withered (yābis al-shiqq) and the man whose right hand is cut off and a man whose hand and foot are cut off cannot be killed” (H. I, p. 540). Here it is admitted that what makes the killing of a man lawful is not his unbelief (kufr) but his fighting (ḥirāb), for, if men could be killed for unbelief, even women, children, and old and incapacitated men would not be spared. That is indeed a sound basis. But if the reason given on this occasion is true, and it is unlawful to kill anyone merely on account of unbelief, it is also unlawful to undertake war against a people because they are unbelievers or idolaters, as in such a war people would be killed for mere unbelief.

In still more plain words, the Hidāya recognizes, in its discussion on the making of peace with unbelievers, that the real object of jihād is the repelling of the enemy’s mischief: “And when the Imām is of opinion that he should make peace with those who are fighting (against the Muslims) (ahl al-ḥarb), or with a party of them, and it is in the interest of the Muslims, there is no harm in peace, on account of what Allāh says, ‘And if they incline to peace, do thou incline to it and trust in Allāh’; and the Holy Prophet entered into agreement with the people of Makkah in the year of Ḥudaibiyah, that there shall be no war between him and them for ten years; and because entering into agreement is jihād in spirit, when it is for the good of the Muslims, as the object, which is the repelling of mischief (daf‘ al-sharr) is attained thereby” (H.I, p. 541). Here again it is admitted that the real object of jihād is the repelling of the enemy’s mischief, and it is on this basis alone that peace can be made with the unbelievers. The annotator of the Hidāyah does not conceal the fact that it is a plain contradiction of what is said elsewhere10 as to the object of jihād. But the question is, how can peace with unbelievers and idolaters be justified? If the object of jihād is the enforcing of Islām at the point of a sword, peace with unbelievers is simply a contradiction of this object. But peace with unbelievers is not only a matter of choice; it is an injunction which must be carried out when the enemy is inclined to peace: “And if they incline to peace, incline thou also to it” (8:61).

The above quotations from the Hidāyah will show that even the jurists felt that their exposition of jihād was opposed to its basic principles laid down in the Holy Qur’ān. Probably the new doctrine