Minorities in an Islamic State — Page 52
52 different from the dress the Dhimm i citizens were allowed to wear who were under no such obligation. Unfortunately this gave rise to confusion and misled some to believe as if a special dress had been prescribed for the Dhimm i citizens. All this proves that the Dhimm i citizens were at full liberty to wear any dress they liked and that no religious or social taboo was placed on its use. True, long after the pious Khilafat certain restrictions were placed in the days of the Umayyads and that too under the stress of political expediency. It is a pity that the later jurists gave them a religious bias. ‘ All a mah K a sh a n i says: "The restrictions on the Dhimm i s were first imposed when the Umayyad Caliph ‘ Umar bin ‘ Abdul- ‘ Az i z passed by certain riders who looked like Muslims. The caliph greeted them as such. Some of his retinue told him that they were Christians and not Muslims. He did not like this error and on return home ordered that the Christians wear Zunnar as a mark of distinction and use only a special type of saddle and not ride horses. No Muslim at the time took objection to this declaration which in time came to assume the status of Ijm a ‘ ". 62 This extract constitutes an external evidence of the fact that right up to the days of ‘ Umar bin ‘ Abdul- ‘ Az i z there did not exist any distinction between the Muslims and the Dhimm i s , and that the orders for the