The great scholar Ibn Qayyim, in his book Zaad al-Ma'aad, has a chapter entitled

"The Prophet's Treatment of the Unbelievers and the Hypocrites from the Beginning of His Messengership Until His Death."
In this chapter, this scholar has summed up the nature of Islamic Jihaad.

"The first revelation from God which came to the Prophet - peace be on him - was 'Iqraa, bisme Rabbika alladhee ...'('Read, in the name of Your Sustainer, Who created ...').

This was the beginning of the Prophethood. God commanded the Prophet - peace be on him - to recite this in his heart. The commandment to preach had not yet come. Then God revealed 'Ya ayyuha al-Muddathir, qum fandhir' ('O you who are enwrapped in your mantle, arise and warn'). Thus, the revelation of 'Iqraa' was his appointment to Prophet-hood, while 'Ya ayyuha al-muddathir' was his appointment to Messengership.


Later God commanded the Prophet-peace be on him-to warn his near relatives, then his people, then the Arabs who were around them, then all of Arabia, and finally the whole world. Thus for thirteen years after the beginning of his Messengership, he called people to God through preaching, without fighting or Jizyah, [A tax levied by Muslims on non-Muslim men in areas governed by Muslims, in lieu of military service.] and was commanded to restrain himself and to practice patience and forbearance.

Then he was commanded to migrate, and later permission was given to fight. Then he was commanded to fight those who fought him, and to restrain himself from those who did not make war with him. Later he was commanded to fight the polytheists until God's religion was fully established. After the command for Jihaad came, the non-believers were divided into three categories:


- one, those with whom there was peace;
- two, the people with whom the Muslims were at war;
- and three, the Dhimmies. [Literally meaning 'responsibility', Dhimmies refers to the non-Muslim peoples residing in a Muslim state for whose protection and rights the Muslim government was responsible.]
It was commanded that as long as the non-believers with whom he had a peace treaty met their obligations, he should fulfill the articles of the treaty, but if they broke this treaty, then they should be given notice of having broken it; until then, no war should be declared. If they persisted, then he should fight with them. When the chapter entitled 'Bratt' was revealed, the details of treatment of these three kinds of non-believers were described. It was also explained that war should be declared against those from among the 'People of the Book' [16 Christians and Jews] who declare open enmity, until they agree to pay Jizyah or accept Islam.


Concerning the polytheists and the hypocrites, it was commanded in this chapter that Jihaad be declared against them and that they be treated harshly. The Prophet-peace be on him-carried on Jihaad against the polytheists by fighting and against the hypocrites by preaching and argument. In the same chapter, it was commanded that the treaties with the polytheists be brought to an end at the period of their expiration. In this respect, the people with whom there were treaties were divided into three categories:


- The first, those who broke the treaty and did not fulfill its terms. He was ordered to fight against them; he fought with them and was victorious.

- The second were those with whom the treaty was made for a stated term; they had not broken this treaty nor helped anyone against the Prophet - peace be on him - Concerning them, God ordered that these treaties be completed to their full term.

-The third kind were those with whom there was neither a treaty nor were they fighting against the Prophet-peace be on him-, or those with whom no term of expiration was stated. Concerning these, it was commanded that they be given four months' notice of expiration, at the end of which they should be considered open enemies and fought with. Thus, those who broke the treaty were fought against, and those who did not have any treaty or had an indeterminate period of expiration were given four months period of grace, and terms were kept with those with whom the treaty was due to expire. All the latter people embraced Islam even before the term expired, and the non-Muslims of the state paid Jizyah.

Thus, after the revelation of the chapter 'Baraa'ah', [Soorah at-Tawbah 9] the unbelievers were of three kinds: adversaries in war, people with treaties, and Dhimmies.


The people with treaties eventually became Muslims, so there were only two kinds left: people at war and Dhimmies.

The people at war were always afraid of him.


Now the people of the whole world were of three kinds:

- One, the Muslims who believed in him;
- two, those with whom he had peace and
-three, the opponents who kept fighting him.


As far as the hypocrites were concerned, God commanded the Prophet -peace be on him -to accept their appearances and leave their intentions to God, and carry on Jihaad against them by argument and persuasion. He was commanded not to pray at their funerals nor to pray at their graves, nor should he ask forgiveness from God for them, as their affair was with God. So this was the practice of the Prophet-peace be on him- concerning his enemies among the non-believers and the hypocrites. '