were idolatrous tribes that never fought against the Muslims, but, on the other hand, were in alliance with them, and the Muslims fought on their behalf. Such alliances are met with not only in the lifetime of the Holy Prophet but also in wars of the Early Caliphate.9 Nor does the verse mean that there should be no Muslim on the face of the earth who should not be engaged in war against the polytheists. Even the supporters of unprovoked war hardly go as far as that. The Hidāyah, after quoting this verse in support of a war against all polytheists, adds that this is a fardz kifāyah, an obligation which if performed by some Muslims relieves others of the duty. Now the word kāffa (meaning all together) occurs in this verse twice, once in connection with the Muslims and again in connection with the idolaters, so that if all polytheists, without any exception, are to be fought against, all Muslims without any exception must fight against them. As this is impossible, it follows that the verse only enjoins unification in the ranks of the Muslims, in like manner as there was unification in the ranks of the idolaters, and there is nothing said here as to the conditions under which fighting is to be carried on. These conditions are expressly laid down in other verses and can on no account be dispensed with: “And fight in the way of Allāh against those who fight against you but be not aggressive. Surely Allāh loves not the aggressors” (2:190).
The jurists themselves have challenged the accuracy of the principle on which their wrong notion of jihād is based. For instance, the Hidāyah gives the following reason for jihād being a fardz kifāyah: “It is not made obligatory for its own self (il ‘aini-hī), for in itself it is the causing of mischief (ifsād), and it is made obligatory for the strengthening of the religion of Allāh and for the repelling of evil (daf‘ al-sharr) from His servants” (H.I, P. 537). The use here of the words daf‘ al-sharr shows that, even according to the jurists, jihād in its origin is only for repelling evil and is therefore defensive, not offensive. Again, when discussing the reasons for the prohibition of killing women and children and old men and those who refrain from fighting (muq‘id) and blind men, the Hidāyah says: “For what makes the killing lawful (mubīḥ li-l-qatl) according to us, is the fighting (ḥirāb), and this is not true in their case, and therefore the man whose one side is
9 The Khuzā‘a were an idolatrous tribe that entered into an alliance with Muslims after the truce of Ḥudaibiyah and when they were attacked by the allies of the Quraish with the latter’s help, the Holy Prophet led an attack on Makkah to punish the Quraish for their breach of agreement. There were many other tribes in similar alliance with the Muslims. In the early Caliphate wars, Christian soldiers fought side by side with the Muslims, and so also some of the Magian tribes.