Abu bakr RA said
"O army, stop and I will order you ten things. Learn them from me by heart. You shall not engage in treachery. You shall not steal from the booty. (Ghanimah) you shall not act unfaithfully. You shall not engage in deception. You shall not indulge in mutilation.

You shall not kill a young child neither an old man nor a woman. You shall not fall palm trees or burn them. You shall not cut down any fruit bearing tree. You shall not slaughter a sheep or cow or a camel except for food. You will pass by people who will occupy themselves in

Monasteries, leave them alone, and leave them alone with what they have busied themselves with. You will come to a people who will bring vessels which have a variety of food, if you eat anything from these dishes mention the name of Allah over them."

Radiyallahu anhu

Some statements made may seem contradictory but they're not.

Abu Bakr said you shall not engage in deception and Muhammad pbuh said in the hadeeth "war is deception" [Al-Bukhari and Muslim]
Abu bakr said dont kill a child an old man nor a woman but there were two cases when

Muhammad Pbuh ordered the execution of a woman. & we know Muhammad pbuh sent out a group where they attacked an enemy at night in their residence hence in this rare case you'll get collateral damage. Abu Bakr said you shall not fall palm trees or burn them.

But in ghazwat banu nazir Muhammad Pbuh cut down palm trees and burned them.

Now the answers

1.During war you can engage in deception. & you can trick your enemy, but you should not engage in deception when you make an agreement with your enemy.

2. Muhammad never killed

Non combatants, but there was a case where a woman was fighting the muslims, Muhammad Pbuh approved her execution. So the reason why they are soared is because they're non combatants, but the moment they turn to combatants then the ruling applies to them. And in the case of

Attacking an army at night, non combatants should not be harmed, but in a situation if the Muslim community could be harmed then it's a priority to protect the muslims. The protection of the muslims is paramount and comes before anything else.

3. In ghazwat banu Nadhir, banu nadhir decided they are going to hide in their fortresses with loads of ammunition and food, and they could survive a long siege. Their farmland was outside the forts. After betraying Muhammad Pbuh they said "since Muhammad pbuh doesn't corrupt in

"The land hes not going to touch our farms." (Lol) to their amazement they found Muhammad Pbuh cutting the palm trees down & burning them. () they knew they couldn't survive a long siege without their farms, so that action broke their resistance, and the forts fell one by one

And they went around saying "Muhammad Pbuh is claiming he doesn't cause corruption in the land and here he is cutting down our pan trees. Allah revealed an ayah to clarify this matter.

"Whatever you have cut down of [their] palm trees or left standing on their trunks -

it was by permission of Allah and so He would disgrace the defiantly disobedient."

{Qur'an al hashr verse 5}

Allah approved this action. The enemy thought they could take advantage of the kindness of the muslims & the tolerance of the muslims & use it against them.

The ruling is the muslims are tolerant, and the muslims want security for the people. However the tolerance of the muslims is not going to be used against them.

4. Muhammad Pbuh never mutilated the dead bodies of his enemy, nor did he torment them. But in one situation In Bukhari Muhammad held these shepherds, and had their eyes plucked out, arms and legs amputated & left them in the desert to die out of bleeding and thirst.

Bukhari Volume 2, #577

Narrated Anas:

Some people from 'Uraina tribe came to Medina and its climate did not suit them, so Allah's Apostle allowed them to go to the herd of camels (given as Zakat) and they drank their milk and urine (as medicine) but they killed the shepherd

drove away all the camels. So Allah's Apostle sent (men) in their pursuit to catch them, and they were brought, and he had their hands and feet cut, and their eyes were branded with heated pieces of iron and they were left in the Harra (a stony place at Medina) biting the stones

So the Ameer of the muslims needs to know when to apply the general rule AND when to apply the exception of the rule. Like with the monks in Abu bakrs time they devoted their time in worship, the practised celibacy. Abu Bakr RA said leave them alone. Now should that rule hold on

With the templars? The templars were priests, the fighting order of the catholic church. They were the most severe out of the crusading armies. They were basically fighting monks. They wrecked havoc among the Muslim lands in Palestine. So the ameer needs to apply the rule when

To the convenient situation. So the ameer needs to have knowledge so he can apply ijtihad to the situations they're faced with.

End of thread