Fiqh, or Islamic jurisprudence, is a product of the exercise of human reflection, deduction, and ijtihad, and is not itself a form of divine knowledge. The development and compilation of the corpus of fiqh began after the period of the Prophet Muhammad and his Companions, particularly at the time of the Abbasids. The ulama of that period reflected on the Quran and Hadith and developed certain terms on their own. Three key terms in this regard are dar al-islam (‘abode of Islam’), dar al-kufr (‘abode of  infidelity’) and dar al-harb (‘abode of war’). The fuqaha, scholars of fiqh, made further finer distinctions within each of these daars or ‘abodes’, but here I will consider only these three main terms.

The conditions for which the later fuqaha invented the terms dar al-islam, dar al-kufr and dar al-harb were present at the time of the Prophet at different stages of his life and in different places. Yet, these places were not referred to at the time of the Prophet by these terms. Under these circumstances, one can rightly argue that, in coining these terms, the fuqaha of the Abbasid period exceeded the bounds of legitimate ijtihad. In other words, they sought to do something for which they did not have the right. It can, therefore, be clearly stated that these terms coined by the fuqaha are an instance of erroneous ijtihad. Hence, a scholar of Islam is within his rights in rejecting this ijtihad. Since they represent a bidat—innovation in religious matters—they must be rejected, for in a hadith report the Prophet said, “Whoever innovates into this matter of our religion that which does not belong to it, it will be rejected. (Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith No. 2697). This means the Prophet of Islam exhorted Muslims to reject anything new that might be sought to be added in the name of religion.

From the Quran, it is evident that God does not view the world on the basis of, or in terms of, divisions between dar al-islam, dar al-kufr and dar al-harb. God regards all human beings through one, and only one, perspective. He will deal with human beings after their death by the single common criterion of deeds performed on earth. In this regard, it is pertinent to note that the Quran sternly forbids people from imagining that they are loved more by God than other peoples just because they belong to a certain community. (The Quran, 5:18) The Quran clearly states that in God’s eyes a person’s value is determined not on the basis of his communitarian association or race, but, rather, on the basis of his or her own actions. (The Quran, 53:39)

These statements of the Quran indicate, therefore, that the true Islamic perspective is to see the cosmos in terms of God versus humanity, rather than in terms of Muslims versus non-Muslims. The latter way of thinking is a narrow, communal one, and has no relationship with the Quran or Islam. It is against God’s creation plan, for God has made this world for all His creatures, and not just for Muslims alone. This is why, in the light of the Quran, if the concept of daar or abode is to be used, it can be said that the entire world is dar al-insan or ‘abode of humanity’.

Source: Jihad, Peace and Inter-Community Relations in Islam