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Part of the regulations placed on Christians and Jews under the Dhimma system is that they are not allowed to repair or build anew their churches and synagogues - damaged architecture must remain so.
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). [1] 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 laws and strictures of the dhimma outlining legal discrimination against and 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 in recent times such as the Islamic State, the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan continue to implement elements of the dhimma in the modern day.
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.
Origins
According to Islamic sources the pact of the dhimma originated with Muhammad himself after the battle of Khaybar. Muhammad, having defeated the Jews of the oasis, destroyed their forts, killed their leader, taken his wife as his own, tortured and killed various of their number in order to find their treasures, and cut down their palm trees, allowed the surviving Jews to remain there on the condition that they pay half their crop to him. This was the beginning of the jizya and the dhimma. According to his biographer ibn S'ad, Muhammad would later write to a Christian ruler
I will not fight against you unless I write to you in advance. So, join the fold of Islam or pay the jizyah. Obey Allah and His Apostle and the messengers of His Apostle, honour them and dress them in nice clothes.… Provide Zayd with good clothes. If my messengers will be pleased with you, I shall also be pleased with you.… Pay three wasaq of barley to Harmalah…
[2] Sa’d, Kitab Al-Tabaqat Al-Kabir, vol. 1, 328-329.
Spencer, Robert. The History of Jihad: From Muhammad to ISIS (p. 42). Bombardier Books. Kindle Edition.
Spencer, Robert. The History of Jihad: From Muhammad to ISIS (p. 42). Bombardier Books. Kindle Edition.
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:
Dhimma (or dhimmitude) ... is one of the results of the jihad or holy war. ; Connected with the notion of jihad is the distinction between dar al-harb (territory or "house" of war) and dar al-islam (house of Islam). The latter includes all territories subject to Muslim authority. It is in a state of perpetual war with the dar al-harb. The inhabitants of the dar al-harb are harbis, who are not answerable to the Islamic authority and whose persons and goods are mubah, that is, at the mercy of Believers. However, when Muslims are in a subordinate state, they can negotiate a truce with the harbis lasting no more than ten years, which they are obliged to revoke unilaterally as soon as they regain the upper hand, following the example of the Prophet after Hudaibiyya
The dhimmi, we might say, is a second-class citizen. If they [the ruling Muslims] tolerate him it is a calculated step, whether because they cherish the hope of converting him or for material reasons, because they force him to shoulder virtually the entire burden of taxation. They provide a place for him in the state, but not without reminding him continually of his inferior status. They prevent him from occupying high positions in society, and if by merit or intrigue he manages to climb to such places everything conspires to relegate him once again to obscurity. If the dhimmi acquires an independent legal status or privileges associated with his personal position, if he is permitted even his own courts, it is only because he cannot share with the Faithful the advantages of their own justice, which is essentially religious. In no case is the dhimmi the equal of a Muslim. He is condemned to social inequality and forms part of a despised caste: inequality so far as his personal rights are concerned, inequality in taxation, and inequality before the law, since his testimony is neither accepted by the Muslim courts of justice nor even, for the same minor crime, is the punishment the same ... No social relationship, no fellowship is possible between Muslims and dhimmis.
[4] 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:
Fight those who believe not in Allah nor the Last Day, nor hold that forbidden which hath been forbidden by Allah and His Messenger, nor acknowledge the religion of Truth, (even if they are) of the People of the Book,
until they pay the Jizya with willing submission, and feel themselves subdued. 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 mufassirun 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:
And the Jews say: The hand of Allah is tied up! Their hands shall be shackled and
they shall be cursed for what they say. Nay, both His hands are spread out, He expends as He pleases; and what has been revealed to you from your Lord will certainly make many of them increase in inordinacy and unbelief; and We have put enmity and hatred among them till the day of resurrection; whenever they kindle a fire for war Allah puts it out, and they strive to make mischief in the land; and Allah does not love the mischief-makers.
The Jews call 'Uzair a son of Allah, and the Christians call Christ the son of Allah. That is a saying from their mouth; (in this) they but imitate what the unbelievers of old used to say. Allah's curse be on them: how they are deluded away from the Truth!
Ibn Kathir in his tafsir explains the meaning of the Jizya verse in surah at-Tauba (Surah 9):
Paying Jizyah Is a Sign of Kufr and Disgrace
Allah said, "until they pay the Jizyah," if they do not choose to embrace Islam, "with willing submission," in defeat and subservience, "and feel themselves subdued," disgraced, humiliated and belittled. Therefore, Muslims are not allowed to honor the people of Dhimmah or elevate them above Muslims, for they are miserable, disgraced, and humiliated. Muslim recorded from Abu Hurayrah that the Propeht said, "Do not initiate the Salam to the Jews and the Christians, and if you meet them in a raod, force them to its narrowest alley. " This is why the Leader of the faithful `Umar b. Al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him, demanded his well-known conditions be met by the Christians, these conditions that ensured their continued humiliation, degradation, and disgrace. The scholars of Hadith narrated from Abdur-Rahman b. Ghanm Al-Ash'ari that he said, "I recorded for `Umar b. Al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him, the tems of the treaty of peace he conducted with the Christians of Ash-Sham: `In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful. This is a document to the servant of Allah, `Umar the Leader of the faithful, for the Christians of such and such city. When you [Muslims] came to us we requested safety for ourselves, children, property and followers of our religion. We made a condition on ourselves that we will neither erect in our areas a monastery, church, or a sanctuary for a monk, nor restore any place of worship that needs restoration nor use any of them for the purpose of enmity against Muslims. We will not prevent any Muslim from resting in our churches whether they come by day or night, and we will open the doors [of our houses of worship] for the wayfarer and passerby. Those Muslims who come as guests, will enjoy boarding and food for three days. We will not allow a spy against Muslims into our churches and homes or hide deceit [or betrayal] against Muslims. We will not teach our children the Qur'an, publicize practices of Shirk, invite anyone to Shirk or prevent any of our fellows from embracing Islam, if they choose to do so. We will respect Muslims, move from places we sit in if they choose to sit in them. We will not imitate their clothing, caps, turbans, sandals, hairstyles, speech, nicknames and title names, or ride on saddles, hang swords on the shoulders, collect weapons of any kind or carry these weapons. We will not encrypt our stamps in Arabic, or sell liquor. We will have the front of our hair cut, wear our customary clothes wherever we are, wear belts around our waist, refrain from erecting crosses on the outside of our churches and demonstrating them and our books in public in Muslim fairways and markets. We will not sound the bells of our churches, except discretely, or raise our voices while reciting our holy books inside our churches in the presence of Muslims, nor raise our voices [with prayer] at our funerals, or light torches in funeral processions in the fairways of Muslims, or in their markets. We will not bury our dead next to Muslim dead, or buy servants who were captured by Muslims. We will be guides for Muslims and refrain from breaching privacy in their homes.' When I gave this document to `Umar, he added to it, `We will not beat any Muslim. These are the conditions that we set against ourselves and followers to our religion in return for safety and Allah said, "Fight against those who believe not in Allah, nor in the Last Day, nor forbid that which has been forbidden by Allah and His Messenger, and those who acknowledge not the religion of truth among the People of the Scripture, until they pay the Jizyah with willing submission, and feel themselves subdued. "
Tafsir of Ibn Kathir
Ibn Kathir goes on to explain more about the Jizyah:
Allah said, "until they pay the Jizyah," if they do not choose to embrace Islam, "with willing submission," in defeat and subservience, "and feel themselves subdued," disgraced, humiliated and belittled. Therefore, Muslims are not allowed to honor the people of Dhimmah or elevate them above Muslims, for they are miserable, disgraced, and humiliated. Muslim recorded from Abu Hurayrah that the Propeht said, "Do not initiate the Salam to the Jews and the Christians, and if you meet them in a raod, force them to its narrowest alley. " This is why the Leader of the faithful `Umar b. Al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him, demanded his well-known conditions be met by the Christians, these conditions that ensured their continued humiliation, degradation, and disgrace.
Tafsir of Ibn Kathir
The "Aman" or peace that the Islamic state affords to the conquered people comes with many conditions according to ibn Kathir:
We made a condition on ourselves that we will neither erect in our areas a monastery, church, or a sanctuary for a monk, nor restore any place of worship that needs restoration nor use any of them for the purpose of enmity against Muslims. We will not prevent any Muslim from resting in our churches whether they come by day or night, and we will open the doors [of our houses of worship] for the wayfarer and passerby. Those Muslims who come as guests, will enjoy boarding and food for three days. We will not allow a spy against Muslims into our churches and homes or hide deceit [or betrayal] against Muslims. We will not teach our children the Qur'an, publicize practices of Shirk, invite anyone to Shirk or prevent any of our fellows from embracing Islam, if they choose to do so. We will respect Muslims, move from places we sit in if they choose to sit in them. We will not imitate their clothing, caps, turbans, sandals, hairstyles, speech, nicknames and title names, or ride on saddles, hang swords on the shoulders, collect weapons of any kind or carry these weapons. We will not encrypt our stamps in Arabic, or sell liquor. We will have the front of our hair cut, wear our customary clothes wherever we are, wear belts around our waist, refrain from erecting crosses on the outside of our churches and demonstrating them and our books in public in Muslim fairways and markets. We will not sound the bells of our churches, except discretely, or raise our voices while reciting our holy books inside our churches in the presence of Muslims, nor raise our voices [with prayer] at our funerals, or light torches in funeral processions in the fairways of Muslims, or in their markets. We will not bury our dead next to Muslim dead, or buy servants who were captured by Muslims. We will be guides for Muslims and refrain from breaching privacy in their homes.' When I gave this document to `Umar, he added to it, `We will not beat any Muslim. These are the conditions that we set against ourselves and followers to 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.
The Tafsir of Ibn Kathir
Fiqh Around the Institution of the Dhimma
The Dhimma revolved around the payment of the Jizya, which was both a source of income for the Muslims of the Islamic state and a source of humiliation and subjection for the conquered dhimmi people. Islamic scholar Abu Yusuf outlines the reason for this:
The wali [governor of a province] is not allowed to exempt any Christian, Jew,
Magian [Zoroastrian], Sabean, or Samaritan from paying the tax, and no one can obtain a partial reduction. It is illegal for one to be exempted and another not, because their lives and possessions art: spared only on
account of the payment of the poll tax, which serves in lieu of the kharaj related to their possessions. [p. 189]
Abu Yusuf, quoted in Bat Ye'or From Jihad to Dhimmitude:The Decline of Eastern Christianity Under Islam
The "protection" afforded to the dhimmis was conditional upon the payment of the jizya. As such the dhimmi was required to carry the receipt of his jizya on his person at all times, lest a Muslim demand to see proof of his "protection." Abu Yusuf outlines how this was to be accomplished
Concerning the Costume and Appearance of the Tributaries
Furthermore, you must set a seal upon their necks when the poll tax is collected and until all have been passed in review, though these seals may later be broken at their request, as did Uthman b. Hunayf.
Abu Yusuf, quoted in Bat Ye'or From Jihad to Dhimmitude:The Decline of Eastern Christianity Under Islam
At other periods in Islamic history, the Dhimmi was also allowed to carry the receipt in paper form on their person.
Abu Yusuf further outlines the strictures of the pact of the dhimma:
You have succeeded in ordering that none of them should have the freedom
to resemble a Muslim by his dress, his mount, or his appearance; that all should wear a belt <zunnar> at the waist similar to a coarse string, which each must knot in the middle; that their bonnets be quilted; that their saddles carry, instead of a pommel, a piece of wood like a pomegranate; that their footwear be furnished with double straps. That they avoid coming face to face with Muslims; that their womenfolk do not ride on padded saddles; that they do not build new synagogues or churches within the town and restrict themselves to using, as places of worship, those which existed at the time of the treaty that transformed them into tributaries, and which were left to them without having been demolished; the same applies to the funeral pyres [of the Zoroastrians]. It is tolerated for them to live in the main towns, to buy and sell in Muslim markets, but selling neither wine nor pigs, and without displaying crosses in the main towns; but their headgear should be long and coarse. Consequently, command your representatives to oblige the tributaries to respect these requirements in their appearance, as Umar
Abu Yusuf, quoted in Bat Ye'or From Jihad to Dhimmitude:The Decline of Eastern Christianity Under Islam
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.
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