Dhimma

The Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary has defined it as "a person living in a region overrun by Muslim conquest who was accorded a protected status and allowed to retain his original faith".^[1]. The dhimma is the "pact of protection" entailing the social rights, responsibilities, and restrictions entailed by the status of being a dhimmi. According to orthodox Islamic law (Shari'ah), those who are qualified for Dhimmi status within the Muslim society are the free (i.e non-slave) Christians, Jews, and Zoroastrians. Adherents of other religions, as well as those without religion, are asked to convert to Islam; if they refuse, they are to be forced to convert (or face execution, en masse). ^[2] However, historically, adherents of Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, and other religions, have lived as Dhimmis within Muslim states.

The dhimma as a whole is conceived of in the Islamic tradition as "protection" of the non-Muslim from the endless state of jihad. As such the Muslim jurists and scholars see it as a form of mercy and protection; in reality, though, the legal discriminations and legal limitations on religious minorities constitute a form of religious apartheid and second class citizenship. The limitations extend to but are not limited to freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom to marry the partner of one's choosing, freedom of movement, taxation without representation, the right to own and bear arms, and freedom from slavery and unpaid servitude. The implementation of these rules have varied over time, but Islamic scholars to this day continue to advocate for the implementation of the dhimma, and Islamist regimes such as the Islamic State, the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan continue to implement elements of the dhimma.

According to the Qur'an and hadith, the centerpiece of the dhimma contract is that the Jizyah tax must be paid by the dhimmis as a sign of submission. Legally, the payment of this tax grants the dhimmis some legal protection in return. As established by the Pact of Omar, 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, they must wear distinctive clothing which includes the Zunar (a kind of belt) wherever they go (which parallels the Nazi practice of making Jews wear yellow badges), etc. Many of these laws are still enforced today in Muslim countries, like Egypt and Saudi Arabia, which enforce various aspects of Shari'ah. If the conquered do not wish to pay or convert, their fate may very well be slavery (under which, rape is permitted) or death. The Pact of Umar also declares that dhimmis are forbidden to ride horses and camels, and may only ride donkeys, and only on packsaddles.

The Pact Of Umar

The Pact of Umar is a historical document preserved by Islamic historians such as Al-Tabari which lays out the rights and responsibilities of the non-Muslims living under the Islamic rule of the 2nd Rashidun Caliph Umar. It is a document which was utilized frequently by later jurists dealing with the subject of the dhimma ^[3].

Background

The law professor Antoine Fattal offered the following analysis of dhimmitude after close study of Islamic law:

Scriptural Basis in the Qur'an and Sunnah

The fuquhaa' (Islamic jurists) call on many sources in the Islamic canon of the Quran and Sunnah when dealing with the subject of the dhimma. The basis of the institution of the dhimma is found in the Qur'an:

This verse, laying out the subjugated position of the non-Muslim in the Muslim society by means of the jizya, is the main verse in the Qur'an upon which the entire legal theory of the dhimma is buit.

Beyond this verse, the attitude of the Qur'an, particularly as read by later tafsir and Islamic scholars, towards unbelievers including the so-called "People of the Book" is unremittingly negative. The main understanding (in the traditional Islamic reading) is that the Jews and Christians are cursed for rejecting the message of the prophet:

Classical Fiqh Around the Institution of the Dhimma

Legal Theory and Framework

The main operative theory of the dhimma derives from the concept of jihad. Until the entire world is conquered for the religion of Allah, the blood and treasury of every infidel on earth is lawful to be taken by the Muslim ummah. The dhimma is a pact of "protection" between the Muslim state and the non-Muslim. In return for fay, jizya and kharaaj the Muslim state ceases the state of jihad upon the dhimmi and allows him to keep his family, safety and some of his property. The pact comes with many strings attached though: the stipulations of the dhimma entail many restrictions upon the life and freedoms of the dhimmi which are designed to protect and promote the Islamic religion.

Jizya, Kharaj and Fay

The classic trifecta of options that the jihadist presents to the enemies of Islam (conversion, death, or paying the jizya), were attributed to Muhammad but first offered to infidel people's in Iraq by the brilliant jihad general Khalid bin Al-Walid, the "Sword of God." The jizya is the operative legal condition of the dhimma; so long as the dhimmis pay it as the Qur'an says "saaghirun" (صاغرون) (surat 9, At-Tauba, verse 29), that is "subdued/in a position of submission", they are afforded the protections of the dhimmah. In order that they might feel "subdued", jurists have traditionally ruled that the tax must be rendered with the dhimmi kneeling in a submissive position, recieving ritual blows on both sides of his head, and in other ways suffering indignities meant to remind him of his lowly position.

Slavery

The dhimmi is by definition not a slave; despite his ostensibly free status though, dhimmis were historically often subject to the collection of corvees or forced labor. In addition to this, later Islamic practices of recruitmnent of children from amongst the dhimmi populations such as the Turkish devshirme more or less amounted to a form of slavery. In many ways the believing slave was often superior in social position to the ostensibly free dhimmi; multiple Islamic dynasties such as the Mamluks in Egypt found their origin in Muslim slave warriors, but dhimmis were always limited in what they could accomplish and how far they could rise in Muslim states.

Rights and Role of the Dhimmi Clergy

The jurists established strict rules for the interactions between the Muslim ummah and the dhimmi populations, and these rules designated the clergy as the intermediary through which Muslim emirs would rule their cowed dhimmi subjects. As such Muslim authorities took great interest in the elections of Christian and Jewish clergy to their offices, often favoring one party or the other, and as a consequence many favored Christian clergy were the willing agents of the dhimma's humiliation and exploitation of their flocks.

Historical Implementation

Implementation varied from Muslim state to Muslim state. The weakness of Muslim and instability of Muslim states often prompted the intensification of the persecution of the dhimmis. There was often tension between the emirs of Muslim states who wished to lighten the burden of the dhimmah on their dhimmah subjects in the interest of economic objectives and later to appease the powerful European Christian states which came to dominate them, and the Ulema who generally agitated for more faithful and stricter implementation of the strictures of the dhimmah.

Dhimmitude

Scholar Bat Ye'or see the social rules, restrictions, and customs originating in and evolving from the dhimmah as producing a state of what she calls Dhimmitude in the subject peoples. This fearful state was characterized by obedience to the dhimmis' Muslim masters, acceptance of the assumptions underlying the dhimmah (about such things as the superiority of Islam), behaviour which sought to mollify and please the dhimmis' Muslim masters, and inter-dhimmi rivalry, bigotry and even bloodshed aimed at securing a more favored position vis-a-vis the Muslim ummah.

See Also

External Links

• A Collection of Articles about Dhimmis and the Institution of the Dhimma
• Dhimmitude.org-- A Collection of Articles about the idea of Dhimmitude

References