The Pact of Umar: Difference between revisions

The Pact of Umar laid down many of the fundamental particulars of the [[Dhimma]]''.''<ref>Paul Halsall - [http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/pact-umar.html The Status of Non-Muslims Under Muslim Rule]- Medieval Sourcebook, January, 1996</ref> The authentcity of the pact has been questioned by modern scholars, yet it it indisputable that it was often used as a source of Islamic jurisprudence on the matter of Christians and Muslim living in Islamic lands. The rights and limitations placed on non-Muslims by Islam and, by extension, Umar's pact, still dictate how many revivalist and fundamentalist Muslims would like to see non-Muslims in Muslim society treated today. Despite these desires, no currently existing, internationally recognized state implements the stipulations of the pact.  

Although from the perspective of contemporary middle eastern regimes the strictures of the Pact of Umar were unremarkable insofar as they reflected the religious intolerance of the age, their enduring using in Islamic fiqh points to the fundamental inferiority and savageness of Islamic shari'ah vis-a-vis modern liberalism. While modern liberalism grants complete freedom of belief, the Pact of Umar enforces religious apartheid.  

According to Islamic theology, Umar is one of four 'Rightly-guided Caliphs. Therefore, he is considered by them to be a model Muslim leader.<ref>"...''Sayyiduna Abu Bakr, Sayyiduna Umar Al Farouq, Sayyiduna 'Uthman Ghani and Sayyiduna Ali (radi Allahu anhumul ajma'in) were the consecutive successors of Sayyiduna Rasoolullah (sallal laahu alaihi wasallam). These four Khulafaa (pl. for Caliph) are called the "Khulafaa-e-Rashidun" or the "Rightly Guided Caliphs." Together, these four Khulafaa ruled the Islamic State for about 29 years. They are called "Rightly Guided" because they ruled the people of that time exactly according to the Holy Quran and the commands of Sayyiduna Rasoolullah (sallal laahu alaihi wasallam).''..." - [http://www.sunniessentials.net/islam/introduction/Personalities_Caliphs.pdf The Four Rightly-Guided Caliphs of Islam]</ref> His actions and this pact reflect the teachings of the Qur'an, Hadith, and scholarly consensus<ref>"...''The terms in the Pact of Omar for dealing with dhimmis are clearly in agreement with the sanction of Allah [Quran 9:29] and prophetic tradition. Therefore, the Pact of Omar, wrote Abu Yusuf, the great eighth-century Hanafi jurist, ‘stands till the ay of resurrection.’ ''..." - M. A. Khan - "[http://www.amazon.co.uk/Islamic-Jihad-Conversion-Imperialism-Slavery/dp/1440118469 Islamic Jihad: A Legacy of Forced Conversion, Imperialism, and Slavery]" - p. 106, Universe Inc., New York, Bloomington</ref> (together forming Islamic sacred law, or [[Sharia]]).

While today's Secular Europeans and Christians can and have denounced (and even apologized)<ref>[http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0003/12/sm.06.html Pope John Paul II Makes Unprecedented Apology For Sins of Catholic Church] - CNN, March 12, 2000</ref><ref>"...The Reconciliation Walk is an interdenominational grassroots movement of Western Christians,...retracing the route of the First Crusade, apologizing to Muslims, Jews and Eastern Christians for the atrocities of the Crusades -- foremost among them, the misuse of the name and message of Jesus..." - [http://www.religioustolerance.org/chr_cru1.htm Christian apology for the Crusades: The Reconciliation Walk]</ref> for past atrocities committed by others in the name of their countries and religion, the same by and large cannot be said of Islam. Many still deny that the Islamic slave trade ever existed, or indeed still exists<ref>"Officially, slavery has long been abolished in Mauritania, but the law has never been enforced and there are an estimated 600,000 slaves, almost one in five of the country's 3.2 million people, almost 150 years since the American civil war...A Berber driver, who would only give his first name, Mohammed, defended slavery. "It is our religion and custom," he said. "Why does the international community try to stop it? The slaves are better off with their masters. This is their fate. When they leave, they starve."" - Nick Meo - [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/ghana/5805113/Half-a-million-African-slaves-are-at-the-heart-of-Mauritanias-presidential-election.html Half a million African slaves are at the heart of Mauritania's presidential election] - The Telegraph, July 12, 2009</ref> in the east, and in Turkey for instance even mentioning some of the past Turkish regimes crimes against its dhimmi populations is a crime.  

 

To this day, many Muslims hold up this document with pride,<ref>{{cite web|title=The Convenant of Omar|url=http://www.thehandstand.org/archive/february-march2006/articles/abbas.htm|date=February-March 2006|publisher=The Handstand}}</ref>, hold it to be a bedrock of fiqh vis-a-vis the treatment of non-Muslims in a Muslim state, and most Muslim nations still persecute and oppress non-Muslim communities.