The Life & Character of the Seal of Prophets (sa) - Volume II — Page 308
Seal of the Prophets - Volume II 308 related in a Ḥadīth in two ways. 1 In one narration, the words are that the Holy Prophet sa said: ٌ اَلْحَرْب ُ خُدْعَة “War is but deception. ” In the second narration the words are: ً سَمَّی الْحَرْب َ خُدْعَة “The Holy Prophet sa has named war as being deceit. ” When both of these narrations are combined, the definitive outcome which is derived is that the Holy Prophet sa did not condone the use of deception in war, rather, he meant that war is in itself a thing which deceives a person. However, if one insists upon translating this to mean that deception is permitted in war, even still, most surely, at this instance, the word ‘deception’ infers strategies and tactics of war, and falsehood and betrayal are not implied at all. The reason being that in this instance, the word ٌ خُدْعَة infers manoeuvres and strategies of war, not falsehood and deception. Hence, the meaning is that it is not prohibited to catch the enemy off-guard and apprehend or subdue them by means of some strategy or tactic; and there can be different forms of this manoeuvring. For example, it is established by authentic narrations that when the Holy Prophet sa would set out on a campaign, he would generally not disclose his final destination. At times, even if he intended to travel south, at the start of his journey, he would head towards the north, and would then divert towards the south. Then, if someone would inquire of him as to where he had come from, instead of mentioning Madīnah, he would name a close or far off location where he had previously setup camp, or he would employ some other lawful strategy of war. To the same affect, as the Holy Qur’an has indicated, at times, in order to throw off their enemy, the Companions would begin to retreat from the field of battle; and when the enemy would least expect it, and when its ranks would become disarranged, they would launch a sudden attack. All of these are examples of ٌ خُدْعَة which has been deemed lawful in a state of war, and is considered to be permissible even today. However, to 1 Ṣaḥīḥul-Bukhārī, Kitābul-Jihād Was-Siyar, Bābul-Ḥarbi Khud‘atun, Ḥadīth No. 3028/3030