| Unbiased people who study Islamic history and the Muslims'
relationship with the Jews and Christians living under Islamic rule will
come across the following fact: The People of the Book have always lived
in peace and tranquility under Islamic rule.
God reveals that those Christians and Jews who believe in Him and the
Day of Judgment and do good deeds will receive the fairest rewards for
their virtue:
Those who believe, those who are Jews, Christians,
and Sabaeans, all who believe in God and the Last Day and act rightly
will have their reward with their Lord. They will feel no fear and will
know no sorrow. (Qur'an, 2:62)
Prophet Mohammed's (may God bless him and grant
him peace) Exemplary Attitude
Prophet Mohammed (saas), the best role model for Muslims who deal with
the People of the Book, was always just and compassionate toward Jews
and Christians and tried to create an atmosphere based on reconciliation
and love among these three religious communities. Various agreements and
guarantees allowed Christians and Jews to live as autonomous religious
communities.
Prophet Mohammed (saas) allowed the Jews to become a party to the Constitution
of Madinah signed with the Aws and Khazraj clans, which permitted them
to continue living as a separate religious community. The basis for this
acceptance of the Jews' faith and traditions was laid down in the following
article: "The Jews of Banu Awf [non-Muslim minorities] are a
community along with the believers. To the Jews their religion, and to
the Muslim their religion." 1
Freedom of Belief and Worship
Beginning at the time of Prophet Mohammed (saas), there has always been
freedom of religion in Muslim-ruled lands. Articles guaranteeing the protection
of monasteries and churches have been important parts of all agreements
signed between Muslims and the People of the Book. Historical documents
reveal that many Muslims visited monasteries to rest for the night, to
enjoy a meal, or even to have a civilized conversation during their travels
or campaigns.
The People of the Book often responded warmly toward Muslims. The following
expressions were recorded in an agreement signed by Caliph Umar, which
was presented to Abu Ubayda by the Syrian Christians:
[We imposed these terms on ourselves:]… not to withhold
our churches from Muslims stopping there by night or day; to open their
doors to the traveller and wayfarer; …to entertain every Muslim
traveller in our customary style and feed him… We will not abuse
a Muslim, and he who strikes a Muslim has forfeited his rights.
2
Under Islamic rule, the People of the Book have always celebrated their
religious festivities as they pleased. From time to time, the Muslim leadership
even attended them. A letter by the Nestorian Patriarch Isho'yab III (650-60)
reveals the Muslim leaders' compassion and acceptance toward the People
of the Book:
They [Abbasids] have not attacked the Christian religion, but
rather they have commended our faith, honored our priests... and conferred
benefits on churches and monasteries. 3
These historical facts reveal that, contrary to much of what we read
today, Islam is a religion of peace and acceptance. Christians and Jews
lived freely under Muslim rule and enjoyed the freedoms of religious belief
and thought.
Tranquility under Muslim Rule
During the first few centuries of the Christian era, Jews oppressed Christians;
as the latter became more powerful, they began to oppress Jews and even
fellow Christians belonging to other sects. The Middle Ages were dominated
by the Catholic church's oppression of all Jews and Christians who did
not agree with its teachings. Some non-Catholics sought refuge with the
Muslims. The oppression and violence directed by Byzantium against the
Egyptian Monophysite and the Jacobean Christians, the horrors endured
by those Jews and Orthodox Christians who found themselves in the path
of the Catholic Crusaders, and the persecution endured by the Jews of
Europe, as well as by the Muslims and Jews in Spain after the reconquista,
have never occurred on Muslim soil.
Jews escaping Spanish tyranny found the peace and security they sought
on Ottoman soil. Driven out of Spain and faced with more hardship in other
countries where they sought refuge, many died of hunger and thirst at
the gates of towns and cities they were not permitted to enter. Jews who
boarded Genoese ships were either exploited or sold to pirates. Sultan
Bayazid welcomed the Jews into his empire and demanded that the people
show them the respect and acceptance to which they were entitled.
The order proclaimed not to refuse the Jews entry or cause them difficulties,
but to receive them cordially. 4 Sultan
Bayazid is known to history as a religious man, and his hospitality and
acceptance were based on the Qur'an's morality.
Living under the Islamic rule, the People of the Book took part in the
bustling cultural life. Muslim leaders extended their cultural patronage
to the lands they conquered and imported them to Baghdad, capital of the
empire, where they would be studied by Muslim, Christian, and Jewish scientists.
Each of them in turn, could teach their works based on these studies alongside
their own religious beliefs. At a time when Muslims supported science
and freedom of thought, Europe, the center of Christianity, had Inquisition
courts that burned people at the stake for their heretical, meaning non-Catholic,
thoughts or religious beliefs.
The Muslim leaders' sense of justice led many Christians and Jews to
bring their cases to Islamic courts, even though they had their own courts
with their own laws. At one time, the Nestorian patriarch Mar Timothee
I (780-825) even circulated a decree to counteract the ever-increasing
number of Christians taking their cases to Islamic courts. 5
The Non-Muslims' Legal Status
The People of the Book living within the Muslim realm were considered
dhimmis, rather than prisoners of war, and therefore were guaranteed
certain legal rights. For example, in exchange for paying the jizya
tax, their lives and property were guaranteed, and they enjoyed freedom
of religious belief and thought, were exempted from military service,
and had the right to their own law courts to resolve their disputes. On
some occasions, their taxes were refunded.
Our Prophet (saas) said: "I am the adversary of those who wrong
the dhimmis or burden them with a load they cannot carry." According
to this principle, Muslims considered it their duty to protect those non-Muslims
living under their rule. The Muslims' sense of justice dictates that dhimmis
come under the state's protection.
The amicable history between Muslims and Jews and Christians is an example
for the present. The Islamic code of ethics requires that non-Muslims
be accepted, that their values and beliefs be respected, and that an environment
in which peaceful coexistence is possible be created. Therefore, the spread
of this code, as well as efforts to correct some misguided practices claiming
to be Islamic, will play an important role.
“To purchase the works of
Harun Yahya, please visit www.bookglobal.net.”
1- “Islam and anti-Semitism,”
31 January 2004; www.worldhistory.com/wiki/I/Islam-and-anti-Semitism.htm
2- (Majid Khadduri, War and Peace in the Law of Islam (Baltimore: The
Johns Hopkins Press, 1955), 193-94.)
3- Fred Aprim, “The A to Z of the ancient Chaldeans and their relation
to modern Chaldeans;” http://www.atour.org/news15_1.htm
4- Abraham Danon, in the Review Yossef Daath, no. 4.
5- Levent Ozturk, Asr-i Saadetten (Christians in Islamic Society from
the Blessed Period of the Prophet to the Crusades), 188.
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