Warn: Religion of War
of Allahexceptwhere the enemy attacks first. They have the
alternative of either converting to Islam or paying the poll tax
(jizya),short of which war will be declared against them.""
Likewise. Ibn Taymiyya (d. 1328), a Hanbali jurist who is a favorite of
Osama bin Laden and other modern-clay jihadists, proclaimed:
tha t the rel igio n is God 's ent ire ly and God 's word is uppe r-
most, there fore accor ding to all Muslim s, those who stand in
the way of this aim must be fought , As for those who canno t
off er res ist anc e or can not fig ht, suc h as'wo men , chi ldr en,
mon ks, old peo ple , the bli nd, han dic app ed and the ir lik es,
they shall not be killed unless they actually fight with words
(e.g. bypropaganda) in the warfare)."" and acts(e.g.by spyingor otherwise
assisting
Since lawful warfareisessentially jihad and since its aim is
The Hanafi school sounds the same notes:It is not lawful to make war upon any people who have never
bef ore been call ed to the fait h, with out prev iou sly requ irin g
them to embrace it, because the Prophet so instructed his corn-
mend ers , dire ctin g them to call the infi dels to the fait h, and
al so bec aus e the peo ple wil l hen ce per cei ve tha t th ey are
attacked for the sake of religion, and not for the sake of taking
their property, or making slaves of their children, and on this
consid eratio n it is possibl e that they may be induced to agree
to the call , in order to save the msel ves from the trou bles of
war.. If the infid els, upon recei ving the call, neithe r conse nt
to it nor agree to pay capitation tax, it is then incumbent on the
Mus lim s to cal l upo n God for ass ist anc e, and to mak e war
upon them , bec ause God is the assi stan t of thos e who serv e
Him, and the destroyer of His enemies, the infidels, and it is