Dār al-ḥarb

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Dār al-ḥarb (Arab., ‘abode of war’). Territory outside Muslim jurisdiction; the opposite of dār al-Islām. In theory, jihād is commanded, since inhabitants of such territory are at war with the Muslim ʾumma. Qurʾān 9. 5 commands the Muslims to fight and slay the polytheists. There has been, more recently, an increased emphasis on a third category, the ‘domain of covenant’ or ‘of agreement’, dār alṣulḥ.