Analysis of the Pact of Umar

From WikiIslam, the online resource on Islam
Revision as of 21:24, 23 February 2021 by IbnPinker (talk | contribs)
Jump to navigation Jump to search



[We will not] publicize practices of Shirk,

Shirk (شرك‎) refers to taking other gods besides Allah (i.e. Polytheism), and is considered the most heinous crime against the Islamic god. Perhaps due to Muhammad's flawed understanding of the Trinity doctrine,[1] Muslims consider all Trinitarian Christians to be polytheists. This condition in the pact prevents Christians from proclaiming their religion publicly.

[We will not] invite anyone to Shirk or prevent any of our fellows from embracing Islam, if they choose to do so.

As per most Islamic nations of today, it is fine for Muslims to proselytize and gain converts, but for a non-Muslim to do the same it is strictly forbidden. According to the above, even discussing this important matter with the prospective convert would mean violating the agreement. These restrictions limited the number of Muslim apostates and (coupled with the jizyah)[2] would ensure a steady decline and Islamization of the native non-Muslim population.

We will respect Muslims,

This perfectly exemplifies the common Islamic attitude towards others. It demands that others give Islam and its prophet respect, yet it fails to reciprocate this courtesy in its own lands.

[We will] move from the places we sit in if they choose to sit in them.

This brings to mind; a bus, the Jim Crow laws and a certain American civil rights activist named Rosa Parks (February 4, 1913 – October 24, 2005). The difference lay in the fact you do not hear Americans defending such shameful histories by pointing to dhimmitude today in Muslim lands, or you don't hear them defending the slave-trade by pointing out that the number of innocent Africans who were taken (or died in the process of being taken) as slaves over the last fourteen centuries of Islamic slavery is estimated to be higher than 140 million[3] (dwarfing the 11 million Africans who were transported across the Atlantic). Such moral relativism seem to only be accepted when applied to Islam by those defending Islam.

We will not imitate their clothing, caps, turbans, sandals, hairstyles, speech, nicknames and title names,

This stipulation reflects the general hatred and disdain in Islam for everything non-Muslim. These prohibitions reflect Muhammad's wishes when he said "Jews and Christians do not dye their hair so you should do the opposite of what they do,"[4] and "act differently from them".[5]

or ride on saddles,

Muslims look very fondly on horses and such. This may be due to Muhammad claiming he rode the Buraq, a mythical horse-like flying creature, on his "Night Journey." This prohibition is meant to show Islamic superiority.

[We will not] hang swords on the shoulders, collect weapons of any kind or carry these weapons.

Apologists often claim jizyah was merely a tax for exemption from military service. However, this is untrue. The Qur'an itself readily admits that the jizyah is a form of humiliation,[6] meant to display the superior status of Muslims and the subdued state of non-Muslims. And as jihad is a religious duty among Muslims, it would make little sense for a non-Muslim dhimmi to participate. There is also another reason for the exemption, and this prohibition against owning or carrying weapons demonstrates it perfectly- they did not want the conquered natives to be armed.

We will not encrypt our stamps in Arabic,

Despite the language's pagan origins, Islam teaches a special reverence for the Arabic language that borders on its veneration for the Kaaba (which was likewise a pagan shrine) and Muhammad. This stipulation also further forces a discriminatory distinction between Muslims and non-Muslims.

or sell liquor.

This restriction on the sale of alcohol, for many, would have seriously hampered the Christian practice of eating bread and drinking wine (the Eucharist) on Sundays.

We will have the front of our hair cut, wear our customary clothes wherever we are,

These degrading requirements were so the Christians could be easily identified, humiliatingly on sight.

[We will] wear belts around our waist,

The belt being referred to is the zunār, a wide belt made of cloth. The similarities between this and the 1939 Nazi requirement for all Jews to wear armbands or yellow stars are uncanny. In fact, the yellow star used by the Nazis as a badge of shame against the Jews was first introduced by a caliph in Baghdad in the 9th century, and spread to the West in medieval times.[7] As an invention of Islam's so-called "Golden Age", this stipulation smacks of surprising backwardness.

refrain from erecting crosses on the outside of our churches

One can only imagine how many crosses have been torn down due to this prohibition. Muhammad himself used to destroy anything in his home which bore the Christian symbol of the Cross.[8]

and [refrain from] demonstrating them and our books in public in Muslim fairways and markets.

Carrying a Bible, or wearing a cross/crucifix was strictly forbidden.

We will not sound the bells in our churches, except discretely,

It is in striking contrast to this, today, that a Buddhist cannot visit the holiest of Buddhist sites without having the spiritual experience ruined by the Islamic call to prayer (أَذَان adhān), which continues for up to half an hour.[9]

or raise our voices while reciting our holy books inside our churches in the presence of Muslims,

It is speculated that the presence of Muslims in churches during church services would be explained by their wanting to take advantage of the free personal and culinary services for Muslims required earlier in the pact.

nor raise our voices [with prayer] at our funerals,

Christians even had to mourn in silence, lest they offend the Muslim invaders.

or light torches in funeral processions in the fairways of Muslims, or their markets.

This, and many of the other restrictions, seem to serve only two purposes. The first, to humiliate, and the second, to make the Christian community an invisible one. Like the non-Muslims today in the east, who live as ghosts, and whose oppression is rarely discussed in the West.

We will not bury our dead next to Muslim dead,

According to most Islamic scholars, it is a compulsory (fard) requirement for Muslims to be buried in separate cemeteries from non-Muslims.[10] In Switzerland, Muslims (approximately 4.5 percent of the population) say they want to be buried “with dignity”[11] and are therefore calling for Islamic cemeteries in every canton. This burial requirement is perhaps explained by the Islamic teachings that equate non-Muslims with pigs and feces.

or buy servants who were captured by Muslims.

This was most likely to prevent free Christians from buying enslaved Christians in order to set them free.

We will be guides for Muslims and refrain from breaching their privacy in their homes.

For a Christian to enter a Muslim home could mean violating the pact, but there is no like regulation against Muslims violating the privacy and property of non-Muslims. The unilateral nature of Islam's relationship with religious minorities reflected in this stipulation continues to this day.

We will not beat any Muslim.

Assaulting someone would already be an offense, and, indeed, this prohibition only applied to beating someone in self-defense. Non-Muslims were not allowed to defend themselves or their families against unwarranted attacks. This and the previous prohibition against owning or carrying weapons made sure the Christians were left completely defenseless.

These are the conditions that we set against ourselves and followers of our religion in return for safety and protection. If we break any of these promises that we set for your benefit against ourselves, then our Dhimmah (promise of protection) is broken and you are allowed to do with us what you are allowed of people of defiance and rebellion.

We come to the closing of the pact which leaves, not only the solitary law breaker, but the entire Christian community, with a stern warning. The Qur'an tells us for people who rebel, there is a painful doom.[12] Today, this has provided on many occasions the pretext for Muslims to viciously attack non-Muslim communities for the smallest of perceived slights.[13]

Conclusion

Many point to this pact as proof of Islam's inherent tolerance towards other beliefs, by applying the logical fallacy of ad-hominem tu-quoque against past followers of other religions and their intolerances during the medieval period. One must consider that no two religions are the same, some are inherently more adaptable to change than others, so this fallacious comparison could not be further from the truth.

According to Islamic theology, Umar is one of four 'Rightly-guided Caliphs. Therefore, he is considered by them to be a model Muslim leader.[14] His actions and this pact reflect the teachings of the Qur'an, Hadith, and scholarly concensus[15] (together forming Islamic sacred law, or Sharia).

While today's Secular Europeans and Christians can and have denounced (and even apologized)[16][17] for past atrocities committed by others in the name of their countries and religion, the same cannot be said of Islam. Many still deny that the Islamic slave trade ever existed, or indeed still exists[18] in the east.

To this day, Muslims hold up this document with pride,[19] and to this day, Muslim nations persecute and oppress non-Muslim communities.

See Also

References and Footnotes

  1. ↑ Muhammad assumed that the Trinity consisted of the Father (God), the Mother (Virgin Mary) and the Son (Jesus).
    "And behold! Allah will say: "O Jesus the son of Mary! Didst thou say unto men, ‘Take me and my mother for two gods beside Allah?" He will say: "Glory to Thee! Never could I say what I had no right (to say). Had I said such a thing, Thou wouldst indeed have known it. Thou knowest what is in my heart, though I know not what is in Thine. For Thou knowest in full all that is hidden." Quran 5:116
  2. ↑ Non-Muslims paid jizyah while Muslims, under the empire, paid a tax called zakat, one of the five pillars of Islam, a so-called "charity tax" which all Muslims are obligated to pay even today, but instead of paying it to the state they now pay zakat to charities of their choice, it must be noted that the majority of Islamic scholars are of the view that non-Muslims should not benefit from this alms giving. The zakat is a 2.5% tax, while the jizyah (which can vary) is about a 10% income tax (although it has been known to be as high as 50%); as explained in the Encyclopedia Britannica entry on jizyah, "many converted to Islam in order to escape the tax." This extra revenue generated by the jizyah may have also been reason enough for the Islamic authorities to avoid heavy-handed attempts at proselytization and in some cases the taxation of the non-Muslims was so profitable that the Islamic rulers went so far as to prohibit their subjects from converting to Islam.
  3. ↑ The Scourge of Slavery - Christian Action, 2004 Vol 4
  4. ↑ "Narrated Abu Huraira : The Prophet said, "Jews and Christians do not dye their hair so you should do the opposite of what they do." - Sahih Bukhari 7:72:786
  5. ↑ "Narrated Ubadah ibn as-Samit: The Apostle of Allah (peace be upon him) used to stand up for a funeral until the corpse was placed in the grave. A learned Jew (once) passed him and said: This is how we do. The Prophet (peace be upon him) sat down and said: Sit down and act differently from them." - Sunan Abu Dawud 20:3170
  6. ↑ "SHAKIR: Fight those who do not believe in Allah, nor in the latter day, nor do they prohibit what Allah and His Messenger have prohibited, nor follow the religion of truth, out of those who have been given the Book, until they pay the tax in acknowledgment of superiority and they are in a state of subjection." - Quran 9:29
  7. ↑ Bernard Lewis - The Jews of Islam - Princeton University Press, Jun 1, 1987, pp. 25-26.
  8. ↑ "Narrated 'Aisha: I never used to leave in the Prophet house anything carrying images or crosses but he obliterated it." - Sahih Bukhari 7:72:836
  9. ↑ "The beautiful waning full moon light filtering through the glistening leaves of the Maha Bodhi Tree, the soft fluttering of the leaves, the serene quiet, took me back to that time long ago when the Buddha himself had sat very near this same exact spot. Or so I thought……. The mussein’s call to prayer for the faithful of Islam, here in this most sacred location to all of Buddhism, ripped me back to modern reality. I was stunned! How could this be? Here in one of the most significant spots of Buddhism, loud speakers come on at four in the morning every day, to shock and intrude upon meditators and Buddhist practitioners using this spot for that which it has to offer in its most special way? How could this be allowed?" - Islam's War Against Buddhism - Dhamma jarat, FrontPageMagazine, April 04, 2007
  10. ↑ "Praise be to Allaah. The deceased Muslims must be buried in a graveyard that is exclusively for them. It is not permissible to bury them in non-Muslim graveyards. Imaam al-Sheeraazi said in al-Muhadhdhab: “A non-Muslim should not be buried in the Muslim graveyard and a Muslim should not be buried in a non-Muslim graveyard.” Imaam al-Nawawi said in al-Majmoo’: “Our companions (may Allaah have mercy on them) agreed that a Muslim should not be buried in a non-Muslim graveyard and a non-Muslim should not be buried in a Muslim graveyard.” From this it is clear that there has to be a place that is exclusively for the burial of Muslims in a graveyard of their own. And Allaah is the Source of strength. May Allaah bless our Prophet Muhammad and his family and companions, and grant them peace." - Burying Muslims in a non-Muslim country - Fatwa No. 7866 - Islam Q&A
  11. ↑ "An umbrella group for Swiss Muslims says they should be able to be buried “with dignity” and is therefore calling for Islamic cemeteries in every Swiss canton. Farhad Afshar, president of the Coordination of Islamic Organisations in Switzerland, told the Sunday newspaper Sonntag he was preparing a legal case concerning freedom of religion. He said that following the Bernese commune of Köniz’s recent rejection of a separate burial ground for Muslims, a legal ruling was necessary so that “the next time someone says no [to an Islamic cemetery] they are violating freedom of religion”. Islamic law says Muslims should not be buried with those of a different faith – something already possible in some Swiss cities, for example Zurich, Bern, Basel and Geneva." - Muslims want Islamic cemeteries in every canton - Swiss Info, March 14, 2010
  12. ↑ "PICKTHAL: The way (of blame) is only against those who oppress mankind, and wrongfully rebel in the earth. For such there is a painful doom." - Quran 42:42
  13. ↑ One example: In August 2009, Muslim mobs rioted against Christians in Gojra, over an alleged desecration of a Qur'an. These accusations are conveniently becoming more and more frequent and always lead to violent riots [sometimes by thousands of Muslims] against non-Muslim minorities. This one left over a hundred churches and Christian-owned homes looted and destroyed, plus many Christian men, women and children were burnt alive. - (Click here for images)
  14. ↑ "...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)...." - The Four Rightly-Guided Caliphs of Islam
  15. ↑ "...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 - "Islamic Jihad: A Legacy of Forced Conversion, Imperialism, and Slavery" - p. 106, Universe Inc., New York, Bloomington
  16. ↑ Pope John Paul II Makes Unprecedented Apology For Sins of Catholic Church - CNN, March 12, 2000
  17. ↑ "...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..." - Christian apology for the Crusades: The Reconciliation Walk
  18. ↑ "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 - Half a million African slaves are at the heart of Mauritania's presidential election - The Telegraph, July 12, 2009
  19. ↑ "The Convenant of Omar", The Handstand, February-March 2006, http://www.thehandstand.org/archive/february-march2006/articles/abbas.htm. 
Retrieved from "http://wikiislamica.net/index.php?title=Analysis_of_the_Pact_of_Umar&oldid=129224"