The Principle of Human Distinction in the View of Islamic Humanitarian Law Compared to International Conventions

One of the principles governing the war in contemporary international law is the principle of distinction. According to the Articles 48, 51 (2) and 52 (2) of the Additional Protocol I to Geneva Conventions, attacks can only be carried out against combatants and should not be directed against the civilians. At the same time, according to the third paragraph of Article 51 of the same document, this support will be lost through direct involvement of the civilians during the conflict. However, for some reasons such as the lack of sufficient legal and criminal executive guarantees, the international humanitarian law has become less relevant to its goals. At the height of the degradation of the law of war among nations, Islamic humanitarian law has recognized the principle of distinction as a binding principle and prohibited the invasion against civilians. This immunity is sometimes specifically extended even beyond the contemporary humanitarian law. This theoretical basis will be completed and confirmed in the light of the Prophet's practice, and is evidenced by historical reports about the number of victims of the Prophet's wars. Relying on the analytical-comparative method, the present article seeks to draw on the library sources and to reveal the face of the principle of distinction from the perspective of Islam.