People of the Book: Difference between revisions

__NOEDITSECTION__{{QualityScore|Lead=2|Structure=4|Content=3|Language=3|References=4}}In the [[Qur'an]] and [[Hadith]], the term '''People of the Book''' (أهل الكتاب‎ ′Ahl al-Kitāb) is used to refer to followers of certain [[Monotheism|monotheistic]] faiths which pre-date the advent of [[Islam]]. In particular, it refers to the Christian, Jewish, and Sabian (and Zoroastrian) faiths.<ref>"...''Those who believe and those who are Jews and Christians, and Sabians''..." - {{Quran|2|62}}</ref> This page contains summaries of articles discussing the relationship between Islam and the People of the Book.

{{Main|Corruption of Previous Scriptures|Qur'an, Hadith and Scholars:Corruption of Previous Scriptures}}It is a common Islamic belief that the Qur'an states that the previous scriptures (the Taurat and Injil) have been physically corrupted by those who were charged with safeguarding it (the Jews and Christians). Thus, it is claimed, the Qur'an is the 'return' to the true message of the God of the Bible. The following verse (2:79) is generally advanced as evidence.{{quote | {{Quran|2|79}}|'''Shakir:''' Woe, then, to those who write the book with their hands and then say: This is from Allah, so that they may take for it a small price; therefore woe to them for what their hands have written and woe to them for what they earn.}}The above article examines what the Qur'an says about the Taurat and Injil and examines verse 2:79 in this own context, and considers whether the doctrine of the corruption of previous scriptures is indeed found in the Qur'an.

{{Main|Allah}}According to Islam, ''Allāh'' is the Creator of the Universe. Allah is commonly understood to "the God". Linguists consider its origins uncertain, though it was the name of a Nabatean pagan deity several centuries before Islam, before becoming applied to the Judeo-Christian God. It was also used in this way by the Quranic ''Mushrikeen'', where it was the name of the supreme creator god, along with lesser dieties. The goddesses; ''Allāt'' (meaning '' 'the goddess' ''),<ref>Arne A. Ambros, and Stephan Procházka - [http://jis.oxfordjournals.org/content/19/3/400.extract A Concise Dictionary of Koranic Arabic (p. 306)] - Weisbaden: Dr. Ludwig Reichert Verlag, 2004, ISBN 3895004006</ref> ''Manat'', and ''al-Uzza'' were Allah's daughters.

According to some scholars of the Islamist mindset such as Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi (d. 1979, founder of the Jama'at-i Islami movement), jihad should be waged against Jews and Christians because they are guilty of committing shirk (one of the gravest sins in Islam), their beliefs about the Day of Judgement are not Islamic, and they do not follow the laws of Islam revealed to Muhammad.<ref>[http://www.englishtafsir.com/Quran/9/index.html#sdfootnote27sym Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi - Tafhim al-Qur'an (Quran 9:29, Footnotes 26 & 27)]</ref>

{{Main|Jizyah|Qur'an, Hadith and Scholars:Jizyah}}{{Quote|Umar ibn al-Khattab during the conquest of al-Basrah (636 CE)|Summon the people to God; those who respond to your call, accept it from them, but those who refuse must pay the poll tax out of humiliation and lowliness. If they refuse this, it is the sword without leniency. Fear God with regard to what you have been entrusted.<ref>Al-Tabari, ''The History of al-Tabari (Ta'rikh al rusul wa'l-muluk)'', vol. 12: ''The Battle of Qadissiyah and the Conquest of Syria and Palestine,'' trans. Yohanan Friedman (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1992), p. 167.</ref>}}According to the Qur'an and hadith, ''Jizyah'' or ''jizya'' (جزْي) is the extra tax imposed on non-Muslims (Dhimmis) who live under Muslim rule. It is paid as a sign of submission and gives dhimmis some legal protection in return. Under dhimmitude (the status that Islamic law, the Sharia, mandates for non-Muslims) Dhimmis usually are not allowed to carry arms to protect themselves, serve in the army or government, display symbols of their faith, build or repair places of worship, etc. If the conquered do not wish to pay or convert, their fate may very well be slavery (under which, rape is permitted) or (as evidenced in the quotes above) death.

{{Main|The Pact of Umar|Analysis of the Pact of Umar}}Much has been said of the ''Pact of Umar'',<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> and much of it distinctly positive. Its non-Muslim admirers gleefully compare its contents to the treatment of religious minorities in Medieval Europe, while ignoring its influence and conformity with Islamic scriptural sources which still govern the treatment of minorities in the East today. Some non-Muslim scholars of early Islam doubt the pact's authenticity, highlighting the fact that the Islamic traditions surrounding the writing of the pact are a few hundred years removed from the actual events described, and that no contemporary sources refer to it at all. ''Sophronius''' (560  - 638 AD) authentic extant writings also refer to the Muslim conquerors in a very negative way, putting further doubts on the Muslim recollections of events.<ref>Robert Hoyland, ''Seeing Islam as Others Saw It'' (Princeton, 1996) p. 69-71</ref> This article, nonetheless, analyses the rights and limitations placed on the Syrians based on this account of the Pact of Umar. It is further worth noting that, even if the pact is historically unreliable, many (if not all) of the specific stipulations found in the pact have a basis in Islamic scripture independent of the pact itself.

{{Main|The Genocide of Banu Qurayza|Qur'an, Hadith and Scholars:Banu Qurayza}}Hijra year 5 (627 AD), almost nine hundred Jews (including children) of a Medinan tribe named Banu Qurayza were massacred by Muslims in one day. Muhammad was the lead of the atrocity, which began early in the day, ending in torchlight. Those who escaped death were taken captive by Muslims and sold in slave markets. This genocide is known in history as the Banu Qurayza incident.

{{Main|Antisemitism in Islam}}Anti-Semitism is rampant in the Muslim world, often intertwined with grievances concerning the long-running Israel-Palestine conflict. Islamic scripture is often cited in defense of these attitudes.