Islam has forbidden the torturing and harming of people. Muslim narrated from Hisham bin Hakeem, who said; “I bear witness that I heard the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) say; ‘Allah will punish those who punish the people in the Dunya.’” He (pbuh) also said; “There are two types of the people of Hellfire I have not seen yet; some people who have whips like the tails of oxes by which they flog the people.” [Narrated by Muslim from Abu Hurairah]

Islam has also forbidden the violation of people’s sanctities, dignity, funds and honour, and the dishonouring of the sanctity of their homes. The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said; “All things of a Muslim are inviolable for his brother in belief: his blood, his wealth and his honour”, from a Hadith narrated by Muslim on the authority of Abu Hurairah. He (pbuh) also said while making Tawaf around the Ka’aba:

“How splendid you look, and how sweet is your scent. How grand you are and how grand is your sanctity. By Whom in Whose Hand is the soul of Muhammed, the sanctity of the believer is greater to Allah than yours, (that is) his wealth and his blood, and not to think of Him except good.” [Narrated by Ibnu Majah on the authority of Ubaid Allah bin Amru] He (pbuh) also said; “Abusing the Muslim is an aggression and fighting Him is disbelief.” [Narrated by Al-Bukhari and Muslim on the authority of ‘Abdullah bin Mas’ood] He said regarding the sanctity of the houses; “If a person were to cast a glance in your house without permission and you hit Him with a stone and thus gouged out his eyes, there would be no blame on you.” [Narrated by Muslim from Abu Hurairah] It has been reported on the authority of Sahl Ibnu Sa’d Al-Sa’idi that a man once peeped through the hole of the door of the Messenger of Allah (pbuh), the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) was at the time scratching his head with a fork. He (pbuh) said; “If I were to know that you had been peeping through the door, I would have thrust this into your eyes. Indeed , seeking permission was made to protect against the glance.” [Narrated by Al-Bukhari and Muslim] He (pbuh) also said; “He who peeps into some people’s house without their permission, it is allowed for them to gouge out his eye.” [Narrated by Ahmed from Abu Hurairah]

Islam has also forbidden spying on the Muslims, watching them, chasing them and looking into their confidential and personal news. It has also forbidden the Muslim from being a spy on other Muslims. Allah (swt) says; “O you who believe, avoid suspicion as much as possible, for suspicion in some cases is a sin, and do not spy on each other.” [TMQ Al-Hujurat: 12]

The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said; “Avoid suspicion, for suspicion is the gravest lie in talk, and do not be inquisitive about one another and do not spy on one another, and do not turn one’s back to each other, do not hate each other, and be servants to Allah and be brothers.” [Narrated by Al-Bukhari and Muslim from Abu Hurairah] And He (pbuh) also said; “O you people who believed with your tongue, and Iman has not yet entered your hearts, do not backbite the Muslims, and do not search for their weaknesses. For He who sought the Awraat (the defects) of the Muslims Allah would follow his, and He whom Allah follows his Awra (defect), He would also expose Him even in his own home.” [Narrated by Ahmad from Abu Barza Al-Aslami]

The Ayah and the Ahadith forbid the Muslims from spying against the Muslims and from following their ‘Awraat’ (defects). They warn that He who follows the ‘Awraat’ (defects) of the Muslims, Allah will follow his Awraat (defects) and will expose him. Other Ahadith have been reported forbidding the Muslims from working for the intelligence agencies to spy on the Muslims. Al-Miswar reported that the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said; “Whoever ate something by harming a Muslim, Allah will indeed feed Him the like of it from Jahannam. And whoever clothed himself with a dress by harming a Muslim, indeed Allah will clothe Him a dress similar to it in Jahannam.” [Narrated by Abu Dawood and Ahmad]

It is similarly forbidden to spy on the citizens from the people of the Dhimmah, for they are equal to the Muslims in terms of dealing and being dealt with fairly. The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) ordered that the Dhimmah should be treated nicely and He forbade harming them, He (pbuh) said; “He who harms a person under covenant, or charged Him more than He can, I will argue against Him on the Day of Judgement.” [Narrated by Yahya bin Adam in the book of Al-Kharaaj] ‘Umar said; “I recommend to the Khaleefah after me to be good to those who are under the protection of the Messenger of Allah (pbuh), He has to fulfil to them their covenant (oath), to fight for protecting them and to not be charged more than they can afford.” [Narrated by Yahya bin Adam] The Ayah and the Ahadith - although they are general about the unlawfulness of spying-exclude the spying against the belligerent disbelievers, whether they were actually or potentially belligerent. There are other Ahadith that specify the prohibition of spying to other than the belligerent disbelievers. Spying against the belligerent disbelievers is not forbidden, rather it is an obligation, and so the Islamic State must do that. This is because the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) sent ‘Abdullah bin Jahsh with eight bands of people from the Muhajireen, to Nakhla between Al-Taif and Makkah to monitor the movements of Qur’aysh and gather news about them. Spying against the disbelieving enemy is a matter that the Islamic armed forces and the Islamic State cannot do without.

Spying against the disbelieving enemies is a duty that the Islamic State must perform. It is also its duty to have a counter intelligence service to combat any spying it is subjected to by the disbelievers. This is because Al- Bukhari reported on the authority of Salama Ibnu Akwa’, who said; “The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) encountered a spy while on a journey; the spy sat among some of the Prophet’s companions talking and then He snuck away. Upon this the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said; ‘Go after Him and kill him.’ So I beat everyone to Him and I killed him, so the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) gave me the booty of that spy.’” Ahmed narrated an incident from Furat Ibnu Hayyan, who said, “The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) ordered his killing. He was a spy, and an ally of Abu Sufyan and He passed by a circle of the Ansar and said; ‘I am a Muslim.’ A man from the Ansar said; ‘O Messenger of Allah (pbuh) He says that He is a Muslim.’ The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) replied; ‘There are men among you whom we entrust to their belief, and Furat Ibnu Hayyan is one of them.’” Al- Bukhari reported on the authority of ‘Ali bin Abi Talib (rta), who said; “The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) sent me together with Az-Zubair and Al-Miqdad bin Al-Aswad, and said; ‘Go forth until you reach the garden of Khakh, you will find a tha’ina (a woman riding a camel) who is carrying a letter, so take it from her.’ We set off riding at high speed until we reached the garden, and we found the tha’ina. We said to her; ‘Get out the letter.’ She said; ‘I have no letter.’ We said; ‘Get it out or else we take off the dress. So she got it out of her braid and we brought it back to the Messenger of Allah (pbuh).” These incidents’ indicate that ruling in Islam is not an oppressive rule, and it is forbidden for it to be such, for oppressive ruling brings grave harm to the Muslims, contradicts the Shari’ah rules, and also disagrees with the Shari’ah principle that states “no harming and no self-inflicted harm”, “La Dharara Wala Dhirar”.

It also indicates that it is forbidden for the Islamic State to set up an intelligence organisation to spy against the citizens, Muslims and non- Muslims alike, and that it is forbidden to harm them.

It is the duty of the State to set up an intelligence service in order to spy against the Kuffar and gather information about them and to combat the espionage they carry out against the State.