off the powers of evil and mischief. That is why it is to be with those who carry weapons and fight, or those who set plans and plots. Moreover, workers – who are totally busy with cultivation or handiwork – are constructors, while war in Islam is not for deconstruction; it is only for warding off corruption. It is further because such workers are (in many cases) wretched under the dominion of unjust rulers, so they should not be a fuel for a war from which they would benefit nothing but suffering" (Muhammad Abu Zahrah, Nazariyyat Al-Harb fi Al-Islam, p. 38).
Just as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade killing women and wageworkers, he also forbade killing children, because they have not done anything wrong to be killed for. It has been narrated on the authority of Qatadah who narrated from Al-Hasan that Al-Aswad ibn Sari` said that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) sent an expedition on the Day of Hunayn. As they were fighting the polytheists, they killed (some of their) offspring (children). When they returned, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) asked them, "Why did you kill offspring?" They replied, "O Messenger of Allah! (It is) only (because) they were children of the polytheists." He said, "Is it not that the best of you are children of polytheists?! By Him in Whose Hands Muhammad’s soul is, no person is born except on fitrah [Arabic for: natural disposition of belief in Allah] until his tongue expresses (this belief or otherwise)" (Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Musnad, The Makkans' Musnad, 15.36).
This is a form of reprimanding those who killed the polytheists' children, because those children had not yet realized (what was meant by war or polytheism), nor had they chosen that (war). Our Islamic Shari`ah requires reaching the age of puberty, sanity, and choosing (not to be under coercion) for a person to be legally responsible (for his actions). Therefore, it is not reasonable that this matter is such clear in our Shari`ah then we would act otherwise.
According to the narration of Ad-Darimi, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) confirmed that children must not be killed. Al-Aswad ibn Sari` said, "We went out with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) in some battle where he overcame the polytheists, so the people (Muslims) speeded up to kill (them) so much that they killed children. When the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was told about that, he said, 'Why have some people hastened to kill (even) children? Behold! No children are to be killed!' repeating it three times" (Ad-Darimi, Sunan, the book of Siyar, Hadith No. 2354).
This denunciation – followed by forbiddance – confirms that Islam is keen on sparing the life of children in all cases. This is because "no aggression is expected from such weak children, so how should they bear the burden of others' aggression? War in Islam is not for annihilating enemies, but for preventing aggression. Therefore, it is not permissible that fighting should go beyond the motives for which it is originally stimulated" (Muhammad Abu Zahrah, Nazariyyat Al-Harb fi Al-Islam, p.38).
Contemporary Opinions on Killing Civilians
In a fatwa issued by Sheikh Faysal Mawlawi, vice president of the European Council for Fatwa and Research (ECFR), concerning killing civilians in wars especially from Jews, he said,
Originally, it is prohibited to kill civilians, women, and children, but certain cases are exempted from this:
1. When all individuals on the enemy side participate in war, as then the term "civilian" would not apply to them.
2. When civilians do things to help militants, as then what they do would be regarded as a "military action."
3. When warriors use civilians, women, and children as a shield and there is no way for Muslim warriors to reach those militants except by killing those civilians.
4. When the enemies kill Muslim civilians, for then their civilians may be treated the same.
5. When a civilian "accepts" usurping a (Muslim) land, he is considered an occupier, and is not a civilian any more.
6. When children themselves are not intended (or targeted) to be killed (deliberately) without doing anything wrong or committing any crime.
It is well known that Israelis, men and women, indulge in war against Palestinians, so they are warriors. They are also usurpers of the (Palestinian) land, because the Jews in Palestine have emigrated from various countries, and they have no right in this land. In Islam, it is obligatory to liberate any Islamic land from occupation. It should also be known that jihad against the Jews is not because they are Jews, but because they are usurpers and warriors.
The same opinion was adopted by:
Dr. Ahmad Nawfal, professor of Shari`ah in Jordan;
Dr. Sheikh Hamid Al-`Ali, professor of Islamic culture in the faculty of Elementary Education, Kuwait;
Dr. Nizar `Abd Al-Qadir Rayyan, participant professor of the science of Hadith, Gaza University;
Sheikh Jalal Yusuf Ash-Sharqi, a personal status judge in Bahrain;
and many others.
It is a man that shows up for battle knowing full well he'd die a hero and a martyr, and a coward that hides behind children or takes them for a successful combat!
They will never have peace.. even if they kill every last one of us.. they will never be assimilated or accepted, and it is their lot to live in fear and hatred amongst us, until the hour!