The Categories of Disbelievers

The Shaykh : Because disbelievers are divided into three categories: those who pay the jizyah, those with whom there is a treaty, and those with whom there is war.
1. Those who pay the jizyah: These are those who reside in our land and under our authority. We protect them and fight on their behalf, and we prevent aggression against them, but they must pay us the jizyah.
2. Those with whom there is a treaty: These are those between whom and us there is a treaty. We do not fight them, and they do not fight us. They are in their own lands and have authority over their own countries. We do not interfere with them in their lands, and they do not interfere with us in our lands.
3. The third category: Those with whom there is war. Those with whom there is war means that there is war between us and them; we fight them and they fight us. As for those with whom there is war, their blood and wealth are permissible for us, meaning that whenever we are able to capture one of them, we have the right to kill him. As for those with whom there is a treaty, it is obligatory for us to fulfill their treaty, and to be just to them as long as they are just to us. They are, with respect to us, those with whom there is a treaty. There are also three sub-categories:
One category fulfills their treaty. Allah the Exalted said:
One category betrays, and their treaty is broken. We have the right to ambush them with war.
The third category is those from whom we fear betrayal. Allah the Exalted said: As for those who betray, Allah the Exalted commanded fighting them, commanding us to fight them because they have become those with whom there is war. For this reason, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) campaigned against Quraysh when they broke the treaty between him and them in the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah. He ambushed them in their lands and said, "O Allah, spread the news about them until we ambush them in their land." So, what do we do with the first category, those with whom there is war? Their blood and wealth are permissible, and there is no treaty between us and them. Whenever we are able to capture them, we kill them. The second category, those with whom there is a treaty, it is obligatory for us to fulfill their treaty as long as they fulfill their treaty with us. We mentioned that they are three categories. The third category: The people of the dhimmah under our authority. We oblige them to abide by the ruling of Islam, and they do not transgress against us. If one of them breaks the treaty, they become in the position of those with whom there is war.