1627 - Issue: He said: (The People of the Scripture and the Magians are to be fought without being invited [to Islam first], because the call has reached them. The idolaters are to be invited before they are fought.)
As for his statement regarding the People of the Scripture and the Magians: "They are not to be invited before combat," it applies in its general sense, because the call [to Islam] has spread and become widespread; there remains none among them to whom the call has not reached, except for a rare and distant few. As for his statement: "The idolaters are to be invited before they are fought," it is not absolute; for those among them to whom the call has reached are not to be invited, and if there be found among them some to whom the call has not reached, they shall be invited before combat. Likewise, if there be found among the People of the Scripture someone to whom the call has not reached, they shall be invited before combat. Ahmad said: The call has reached and spread, but if it is possible that there exists a people behind the Romans and behind the Turks in this state, it is not permissible to fight them before [issuing] the call. This is due to what Buraydah reported, saying: When the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) sent an commander over a detachment or an army, he would order him to fear Allah regarding himself and the Muslims who were with him, and he said: "If you meet your enemy from among the polytheists, invite them to one of three options; whichever of them they respond to, accept it from them and refrain from them. Invite them to Islam; if they answer you, accept it from them and refrain from them. If they refuse, invite them to pay the Jizyah; if they answer you, accept it from them and refrain from them. If they refuse, seek the help of Allah against them, and fight them." Narrated by Abu Dawud and Muslim (2). This can be interpreted as having been at the beginning of the matter, before the spread of the call and the manifestation of Islam. As for today, the call has spread, and thus one is dispensed from the need for it [i.e., the call] at the time of combat. Ahmad said:
= The Hadith was reported by Al-Tirmidhi, in: The Interpretation of Surah Al 'Imran, from the Chapters on Interpretation. Aridat al-Ahwadhi 11/138. And Ibn Majah, in: Chapter on what the Jahmiyyah denied, from the Introduction, and in: Chapter on the virtue of martyrdom in the cause of Allah, from the Book of Jihad. Sunan Ibn Majah 1/68, 2/936. (1) In the manuscripts: "min". (2) Reported by Abu Dawud, in: Chapter on inviting the polytheists, from the Book of Jihad, Sunan Abi Dawud 2/35, 36. And Muslim, in: Chapter on the Imam appointing commanders over expeditions and his advice..., from the Book of Jihad and Military Expeditions. Sahih Muslim 3/1357, 1358. It was also reported by Al-Tirmidhi, in: Chapter on what was narrated regarding his (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) advice during combat, from the Chapters on Military Expeditions. Aridat al-Ahwadhi 7/119, 120. And Ibn Majah, in: Chapter on the advice of the Imam, from the Book of Jihad. Sunan Ibn Majah 2/953, 954. And Al-Darimi, in: Chapter on the call to Islam before combat, from the Book of Military Expeditions. Sunan Al-Darimi 2/216, 217. And Imam Ahmad, in: Al-Musnad 5/352, 358.
