Dhimmi Topics

• majid khadduri
• oxford university press
• encyclopedia of islam
• muslim rule
• dhimma
• jizya
• dhimmis
• khaybar
• inferior status
• islamic rule
• medieval europe
• bernard lewis
• straight path
• 11th century
• whims
• martyrdom
• hadith
• compulsion
• esposito

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Dhimmi, Dhimmi

Taxation from the perspective of dhimmis who came under the Muslim rule, was "a concrete continuation of the taxes paid to earlier regimes" Cl. Cahen in Encyclopedia of Islam, Jizya article (but now lower under the Muslim rule John Louis Esposito, Islam the Straight Path , Oxford University Press, Jan 15, 1998, p. 34.

Lewis (1987), p. 9, 27; Bat Ye'or (2002), p. 74 Most of these disabilities had a social and symbolic rather than a tangible and practical character. Lewis (1984) p. 26 Although persecution in the form of violent and active repression was rare and atypical, Lewis (1984) p. 8,62 the limitations on the rights of dhimmis made them vulnerable to the whims of rulers and the violence of mobs. Tritton (1930), p. 49 While recognizing the inferior status of dhimmis under Islamic rule, Bernard Lewis states that in most respects their position "was very much easier than that of non-Christians or even of heretical Christians in medieval Europe." Lewis (1984) p. 62, Cohen (1995) p. xvii For example, dhimmis rarely faced martyrdom or exile, or forced compulsion to change their religion, and with certain exceptions they were free in their choice of residence and profession.

The terms of these treaties were similar and imposed on the dhimmi , the people protected by Islam, certain obligations. Courbage and Fargues (1995), p. 2 A classic precedent of the dhimma was an agreement between Muhammad and the Jews of Khaybar, an oasis near Medina.

Lewis (1984), p. 32 Majid Khadduri cites a similar hadith in regard to the status of the Dhimmis: Whoever wrongs one with whom a compact has been made a dhimmi and lays on him a burden beyond his strength, I will be his accuser.

Lewis (1984) p. 15 While al-Zamakhshari, an 11th-century commentator, gives a very humiliating procedure of exacting jizya (See the Humiliation section below for a list of quotes), the 8th-century jurist Abu Ubayd, author of a classical treatise on taxation, insists that dhimmis must not be burdened beyond their capacity or caused to suffer.

Dhimmis were often subject to violence and crimes committed by Muslims; despite strict regulations to keep them on a lower status than that of Muslims, they often managed to secure considerable economic wealth and occasionally (though extremely rarely) some measure of political power. Lewis (1984) p. 7; Lewis (1995) p. 211 Lewis also notes that, although the regulations and restrictions imposed on dhimmis by the many Islamic communities "did not always conform to the high morals and religious principles of Islam," in practice the actual treatment and social realities of the dhimma under Islamic rule were sometimes better than the written regulations would suggest. Lewis (1995) p. 211 In his classic treatise on the principles of Islamic governance, the 11th-century Shafi'i scholar Al-Mawardi divided the conditions attached to dhimma on top of the requirement to pay tribute into compulsory and desirable. The compulsory conditions included prohibitions on blasphemy against Islam, entering into sexual relations or marriage with a Muslim woman, proselytizing among Muslims, and assisting the enemies of Islam. The desirable conditions included a requirement to wear distinctive apparel, a prohibition to visibly display religious symbols, wine, or pork, ringing church bells, or loudly praying, a requirement to bury dead bodies unobtrusively, and finally, a prohibition on riding horses or camels, but not donkeys. Al-Mawardi (2000), p. 161 The latter restrictions were largely symbolic in nature and were designed to highlight the inferiority of dhimmis compared to Muslims. Lewis (1984), p. 16 Friedmann holds that the principle that "Islam is exalted, and nothing is exalted above it" (as Bukhari puts it) had many practical effects on the relationship between Muslims and unbelievers in Muslim lands. Friedmann (2003), p. 34, 35 According to Lewis, it would have been a theological and logical absurdity for traditional Islamic societies to give the "same treatment to those who follow the true faith and those who willfully reject it." Lewis (1984), p. 4 The treatment of dhimmis, including the enforcement of restrictions placed on them, varied over time and space, depending on both the goodwill of the ruler and the historical circumstances. The "dhimma" was the most oppressive in Morocco, where Jews were subjected to what Norman Stillman called ritualized degradation, Stillman (1979), p. 87 as well as in Yemen and Persia. Stillman (1979), p. 99; Lewis (1984) p. 39–40 The periods when Islamic states were strong generally coincided with more relaxed attitude towards dhimmis; however, treatment of non-Muslims usually became harsher when Islam was weak and in decline.

Lewis (1984), p. 9; Bat Ye'or (2002), p. 66 Indeed, in the first several centuries after the Islamic conquest and subsequently in the Ottoman Empire, forcible conversions were rare. Subsequently, rulers frequently broke the pledge and dhimmis were forced to choose between conversion to Islam and death. Forced conversions occurred mostly in the Maghreb, especially under the Almohads, a militant dynasty with messianic claims, as well as in Persia, where Shi'a Muslims were generally less tolerant than their Sunni counterparts. Lewis (1984), pp. 94–95 In the 12th century, rulers of the Almohad dynasty killed or forcibly converted Jews and Christians in Al-Andalus and the Maghreb, putting an end to the existence of Christian communities in North Africa outside Egypt. Lewis (1984), p. 52; Stillman (1979), p.77 Bat Ye'or (2002), p. 88 In an effort to survive under Almohads, most Jews resorted to practicing Islam outwardly, while remaining faithful to Judaism; they openly reverted to Judaism after Almohad persecutions passed. Stillman (1979), p.78 During the Cordoba massacre of 1148, the Jewish philosopher, theologian, and physician Maimonides ruled that one may save his own life by faking conversion to Islam; he himself never converted or ever described himself as Muslim, in fact in his writing he was extremely critical of islamic outlooks. As a result of Almohad persecutions and other forced conversions that took place in Morocco afterwards, several Muslim tribes in the Atlas Mountains, as well as many Muslim families in Fez, have Jewish origin.

Lewis (1984), p. 40, 152 In 1656, Shah Abbas I expelled the Jews from Isfahan and compelled them to adopt Islam, although the order was subsequently withdrawn, possibly because of the loss of fiscal revenues. Lewis (1984), p. 152; Littman (1979), p. 3 In the early 18th century, Shia'a clergy attempted to force all dhimmis to embrace Islam, but without success. In 1830, all 2,500 Jews of Shiraz were forcibly converted to Islam. Littman (1979), p. 4 In 1839, Jews were massacred in Mashhad and survivors were forcibly converted. Littman (1979), p. 4; Lewis (1984), p. 168; Stillman (1979), p.76 The same fate awaited the Jews of Barforoush in 1866, even though they were allowed to revert to Judaism after an intervention from the British and French ambassadors.

Parfitt (2000), p. 211; Bat Ye'or (2002), p. 88 Suspecting a lack of sincerity on the part of Jews who were forcibly converted to Islam, Almohad rulers took Jewish children from their parents and raised those children as Muslims. Bat Ye'or (1985), p. 61 In Yemen, a 1922 Zaydi statute known as the Orphans Decree obligated the state to take under its protection and convert any dhimmi child whose parents had died (later extended to include fatherless children). Parfitt (2000), p. 211, 212; Eraqi-Klorman (2003), p. 392 Although possibly intended to alleviate the plight of orphaned children, the Jewish community was dismayed, Eraqi-Klorman (2003), p. 392 and Jewish leaders who helped hide orphans were imprisoned and sometimes tortured. Parfitt (2000), p. 212 Despite this, the Jews in Yemen generally continued to feel that their position in society was secure.

Stillman (1979), pp. 37–39 Dhimmis were prohibited from proselytizing on pain of death. Neither were they allowed to obstruct the spread of Islam in any manner. Other restrictions included a prohibition on publishing or sale of non-Muslim religious literature and a ban on teaching the Quran.

The Pact of Umar puts an obligation on dhimmis not to "restore, by night or by day, any of worship that have fallen into ruin", and Ibn Kathir adhered to this view. Ibn Kathir, Tafsir . URL accessed on April 30, 2006 At the same time, al-Mawardi wrote that dhimmis may "rebuild dilapidated old temples and churches". Al-Mawardi (2000), p. 162; see also Bat Yeor (1985), p. 179 As in the case of building new houses of worship, the ability of dhimmi communities to repair churches and synagogues usually depended upon its relationship with local Muslim authorities and its ability to pay bribes.

Sura 29 stipulates that jizya be exacted from non-Muslims as a condition required for jihad to cease. Failure to pay the jizya could result in the pledge of protection of a dhimmi's life and property becoming void, with the dhimmi facing the alternatives of conversion, enslavement or death (or imprisonment, as advocated by Abu Yusuf, the chief qadi — religious judge — of Abbasid caliph Harun al-Rashid). Lewis (1984), pp. 14–15 Taxation from the perspective of Dhimmis who came under the Muslim rule was "a concrete continuation of the taxes paid to earlier regimes" and from the point of view of the Muslim conqueror was a material proof of Dhimmi's subjection.

Al-Nawawi demands that the unpaid amount of poll tax remain a debt to the dhimmis account until he becomes solvent. Bat Yeor (2002), pp. 69–71 In the Ottoman Empire, dhimmis had to carry a receipt certifying their payment of jizya at all times or be subject to imprisonment.

However, in the Ottoman Empire of the 18th and 19th centuries dhimmis frequently attended the Muslim courts. This was not only when their appearance was compulsory (for example in cases brought against them by Muslims) but also in order to record property and business transactions within their own communities. Cases were taken out against Muslims, against other dhimmis and even against members of the dhimmis own family. Dhimmis often took cases relating to marriages, divorces and inheritance cases to the Muslim courts so that these cases would be decided under sharia law. Oaths sworn by dhimmis in the Muslim courts were sometimes the same as the oaths taken by Muslims, sometimes tailored to the dhimmis beliefs.

For Maliki and Hanbali schools of jurisprudence, the value of a dhimmi's life was one-half the value of a Muslim's life; in the Shafi'i school, Jews and Christians were worth one-third of a Muslim and Zoroastrians were worth just one-fifteenth.

Al-Nawawi required dhimmis to wear a piece of yellow cloth and a belt, as well as a metallic ring, inside public baths. Al-Nawawi, Minhadj , quoted in Bat Yeor (2002), p. 91 Regulations on dhimmi clothing varied frequently to please the whims of the ruler. Although the initiation of such regulations is usually attributed to Umar I, historical evidence suggests that it was the Abbasid caliphs who pioneered this practice. In 849 al-Mutawakkil ordered dhimmis to put a yellow veil on their heads and shoulders and wear a wide belt. He also required them to wear small bells in public baths. In the 11th century, the Fatimid caliph Al-Hakim ordered Christians to put on half-meter wooden crosses and Jews to wear wooden calves around their necks. In the late 12th century, Almohad ruler Abu Yusuf ordered the Jews of the Maghreb to wear dark blue garments with long sleeves and saddle-like caps. His grandson Abdallah al-Adil made a concession after appeals from the Jews, relaxing the required clothing to yellow garments and turbans.

In 1577, Murad III issued a firman forbidding Jews and Christians from wearing dresses, turbans, and sandals. In 1580, he changed his mind, restricting the previous prohibition to turbans and requiring dhimmis to wear black shoes; Jews and Christians also had to wear red and black hats, respectively. Observing in 1730 that some Muslims took to the habit of wearing caps similar to those of the Jews, Mahmud I ordered the hanging of the perpetrators. Mustafa III personally helped to enforce his decrees regarding clothes. In 1758, he was walking incognito in Istanbul and ordered the beheading of a Jew and an Armenian seen dressed in forbidden attire. The last Ottoman decree affirming the distinctive clothing for dhimmis was issued in 1837 by Mahmud II. Discriminatory clothing did not exist only in those Ottoman provinces where Christians were in majority, e.g. in Greece and the Balkans.

Stillman (1979), p. 471 The same prohibition imposed on dhimmis was recorded in the 19th century in Damascus, Bat Yeor (1985), p. 63 as well as in Tunisia. Stillman (1979), p. 417 European travelers passing through the Middle East in the 18th and 19th centuries left ample evidence of the careful enforcement of prohibitions on horseback riding. Danish traveler Carsten Niebuhr wrote in 1761 that in Egypt, Jews and Christians were forced to alight while passing the houses of notable Muslims and when meeting such notables in the street. Bat Yeor (2002), p. 98 A Frenchman visiting Cairo in 1697 recorded the same situation. In Yemen and in the rural areas of Morocco, Libya, Iraq, and Persia, dhimmis had to dismount from a mule when passing a Muslim.

Source: Wikipedia > Dhimmi