Concluding Statements
Based on the numerous narrations mentioned in this paper, it is evident that violence against people, who are either not fighting or not able to fight, is strictly prohibited.
The very circumstance that a person is not fighting is the legal foundation of this ban, as has been laid out earlier. Subsequently, it comes as no surprise that various parts of the populace have been mentioned in relation to this ban. This too has been highlighted in this paper on several occasions.
Islamic jurists consider this prohibition to be valid for all people to whom these justifications apply, even if the traditions do not expressly name them. Examples of such are the blind, the frail and the chronically ill (in Arabic az-zamin, pl. az-zamna).
This prohibition transcended Islamic literature since the early beginnings and remained over the centuries, to this day. Besides the narrations from the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم, this is illustrated in statements from the first two caliphs who preceded him and the later Umayyad-Caliph 'Umar ibnu 'Abdi l-'Aziz. In addition, the named prohibition was abundantly recorded and transmitted by exegetes, narrators and scholars of hadith of the first century.
Islamic societies could by no means contradict this. Individual violations must have been certain on the basis of human nature. However, I would not know, and it seems to be very outlandish, that Muslim societies would have systemically practiced such misconduct.
An infringement of this ruling, given the clarity of its prohibition, would never find societal acceptance in an Islamic society. Provided that the people at hand generally adhere to Islamic laws.
Anyone who considers the subject discussed here will have to pass the sober judgment that – especially during those times – such precise formulations of guidelines, laws and restrictions are truly remarkable.
Those people, who on preconceived notion blame Islam for the violent and inhumane crimes committed by a faction of its followers, and defame it as a religion which endorses or even glorifies such actions, should consider reassessing their opinions, in the light of the narrations above.
In terms of the use of force, a comparative look in the Bible, especially in the Old Testament, reveals extreme discrepancies to Islamic traditions. A neutral observer will have to cast the question how many statements in the Qur'an even approximate those of the Old Testament. Closer research into this question might uncover surprising results. However, this is not the ambition of this short paper.
In present warfare, practices that contradict the guidelines Islam has outlined, are very often to be found.
This aspect calls those specific groups which assertively claim to adhere to Islam's laws and prohibitions into play. After all, it is expected of them to strictly comply with the teachings of Islam as they have persistently emphasized their affiliation and devotion to the religion. It is therefore not unusual that one might question precisely them in this regard and how their actions do not seem to represent Islamic guidelines.
For this reason, I have been sharply criticising these groups in my written and verbal publications since 2010.