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Dar al Harb

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Dar al Harb

Dar al Harb (Arabic: دار الحرب "house of war") refers to areas outside Muslim rule, as opposed to Dar al Islam. The precise designations of such territories can vary widely according to the speakers idea of who is and is not a Muslim, and which governments are or are not Muslim in practice. The inhabitants of the Dar al-Harb are called harbi (Arabic: حربي), as opposed to dhimmi (second class citizens of the book - Christians and Jews) or kufr (non-believers, pagans). According to ancient law, a harbi does not even have the right to live. To enter the territory of Islam (Dar al Islam) he needs a safe-conduct pass called an aman. The term has meaning today for Islamist extremists.

Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi was quoted in As Sarq al Awast of  July 19, 2003 as saying: 

"It has been determined by Islamic law that the blood and property of people of Dar Al-Harb are not protected."

Likewise, Sheikh Ali Gomaa said  in an interview published in July 2003 by the Egyptian newspaper Al-Haqiqa:

"...it is permitted to kill him, because he is a Harbi and the Harbi spreads corruption throughout the face of the earth."

Dar al-Harb, like Dar al Islam and similar terms, are not found in the Quran or in the Hadith which are the core basis of Islam.


Synonyms and alternate spellings::

Further Information:   


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Encyclopedia of the Middle East

Note - This encyclopedia is a work in progress. It is far from complete and is being constructed and improved all the time. If you would like to contribute articles or expansions of existing articles, please contact news (at) mideastweb.org.  Suggestions and corrections are welcome. The concise version of this dictionary is at our Middle East Glossary.

Spelling - Spelling of words in Middle-Eastern languages is often arbitrary. There may be many variants of the same name or word such as Hezbollah, Hizbolla, Hisbolla or Husayn and Hussein. There are some conventions for converting words from Semitic languages such as Arabic and Hebrew There are numerous variant renderings of the same Arabic or Hebrew words, such as "Hizbollah," "Hisbulla" etc. It is not possible to find exact equivalents for several letters. 

Pronunciation - Arabic and Hebrew vowels are pronounced differently than in English. "o" is very short. The "a" is usually pronounced like the "a" in market, sometimes as the "a" in "Arafat."  The " 'A " is guttural.  " 'H "- the 'het ('Hirbeh, 'Hebron, 'Hisbollah') designates a sound somewhat similar to the ch in "loch" in Scots pronunciation, but made by touching the back of your tongue to the roof of your mouth. The CH should be pronounced like Loch, a more assertive consonant than 'het.

The "Gh" combination, and sometimes the "G," designate a deep guttural sound that Westerners may hear approximately as "r." The "r" sound is always formed with the back of the tongue, and is not like the English "r."

More information: Hebrew, Arabic

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