The Difference Between an Absolute Truce and a Conditional Truce
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner:
Is there any difference between an absolute truce and a permanent truce whose permanence is stipulated?
The Shaykh:
What I know, what I know, what I know, is that if the need arises for it, if the peace agreement does not break down into an absolute one, then afterwards, whoever wants to break it must break the covenant with its party.
The questioner:
Because it would result in abandoning jihad, O Shaykh.
The Shaykh:
Because if they become strong enough for jihad, they would stop them, because it is absolute, whereas the conditional one says: You see that the correct position between us is that we have settled it, either you submit or we fight you.
The questioner:
Some jurists have stated that an absolute peace agreement is not permissible.
The Shaykh:
(Exalted and Majestic is He) says:[Al-Anfal 8:61] (Exalted and Majestic is He) made it absolute.
Is there any difference between an absolute truce and a permanent truce whose permanence is stipulated?
The Shaykh:
What I know, what I know, what I know, is that if the need arises for it, if the peace agreement does not break down into an absolute one, then afterwards, whoever wants to break it must break the covenant with its party.
The questioner:
Because it would result in abandoning jihad, O Shaykh.
The Shaykh:
Because if they become strong enough for jihad, they would stop them, because it is absolute, whereas the conditional one says: You see that the correct position between us is that we have settled it, either you submit or we fight you.
The questioner:
Some jurists have stated that an absolute peace agreement is not permissible.
The Shaykh:
(Exalted and Majestic is He) says:
And if they incline to peace, then incline to it
وَإِن جَنَحُوا لِلسَّلْمِ فَاجْنَحْ لَهَا
Source
شرح بلوغ المرام [ ابن باز ] [ الشرح الجديد ]، باب السبق والرمي — islamhouse.com (4:26)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.