“Al-hilf” a harshen Larabci yana nufin alkawari da abota. Ana cewa “halifuhu” daga “’ahiduhu” (ya yi alkawari da shi). Sai dai kalmar “al-hilf” ana amfani da ita ne saboda ma’anar ta ta musamman (ta fasaha), domin galibi ana amfani da ita ga kawancen soji musamman. Kawancen soji yarjejeniyoyi ne da ake kulla tsakanin kasashe biyu ko fiye, wadanda ke sa rundunonin sojinsu su yi yaki tare da makiya guda, ko su musanya bayanan soji ko kayan yaki a tsakaninsu, ko kuma idan daya daga cikinsu ya shiga yaki, za su tuntubi juna don shiga yakin tare ko kuma kin shiga, bisa ga abin da muradansu suka nuna musu. Wadannan kawance na iya zama yarjejeniyoyi biyu da aka kulla tsakanin kasashe biyu ko uku ko fiye da haka, amma ba sa daukar harin da aka kai wa daya daga cikin kasashen da suka kulla yarjejeniyar a matsayin harin da aka kai wa dukansu; sai dai idan an kai hari kan daya daga cikin kasashen da ke yarjejeniyar, to kasar da aka kai wa hari, da kasashen da ke da kawancen soji da ita, za su iya shelar yaki tare da kasar da ta kai harin, ko kuma ba za su yi ba, gwargwadon yadda muradansu suka nuna. Kuma wadannan kawance na iya zama kawance na gama-gari, wanda a cikinsa ake daukar harin da aka kai wa daya daga cikin kasashen yarjejeniyar a matsayin harin da aka kai wa dukansu, ta yadda idan yaki ya barke tsakanin daya daga cikinsu da kowace kasa, sauran kasashen yarjejeniyar za su shiga yanayin yaki da wannan kasa. Dukkan wadannan kawance, ko biyu ne ko na gama-gari ko fiye da haka, suna bukatar sojoji su yi yaki tare da abokin kawancensu domin kare shi da kasarsa, ko da shugabanni sun yi yawa ko daya ne kacal.

“Al-hilf” in the language is the covenant and friendship. It is said “halifuhu” from “’ahiduhu” (he covenanted with him). Except that the word “al-hilf” is used because a technical definition as it is mostly used for military alliance specifically. Military alliances are the alliances contracted between two or more States which make their armies fight together with a common enemy, or make military information or war tools exchangeable between them, or if one of them enters into war they will consult with each other to enter war together or not according to the interests they see. These alliances could be dual treaties contracted between two or three or more States, but they do not consider aggression upon one of the States an aggression against all of them; rather if aggression occurs upon one of the treaty States, the State upon which aggression occurrs, the States with which it has a military alliance and in the light of their benefit they would announce war together with the State facing aggression against the aggressor State or not. And these alliances could be collective alliances in which it is considered that aggression against one of the treaty States an aggression against all of them, so that if there occurs war between one of them with any State then all other treaty States will enter into the situation of war with this State. All of these alliances, whether they were dual or collective or other than that, necessitate that the army fights with its ally to protect it and its entity whether there were numerous leaders or a single leader.

Waɗannan ƙawance-ƙawance ba su da inganci tun daga tushensu, kuma ba a ƙulla su bisa doka ba. Saboda haka al'ummar Musulmi ba ta da wajibci a kansu, ko da Khalifan Musulmi ne ya ƙulla su, domin sun saɓa wa Shari'a, tun da hakan zai sa Musulmi yă yi yaƙi a ƙarƙashin ikon kafiri da kuma ƙarƙashin tutar kufur, kuma zai sa shi yă yi yaƙi don kare wata ƙungiya ta kufur; duk wannan haram ne. Ba a halatta wa Musulmi yă yi yaƙi sai a ƙarƙashin jagorancin Musulmi da kuma tutar Musulunci. An zo da haramcin yin yaƙi a ƙarƙashin tutar kafirai da ikonsu a cikin hadisi sahihi, inda Ahmad da An-Nasa'i suka ruwaito daga Anas, wanda ya ce: Manzon Allah ﷺ ya ce:

These alliances are void from their basis and are not contracted legitimately. So the Ummah is not obliged with them even if the Muslims’ Khalifah contracted them as it contradicts the Shar’a since it would make the Muslim fight under a Kafir authority and under a kufr banner, and makes him fight in order to preserve a kufr entity; all this is haram. It is not allowed for a Muslim to fight except under Muslim leadership and under the Islamic banner. There came a prohibition in the sahih hadith against fighting under the disbelievers’ banner and their authority, Ahmad and An-Nisa’i narrated from Anas who said: The Messenger of Allah (saw) said:

Watau, kada ku mayar da wutar mushrikai hasken ku. Wutar kalma ce ta nuni ga yaƙi; an ce "wutar yaƙi ta kunna", watau an kira mugunta da zafin tashin hankalinsa zuwa wanzuwa. Haka kuma wutar tsoro wuta ce da Larabawan jahiliyya suke kunnawa a lokacin ƙawance. Hadisin yana nuni ga yaƙi tare da mushrikai da karɓar tutarsu, don haka hana yaƙi tare da mushrikai ana fahimtarsa daga gare shi.

I.e. do not make the polytheists’ fire a light for you. The fire is an allusion for war; it is said the “fire of war was kindled” i.e. its evil and violent excitement was called into existence. And the fire of fright is a fire the Arabs in jahiliyyah would kindle during alliance. The hadith alludes to war with polytheists and adopting their banner, so the prohibition of war together with polytheists is understood from it.

Haka kuma ƙawance zai sa kafirai su yi yaƙi tare da Musulmai yayin da suke kiyaye ƙungiyarsu, watau za su yi yaƙi a matsayin ƙasa (Dawla) ba a matsayin mutane daidai-daidaiku ba. Manzon Allah ﷺ ya hana neman taimakon kafirai a matsayin ƙungiya. Wannan ya zo a cikin hadisin Adh-Dhihak (ra).

Alliances would also make the disbelievers fight with Muslims while preserving their entity i.e. they would fight as a State and not as individuals. The Messenger (saw) prohibited seeking assistance of the disbelievers as an entity. It came in the hadith of Adh-Dhihak (ra)

Manzon Allah ﷺ ya ƙi karɓar taimakon Yahudawa, kuma ya ce a gaba ɗaya:

The Messenger (saw) rejected assistance of the Jews and said in a general fashion:

Ba a kamata a ce mu nemi taimakon kafirai a kan abokan gābanmu ba, kuma neman taimakon kafiri a yaƙi halal ne domin Manzon Allah ﷺ ya amince Quzman ya yi yaƙi tare da shi a Uhudu alhali shi kafiri ne, kuma ya karɓi taimakon wasu mutanen Yahudawan Khaibar a yaƙi. Ba a kamata a ce haka ba, domin neman taimakon kafirai halal ne idan su mutum-mutum ne a ƙarƙashin tutar Musulmi. Waɗanda Manzon Allah ﷺ ya nemi taimakonsu, ya nemi taimakonsu alhali su mutum-mutum ne. Saboda haka, sa'ad da Banu Qaynuqa suka zo, suka zo alhali su ƙabila ce mai shugabanta, kuma suna kama da wata Ƙasa wadda a baya ta yi yarjejeniya da Manzon Allah ﷺ. Suka zo domin su yi yaƙi da Manzon Allah ﷺ, suna cikin wannan hali, sai aka ce masa:

One should not say that we seek assistance from disbelievers upon our enemy and seeking assistance with the disbeliever is allowed since the Messenger (saw) consented to Quzman fighting together with him in Uhud and he was a disbeliever, and accepted assistance from some people of the Jews of Khayber in war; one should not say that because seeking assistance with disbelievers is allowed if they are individuals under the Muslims’ banner. Those whom the Messenger (saw) sought assistance from, he sought assistance from them and they were individuals. Accordingly when Banu Qaynuqa came and they came while they were a tribe with their own leader, and they were like a State who previously made a treaty with the Messenger (saw). They came to fight with the Messenger (saw) and they were upon this situation and it was said to him:

Don haka ya ki nemo taimako daga gare su saboda wannan dalili. Saboda haka, ba a halatta a nemi taimako daga rundunar kafirai ko a karkashin tutar Jihohinsu na kafirci ba. Imam As-Sarakhsi ya ce a cikin ‘Al-Mabsut’ a cikin littafin ‘Siyar’: “Daga hadisin Adh-Dhahabi (ra)

So he refused to seek assistance from them due to this. Accordingly it is not allowed to seek assistance from a kafir army and under the banner of their disbelieving States. Imam As-Sarakhsi said in ‘Al-Mabsut’ in the book of ‘Siyar’: “From the hadith of Adh-Dhahabi (ra)

Ma'anarsa ita ce, sun kasance masu ƙarfi da kansu, ba sa yaƙi ƙarƙashin tutar Musulmi. Amma mu, muna neman taimakonsu ne kawai idan suna yaƙi ƙarƙashin tutar Musulmi, amma idan sun zo su kaɗai da tutarsu, to ba ma neman taimakonsu. Wannan ita ce fassarar abin da aka riwaito daga Annabi ﷺ lokacin da ya ce:

Its interpretation is that they were powerful in themselves not fighting under the Muslims’ banner. For us, we only seek assistance from them if they were fighting under the Muslims’ banner whereas if they come isolated with their own banner then we do not seek assistance from them. This is the interpretation of what was narrated from the Prophet (saw) when he said:

An Ahmad da An-Nisa'i ne suka ruwaito shi ta hanyar Anas, ya ce:

Narrated by Ahmad and An-Nisa’i via the way of Anas and he said:

Wannan yana nufin Musulmin da ke ƙarƙashin tutar masu shirka. Daga wannan ya bayyana a fili cewa haɗin gwiwar soji da ƙasashen kafirai haram ne a Shari'a, don haka ba a yarjejeniya da shi. Ba a halatta wa Manzon Allah ﷺ ya zubar da jininsa a hanyar kare kafiri mai yaƙi ba. Maimakon haka, Musulmi yana yaƙar mutane ne kawai domin su shiga Musulunci daga kafirci (kufr). Amma yaƙar kafirai domin su shiga daga kufr zuwa kufr, da zubar da jini saboda hakan, haram ne.

This means the Muslim who is under the polytheists’ banner. From this it became clear that a military alliance with disbelieving States is haram in the Shar’a so it is not contracted. It is not allowed for the Messenger (saw) to shed his blood in the way of defending the belligerent disbeliever. Rather the Muslim only fights people so that they enter into Islam from disbelief (kufr). As for fighting disbelievers to enter from kufr into kufr and to shed his blood for that, this is haram.