Page:Khwaja Kamal-ud-Din - Ethics of War.djvu/10

 in the world from the very beginning; even to-day the same hankering makes civilized nations covetous of others. They may engineer various schemes and come with plausible pretexts, but cupidity and usurpation is at the bottom of all their movements. Islam, however, forbids all fighting for such objects. It allows war only under the same conditions for which the Creator endowed us with a martial spirit. Islam permits fighting for three reasons:

(1) To restrain disturbances and keep every land free from others' incursions.

(2) To defend life and property from others hands.

(3) To enable every person to follow his religious convictions, whatever persuasion he may belong to.

I need not emphasize the first two things, they are self-evident. I only quote the following verses from the Holy Qur-án on these points:

(1) "… If you will not do it [fight], there will be in the land persecution and great mischief" (viii. 73).