Is revelation universal or territory (dar) dependent?

Territory plays an important element. The concept of territory, embodied in the Dar paradigms, has been criticized in the past, and attempts have been made to reformulate and reengineer them. In Islamic jurisprudence, they are foundational and far-reaching. They reflect the sociopolitical realities that underpin the application or implementation of the sharia in all its conceptual, methodological, legal, cultural, political, and civilisational aspects. Territory is central to revelation, along with Islam's aqeedah. When they come together, like a seed planted in the ground, the aqeedah gives rise to a revolutionary movement to establish Islam, as we saw in early Mecca, or an Islamic civilization, as we saw in Medina. This is the basis of a divine mission to the world, as we saw with centuries of jihad. Too many territorially related ahkam are present in the sources, some examples are cited below: Yaazid Bin Hussaib Al-Aslami reported that whenever the Messenger Muhammad (saw) sent an expedition he would elect an Ameer (and then would advise them), ‘If you appoint someone for an army or an expedition first fear Allah and treat all the Muslims who are with him well, raid and fight in the name of Allah, those who disbelieve in Allah. Do not take the booty and do not be traitors; do not mutilate nor torture. Do not kill children. If you see your enemy from the disbelievers, invite them to one of (the following) three and if they accept your offer do not fight them further: Invite them to Islam and if they accept ask them to relocate from Dar al-Kufr to Dar al-Islam, inform them that if they do so they will take similar to what the Muhajireen took. If they move to Dar ul-Muhajireen they will be eligible for this, otherwise they will be like the Muslim Bedouins living outside of Dar al-Islam and will get nothing from the Fai or the booty. (The final offer) if they reject to become Muslims is to ask them to pay Jizya. If they respond and pay, accept it from them and do not fight them. Otherwise have full reliance in Allah and fight them.’” [Muslim 4294] On the authority of Ibn Omar (ra), “Omar bin Khattab expelled the Jews and the Christians from Hijaz. When Allah’s Apostle had conquered Khaybar, he wanted to expel the Jews from it as its land became the property of Allah, His Apostle, and the Muslims. Allah’s Apostle intended to expel the Jews but they requested him to let them stay there on the condition that they would do the labour and get half of the fruits. Allah’s Messenger told them, ‘We will let you stay on this condition, as long as we wish.’ So, they (i.e. Jews) kept on living there until Omar forced them to go towards Taima’ and Ariha’.” [Bukhari 2213] It was narrated by Essam Almusny, who said: “The Prophet (saw) used to tell to the expeditions that he sent: ‘If you` have seen a mosque or heard a call for prayer, then do not kill anybody.’” On the authority of Ibn Abbas that once when Abdul Rahman bin ‘Awf was speaking with Umar ibn al-Khattab (ra) (the Khaleefah at the time) he said, “Do not be harsh on them (speaking about some of the Hujaaj) until they return to Medinah, which is Dar al-Hijrah, Dar al-Sunnah and Dar ul-Salaama.” [Sahih Bukhari Hadith no. 3713] It is recorded in Abu Ubaid’s Kitaab al-Amwaal, and Abu Yusuf’s Kitaab al-Kharaaj, that Khalid Bin Waleed (ra) wrote a letter to the people of Hirah (a place close to Bahrain) and he said, “I write this to you: if any of you become old, poor or ill or his people have to donate to maintain his livelihood I will never ask Jizya (tax) of him. He will also receive a grant from the Bait ul-Maal (Treasury of the Islamic state). He and his children will be entitled to this as long as he resides in Dar ul-Hijrah and Dar al-Islam. If they go out (from this jurisdiction) then the Muslims are no longer obliged to provide anything for them.” [Abu Ubaid, Kitaab al-Amwaal, p. 98 & Abu Yusuf, Kitaab al-Kharaaj, pp. 155-156] The leading Hanafi jurists have always understood this, their leading scholars operating at the highest levels of the khilafah for over a millennium, whether in advisory roles to caliphs such as Abu Hanifah and Shaybani, or Chief Judges like Abu Yusuf, al-Nu'man, Jassas, Subki, Ibn al-Hammam, Farghani, Kharkhi, Marghanani and ibn Abideen. They identified and meticulously articulated these paradigms, analysing the sharia rules as they pertained to territories in detail. That is not to deny the other schools did not consider it in their ijtihad as the following citation from Ibn Taymiyah (ra) illustrates: "When a Muslim is living in a non-Muslim land (whether or not it is hostile to Islam), he is not expected to differ from them (the kuffar) in his outward appearance, because of the harm that may result (from dressing as a Muslim). It is preferable, even obligatory, for a man to look like them sometimes, if that will achieve some religious purpose such as calling them to Islam, finding out their secrets in order to tell the Muslims about them, repelling their harm from the Muslims, and other worthwhile aims. But in the Muslim lands where Allah has caused His deen to prevail, and where the kuffar are in an inferior position and are paying jizyah, it is obligatory for Muslims to look different from the kuffar."(Iqtidaa' al-Siraat al-Mustaqeem, 1/418). The Hanafi school of law however places greater emphasis on the territorial aspect, distinguishing between "Dar al-Islam" and "Dar al-Harb" and applying different legal treatment depending on where a Muslim violates shariah. Hanafis hold Muslims morally, but not legally, responsible for violations of Islamic law committed in non-Muslim lands. Certain prohibitions, such as usury, gambling, and trading in alcohol or pork, do not apply outside dar al-Islam, and transactions between Muslims and non-Muslims in non-Muslim lands are not considered a violation of Islamic law. The concept of inviolability is used to justify this exceptional rule. Muslims living outside Dar al-Islam may treat the money and property of non-Muslims as they wish as long as they do not violate the law in the relevant country. Examples would include: - Living in Dar al-Harb was disliked at best, prohibited at worst if one could not manifest their deen. - Muslims under security covenants could not wage war against or harm the harbi non-Muslims. - Zakat was payable to non-Muslims in dar al-harb to improve relations (in contrast to the other schools) whereas it is forbidden to do so in dar al-Islam. - If debt was incurred in Dar al-Islam, a qadhi could award it to a claimant. If incurred in dar al-harb, he couldnot. - For murder or homicide, if in Dar al-islam a qadhi could award blood money on his private wealth or the tribe - alternatively qisas would apply. If it happened in dar al-harb he can only award blood money on his private wealth. On and on the analyses went, documented in halcyonic texts familiar to jurists across all legal schools, from Shaybani's Siyar, Sarakhsi's Sharh of Siyar to Quduri's Mukhtasir Quduri and Marghanani's Hidaya. It is for good reason the contemporary Mufti Shafi Usmani observed: “It is not hidden to those who are connected to Islamic Law and issuing Islamic verdicts that in approximately all the chapters of Fiqh (Islamic Law), e.g., prayer, fasting, hajj, zakat, marriage, divorce, and especially financial transactions, hundreds of Islamic rulings differ based on the location of Darul Islam and Darul Harb. Hence, if it is said that a great portion of Islamic legal rulings is based upon the location of one’s Dar (region), and those intending to act upon any ruling must first ascertain the status of the area they live in,whether it is Darul Islam or Darul Harb, then such a statement is accurate and correct. For this reason, for quite some time, the scholars of India have discussed this issue…” In a nutshell, territory is not only important, but vital. Disregard for the territorial aspect of Islam has led to: - a lack of coherence and direction in the efforts to establish Islamic governance and society. - Muslim communities living in various parts of the world, struggling to reconcile their Islamic identity with the social, political, and economic realities of the countries they reside in. - Furthermore, the Western-driven secular-liberal-capitalist global order, with its emphasis on individualism, materialism, and moral relativism, presents a challenge to the Islamic worldview and values. The dominance of this order has created a situation where the Islamic territorial paradigm is seen as outdated and irrelevant, and Muslim scholars and thinkers are pressured to reinterpret Islamic teachings to fit within this paradigm. The territorial concept in Islam cannot be ignored or reinterpreted to fit into the dominant global order. It is a fundamental aspect of the Islamic worldview, which cannot be separated from the Islamic aqeedah and shariah. Therefore, it is imperative to engage with it. We seem to be stuck between multiple Dar paradigms, and the thoughts that arise from each. This confusion then ripples through our entire discourse, method, law, theology, culture and so on. The starting point would be to take a stance on territory as Dar al-Kufr. The broad historic brushstrokes discernible in the Meccan seerah are then the basis as to the way forward, rather than the Medinan based Dar al-Islam trajectory that sees attempts at reconstructing elements of the state like sharia based courts / tribunals in place of qadhis, creating state regulated charities and banks replacing the bayt al-maal and individuals involved in changing daily munkar labelled as hisba, missionaryism labelled dawa and partaking in nationalistic conflicts labelled jihad. A Meccan based trajectory would see all of these suspended with a collective effort seeking to establish the khilafah whilst adhering to personal beliefs, morals and worships. Even those accepting the above can fall pray to paying lipservice that the world is Dar al-Kufr (ie the need to call for khilafah, avoiding any other mission etc) with one foot tokenistically in this camp, whilst one remains in the historic Dar al-Islam camp (we must give zakat, grow beards, join jihad whenever our lands are invaded, change munkar wherever we see it etc) and the third is in the Dar al-Harb camp (take mortgages, engage with limited liability companies, pay kufr taxes, adjudicate disputes in kufr courts and reside amongst disbelievers). The result would be a confused ideology, discourse and lifeway riddled with tensions and incoherence... currently visible to all those who care to look.