Hadith I have been ordered to fight against the people until they testify...: A Study with Respect to Freedom of Belief and Action

Abstract

One of the greatest epistemological accomplishments that Muslims have achieved is the establishment of an accurate system of deriving rulings from Sharia texts, which is known as ‘principles of jurisprudence’ or Usūl ul Fiq. Among the significant contents of these subject is dealing with the text which apparently contradicts to other basic principles of Islam or objectives of Sharī’ah. The job of a jurist becomes more significant and difficult in devising the judgments and interpreting the texts as reported by the fundamentalists: inquiring the validity of the texts, finding its weakness with respect to strong argument, and comparing them in terms of authenticity. Other times, he tries to reconcile between the contradictions by keeping in view a meaning consistent with Sharī’ah. The application of these principles gave birth to the variety and diversity of opinions on account of Ijtihād. Keeping in view the above preamble, the author addressed one of the famous Ahadith of Holy Prophet PBUH: “I have been ordered to fight against the people until they testify...”. This saying of Holy Prophet PBUH attracted Muslim thinkers in past and present to address its meanings and application. Likewise some related debate has emerged in the modern period as regards whether the term "people" in the hadith is used generically or specifically - forcing these people to Islam after defeating? The author in this context, addressed the terminology of hadith, its apparent contradiction with the principles of Sharī’ah, legal maxims, provisions, diverse interpretations, and added his own opinion. Descriptive and qualitative research approach was employed for the collection, demonstration and analysis of data.