Bismillahi Al-Rahmani Al-Rahim

What is Dar Al-Harb

Q
assalaamu `alaykum,
I was just wondering what dar al harb is, what conditions define it,  and whether any part of that varies between the Hanafi and the  Hanbali madhahab.

A
wa `alaykum al-salam wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu

Ibn Muflih (Allah have mercy upon him) writes in in Al-Aadab Al-Shar`iyah
Every abode dominated by Muslim law is Dar Al-Islam [the Abode of Islam]. If it is dominate by the rule of disbelievers then it is Dar Al-Kufr [the Abode of Disbelief]. There is no abode other than these two.
Sheikh Taqi Al-Din [Ibn Taymiyyah] (Allah have mercy upon him) said when asked about Mardin and whether it is considered an abode of war or an abode of Islam. He replied that it is a combination of the two meanings: it is not of the rank of Dar Al-Islam where the rule of Islam apply because it has an Muslim army, and neither is it of the rank of Dar Al-Harb where its inhabitants are disbelievers. Instead, it is a third division: [in it] Muslims are treated as they deserve and those beyond the Islamic Legislation are treated as they deserve.
But the first [opinion] is what Al-Qadi [Abu Ya`la] and other early scholars [al-ashab] mentioned (Allay have mercy on them all).
And Allah knows best.
T he first opinion (Dar Al-Islam and Dar Al-Kufr or Dal Al-Harb) is the madhhab.

As for the Hanafi madhhab, I prefer leaving the task of translating Hanafi texts in the hands of the Hanafis. But what I did read indicates that while the conditions for a given spot of land becoming Dar Al-Islam, the Hanafis give more details when it comes to land becoming part of Dar Al-Harb. Ask Faraz.

wa al-salamu `alaykum
--musa