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City walls are no longer relevant in warfare, but the concept of city walls can be useful for understanding the present situation, especially as it relates to munafiqin and murtadin.
One of the most potent strategies used by the enemies of Allah today is to label...
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One of the most potent strategies used by the enemies of Allah today is to label...
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...anyone who fights against the internal enemies as khawarij. These internal enemies are more dangerous than the external enemies - in the example of the city wall, this can be understood by the fact that one internal enemy can open the gate to allow the external enemies in.
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With a defensive advantage, a garrison of a few hundred men may be able to withstand an assault by a much larger army. One internal enemy can open the gate and instantly negate this advantage. So 300 men may be able to kill 1000 with the advantage of the walls...
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...but when this internal enemy opens the gate and lets the enemy in, the same 300 men may not be able to kill more than 50 or 100 of the enemy. In such a situation, eliminating this 1 internal enemy is more valuable than eliminating 100 of the external enemy.
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The common response to this is that the Prophet (ﷺ) did not kill the munafiqin. He knew they were disbelievers plotting against Islam, and Allah told him who they were, yet he did not kill them. Allah knows the reason for this, but certainly he did not want to set a...
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...precedent of killing those suspected of something which is contained within the hearts. Furthermore, having munafiqin among the ranks of the Muslims can have some advantage - they swell the numbers of the Muslims, which can intimidate the kuffar.
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It also adds to the economic strength of the community, as the munafiqin may also work and contribute to society and acknowledge and reinforce the legitimacy of the Muslim ruler while seeking their own advantage.
This balance changes, however, when munafiqin are in power.
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This balance changes, however, when munafiqin are in power.
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In the metaphor of the city wall, it is detrimental to have an internal munafiq, but for practical reasons (and for the sake of following the sunnah) you can't just kill everyone you suspect of being a munafiq. However, you can avoid giving them the keys to the gate.
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There are still city walls today, but they now exist in other dimensions. A city is ultimately just a unit of people. Due to changing technology, units of people are no longer arranged spatially, but ideologically. This is one reason for the ascendancy of Najdi thought...
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...which emphasizes the role of aqeeda more heavily than other intellectual currents within Islam.
Practically, though, it is necessary to develop new approaches to new patterns of social organization in terms of fiqh. This relates to the problem of takfir.
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Practically, though, it is necessary to develop new approaches to new patterns of social organization in terms of fiqh. This relates to the problem of takfir.
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In a war, when there is a defeat, the first step to continuing the fight is to retreat and regroup. In the process of regrouping, a new battle line or line of ribat must be formed. A defeat usually implies losing territory, so the new line will be formed behind the old line.
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In the ideological dimension, the territory is comprised of hearts and minds instead of land. When a defeat takes place, takfir is the means of forming a new line of ribat. Some have chosen to side with the enemy, and preferred their ideas to Islam.
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Others have preferred Islam and rejected the ideas of the kuffar. Then there are those who may be in a state of ignorance or compulsion, who comprise a "no man's land" between the respective territories. The most difficult problems of fiqh of our time relate to this zone.
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If one is too lenient in dealing with this disputed territory, it results in jamaat (units) filled with spies and traitors, and domination by the kuffar. If one is too harsh, it results in ordinary people rejecting many parts of Islam as a reflex, thus ceding territory.
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The reason fighting the murtadin is a higher priority than fighting the kuffar is because they are clear internal enemies WITHIN the political boundaries of Islam. Allah commands us to fight those disbelievers adjacent to us:
قَاتِلُوا الَّذِينَ يَلُونَكُم مِّنَ الْكُفَّارِ
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قَاتِلُوا الَّذِينَ يَلُونَكُم مِّنَ الْكُفَّارِ
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This makes logistical sense. Supply lines are shorter when fighting an enemy that is nearby, and if you attempt to strike a far enemy instead, you become vulnerable to the nearer enemy.
The collapse of Islamic political authority makes these calculations more difficult.
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The collapse of Islamic political authority makes these calculations more difficult.
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The reason for this is that the way of dealing with Muslims who are the "grey area," neither clearly Muslim or clearly kaffir, is determined in relation to physical territory. This is discussed in the tafsir of Surah Nisa, 89:
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فَلَا تَتَّخِذُوا مِنْهُمْ أَوْلِيَاءَ حَتَّىٰ يُهَاجِرُوا فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ
This ayah covers those who were living as part of the political and economic systems of the mushrikin yet claimed Islam. Some of them would come to Medina and worship with the Muslims
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This ayah covers those who were living as part of the political and economic systems of the mushrikin yet claimed Islam. Some of them would come to Medina and worship with the Muslims
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but when they returned to Mecca they would worship idols, hoping to be at peace with both. Allah commanded that they be fought unless they refrained from fighting the Muslims.
Now, clearly worshipping idols would seem to be a form of ridda.
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Now, clearly worshipping idols would seem to be a form of ridda.
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So why did Allah allow leaving them in peace on the condition that they don't fight the Muslims? Why, then, did Abu Bakr (radhi Allahu anhu) see it necessary to prioritize fighting the murtadin over fighting the kuffar, even those who did not fight the Muslims?
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The distinction here has to do with the physical territory. Once the political authority of Islam covers a territory, the lines of ribat shift accordingly. A murtad within the boundaries of Islam (the metaphorical walls) is a greater danger than an external enemy.
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A Muslim living under the political authority of the kuffar who worships idols in exchange for some benefit in dunya does nothing to change the political reality on the ground. He is living in fitna (shirk) anyway, so he also doesn't do much to spread the filth of shirk...
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...which is already ubiquitous anyway. If you throw filth on a filthy garment, it's state is unchanged; it remains filthy. However, if you throw filth on a clean garment, its state changes from clean to filthy.
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In my opinion, and Allah knows best, it is not so useful to take time and effort to make takfir on individuals living under regimes of shirk; they are already in filth one way or the other. What is important is whether they fight against the Muslims or not.
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