That the injunction of Quran 47:4 to “strike off their heads” at least appears to have had an eerie fulfillment in recent events can hardly be denied. Islamic military history certainly containssome spectacular precedents, particularly during the Crusades,66 when Muslim armies were fighting European invaders on their home soil, a situation that many in the Muslim world no doubt feel is being replayed currently in Iraq and Afghanistan. Nevertheless, that same history can also produce examples of a different sort. Consider this speech of the caliph Abu Bakr, delivered to the Muslim armies assembled for the invasion of Syria in 632:
In the land you will invade kill neither the aged, nor the little child, nor the woman. Do not force the stylite from his high perch and do not harass the solitary. They have devoted themselves to the service of God. Do not cut down any fruit-tree, neither damage any crop, neither maim any domestic animal, large or small. Wherever you are welcomed by a city or a people, make a solemn pact with them and give them reliable guarantees that they will be ruled according to their laws and according to the practices which obtained among them before our time. They will contract with you to pay in tribute whatever sum shall be settled between you, then they will be left alone in their confession and in their country. But as for those who do not welcome you, make war on them. Be careful to abide by all the just laws and commandments which have been given to you by God through our prophet, lest you excite the wrath of God.67
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