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Wa`alykum As-Salaamu Warahmatullahi Wabarakaatuh.
In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger.
Brother, we do really appreciate your question, which shows how far you are interested in revealing the truth behind the widespread misconceptions that non-Muslim – and unfortunately ignorant Muslims – are circulating.
As regards your question, what Muslim should concern himself with when dealing with such issue is the interest of Muslims, in particular, and all humans, in general. Islam, as a universal religions, pays great attention to the welfare and well-being of all humans. Its mission is meant to spread peace, tolerance, cooperation, prosperity, etc., amongst all peoples.
Therefore, the division of the world into Dar Al-Islam and Dar Al-Kufr is on the basis of Da`wah, not war. War has no place in Islam except in necessary cases such as defending the Muslim land, honor, and property against violation. In this context, we recall the following Qur’anic verses that lay down the glittering principles to be adopted by Muslims when dealing with non-Muslims:
“Allah forbiddeth you not those who warred not against you on account of religion and drove you not out from your homes, that ye should show them kindness and deal justly with them. Lo ! Allah loveth the just dealers. Allah forbiddeth you only those who warred against you on account of religion and have driven you out from your homes and helped to drive you out, that ye make friends of them. Whosoever maketh friends of them (All) such are wrong doers.” (Al-Mumtahinah: 8-9)
Focusing more on the Question in point, Sheikh Faisal Mawlawi, Deputy Chairman of the European Council for Fatwa and Research, states:
“There is no problem as regards defining the abode of Islam (Dar Al-Islam) and that of disbelief (Dar Al-Kufr). The abode of Islam is any country in which there is a Muslim majority even if its ruler does not completely abide by Islam and even if the government there displays some sort of anti-Islam schemes or policies. In contrast, every country that has a non-Muslim majority is regarded as an abode of disbelief.
It’s noteworthy that this division has no significance save the goal of propagating Islam and spreading its message to all and sundry.
As we see in Muslim countries, Muslim Du`ah (callers to Islam) aim at reforming the systems and exhorting the government so that they will completely abide by the Islamic teachings, whereas in non-Muslim countries they aim at spreading the Islamic message among non-Muslims so as to convince them to embrace Islam.
It’s a fact that some Muslims regard every non-Muslim country as an abode of war (Dar Al-Harb), basing this on the opinions of some jurists who were greatly influenced by certain historical circumstances. In my opinion, this is not true, for the general rule regarding the abode of disbelief is that they should be regarded originally as an abode of Da`wah (calling to Islam) not of war. But they may turn into an abode of war under certain circumstances and within certain conditions.”
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