Permission for Night-Raid, Lying, and Deception in War
Written by: Imran Ayyub Lahori
Attacking the disbelievers by night (a surprise night-raid), telling lies, and using deception are permissible in war.
① It is narrated from Sa‘b ibn Jathāmah رضي الله عنه that the people asked the Prophet ﷺ about the children of the polytheists:
بيتون فيصيبون من نسائهم و ذراريهم
"Their households are attacked at night; will their women and children be struck as well?" The Prophet ﷺ replied: ”هم بھی انہی میں سے ہیں۔“ — “They too are from them.”
[Al-Bukhārī: 3012; Kitāb al-Jihād wa al-Siyar: Bāb Ahl al-Dār yubītūn fa yuṣāb al-wilādān wa al-dhurārī; Muslim: 1745; Abū Dāwūd: 2672; Tirmidhī: 1570; Ibn Mājah: 2839; Aḥmad: 37/4]
② Salmah ibn ʿAqwah رضي الله عنه reports:
بيتنا هوازن مع أبى بكر الصديق — “We made a night-raid on the tribe of Hawāzin together with Abū Bakr aṣ-Ṣiddīq رضي الله عنه.”
[Ṣaḥīḥ: Ṣaḥīḥ Abū Dāwūd: 2297; Aḥmad: 46/4; Abū Dāwūd: 2638; Kitāb al-Jihād: Bāb fī al-Biyāt; Ibn Mājah: 2840; Dārimī: 219/2; Ḥākim: 107/1]
(Imām Shawkānī رحمه الله) finds evidence in this ḥadīth that night-raids against disbelievers are permissible.
[Nayl al-Awtār: 717/4]
(Imām Tirmidhī رحمه الله) reports that some scholars permitted night attacks while others disliked them. Imām Aḥmad رحمه الله and Imām Isḥāq رحمه الله are reported to have said that there is no harm in making a night-raid on the enemy.
[Tirmidhī: 122/4]
① It is narrated from Jābir رضي الله عنه that when the Prophet ﷺ sent Muḥammad ibn Muslimah to kill Ka‘b ibn Ashraf (a Jewish leader), he asked: فأذن لي فأقول…… قال قد فعلت — “Grant me permission to say something” (i.e., a deceptive remark), and the Prophet ﷺ replied: “I have permitted you.” He then went and said to Ka‘b: إن هذا يعني النبى صلى الله عليه وسلم قد عنّانا و سألنا الصدقة — “Indeed, this Prophet ﷺ has burdened us and asks us for charity.”
[Muslim: 1801; Kitāb al-Jihād wa al-Siyar: Bāb Qatl Kaʿb ibn al-Ashraf; Al-Bukhārī: 3032]
② Umm Kulthūm bint ʿUqbah reports: she did not hear the Prophet ﷺ permit lying except in: إلا فى الحرب والإصلاح بين الناس وحديث الرجل امرأته وحديث المرأة زوجها — “except in war, in reconciling people, in a man’s speech with his wife, and a woman’s speech with her husband.”
[Muslim: 2605; Kitāb al-Birr wa al-Ṣilah wa al-Ādāb: Bāb Taḥrīm al-Kadhib wa Bayān al-Mubāḥ minhu; al-Bukhārī: 2692; Abū Dāwūd: 4921; Tirmidhī: 1938; Aḥmad: 403/6; Nisā’ī fī al-Sunan al-Kubrā: 351/5]
(Imām Nawawī رحمه الله) explains that apparent meaning permits actual falsehood in these three matters, though using equivocation or ambiguous speech (ma‘āriḍ) is superior.
[Sharḥ Muslim: 404/8]
① It is narrated from Jābir رضي الله عنه that the Prophet ﷺ said: الحرب خدعة — “War is deception.”
[Al-Bukhārī: 3030; Kitāb al-Jihād wa al-Siyar: Bāb al-Ḥarb Khid‘ah; Muslim: 1739]
② A similar meaning is reported from Abū Hurayrah رضي الله عنه.
[Al-Bukhārī: 3029; Kitāb al-Jihād wa al-Siyar: Bāb al-Ḥarb Khid‘ah; Muslim: 1740]
(Imām Ibn Qudāmah رحمه الله) states that deceiving the opposing enemy in war is permissible.
[Al-Mughni: 41/13]
(Imām Nawawī رحمه الله) notes that scholars agree on the permissibility of deceiving the disbelievers in war by all permissible means, provided that breaking a treaty or violating an oath is not involved.
[Sharḥ Muslim: 45/12]
