3. 03. PROTECTION FOR ENEMY (to be continued)

God says

But when you are greeted with a greeting [of peace], answer with an even better greeting, or [at least] with the like thereof.* Verily, God keeps count indeed of all things. -- Q.4:86
* Lit., “greet with better than it, or return it”. In above context, this obviously refers to an offer of peace by people with whom the believers are at war as well as to individual persons who, while possibly belonging to the enemy, have, to all outward appearances, peaceful intentions. In accordance to with the injunctions, “if they incline to peace, incline thou to it as well” (8:61), and “if desist [from fighting], then all hostility shall cease” (2:193), the believers are obliged to make peace with an enemy who makes it clear that he wants to come to an equitable understanding; similarly, they must show every consideration to individual persons from among the enemies who do not actively participate in the hostilities.

[Hence,] O you who have attained to faith, when you go forth [to war] in God’s cause, use your discernment, and do not – out of a desire for the fleeting gains of this worldly life – say unto anyone who offers you the greeting of peace, “Thou art not a believer”:* for with God there are gains abundant. You, too, were once in the same condition** -- God has been gracious unto you. Use, therefore, your discernment: God is always aware of what you do. -- Q.4:94
* Sc., “and therefore one of the enemies”. This verse prohibits the treating of non-combatants as enemies and using their supposed unbelief as a pretext for plundering them. The injunction “use your discernment” (tabayyanu) imposes on the believers the duty of making sure, in every case, whether the persons concerned are actively engaged in hostilities or not.
** Since the preceding injunction refers to the whole community, it would seem that the above clause, too, bears the same implication: namely, a reference to the time when the Muslim community was, because of its weakness and numerical insignificance, at the mercy of enemies endowed with greater power. Thus, the believers are told, as it were: “Remember your erstwhile weakness, and treat the peacefully-minded among your enemies with the same consideration with which you yourselves were once hoping to be treated.”


Prophet said

I asked: O Messenger of God: My brother, Ali (Ibn Abi Talib), thinks that he would kill son of Hubairah,* whom I have given protection. The Holy Prophet said, “We also give protection whom you have, O Umme Hani” – H: Bukhari and Muslim.
* Hubairah was the infidel husband of Umme Hani from whom she separated after she accepted Islam. Hence, his son, whom refuge was extended by Umme Hani belonged to people warring against Muslims. Yet, it became the duty of every Muslim, the entire Muslim community, to give protection. The rule holds good even today.