214 ISLAM AT WAR
Harbi, people of the Dar ul-Harb, the Land of Warfare, any country be-
longing to the infidels and not subdued by Islam. These lands are destined
to pass into Islamic jurisdiction either by conversion or by war (Harb).
All acts of war are permitted in the Dar ul-Harb.
Once the Dar ul-Harb has been subjugated, the Harbi, the surviving
residents of the Dar ul-Harb, become prisoners of war. The imam has full
license to do what he might with them. Those men taken prisoner are
immediately faced with two choices: conversion to Islam or death. The
option has not always been made clear. If it had been, many more would
have accepted Islam. In the past, women and children had a worse fate
awaiting them—slavery.
When Constantinople fell in 1453 the conquering army was allowed
three days of pillage and rapine. The blood ran in rivers down the streets
until the lust for slaughter was assuaged. The soldiers then realized that
captives would bring them greater profits when sold as slaves. This was
the same furor and blood lust that had first appeared at Badr when some
of the victors had sought to slaughter the Meccan captives.
Other conquered peoples faced exile. Christians, Jews, or Zoroastrians,
who had also received the Scriptures from Allah, might becomedhimmis,
tolerated second-class subjects forced to pay a regular tribute known as
the “jizya.” Islamic scholars have interpreted Surah IX, 29
Fight against such of those who have been given the Scripture as believe
not in Allah nor the Last Day, and forbid not that which Allah hath forbid-
den by His Messenger, and follow not the religion of truth, until they pay
the tribute readily, being brought low.to mean, “thejizyashall be taken from them with belittlement and hu-
miliation. [Thedhimmi] shall come in person, walking not riding. When
he pays, he shall stand, while the tax collector sits. The collector shall
seize him by the scruff of the neck, shake him, and say: ‘Pay thejizya!’
and when he pays it he shall be slapped on the nape of his neck.”
A critical issue is that the Dar ul-Harb are lands destined to submit to
Islam. Some Islamic scholars contend that the wars that spread Islam are
now long over and have completed the promise of the Koran. They claim
that no more holy wars remain. They also contend that Islam, the true
world religion, was complete from the moment of its revelation to Mu-
hammad and did not have to evolve or develop, as Christianity evolved
through the period of the writing of the Bible. As a result, they claim that
Islam is stronger than Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and all
other “misconceived” religions.