Dar al-Islam (Arabic: دار الإسلام literally house of submission) is a term used to refer to those lands under Muslim government(s). In the conservative tradition of Islam the world is divided into two components: dar al-Islam, the house of submission and dar al-Harb, the house of war.
Dar al-Islam and its associated terms are not found in the two most basic works of Islam, the Qur'an and the Hadith. Muslim scholars maintain that the labeling of a country or place as dar al-Islam or dar al-harb revolved around the question of religious security. This means that if a Muslim practices Islam freely in his place of abode, then he will be considered as living in a dar al-Islam, even if he happens to live in a secular or non-Islamic country.
Recently, prominent Western Muslim intellectuals have challenged the dar al-Islam/dar al-Harb worldview, suggesting additional 'houses' to describe differing situations.
Dar al-Harb
Dar al-Harb (Arabic: دار الحرب "house of war") is a term used to refer to those areas outside Muslim rule. The term traditionally refers to those lands administered by non-Muslim governments. The exact definitions of these territories can vary widely according to the viewer's concept of who is and is not a Muslim, and which governments are or are not Muslim in practice.
Dar al-Harb and its associated terms are not found in the two most basic works of Islam, the Qur'an and the Hadith.
Dar al-'Ahd
Dar al-'Ahd (Arabic: دار العهد "house of truce") was invented to describe the Ottoman Empire's relationship with its Christian tributary states. The invention Dar al-Ahd was necessary, as the worldview prevalent at the time did not allow for a protracted peace with non-Muslim states, even those under Muslim domination.
Today, the term refers to those non-Muslim governments which have armistice or peace agreements with Muslim governments. The actual status of the non-Muslim country in question may vary from acknowledged equality to tributary states.
Dar al-Kufr
Dar al-Kufr (Arabic: دار الكفر, "house of infidels" or "domain of disbelief") is a term used by Muhammad to refer to the Quraish-dominated society of Mecca between his flight to Medina (the Hijra) and his triumphant return.
For much of Islamic history, the preferred term used to describe non-Islamic societies has been dar al-Harb, emphasizing various Islamic countries' aspirations to conquer such territories and render them part of dar al-Islam.
A traditional Arabic saying attributed to Muhammad goes: "Unbelief is one community", or in other words, "infidels are of one nation", expressing the view that distinctions between different types of non-Muslims are insignificant in relation to the overriding distinction between Muslim and non-Muslim.
Dar al-Shahada
Dar al-Shahada (Arabic: دار الشهادة "house of testimony") is a term proposed by Western Muslim philosophers to describe the status of Muslims in the Western world. Separation of the church and state is a relatively new concept in Islamic philosophy, and dar al-Shahada is one of several terms created in an effort to describe it. The basic idea is that dar al-Shahada is a realm where Muslims have the freedom to "witness" the truth of Islam to non-Muslims, so that minimum conditions for Muslim community life are present. This gets around various medieval legal rulings which prohibit Muslims from living in non-Muslim-ruled areas.
The term dar al-Shahada may be used in conjunction with, or in opposition to, the older terms dar al-Islam and dar al-Harb, from which it is derived.
Dar al-Dawa
Dar al-Dawa (Arabic: دار الدعوة "house of invitation") is a term used to describe a region where the religion of Islam has recently been introduced. Since the population has not been exposed to Islam before, they may not fit into the traditional definition of dar al-Harb. On the other hand, as the region is not Muslim, it cannot be dar al-Islam either. The most frequent use of the term dar al-Dawa is to describe Arabia before and during the life of Muhammad.
More recently, the term dar al-Dawa has been proposed by Western Muslim philosophers to describe the status of Muslims in the West.
The term dar al-Dawa may be used in conjunction with, or in opposition to, the older terms dar al-Islam and dar al-Harb, from which it is derived.
Dar al-Amn
Dar al-Amn (Arabic: دار الأمن "house of safety") is a term proposed by Western Muslim philosophers to describe the status of Muslims in the West.
The term dar al-Amn may be used in conjunction with, or in opposition to, the older terms dar al-Islam and dar al-Harb, from which it is derived.
See also
References
- Western Muslims and the Future of Islam, by Tariq Ramadan