Islamic Archaeology Glossary 2007: Dar al-Islam/Dar al-Harb

Posted at Oct 11/2007 12:26PM:
Audrey von Maluski: Both Dar al-Islam and Dar al-Harb are emic, or culturally specific terms used to describe the world from a Muslim perspective.

Dar al-Islam means 'house of peace' and refers to the dominion of Islam, namely, any structure (be it a home, community, or state) that allows the free practice of Islam. It is most commonly used to delineate countries around the world that are under Islamic rule and thus fully permit the majority expression of Muslim faith.

Dar al-Harb means 'house of war' and refers to the dominion of war around the world. Generally, it refers to any place that Islam cannot be practiced without persecution. It also refers to a country that is not under Islamic rule, and is thus not amenable to the majority of its inhabitants practicing Islam.

The two terms exist as opposites, with the general perception within Islam (both historically and in many modern accounts) that each is always attempting to win back territory and influence from the other.

Posted at Oct 15/2007 09:34AM:
Ian: A couple of points: 1) while these two realms are often seen is dichotomous and in oppposition there was a lot of discussion among early scholars about the practical effects of these terms. What did it mean to be a Muslim in DI vs DH? Some argued that to be truly part of the umma you had to be in DI? Others argued that one of the strategies for making DH into DI was to persevere in those realms? This has had many implications for the Muslim diaspora in the west for instance? But it also mattered in the past for whether one should resist even nominal Muslim authorities if they were not in fact allowing for the free practice of Islam?

2) Islam is best translated as "submission to the will of God" - the arabic word for peace - "salam" is, however, a derivitive coming from the same root. That is that once you have given over to the will of God you will find yourself in a spiritual peace.

3) These are not terms that come from either Quran or prophetic sunna. Thus they are legal/theological/political constructs. They are categories for making sense of a complicated social world in relation with divine presctiptions.

Posted at Oct 16/2007 06:12PM:
Karl Su: I remember noting in class about the possible spiritual connotation of Dar al-Harb- a spiritual war to bring enlightenment to the unenlightened. Pure speculation, but could we be using the vitriol of 'paganism' inherited from crusader times, and imposing it on to the Islamic religion? (Etically imposing our own emic terminology; is a cross-cultural analysis fair and how well can we understand Islam as it is meant to be from our own religious orientations (Christian, Atheist, Agnostic or others?)