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Defense of the Homeland

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An image of Iranian combatants during the War against Baath Regime of Saddam

Defense of the Homeland is considered a collective duty (al-wajib al-kifa'i) for all capable individuals. Although jurists (fuqaha) have discussed the defense of the Islamic homeland (Dar al-Islam) under the section of Defensive Jihad in the book of Jihad (Bab al-Jihad), some have provided arguments to prove the obligation of defending the homeland (regardless of religion).

Whether the homeland is Islamic or not, defending it is necessary according to the ruling of Shari'a, reason ( 'aql), and conscience. Islam values the homeland, and Qur'anic verses and narrations have emphasized its defense. Qur'an 60:8 and Qur'an 60:8 and Quran 2:246, narrations on the importance of the homeland, the famous sentence "Hubb al-watan min al-iman" (Love of the homeland is part of faith), reason, the Sira of the Rational People (Sirat al-'uqala), and the rule of Legitimate Defense are among the proofs for the obligation of defending the homeland. It is said that when the defense of the homeland serves as the defense of religion, its value is multiplied.

Those who are killed in the path of defending the homeland are considered martyrs and, according to the fatwa of jurists, they are subject to the rulings of a martyr regarding Ghusl and Kafan (shrouding). The Iran-Iraq War, the wars in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip, the resistance of the people of Yemen against the aggression on their country, and the Fatwa for Jihad by scholars against Russia, Britain, Israel, and ISIS are instances of defense of the homeland by Shi'as that occurred between the 19th and 21st centuries. In some cases, jurists themselves participated in these Jihads.

Status

Defense of the homeland is a topic discussed in fiqh[1] and international law.[2] Although Shi'a jurists have discussed the defense of the Islamic homeland (Dar al-Islam) under the section of Defensive Jihad in the book of Jihad,[3] some contemporary jurists have separately discussed topics related to the defense of the homeland (regardless of religion) and have presented arguments to prove its obligation.[4]

Narrations emphasize the importance and necessity of guarding the borders and defending them,[5] and in the literature of the Islamic Republic of Iran, those who are killed in the path of defending the homeland are called martyrs;[6] according to the Fatwa of jurists, they have the rulings of a martyr regarding Ghusl and Kafan.[7] Regardless of being Islamic, the homeland is considered a value[8] and is respected from the perspective of Islam.[9] Abdullah Jawadi Amuli, a Qur'an exegete, emphasizes that one who does not defend their homeland is lower than an animal.[10]

Relationship with Defensive Jihad

Defensive Jihad is the struggle against any enemy who intends to destroy the religion of Islam or invade Islamic lands.[11] The purpose of Defensive Jihad is to preserve Islam as well as the lives, property, and honor of Muslims.[12] Defensive Jihad is considered a collective duty (al-wajib al-kifa'i) for men and women capable of fighting.[13] Therefore, Defensive Jihad concerns the defense of the Islamic homeland (Dar al-Islam), which is obligatory according to the fatwa of jurists.[14] However, if the homeland is not Islamic, the discussion of defending the homeland arises, which is also considered obligatory by the ruling of Shari'a and reason,[15] and some have even considered its necessity to be innate (fiṭrī).[16]

Muhammad Taqi Misbah Yazdi, a Mujtahid and Qur'an exegete, while emphasizing the value of defending the homeland, states that the defense of homelands does not have equal value; when defending the homeland is a prelude to defending religion and the survival of Islam and the Islamic government, its value is certainly much higher than defending a non-Islamic homeland.[17] Thus, it is said that in a conflict between defending the homeland and Defensive Jihad, the defense of religion will certainly take precedence.[18] Of course, it is clear that often the goal of defending the homeland is defending lives, property, and honor, which is Defensive Jihad itself.[citation needed]

Proofs for the Obligation of Defending the Homeland

Arguments have been cited to prove the necessity of defending the homeland:[19]

Instances of Defense of the Homeland by Shi'as

Main article: Fatwa for Jihad

In numerous wars, Shi'a jurists have ruled for the defense of the homeland; including: The Iran-Iraq War, which is referred to as "Sacred Defense"[34] and is an instance of defending the homeland, carried out by Iranians against the invasion of Saddam under the decree of Imam Khomeini as the Guardian Jurist (Wali al-Faqih).[35] Sayyid Ali Khamenei also considered "the sense of confronting the enemy" as one of the motivations of the combatants in the Iran-Iraq War.[36]

Also, the 12-Day War between Iran and Israel,[37] the 33-Day War in Lebanon, the defense of the people of the Gaza Strip against the invasion of Israel,[38] the defense of the people of Yemen of their country against the invasion of forces known as the Coalition Forces,[39] are considered other instances of defense of the homeland in the contemporary era.

In addition, in some attacks by enemies on countries, jurists have issued a Fatwa for Jihad and ordered the defense of the homeland, and in some of them, the jurists themselves participated.[40] For example, in the years 1241/1825 to 1243/1827, Shi'a scholars such as Ja'far Kashif al-Ghita', Sayyid Ali Tabataba'i, Mirza al-Qummi, Mulla Ahmad Naraqi, and Sayyid Muhammad al-Mujahid issued a Fatwa for Jihad against Russian forces to defend Iran.[41] In Iraq as well, with the issuance of the Fatwa of Jihad by Muhammad Taqi Shirazi, the 1920 Iraqi Revolt (Thawrat al-'Ishrin) was formed against colonialism and British forces, especially in Shi'a populated areas.[42] Abd al-Karim Zanjani, a Shi'a contemporary jurist, issued a fatwa for Jihad against Israel in 1948,[43] and in 2014, Sayyid Ali Sistani issued a Fatwa for Jihad against ISIS to confront the advances of ISIS in Iraq and defend the country.[44]

Of course, it is said that the mentioned cases were defense of the homeland as a prelude to the defense of religion.[citation needed]

Notes

  1. ↑ Najafī, al-. Jawāhir al-kalām. 1362 Sh, vol. 21, p. 15; Khūʾī, al-. Ṣirāṭ al-najāh. 1416 AH, vol. 1, p. 328.
  2. ↑ Nādirī. Difāʿ-i mashrūʿ-i mawḍūʿ-i mādda-yi 51-i manshūr-i milal-i muttaḥid. 1351 Sh, p. 33.
  3. ↑ Ḥalabī, Abū l-Ṣalāḥ al-. Al-Kāfī fī l-fiqh. 1403 AH, p. 246; Shahīd al-Thānī, al-. Masālik al-afhām. 1413 AH, vol. 3, p. 8; Najafī, al-. Jawāhir al-kalām. 1362 Sh, vol. 21, p. 15.
  4. ↑ Ḥusaynī Shīrāzī, al-. Al-Fiqh, al-silm wa al-salām. 1426 AH, p. 270; "Waṭan dūstī az manẓar-i Āyatullāh al-ʿUẓmā Makārim Shīrāzī", Website of Ayatollah Makarem Shirazi.
  5. ↑ Ṣadūq, al-. Kitāb man lā yaḥḍuruhu al-faqīh. 1413 AH, vol. 2, p. 284; Al-Sahifa al-Sajjadiyya, Supplication 27.
  6. ↑ "Āʾīn-nāma-yi taʿyīn wa iḥrāz-i maṣādīq-i shahīd wa īthārgar iblāgh shud", ISNA.
  7. ↑ Imām Khumaynī. Istiftāʾāt. 1422 AH, vol. 1, pp. 78-89; Sīstānī. "Hama-yi kasānī ki dar difāʿ az waṭan kushta mī-shawand, shahīd maḥsūb mī-shawand", IRNA.
  8. ↑ "Bayānāt dar dīdār-i pīshkiswatān wa faʿʿālān-i difāʿ-i muqaddas wa muqāwamat", The Office of Preservation and Publication of the Works of Grand Ayatollah Khamenei.
  9. ↑ "Waṭan dūstī az manẓar-i Āyatullāh al-ʿUẓmā Makārim Shīrāzī", Website of Ayatollah Makarem Shirazi.
  10. ↑ Jawādī Āmulī. "Dars-i akhlāq-i Āyatullāh Jawādī Āmulī darbāra-yi difāʿ az waṭan".
  11. ↑ Najafī, al-. Jawāhir al-kalām. 1362 Sh, vol. 21, p. 15.
  12. ↑ Ḥalabī, Abū l-Ṣalāḥ al-. Al-Kāfī fī l-fiqh. 1403 AH, p. 246; Shahīd al-Thānī, al-. Masālik al-afhām. 1413 AH, vol. 3, p. 8; Najafī, al-. Jawāhir al-kalām. 1362 Sh, vol. 21, p. 4.
  13. ↑ Shahīd al-Thānī, al-. Masālik al-afhām. 1413 AH, vol. 3, p. 8.
  14. ↑ Shahīd al-Thānī, al-. Al-Rawḍat al-bahiyya. 1410 AH, vol. 2, p. 379; Najafī, al-. Jawāhir al-kalām. 1362 Sh, vol. 21, p. 4.
  15. ↑ Ghaḍanfarī. Rah-i rastigārī. 1382 Sh, vol. 2, p. 104.
  16. ↑ Miṣbāḥ Yazdī. "Difāʿ az dīn; arzishmand-tarīn difāʿ", Official Website of Ayatollah Misbah Yazdi.
  17. ↑ Miṣbāḥ Yazdī. "Difāʿ az dīn; arzishmand-tarīn difāʿ", Official Website of Ayatollah Misbah Yazdi.
  18. ↑ Miṣbāḥ Yazdī. "Difāʿ az dīn; arzishmand-tarīn difāʿ", Official Website of Ayatollah Misbah Yazdi.
  19. ↑ Ghaḍanfarī. Rah-i rastigārī. 1382 Sh, vol. 2, p. 104; "Waṭan dūstī az manẓar-i Āyatullāh al-ʿUẓmā Makārim Shīrāzī", Website of Ayatollah Makarem Shirazi.
  20. ↑ Ghaḍanfarī. Rah-i rastigārī. Vol. 2, pp. 104-105; "Waṭan dūstī az manẓar-i Āyatullāh al-ʿUẓmā Makārim Shīrāzī", Website of Ayatollah Makarem Shirazi.
  21. ↑ Ghaḍanfarī. Rah-i rastigārī. Vol. 2, pp. 104-105; "Waṭan dūstī az manẓar-i Āyatullāh al-ʿUẓmā Makārim Shīrāzī", Website of Ayatollah Makarem Shirazi.
  22. ↑ Makārim Shīrāzī. Tafsīr-i namūna. 1374 Sh, vol. 16, pp. 184-185; Makārim Shīrāzī. Payām-i Imām Amīr al-Muʾminīn (a). 1386 Sh, vol. 2, p. 221.
  23. ↑ Ibn Shuʿba al-Ḥarrānī. Tuḥfat al-ʿuqūl. 1404 AH, p. 207.
  24. ↑ Ṣadūq, al-. ʿUyūn akhbār al-Riḍā (a). 1378 AH, vol. 2, p. 28.
  25. ↑ Nahj al-balāgha. Subḥī Ṣāliḥ. P. 69, Sermon 27.
  26. ↑ Ṣadūq, al-. Man lā yaḥḍuruhu al-faqīh. 1413 AH, vol. 4, p. 370; Laythī al-Wāsiṭī. ʿUyūn al-ḥikam wa al-mawāʿiẓ. 1376 Sh, p. 295.
  27. ↑ Ghaḍanfarī. Rah-i rastigārī. 1382 Sh, vol. 2, p. 104.
  28. ↑ Abū l-Futūḥ al-Rāzī. Rawḍ al-jinān. 1408 AH, vol. 17, p. 299; Karājakī, al-. Kanz al-fawāʾid. 1410 AH, vol. 1, p. 94.
  29. ↑ Najafī, al-. Jawāhir al-kalām. 1362 Sh, vol. 41, p. 650.
  30. ↑ Nādirī. Difāʿ-i mashrūʿ-i mawḍūʿ-i mādda-yi 51-i manshūr-i milal-i muttaḥid. 1351 Sh, p. 33.
  31. ↑ Imām Khumaynī. Taḥrīr al-wasīla. 1392 Sh, vol. 1, p. 463; ʿAwda. Al-Tashrīʿ al-jināʾī. Vol. 1, p. 473; ʿAṭṭār. Difāʿ-i mashrūʿ wa tajāwuz az ḥudūd-i ān. 1370 Sh, p. 27.
  32. ↑ Fāḍil al-Hindī, al-. Kashf al-lithām. 1416 AH, vol. 10, p. 649.
  33. ↑ Warʿī. "Mabānī-yi fiqhī-yi difāʿ az sarzamīn-hā-yi Islāmī". Ḥukūmat-i Islāmī.
  34. ↑ "Chirā jang-i taḥmīlī-yi Īrān bā ʿIrāq rā difāʿ-i muqaddas mī-nāmand?", Shabestan.
  35. ↑ Imām Khumaynī. Ṣaḥīfa-yi Imām. 1389 Sh, vol. 13, pp. 221-226; Marandī. Jang wa difāʿ dar andīsha-yi Imām Khumaynī. 1387 Sh, p. 57.
  36. ↑ "Bayānāt dar dīdār-i dast-andarkārān-i kungira-yi shuhadā-yi ustān-i Alborz", The Office of Preservation and Publication of the Works of Grand Ayatollah Khamenei.
  37. ↑ "Dastāwardhā-yi difāʿ-i muqaddas-i 12 rūza-yi Īrān dar barābar-i rzhīm-i Ṣahyūnī", Defapress.
  38. ↑ "Mardum-i Filasṭīn dar ḥāl-i difāʿ az khūd dar barābar-i ishghālgarān hastand", Mehr News Agency.
  39. ↑ "Thamara-yi 10 sāl muqāwamat-i Yaman wa kābūs-i bī-pāyān-i Āmrīkā wa Isrāʾīl", Tasnim.
  40. ↑ Āqāzāda. "Taḥlīlī bar naqsh-i rūḥāniyūn-i Shīʿa dar dawra-yi duwwum-i janghā-yi Īrān wa Rūs". Faṣlnāma-yi Shīʿa-shināsī.
  41. ↑ Zargarī-nizhād. "Barrasī-yi aḥkām al-jihād wa asbāb al-rashād (nakhustīn athar dar adabīyāt-i takwīn-i adabīyāt-i jihādī-yi tārīkh-i muʿāṣir-i Īrān)". P. 383; Āqāzāda. "Taḥlīlī bar naqsh-i rūḥāniyūn-i Shīʿa dar dawra-yi duwwum-i janghā-yi Īrān wa Rūs". Faṣlnāma-yi Shīʿa-shināsī.
  42. ↑ Āghā Buzurg al-Ṭihrānī. Ṭabaqāt aʿlām al-Shīʿa. 1430 AH, vol. 13, p. 263.
  43. ↑ Sarḥadī. "ʿUlamāʾī ki nisbat bi masʾala-yi Filasṭīn wākunesh nishān dādand", Institute for Iranian Contemporary Historical Studies.
  44. ↑ Khaṭṭāb. "Tawẓīf al-Ḥashd al-Shaʿbī fī l-madrak al-siyāsī al-ʿIrāqī". Pp. 107-108.

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