An inquiry into dar al-Islam and dar al-harb

Question

Question: Is India dar al-harb (the abode of war) or not, and if it is dar al-harb, is interest from a bank permissible or not? The scholars of Deoband differ on this matter — what is your view? Some report permissibility from Hazrat Gangohi ﵀; the respected Mawlana Sahul, the mufti of the Deoband madrasa, very forcefully declares it permissible not only from a bank but from unbelievers in general, and so do some other scholars as well; but Hazrat Thanawi ﵀ holds it to be forbidden.

Answer

There is disagreement about India: most scholars call it dar al-harb, while some deny this. In Fatawa Rashidiyya there are differing fatwas: from some passages it appears that preference is given to its being dar al-harb, while in others it is stated that this has not been conclusively established. Mawlana ʿAbd al-Hayy ﵀ writes in his Fatawa (vol. 2, p. 226)

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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