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Concept
Divisions of the world in Islam
Summary
In classical Islamic law, the major divisions are dar al-Islam (lit. territory of Islam/voluntary submission to God), denoting regions where Islamic law prevails, dar al-sulh (lit. territory of treaty) denoting non-Islamic lands which have concluded an armistice with a Muslim government, and dar al-harb (lit. territory of war), denoting adjoining non-Islamic lands whose rulers are called upon to accept Islam.
The Arabic singular form dar (دار), translated literally, may mean "house", "abode", "structure", "place", "land", or "country". In Islamic jurisprudence it often refers to a part of the world.
The notions of "houses" or "divisions" of the world in Islam such as dar al-Islam and dar al-harb does not appear in the Quran or the hadith. According to Abou El Fadl, the only dars the Qur'an speaks of are "the abode of the Hereafter and the abode of the earthly life, with the former described as clearly superior to the latter".
Early Islamic jurists devised these terms to denote legal rulings for ongoing Muslim conquests almost a century after Muhammad. The first use of the terms was in Iraq by Abu Hanifa and his disciples Abu Yusuf and Al-Shaybani. Among those in the Levant, Al-Awza'i was leading in this discipline and later Al-Shafi'i.
The concept of dar al-harb has been affected by historical changes such as the political fragmentation of the Muslim world, and has little significance today. The theoretical distinction between dar al-Islam and dar al-harb is widely considered inapplicable, and many contemporary Islamic jurists regard the Western world as part of the former, since Muslims can freely practise and proselytize their faith in Western countries.
Early Islamic legal theory divided the world into two divisions: "abode of Islam" and "abode of war". The first, called dar al-Islam, sometimes Pax Islamica, consisted of Muslims and non-Muslims living under Islamic sovereignty. The second was dar al-harb.
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