International Relations in Islam

In the West, research centers, universities and public opinion makers have
been imposing an idea that Islam is the enemy. Thus, concepts were
developed to justify the Western offense against the Muslims.
The West put the label terrorism on every movement striving for the
correction of the international attitude toward the Arabs and Muslims.
Terrorism is attached to even the resistance to the Israeli occupation in order
to justify the organized state terrorism practiced and is still being practiced
by Israel and the United States against the Arabs and the Muslims.
Writings of Samuel Huntington The Clash of Civilizations and Fukuyama’s
book The End of History are among the writings mirroring the style of the
Western thinking about Islam and Muslims, the relation with Islam and
Muslims, and the future of this relation.

These writings display how the West is still regarding Islam as an enemy
which should be crushed and defeated. They provide that Islam should be
prevented from establishing its own entity that expresses its spirit. This is to
block its role in making history and in participating in the international
civilization. They do not consider Islam a partner in founding civilization, a
partner that they should communicate and cooperate with in the fields of
politics, economics, sociology, culture and human rights.

Islam was and will never be like that. Islam has its own principles in general
human sociology as well as in special human sociology. It is the social
organizer of the People of the Book on the basis of honoring human beings,
encouraging diversity that drives to acquaintance and cooperation to reach a
just agreement in common interests and values.

Islam is not only a religious call but also a call of civilization for all
mankind. It granted humanity a beam of light in the different fields to be a
base for cooperation and charity regardless to the religious difference. Such
bases encompass a dialogue with non-Muslims in the various aspects of life
whether political, economical, social or cultural.

Legislation in Islam covered international relations during peace as well as
during war. The most perfect rules ever known to humans were set down by
Islam to mitigate calamities of wars, whether between two Muslim nations, or between Muslim and non-Muslim states. Based on Islam’s tendency
toward peace on the one hand, and its drive to cooperation and love with
other states on the other, Muslims in many cases resorted to negotiations
and treaties with their enemies.
 
Diplomatic Representation in Islam

Diplomatic or political representation is an old well-known convention since
human groups first settled on limited territories like ancient Egypt and India,
and during the times of the Greeks and the Romans. Within this system of
protection, ambassadors were exchanged between the Muslims and others
for a temporary period. The ambassador’s residence in the delegated country
ends with the termination of his tasks. This was approved by the
jurisprudents without stating a term for protection (or a period for residence)
by years.4

That was the case for diplomacy during the era of Islam and prior to it. Up
till the Medieval times, diplomatic relations were considered a short-term or
incidental issue, due to the limited interaction and few relations between the
countries. Means of transportation were difficult then and cooperation and
solidarity were absent among the members of the international community.5
In the Islamic period, envoys and messengers resembled today’s
ambassador extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary who are assigned to
an official mission. Their representation ends after fulfilling their tasks such
as making a treaty or negotiating a ransom. They held a diplomatic attribute
in doing that. Arabs knew most of the diplomatic rules followed nowadays.6
Permanent diplomatic representation with its current form began in the
seventieth century. The Westphalia Treaty, signed in 1648 AD by all
European states involved in the 30-years war, replaced the system of
temporary embassies by the permanent diplomatic representation.
Permanent diplomacy is thus an innovation of modern times.7 Now it has
become highly important, being one of the natural rights of every
independent country with full sovereignty.

Realizing the value of diplomatic representation, the United Nations set
down rules for it. This is because exchanging ambassadors is an indication of good relations between countries and a guarantee for peace, whereas
recalling them is a sign of bad relations and a herald of war.8

The importance of Diplomatic representation in Islam

Diplomatic relations, as we mentioned in the introduction, were mostly
during times of peace. Yet during war what is known from the Prophet’s
biography and that of the Caliphs that they admitted relations with non-
Muslims for war purposes. This included conducting negotiations and
ratifying reconciliation treaties through dispatching envoys and messengers
who attained an absolute protection under Islam. Also, the jurisprudents
allowed their entrance to Muslim lands with their companions and luggage
without a protection agreement.

In addition, Islam approved the existence of peaceful relations during
periods of war for other than war reasons, such as to hear the word of Allah
(SWT) and be acquainted with Islam, or for trade purposes. These simple
objectives matched the bilateral foreign relations with the previous nations.
Other relations were therefore legitimized according to the development of
the international dealings and their extent. Today political relations play a
crucial role in organizing world affairs, as it is rare to find a state that can do
without another. Cooperation and solidarity link the countries together with
one another obligating them to communicate and interact.9 Diplomacy then
arranges these relations preserving international balance and stabilizes peace and security between states. In general, public relations in Islam, in peace and in war, were subject to what the rulers see suitable for the political and military interests.