This article discusses the limitation of: (Dar el Kofr - Dar el Islam), abode of Islam and land of Kufr, thesis from an academic, Fiqhi standpoint. I am mainly reviewing an article written (in Arabic) by Abdul-Rahman al Hajj.

To view Abdul-Rahman al Hajj's article in Arabic:
http://www.islamonline.net/arabic/contemporary/2006/02/article04.shtml

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* The main reason why some scholars disallow (or even discourage) living in "non-Muslim" countries, stems from the limitation of having to categorize the world into (Dar el-Kufr) and (Dar el-Islam). To keep this concept true, many scholars hold contemporary Muslim minorities to perceptions formed to fit the condition of the oppressed Muslims living under Roman and Persian Empires, more than a 1000 years ago. A quick comparison of the socio-political state of religious minorities, throughout the history, reveals the drastic changes in their conditions as the world changes. This calls for a constant re-analysis of the nature of the relationship between Muslims and others. Also, new categories need to be formed to fit the modern description of religious minorities.

* This “either-or“, “black-or-white” description of the world came merely as a result of the political reality set at the time period. As an example, al-Hajj mentions scholars’ lack of reliance on Quranic text, in their academic research, and their use of Sunnah as merely supporting evidence to their “two Dars” thesis. As a result, the concept of “Dar” (abode) was confined by the limitation of the sovereignty of the Khilafa. Since the Khilafa has been abolished, the description no longer fits under new secular-ruled Muslim nations. Hence, contemporary scholars make the distinction between “Muslim lands” and “Islamic countries” to relieve the problematic approach of the above mentioned concept.

* Several categories have been formed by scholars to include other social/political structures, such as “land of peace,” and “land of Da’wa,“ but these fall outside the scope of detailed academic research. Therefore, we are left with the two main categories, Islam and Kufr. Moreover, the place of the Muslim Empire, as a superpower, in the world order of the time, required her to be at constant wars with leading powers (survival rule). The land of Kufr became by convention, the “land of war.” To the point of which many scholars were using these two terms interchangeably. The problem with this arises from the fact that a default-state-of-war against anyone who is not Muslim contradicts the Quranic text. And in contemporary times, this concept opens the door to constant cycle of violence, since everyone in the “land of war” becomes a “legal” target due to their support of the regime; hence, the September 11th and other acts of violence carried out, since the radical Islamist groups have adapted this interpretation as the basis of their ideologies.

O.E.