Khilafat Centenary Souvenir 1908-2008 — Page 48
property, honor and other rights were duly protected. A Muslim citizen, guilty of the murder of a Dhimmi, was put to death without hesitation in Qjssas Qudicial retaliation). Shibli has given the details of a similar case on the authority of Imam Shafie (Shibli, p. 253 ). The Dhimmis enjoy ed complete religious freedom and their places of worship were protected. The Dhimmi traders were allowed to bring their merchandise to the Muslim population without discrimination. The old and infirm Dhimmis were entitled to state stipends and allowances for their maintenance 99 , 100). Armstrong holds the same view: Dhimmis paid pole ta x in return for military protection and we re prot ec ted to pra ct ice th e ir own faith, as the Qur ' an e njoin e d. Ind ee d som e of the Roman Christians w ho had b ee n pe rs ec ut ed b y the Greek Orthodox for th e ir heretical opinions, g reatly preferred Muslim to By zantine rule. Armstrong, p. 31 just as Muslims were. Hasan records the following words of Hadhrat Umar's ra will, which confirm that Hadhrat Umar ra did not forget the Dhimmis on his deathbed: tnQF WISDOM C My bequest to my successor is that covenants with the My bequ e st to my su cce ssor is that covenants with the Dhimmis should be obser ve d faith/ ully. Th ey should be defended against all in v asions. No injustice should be don e to th e m. The y should be treated as full fl e dg ed citiz ens and should e njoy equality before law. Their ta x es should be fair, and no burden should be impos ed on th em which the y cannot be ar. Dhimmis should be observed faithfully. They should be ~ defended against all invasions. No injustice should be done 0 to them. They should be treated as full fledged citizens and should enjoy equality before law. Their taxes should be fair, and no burden should be imposed on them which they cannot bear. H adhra t U mar ra Hasan, page 148 Hasan, p. 148 3. Jizya - A Benign Tax Unfortunately Jiziy ah has been pres ented in the west by some critics as an ' inhuman tax '. It was a compensation tax much lighter than Zakat, which was levied on non-Muslims, in lieu of military service. Not all non-Muslims were required to pa y this tax. Asad gives the list of categories who were exempt from Jiziyah, for example, women, minors, old men , the sick and the crippled, the destitute, and all those who choose to render military service (Asad , p. 75). Muslim rulers were very fair in the matter of Jiziy ah. Ahmed notes that during the reign of Hadhrat Umar r a, when the Muslim arm y was not in a position to defend the city of Hims, all the collected Jiziyah was returned to its inhabitants. This happened when the Muslim army had to leave Hims for the battle of Yarmuk against the Byzantine forces. The Christian Dhimmis, who could not believe their eyes, fervently prayed for the return of the occupiers (Ahmed, pp. 4. Conquest of Damascus Four regiments besieged Damascus, at different positions, under the command of four generals. One section of the city negotiated peaceful surrender with Khalid bin Waleed ra without the knowledge of the other three armies, who entered the city by force and met in the center of the city. Although three -fourths of the ci ty wa s captured by force , the Muslim generals decided to apply the condition of peaceful surrender to the remaining three sectors too. That was a wonderful example of magnanimity because the existing laws of military capture would have led to a lot of booty and other benefits. 5. Relocation of Jews and Christians Some non-Muslim authors criticize Hadhrat Umar ra for expelling the Jews and Christians from Kh y ber and Najran respectively. These non-Muslims had signed treaties with Muslims in the life of the Hol y Propher •w and it was made clear to them that they would be relocated at a suitable time. Both