incumbent on every
believer. But attacking unbelievers without any provocation, or
offensively, is not incumbent on every believer. The Hedaya has:--"The
sacred injunction concerning war is sufficiently observed when it is
carried on by any one _party_ or _tribe_ of _Mussulmans_; and it is then
no longer of any force with respect to the rest."[290]

[Sidenote 91. Jihad when positive.]

The Mohammadan Common Law makes the fighting only a positive injunction
"where there is a _general summons_, (that is, where the infidels invade
a _Mussulman_ territory, and the _Imam_ for the time being issues a
general proclamation, requiring all persons to stand forth to fight,)
for in this case war becomes a positive injunction with respect to the
whole of the inhabitants,"[291]--this is sanctioned by the Law of
Nations and the Law of Nature.

[Sidenote: 92. The Hedaya quoted and refuted.]

The Hedaya, or a Commentary of the Mohammadan Common Law by Nuraddin Ali
of Murghinan (died in 593, A.H.) has:--

"The destruction of the sword[292] is incurred by the infidels, although
they be not the first aggressors, as appears from the various passages
in the sacred writings which are generally received to this
effect."[293]

This assertion is not borne out by the sacred injunction of the Koran,
and, on the contrary, is in direct contradiction to the same. There are
several passages in the Koran already quoted in pages 16-25, which
expressly forbid the taking of offensive measures, and enjoin only
defensive wars. There are some other passages which are not so
expressive as the several others referred to above, or in other words,
are not conditional. But the law of interpretation, the general scope
and tenor of the Koran, and the context of the verses and parallel
passages, all show that those few verses which are not conditional
should be construed as conditional in conformity with other passages
more clear, expressive, and conditional, and with the general laws of
scriptural interpretation. Now, the author of the Hedaya and other
writers on the Common Law quote only those few passages from the Koran
which are absolute or unconditional, and shut their eyes against those
many conditional verses, and general scope and tenor of the Koran.

Limited, or _Conditional_. |General, or _Absolute_.
---------------------------------+---------------------------------------
|
Sura XXII, 39-42.