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The
non-Muslims living in the Islamic state are called Zimmis and
understanding or contract governing relationship between the
Islamic state and such non-Muslims is called Aqd-ul-Zimmah. The
Zimmis mean protected people and they are so called because the
Islamic state becomes duty-bound to protect their lives, honour
and properties and also their religious freedom the very moment
they submit to Islamic rule. Following rights have been granted by
Islam to the Zimmis (the non-Muslim citizens) living in the
Islamic state:-
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Religious Freedom
Islam
guarantees religious freedom to everyone. In an Islamic state,
every citizen, may he or she be a Muslim or a non-Muslim, is at
liberty to profess and practice his
or her
own religion. Thus the
non-Muslim minorities enjoy complete religious freedom in an
Islamic state as the state does not interfere in their religious
matters and shows full tolerance to them. The Qur’an, the revealed
book of Islam, says:
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There is no compulsion in religion…….. (2:256)
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Say: O disbelievers! I worship not that which ye
worship; Nor worship ye that which I worship. And I shall not
worship that which ye worship. Nor will ye worship that which I
worship. Unto you your religion and unto me my religion (109:1-6)
The
above mentioned verses show that there is no compulsion in the
matters of religion in an Islamic state. Everybody is free to
follow and practice his religion on the basis of the Qur’anic
principle: “Unto you your religion and unto me my religion.” The
Qur’an teaches tolerance and forbids its followers to ridicule the
religion of non-Muslims and their deities. It says: “Don’t abuse
those whom they invoke besides Allah, lest they should, in their
ignorance, abuse Allah….” (6:108) The Prophet of Islam enforced
these principles and gave religious freedom to all of his
non-Muslim subjects. In Charter of Madinah, Prophet granted full
religious freedom and protection to the Jews; while in his letter
addressed to the Christians of Najran, Prophet Muhammad (PBUH)
gave protection to religion, life and property of the Christians.
Extracts from these documents would be produced at proper place in
this
chapter.
Religious freedom not only means to profess one’s religion but it
also includes liberty to perform religious rites and practices. It
also includes right to maintain one’s places of worship. All these
rights have been bestowed by Islam on the non-Muslims living
within its lands.
The
non-Muslims have been given full liberty to arrange for religious
education of their children, to establish schools and to propagate
their religion among themselves. They will be free to propagate
the virtues of their religion, but would not be permitted to
criticize or slander Islam. In purely Muslim habitations, places
of worship of the non-Muslims built in the past are not
demolished. If such places are damaged or destroyed, the
non-Muslims are allowed to repair or rebuild them. But they are
not permitted to build new places of worship in these areas.
However, in the townships which are not purely Muslim habitations,
there are no such restrictions. Similarly, in those cities and
towns which have ceased to be purely Muslim areas, the Zimmis can
build new places of worship and are entitled to publicly perform
their religious rites.
Syed
Ameer Ali, a great Muslims scholar, writes: The non-Muslim
subjects were not precluded from building new churches or temples.
Only in places exclusively inhabited by Muslims a rule of this
kind existed in theory. “No new Church or temple,” said Abdullah
bin Abbas, “can be erected in a town solely inhabited by Muslims;
but in other places where there are already Zimmis inhabiting from
before, we must abide by our contract with them.” In practice,
however, the prohibition was totally disregarded. In the reign of
Mamun, we hear of eleven thousand Christian churches, besides
hundreds of synagogues and fire-temples within the empire. This
enlightened monarch, who has been represented as “a bitter enemy”
of the Christians, included in his Council the representatives of
all the communities under his sway – Muslims, Jews, Christians,
Sabaeans and Zoroastrians; whilst the rights and privileges of the
Christian hierarchy were carefully regulated and guaranteed.”
The
best testimony of the freedom of faith enjoyed by the Christians
in the days of the earlier Muslims is furnished by the Christians
themselves. In the reign of “Uthman (the third Caliph), the
Christian patriarch of Merv addressed the Bishop of Fars, named
Simeon, in the following terms: “The Arabs, who have been given by
God the Kingdom (of the earth), do not attack the Christian faith:
on the contrary, help us in our religion; they respect our God and
our saints, and bestow gifts on our churches and
monasteries”.
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Protection of Life
Islam
holds human life a trust of Allah and hence it attaches a great
sanctity to its preservation. Al-Qur’an says”……. Whosoever killeth
a human being for other than manslaughter or corruption in the
land, it shall be as if he had killed all mankind, and whoso
saveth the life of one, it shall be as if he had saved the life of
all mankind…..” (5:32)
Islam
grants, therefore, right to protection of life to all of its
citizens without any discrimination.
The
blood of a Zimmi is considered as much sacrosanct and sacred as
that of a Muslim. In the days of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), a Muslim
killed a Zimmi. When the case was brought before the Prophet
(PBUH), he ordered the execution of the murderer and remarked: “I
am responsible for obtaining redress for the weak”. During the
reign of Caliph Ali, a Muslim was accused of murdering a Zimmi.
When the charge was proved, Ali issued order for the execution of
the accused. It was only when the brother of the deceased received
blood money and pardoned the murderer that the caliph agreed to
release him. Ali said at that time: “Whoever is our Zimmi, his
blood is as sacred as our blood and his property is as inviolable
as our own property”. At another occasion, Caliph Ali declared:
“They have accepted the position of Zimmis on the explicit
understanding that their properties and their lives will remain
sacred like those of ours (i.e. of the Muslims)”. That is why the
Muslim jurists hold that if a Muslim kills a non-Muslim, he will
have to pay the same amount of compensation or blood money which
is prescribed for the murder of a Muslim.
Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) is reported to have enjoined his followers
on his death bed: “observe scrupulously the protection accorded by
me to the Zimmis”.
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Protection of Property
Islam
grants protection not only to the life of the Zimmis but it also
grants protection to the property and assets of such people.
Prophet of Islam is reported to have declared: “If you fight
against a people and overpower them, and they agree to pay a fixed
indemnity of annual revenue (Jizyah) to you in order to save their
lives and those of their progenies, then do not take a penny more
than the fixed amount, because that will not be valid”. He also
declared. “Beware! Whosoever is cruel and hard on such people
i.e., (“Contractees”) or curtails their rights, or burdens them
with more than they can endure, or realizes anything from them
against their free-will, I shall myself be a complainant against
him on the Day of Judgment”.
According to above mentioned Traditions of the Prophet, followers
of Islam have been strictly prohibited to violate the protection
granted to the property of non-Muslims. They cannot get more than
the agreed sum or tax from the non-Muslims. Even the Islamic state
cannot deprive a non-Muslim of his property and if it needs land
or property of a non-Muslim in public interest it can acquire it
only after providing the owner reasonable compensation.
A
great Muslim writer Dr. Hamidullah says: “In the time of the
caliph Umar, certain Muslims had usurped a piece of land belonging
to a Jew, and had constructed a mosque on the site. Learning the
news, the caliph ordered the demolition of the mosque and the
restoration of the land to the Jew. Prof. Cardahi (a Christian of
Lebanon, in his series of lectures on private International Law of
Islam, delivered at the Hague, 1933) writes: “This house of the
Jew Bait al-Yahudi, still exists and is well known”. Another
classical example, cited by Ibn kathir and others, is that of the
Grand Mosque of Damascus. An Ummayyid caliph had occupied a church
to enlarge the Mosque. Later, when the complaint was brought
before caliph ‘Umar ibn ‘Abd al- ‘Aziz, he ordered to demolish
part of the mosque and restore the church. But the Christians
themselves preferred a monetary compensation, and the matter was,
thus, amicably settled”.
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Protection of Honour
The
honour and respect of a Zimmi is also held as sacred as that of a
Muslim. The author of Durr al-Mukhtar writes: “It is imperative
for Muslims to refrain from causing inconvenience to a Zimmi and
to backbite him, for backbiting a Zimmi is as much prohibited as
is to backbite a Muslim.”
Regarding protection of honour of non-Muslim citizen in an Islamic
state, Dr. Hamidullah writes: “The person, property and honour of
every individual; whether indigenous or heterogeneous, are fully
protected in the Islamic territory. The Sharh-al-Hidayah, which is
a legal manual of current use, employs, for instance, the
characteristic expression: “Defamation is prohibited, be it
concerning a Muslim or a Protected (non-Muslim)”. Another jurist
of great authority, the author of al-Bahr-ar-Ra’iq says: “Even the
bones of the dead among the Protected (non-Muslims) have the right
to be respected, even as the bones of Muslims; it is not allowed
to profane them, because if the ill treatment of a Protected
(non-Muslim) is forbidden in his lifetime on account of the
protection which he enjoys, the protection of his bones against
every profanation is equally obligatory after his death.” The
jurists are unanimous in declaring that, if a Muslim violates a
non-Muslim woman, he will receive the same punishment as is
prescribed against the violation of Muslim woman.”
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Judicial Autonomy
Non-Muslim minorities in the Islamic State enjoy judicial autonomy
in respect of disputes among themselves on the authority of
al-Qur’an.
While
permitting the Jews to settle their disputes in accordance with
Torah (their revealed book), the Qur’an addresses the Prophet of
Islam in these words: “How come they unto thee for judgment when
they have the Torah, wherein Allah hath delivered judgement (for
them)? … (5:43). In another verse, the revealed book of Islam
grants
the Christians freedom of resolving their disputes in accordance with
their own law
as contained in Gospel. It states: ‘Let the People of
the Gospel judge by that which Allah hath revealed therein. Whoso
judge not by that which Allah hath revealed; such are evil livers”
(5:47).
Thus,
Islamic law is not applicable in case of purely personal matters
of the non-Muslims. Such matters of the non-Muslims would be
decided according to their personal law. It means that if anything
is unlawful under Shariah for the Muslims but the same is not
forbidden to the non-Muslims by their religion, the non-Muslims
will be allowed to use it and the courts will decide their cases
according to their personal law. For instance, marriage without
witnesses or between the prohibited degrees, if allowed by their
religion, will be allowed to stand.
However, the non-Muslim can also opt for settlement of their
mutual disputes under Islamic law. The Qur’an says: “if then,
they have recourse unto thee (Muhammad), judge between them or
disclaim jurisdiction. If thou disclaimest jurisdiction, then they
cannot harm thee at all. But if thou judgest, judge between them
with equity, Lo! Allah loveth the equitable” (5:42).
Umar-bin-Abdul
Aziz once asked for fatwa (verdict) in this respect from the
famous saint Hassan al-Basri saying: “How it is that the Caliphs
left the Zimmis free in the matters of marriages regardless of
consanguinity and in the matters of drinking wine and eating
pork?” Hassan replied: “The Zimmis accepted to pay Jizyah only
because they wanted to be free to live in accordance with their
own personal law. You have only to follow what your predecessors
did. You are not to deviate or to innovate”.
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Social Autonomy
In
addition to the judicial autonomy, the non-Muslims also enjoy
social autonomy in an Islamic state. The state protects their
language, culture, religious practices, their places of worship,
their mode of dress, etc. and permits them to follow their customs
and social traditions. However, they were not allowed to imitate
military uniform and dress of the Muslims in the Ummayyid and
Abbasid periods, as this imitation was discouraged not on any
religious grounds but in order to protect their modes of dress,
their social manners and their distinctive individualities. About
social autonomy given by the Islamic state, Dr. Hamidullah writes,
“In the time of the Prophet, the Jews of Madinah had their Bait
al-Midras (both a synagogue and educational institute). In the
treaty with the Christians of Najran (Yaman), the Prophet gave a
guarantee not only for the security of the person and property of
the inhabitants, but had also expressly left the nomination of
bishops and priests to the Christian community itself”.
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Political Rights and Entitlement to Government Jobs
The
non-Muslims living in an Islamic state generally enjoy all the
socio-economic and political rights which are available to the
Muslims. They enjoy right to vote and to elect their
representatives and they can also contest elections for the
offices of public representatives. They can form political parties
and they can get the membership or offices in political parties.
And so on. Similarly, they have right to participate in social
activities, national festivals, social gatherings, etc. Their
right of vote in the choice of the head of Islamic state has been
recognized by Dr. Hamidullah, a great Muslim scholar.
The
non-Muslims can adopt any business or profession or employment to
earn their livelihood provided such business, profession or
employment is not unlawful or immoral or against the explicit
injunctions of Islam such as sale of wine or pork to Muslims,
business involving usury with a Muslim or prostitution, etc. They
are entitled to government jobs except for few posts like head of
state, head of government, head of judiciary, head of the armed
forces, head of parliament and some other key offices. The Prophet
of Islam himself appointed Amr bin Umaiyah-ad-Damri a non-Muslim
as an ambassador to Abyssinia for interceding with the Negus in
favour of the Muslim refugees. Umar, the second caliph, appointed
a Greek Christian as the head of his accounts department to put in
order the accounts of state revenues.
The
Christians, the Jews and other non-Muslims had been enjoying
prosperous positions and fabulous incomes in business and trade in
the Islamic State. Most of the bankers and money changers in Syria
during the reign of the Abbasid Caliphs were Jews. Most of the
personal physicians of the Caliphs were the Nestorian Christians.
The Jews are also reported to have maintained a colony of
considerable size in Baghdad in the Abbasid period. In Muslim
Spain, the non-Muslims, particularly the Jews, held positions of
eminence in the government jobs, in the business and trade, etc.
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Entitlement for Financial Assistance
Disabled or poor Zimmis who have been forced to begging or the
Zimmis who have been overtaken by a calamity are eligible for
support from the Bait-ul-Mal of the Islamic state as are the poor
and disabled among the Muslims. This rule was established as early
as the times of Abu Bakr, the first caliph of Islam. During his
reign, when the famous Muslim general Khalid bin Walid conquered
Hira, he specially wrote in the treaty of peace the following
terms:-
“I
have stipulated that if any one of them becomes unfit to work on
account of old age or some other cause, or if anyone who was
formerly rich becomes so poor that his coreligionists have to
support him by giving him alms, such persons will be exempt from
paying the Jizyah and they, together with their dependents, will
be helped from the Islamic Treasury (Bait-ul-Mal)”.
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Kind Treatment
Islam
enjoins the Muslims to treat the non-Muslims kindly and justly.
The Qur’an says, “God forbids you not, with regard to those who
fight you not for (your) Faith nor drive you out of your homes,
from dealing kindly and justly with them: For God loveth those who
are just” (60:8). The Qur’an also permits the Muslims to marry
chaste women from the people of the scripture (Christians and
Jews). It says: “….. The food of those who have received the
scripture is lawful for you, and your food is lawful for them. And
so are the virtuous women of the believers and the virtuous women
of those who received the scripture before you (lawful for you)……”
(5:5). Thus, Islam promotes social bonds between Muslims and non
Muslims by allowing them to eat each other’s food and to handle
inter-marriages, which is the custom of close friends and
relatives.
Regarding the kind treatment accorded to the non-Muslims by the
followers of Islam, Syed Ameer Ali writes:
“It
must be added, however, that the bigoted views of the later
canonists were never carried into practice; and the toleration and
generosity with which the non-Muslims were treated are evidenced
by the fact that Zimmis could be nominated as executors to the
wills of Muslims; that they often filled the office of rectors of
Muslim universities and educational institutions, and of curators
of Muslim endowments so long as they did not perform any religious
functions. And when a non-Muslim of worth and merit died, the
Muslims attended his funeral in a body”.
No
better evidence can be produced in proof of kind treatment
accorded to the conquered non-Muslims by the Muslim armies than
the evidence of the non-Muslims themselves. When the Muslim army
reached the valley of Jordan and Abu Ubaydah pitched his camp at
Fihl, the Christian inhabitants of the country wrote to the Arabs,
saying: “O Muslims, we prefer you to the Byzantines, though they
are of our own faith because you keep better faith with us and are
more merciful to us and refrain from doing us injustice and your
rule over us is better than theirs, for they have robbed us of our
goods and our homes”.
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Forced Conversion of non-Muslims not Permitted
Religious freedom also means that the minority community or the
conquered people are not forced to accept faith of the conqueror. Islam provides security against forced
conversion to the non-Muslims living in the Islamic territory.
According to al-Qur’an, there is no compulsion in religion, and
Muhammad (PBUH) was sent by God as messenger and mercy to mankind
and his mission was to convey the message of God and not to force
the people to accept his faith. In other words, he was a messenger
and a warner and not a warder over men. Therefore, no non-Muslim
living in Islamic state can be forced to embrace Islam. We have
already observed in chapter one that Islam spread through
preaching and not through sword.
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Jizyah: Is it a discriminatory tax?
Mention may be made of Jizyah or Poll Tax which was levied by
Prophet Muhammad on non-Muslims on the authority of verse 29 of
chapter 9 of the Qur’an which reads: “Fight against such of those
who have been given the Scripture as believe not in Allah nor the
Last Day, and forbid not that which Allah hath forbidden by His
messenger and follow not the religion of truth, until they pay the
tribute readily, being brought low”. It was collected at nominal
rate of one dinar per person. Women, old persons, children, sick
and disabled, slaves, priests, monks, poor persons were declared
exempt from this tax. Practically the tax was collected only from
able bodied young men, but if they joined Muslim armies the tax
was dropped even in their case. This tax has been unfortunately
subjected to bitter criticism by the Western scholars who call it
a discriminatory and humiliating tax levied for sparing of
non-Muslim’s life. Nothing can be farther from truth than this
allegation. Imposition of Jizyah is justified because Muslim
citizens of Islamic state pay Zakat as well as serve in defence
forces. So in all fairness the non-Muslim citizens are expected to
pay at least a nominal contribution in the defence budget if they
opt not to join defence forces. In the modern Muslim States, this
tax has, however, been dropped as the socio-economic scenario has
entirely changed and so has the system of taxation. Now the
non-Muslim citizens pay modern taxes like Incometax and Wealth tax
just as the Muslim citizens pay these taxes.
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Historical Documents
The
following documents and treaties executed by the Prophet (PBUH)
himself and his successors (the right-guided caliphs) with the
non-Muslims establish, beyond any shadow of doubt, that the most
respectable status was granted to them by Islam:
(i) Soon after his migration from Makkah to Madinah in
the year 1 A.H. (622 A.D.), the Prophet of Islam issued a document
which is known in history as the Charter of Madinah. The portion
of this charter concerning the Jews of Madinah reads as under:
“Whoever among the Jews follows us shall have help and equality;
they shall not be injured nor shall any enemy be aided against
them. The Jews maintained their religion and the Muslims theirs’.
Among the Jews (belonging to different tribes), so with their
adherents: those who transgress and behave unjustly and sinfully
hurt but themselves and their families. Loyalty is a protection
against treachery. The close friends of Jews are as themselves.
Each, if attacked, shall come to the help of the other. The valley
of Yathrib (Madinah) shall be sacred and inviolable for all who
join this Treaty. Strangers under protection shall be treated on
the same grounds as heir protectors.”
(ii) Relevant portion of
Prophet’s letter to the
Christians of Njran which spells their rights in detail is as
under:
“To
(the Christians of) Najran and the neighbouring territories, the
Security of Allah and the Pledge of His Prophet are extended for
their lives, their religion and their property …. To those present
as well as the absent ones and others besides: there shall be no
interference with (the practice of) their faith or their
observances, nor any change in their rights or privileges; no
bishop shall be removed from his bishopric, nor any monk from his
priesthood, and they shall continue to enjoy everything great and
small as heretofore; no image or cross shall be destroyed; they
shall not be oppressed or suppressed; they shall not practise the
rights of blood – vengeance as in the Days of ignorance; no tithes
shall be levied on them nor shall they be required to furnish
provisions for the troops, nor shall troops be quartered on them.”
(iii) Following
is the text of the treaty whereby
Jerusalem surrendered to the Muslims during the caliphate of Omar (638 A.D.):
“This
is the charter which the servant of God, the Commander of the
faithful, grants to the people of Aelia. He gives them the
assurance of the preservation of their lives and properties, their
churches and crosses, of those who set up, who display and who
honour those crosses. Your churches will not be transformed into
dwellings nor destroyed nor will any one confiscate anything
belonging to them, nor the crosses or belongings of the
inhabitants. There will be no constraint in the matter of
religion, nor the least annoyance. The Jews will inhabit Aelia
conjointly with the Christians, and those who live there will be
required to pay the poll-tax, like the inhabitants of other towns.
Greeks and robbers are to leave the town, but will have a safe
conduct until they reach a place of security. Still, those who
prefer to remain may do on condition of paying the same poll-tax
as the rest. If any of the people of Aelia desires to leave with
the Greeks, talking their goods, but abandoning their chapels and
crosses, they will be granted personal safety, until they arrive
at a secure place. The strangers in the town may remain on the
same condition of paying the tax, or, if they wish, they may also
leave with Greeks, and return to their land. …. All that this
treaty contains is placed under the alliance and protection of God
and of His Apostle.” (Sir William Muir. The Caliphate, Its
Rise, Decline and Fall.)
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