Shaykh Amin Kholwadia recently delivered an address in the nation’s capital that some people did not fully understand or misunderstood. No doubt, these individuals like Shaykh Amin have the good intention of preserving and promoting Islam according to the Qurˀān and the Sunnah. This article seeks to explain his message so that there is no confusion or misunderstanding. Allah, the flawless and the exalted says, “”إِنَّمَا الْمُؤْمِنُونَ إِخْوَةٌ فَأَصْلِحُوا بَيْنَ أَخَوَيْكُمْ وَاتَّقُوا اللَّهَ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُرْحَمُونَ [Believers are only brothers, so reconcile between your brothers and guard yourself against what displeases Allah so that you may be forgiven (Q, 49:10)]. Hence, whenever there is disagreement among Muslims, we should seek reconciliation if possible.
It is clear from the Noble Qurˀān that Allah has revealed different rulings for Dar al-Islām (Muslim lands) and Dar al-Kufr (non-Muslim lands). For example, Allah the flawless and the exalted says,
مَا كَانَ لِمُؤْمِنٍ أَن يَقْتُلَ مُؤْمِنًا إِلَّا خَطَأً ۚ وَمَن قَتَلَ مُؤْمِنًا خَطَأً فَتَحْرِيرُ رَقَبَةٍ مُّؤْمِنَةٍ وَدِيَةٌ مُّسَلَّمَةٌ إِلَىٰ أَهْلِهِ إِلَّا أَن يَصَّدَّقُوا ۚ فَإِن كَانَ مِن قَوْمٍ عَدُوٍّ لَّكُمْ وَهُوَ مُؤْمِنٌ فَتَحْرِيرُ رَقَبَةٍ مُّؤْمِنَةٍ ۖ وَإِن كَانَ مِن قَوْمٍ بَيْنَكُمْ وَبَيْنَهُم مِّيثَاقٌ فَدِيَةٌ مُّسَلَّمَةٌ إِلَىٰ أَهْلِهِ وَتَحْرِيرُ رَقَبَةٍ مُّؤْمِنَةٍ ۖ فَمَن لَّمْ يَجِدْ فَصِيَامُ شَهْرَيْنِ مُتَتَابِعَيْنِ تَوْبَةً مِّنَ اللَّهِ ۗ وَكَانَ اللَّهُ عَلِيمًا حَكِيمًا
[It is not for a Muslim to kill a Muslim except accidentally. Whoever kills a Muslim accidentally, the emancipation of a Muslim slave and monetary compensation submitted to his family except if they are charitable. So, if he is from a people who are your enemies while being a Muslim, emancipation of a believing Muslim. If he is from a people between whom and you there is a covenant, monetary compensation submitted to his family and emancipation of a Muslim slave. So, whoever cannot find (a Muslim slave to emancipate), the fasting of two consecutive months as repentance from Allah. Allah is omniscient and all-wise (Q, 4:92)].
The ruling of accidental killing differs according to the dar (land), so if one were to apply the ruling of Dar al-Islam to Dar al-Kufr, in this case one would actually be disobeying Allah and that would be sinful. Hence, each Dar has to be treated according to its own rules where the rules differ.
To give another example, the Muslim ruler has the wilāyah (legal authority) to carry out both al-amr bil-maˁrūf (commanding the right) and punishment. Hence, if there is a theft for example, the Muslim ruler must both try to stop the thief and then punish him after he is stopped. Muslims in a non-Muslim country, on the other hand, have the obligation to do al-amr bil-maˁrūf but do not have the authority to punish. Hence it would be best for a Muslim who witnesses theft to stop the theft, and if he cannot, to tell the thief to stop, or at the very least he must hate this sin and crime with his heart, but in the case the thief is stopped, for example, and the thief lets go of what he stole, unlike the Muslim ruler, he cannot punish the thief. Punishment can only be done by the ruler. In this case it would be wrong for the Muslim to punish the thief after the theft, as opposed to trying to stop the theft.
This was the point that Shaykh Amin made: Shariah in its full comprehensive sense can and should be applied in Muslim lands and cannot and should not be applied in non-Muslim lands, as this would be disobeying Allah in cases where the rules for the lands differ. The Muslims who did not understand or misunderstood his message thought he meant Muslims should not follow Shariah at all, which is certainly not what he meant. Shariah means any knowledge based on the revelation of the Revealer, which is Allah literally, and the Prophet figuratively. Hence, believing in the oneness of God is Shariah and believing in the angels is Shariah and performing the salat, and believing all the rulings of revelation, including those pertaining to non-Muslim lands is Shariah. For sure, Shaykh Amin did not mean that one should not believe in monotheism or the angels in a non-Muslim country. Shaykh Amin only meant that rulings of the Shariah that pertain to Dār al-Islam and are different from the rulings of Dar al-Kufr cannot be applied in Dār al-Kufr. Hence, the dispute is simply based on a misunderstanding that occurred because the format of his presentation only allowed Shaykh Amin to present his knowledge in a succinct manner. May Allah unite the hearts of Muslims over the truth and always allow us to have ḥusn al-ẓann (good opinion) of Muslims according to the Sunnah of our Noble Prophet, may peace and blessings be upon him and all that follow him.
Author Bio: Dr Muhammed Stodolsky teaches Arabic, Islamic Law, and Islamic Theology. He has studied classical Islamic texts with scholars from Arab, Turkish, and Indian traditions. He earned his M.A. and Ph.D. with honors from the University of Chicago’s Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations. In 2008, he conducted research on the Ḥanafi school of Islamic law in Syria as a Fulbright fellow. [Read his full bio]
Select Publications:
Stodolsky, Muhammed Volkan. “Akbarī and Kalām Ontologies within Sunnī Islam.” Journal of Islamic Philosophy. Volume 16, Issue 2, 2025.
Stodolsky, Muhammed Volkan. What is a Kalima, What is a Definition: The Relationship between Logic and Grammar in the Later Arabic Linguistic Tradition. The American Society of Islamic Philosophy and Theology Online Journal. 2023.
Stodolsky M.V., Padela A.I. (2021) Abortion in Hanaf ī Law. In: Bagheri A. (eds) Abortion. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-
Muhammed Volkan Yildiran Stodolsky and Mohammed Amin Kholwadia, “A Jurisprudential (Usūlī) Framework for Cooperation between Muslim Jurists and Physicians and Its Application to the Determination of Death.” In Medicine and Shariah: A Dialogue in Islamic Bioethics
by Aasim I. Padela and Ebrahim Moosa
Publisher: University of Notre Dame Press (June 15, 2021)
