Minorities in an Islamic State — Page 23
23 Dhimm i s were not only always consulted by the rulers but they were also appointed to the highest civil and military offices under the caliph. Thus, Hadrat Am i r M u‘ a wiyah ’ s personal physician and court interpreter, Ibn-e- A th a l, who was a Christian, was appointed the governor of H im s by the Am i r. Even as late as the days of Aurangzeb in India it is recorded that once a Muslim officer of state objected to the appointment of two non-Muslim in his department on the basis of the Quranic verse: َّ عَّدوِیْ وَّ عَّدوَّكم ْ اَّوْلِي َّٓاء َلَّ تَّتَّخِذوْا ٰۤاَّیهَّا الَّذِیْنَّ اممَّنوْا م ی "O ye who believe! take not My enemy and your enemy for friends". (60:1) On this application the Emperor remarked: "Noted the contents of your application. Let it be clear once and for all that no Parsi or Hindu government servant can be dismissed simply because he is a non-Muslim. The verse that you have quoted in your report does not at all prove that a Muslim should have no relationship whatsoever to a non-Muslim. In fact, you have not quoted the verse in full, the complete verse is as follows: