Surah At-Tawba (9) — Ayah 6

And if any one of the polytheists seeks your protection, then grant him protection so that he may hear the Word of Allah [6]. Then escort him to his place of safety. This is because they are a people who do not know.

[6]
A Polytheist Who Seeks Protection Should Be Granted Protection and Taught Islam:

That is, if any polytheist, within these four specified months or afterwards during the period of pursuit and capture, requests, “Teach me the teachings of Islam in full,” then his request should not be rejected. Rather, he should be given refuge so that no other Muslim may harm him. Then, the principles, pillars, and realities of Islam should be explained to him in full. Even then, if he does not accept Islam and adopts a hostile attitude, he should not be killed there; rather, he should be escorted to a place of safety. After that, you may treat him as you would treat other polytheists. This concession is given so that no polytheist may have any excuse left regarding the completion of proof. Granting refuge or protection is, in fact, a kind of fulfillment of a covenant, in which the one granting protection assures the protected person that he takes responsibility for the safety of his life and property from enemies, and he himself will not cause him any harm. The Muslims’ fulfillment of such covenants or protection was so well-known that sometimes the enemy, taking advantage of the Muslims’ unawareness of an incident, obtained protection and gained great benefits, and the Muslims who had granted protection, even after knowing that this protection was obtained through deceit and trickery, still fulfilled that covenant even at their own loss. And even more than this, if only one Muslim—whether free, slave, or woman—grants protection to someone, it is considered protection from all Muslims. Thus, during the conquests of Khuzestan (Iran), the Muslims had besieged a place called Shapur. One day, the townspeople themselves opened the city gates and began to go about their work with great peace of mind. The Muslims were greatly surprised at this. When asked the reason, the townspeople said, “You have already granted us protection on the condition of paying jizya. What dispute remains now?” (It should be noted that the original time for granting protection on the condition of jizya is before the start of battle, not during or after victory.) Everyone was surprised as to who had granted protection. Upon investigation, it was found that a slave had secretly written a note of protection to the people. Abu Musa, the Muslim commander, said that the protection granted by a slave cannot be considered valid. The townspeople said, “We do not distinguish between free and slave.” Finally, a letter was written to Umarؓ. He replied, “A Muslim’s slave is also a Muslim, and whoever he has granted protection, all Muslims have granted protection.” [الفاروق ص 231]

And regarding the protection granted by a woman, consider the following hadith: On the occasion of the conquest of Makkah, Umm Hani came to the Messenger of Allahﷺ. At that time, heﷺ was bathing behind a curtain. Heﷺ asked, “Who is it?” Umm Hani replied, “I am Umm Hani.” Then Umm Hani said, “O Messenger of Allah! My mother’s son (Aliؓ) says that he will kill the son of Hubayra (Umm Hani’s husband), while I have already granted him protection.” Heﷺ said, “Umm Hani! Whoever you have granted protection, we have also granted him protection.” [بخاري كتاب الغسل۔ باب التستر فى الغسل]

Because of this honesty and fulfillment of covenants by the Muslims, the enemy would sometimes obtain protection even through deceit. Thus, during the wars of Iraq and Iran, at the place of Khariq, the armies of Sayyiduna Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah and the Iranian commander Jaban faced each other. Jaban was defeated and captured, but the mujahid who captured him did not recognize him. Jaban took advantage of his ignorance and, promising to give two young slaves in exchange for himself, obtained protection. Meanwhile, someone else recognized him and brought him to Abu Ubaidah. Sayyiduna Abu Ubaidah, seeing the situation, said: “Although letting such an enemy go will be very harmful to us, since a Muslim has already granted him protection, it is not permissible to break the covenant.” Thus, on the basis of that protection, he was released. [تاريخ اسلام۔ حميد الدين ص 132]

Now, in comparison, listen to the story of protection in the Christian world during the Crusades. After the first Crusade, the Muslim king of Tripoli sent a message to Count Bohemond that he was ready to make a treaty, and along with it, he sent ten horses and gold as a gesture of goodwill. All this was happening while Count Bohemond, after granting protection, was putting to death all the men and women of the city. Bohemond, through an interpreter, told the Muslim nobles that if they took refuge in the palace above the main gate, they, their wives, and their children would be granted protection and their property would be returned. Not a single corner of the city was free from the corpses of Muslims, and it had become difficult to walk. Bohemond took the gold, silver, and jewelry from those he had granted protection, and some of them he had killed, while the rest were sold as slaves in Antioch. [پهلي صليبي جنگ ص 45 بحواله جهاد از بريگيڈيئر گلزار احمد ص 267]