Understanding the status of Jews, Christians and other protected Religious Communities under Muslim state

Staff Writer


Table of Contents

Understanding the term dhimmi(s) (i.e., the status and treatment of Jews, Christians, and other protected religious communities) and its usage in the Qur’an will help us understand the levels of tolerance, acceptance, and pluralism in the Qur’an especially when it comes to Ahl al-Kitab (that is, the people of the book). Arguably and theologically though, mere possession of sacred Books, practising monotheism, and claiming the faith of Abraham already mark them (Muslims, Jews, Christians) as people of (one) the book.

Examining the term dhimmis and the Qur’anic stipulation will throw some light on the relationship between Muslims and other bodies of the people of the book. Some clarifications are required here, especially with the term, the people of the book.

The People of the Book

The people of the book as referred to in the Qur’an are the Muslims (by default), the Jews, the Christians, and the Sabians (by their sacred books). To have a sacred book: the Torah, the Gospel, and the Psalms single out the adherents to these books as a people with a common word but without an identical belief system.

The concept of the people of the book indicates that these people have been marked out as ‘Followers of the Holy Books.’ The Qur’an in Medinan revelation noted two other Scriptures that were before the Qur’an:

“And who believe in (the Qur’an and the Sunnah) which has been sent down (revealed) to you (Muhammad...) and in that which were sent down before you [the Taurat (Torah) and the Injeel (Gospel)] and they believe with certainty in the hereafter. (resurrection, recompense of their good and bad deeds, Paradise and Hell)” (Al-Baqarah 2:4).

The citation above suggests three Books: the Qur’an, the Torah, and the Gospel and their adherents, namely the Muslims, the Jews, and the Christians. Latterly, in the same Madinan revelation, the Sabians were included among the people of the book. “Verily, those who believe and those who are Jews and Christians and Sabians, whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day and does righteous good deeds shall have their reward with their Lord, on them shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve” (Al-Baqarah 2:62). The Sabians were included because they professed La ilaha illallah and used to read Az-Zabur (the Psalms of the Sabians) and they were neither Jews nor Christians.

The question that needs an answer is: What are the statuses of Jews, Christians, and other protected religious communities under the Muslim state?

Freedom of Worship – The Legal Tradition

As a backdrop, the Qur’an described Islam as primordial, a din al-Fitrah and an Abrahamic religion and of course, the religion of Allah (cf. Al-‘Imran 3:67; Al-Baqarah 2:135; Al-Ma’idah 5:19). It is however emphatic that religion should be freedom-based: “Let there be no compulsion in religion: Truth stands out clear from error: whoever rejects Evil and believes in Allah hath grasped the most trustworthy handhold that never breaks. And Allah heareth and knoweth all things” (Al-Baqarah 2:256). 

It is argued that verse 2:256 denotes the Islamic legal and theological traditions to mean that the followers of other religions should not be forced to adopt Islam. And verse 109:6 “…To you your religion, to me my religion…” has been used as a “proof-text for pluralism and coexistence” and that verse 2:62 “has served to justify the tolerated position accorded to the followers of Christianity, Judaism, and Sabeanism under Muslim rule.” [i]

Based on the interpretation of the (At-Taubah 9:29), there is a consensus among Muslim scholars that non-Muslims who happened to live within Muslim authority should pay tribute. [ii]

Fight those who believe not in God nor the Last Day, nor hold that forbidden which hath been forbidden by God and His Apostle, nor acknowledge the religion of Truth, (even if they are) of the people of the book, until they pay the Jizya with willing submission, and feel subdued.

An important remark about (At-Taubah 9:29) is that it recognizes the qualities shared by the monotheistic religions. Generally, Prophet Muhammad himself cautioned that “whoever oppresses any dhimmi (non-Muslim peace-covenanter within the Islamic state) I shall be his prosecutor on the Day of Judgment.” [iii]

Jews, Christians and other Protected Communities under the Muslim State

Religious tolerance and Islamic pluralism are echoed as Islamic cooperation with the people of the book.  Islam does not permit discrimination in the treatment of other human beings because of religion or any other criteria…it emphasizes neighbourliness and respect for the ties of relationship with non-Muslims…[iv] Within this human family, Jews, and Christians, who share many beliefs and values with Muslims, constitute what Islam terms Ahl al-Kitab. [v]

Dhimmis

The parameter of legal rights marks out who is a dhimmi; however, such an individual is in contradistinction to a Muslim. The people of the book (Christians for example) were allowed to practice their religion (Al-Kafirun 109:6), but there were serious restrictions imposed upon them as they practised their faith. Such restrictions can be found in this text of the convention, referring to al-Turtushi’s (d. 1126) Siraj al-muluk:

The conquered Christians of Syria address a letter to the Caliph ‘Umar, reminding him of the promises they made when they surrendered to him. They present a long list of prohibitions that they promise to respect: against the construction of new churches and monasteries, against teaching the Qur’an to their children, against wearing “Muslim” clothes or turbans, bearing arms, etc. Some of these measures seek to limit or prohibit the public expression of Christianity. Hence the Christians promise not to place crosses on the exterior of their churches, show their sacred texts in public, make public religious processions, or pray noisily or ostentatiously.[vi]

The ringing of Church Bells

Further restrictions include the ringing of church bells as their sounds were said to be offensive to Prophet Muhammad “and he even said that angels avoided coming to places where bells could be heard.”[vii]  

Comparatively, bells were noted by Muslims as an audible symbol of Christianity as the adhan is a similar audible symbol of Islam. The politics of the church-mosque construct could be seen as an offspring of the ideology of the bell-adhan concepts. Arguably, the first Muslims had no minarets, and as such their muezzins, such as Bilial would call out the adhan from the mosque roofs before the first minarets were eventually constructed during the time of Mu’awiya (661-80), the first Umayyad caliph.[viii]

No doubt, the springing of minarets tends to emphasize and show the competition going on between Islam and Christianity as the minarets and church bell towers compete for the conquest of the urban skyline as well as towering for the perfect height from which the adhan can be heard.[ix] To avoid or shun this competition or prevent the Christians from being informed by their bells, “‘Umar decreed that the Christians “will not sound the naqus (bell) before the Muslims’ call to prayer”” and the treaty of Damascus, as noted by Ghazi b. Al-Wasii (d. After 1292), stipulated that the Christians “will not ring the naqus outside of their churches.”[x] The Christians' insistent on the use of the bells resulted in some conflicts and the destruction of churches and the bells. “When Musa ibn Nusayr invaded Spain in 712, he destroyed all its churches and broke all the naqus that he found.”[xi]

Conclusion

The foregoing analysis seems to contradict the statement: “To you be your religion, to me my religion” (Al-Kafirun 109:6). The name of a Christian or a Jew means segregated and dominated group under the Muslim State, hence, the ‘Covenant of ‘Umar’. Unless they have the designation and character of a dhimmi, only then their rights are established and defended. The title of the people of the book has legal parameters. This means that there are 'people of the book' that are differentiated from other 'people of the book'; because they do not profess the Shahadah or by birth are not Muslims. The concept of the people of the book theologically accommodates all the people of the book because of their individual sacred books. But legally, the people of the book, even though, categorized as dhimmis, are separated and made to give up some of their religious practices.

[i] Lewis B., The Jews in Islam, Princeton University Press, Princeton. 1984. P.14

[ii] Ibid.

[iii] Al-Faruqi IR., Islam and other faiths, Ataullah Siddiqui (ed), Islamic Foundation, Leicester. 1998. P. 91

[iv] Haneef S., What Everyone should know about Islam and Muslims, Kazi Publications, Lahore. 1979. P. 173

[v] Ibid.

[vi] Tolan JV., Sons of Ishmael: Muslims through European Eyes in the Middle Ages, University of Florida, Gainsville, Florida. 2008. P. 149

[vii] Ibid. p. 148

[viii] Ibid.

[ix] Ibid.

[x] Ibid. p. 149

[xi] Ibid. p. 150 

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