Idolaters in war territory [dar al-harb, house of war, i.e. lands governed by non-Muslims] are of two classes: one class are those who have received the call to Islam, but have rejected it and fought against it. The commander of the army has the choice between two options regarding fighting them, carrying out whichever of the two he knows to be the best for the Muslims and the most detrimental to the Idolaters: either to come at them by surprise night and day with fighting and burning, or to declare war to them and line up to fight against them. The second class of Idolaters are those who have not received the call to Islam – and at present these are small in number considering what Allah has made manifest of His Messenger’s call, unless there are people beyond the Turks and Romans that have faced us, people we do not know from the beginnings of the east or the farthest reaches of the west – it is prohibited for us to be intrepid in fighting them, by trickery or at night, killing and burning, to begin killing them without first presenting them with the call to Islam and informing them of the miracles of the prophethood and presenting the argument by which the commander may lead them into compliance. If they persist in disbelief after this being evident to them, he is to make war with them, and they become like those who have already received the call. Allah Most High said: { Call to the cause of your Lord with wisdom and fitting exhortation, and dispute with them in what is best } [Al-nahl 125]. That is, make the call to the religion [deen] of your Lord with wisdom; regarding this there are two interpretations: one is by the prophethood and the other is by the Qur’an. Al-Kalbi said: Regarding { fitting exhortation } there are two interpretations: one is the Qur’an, from its gentle and tempered speech, and the other are the orders and prohibitions contained in it. { Dispute with them in what is best } : that is, to make the truth evident to them and to make the argument clear.