“... in this age, we need to rethink things that were said, and opinions that were held, in the previous ages; maybe they were appropriate for their time and for their situation, but they haven't remained appropriate for this age, with the tremendous amount of new situations and conditions that did not occur to the minds of the previous scholars, and uttering their opinion today takes away from Islam and its nation, and defaces the call of Islam.

Among these [outdated opinions]: Dividing the world into dar-al-Islam [Home of Islam] and dar-al-harb [Home of War], and assuming that the principle in the relationship between Muslims and non-Muslims is war, and that armed struggle is an obligratory act upon the nation, and so on.

The truth is that these sayings are no longer fit for our time, and there are no authentic Islamic texts that back them, rather, there are many texts that contradict them.

Islam speaks about [amiable] relationships between all humanity: "And we made you nations and tribes so that you may know each other" [Quran 49:13].

And Islam considers peace and the avoidance of war a blessing. And it followed the Battle of the Trench with the saying: "Allah sent back the unbelievers in their rage, and they gained no good. Allah spared the believers from fighting" [Quran 33:25].

And it considers the peace treaty of Hudaibiyyah a great victory and it expects gratitude from the Prophet and the Muslims in this sura that it prevents the two parties from fighting, thus it says: "And He it is who, in the valley of Mecca, stayed their hands from you, and your hands from them, after He had enabled you to vanquish them" [Quran 48:24].

And the Prophet ﷺ dislikes the word "war" so much that he says: 'The best names are haarith ["one who strives"] and humaam ["one who has great resolve"], and the ugliest names are harb ["war"] and marrah ["bitter"]'.