Dar Al-Dawah

THE ISSUE OF KUFR AND KAFIR Dar al-Dawah The terms Dar al-Kufr and Bilad al-Kuffar came into use during the Abbasid period. Prior to that, these expressions were not commonly used among Muslims. In my view, the introduction of these terms was incorrect. The sound position is that an Islamic country should be referred to as Dar al-Salam, while all other countries should be described as Dar al-Dawah. Every country other than Dar al-Salam falls under Dar alDawah, even if it may appear hostile to Muslims. The Quran states, with reference to the Prophet of Islam : “And this is a Book which We have sent down, blessed and confirming what came before it, so that you may warn the Mother of Cities and those around it” (6:93). In this verse, Umm al-Qura refers to Makkah. At the time of revelation, Makkah was under the control of non-Muslims, and even the Kabah had been turned into a center of idol worship. Yet the Quran does not describe Makkah as Dar al-Kufr or Madinat al-Kufr. Instead, it calls it Umm al-Qura and assigns the task of warning—that is, invitation (dawah). From this, it can be inferred that regions under nonMuslim dominance are, in Islamic terminology, to be regarded as Dar al-Dawah or Dar al-Indhar. Therefore,