Minorities in an Islamic State — Page 53
53 imposition of these restrictions were passed not by Hadrat ‘ Umar ra but by ‘ Umar bin ‘ Abdul- ‘ Az i z, the Umayyad caliph. Let us now take up the practice of Hadrat ‘U thm a n ra — the third Khalifah and other companions of the Holy Prophet sa. Here, too, we do not find any social levels and distinctions between the Muslims and non-Muslims. Hadrat ‘ Uthm a n ra himself had a Christian wife named N a ’ ilah, daughter of Far a fi s ah Kalbiyah. Similarly Hadrat T al h ah ra , a famous companion of the Holy Prophet sa had married a Syrian Jewess. 63 The same is true about the days of the fourth Khalifah, Hadrat ‘ Al i ra , and even long after him. Hadrat S afiyyah, the mother of the faithful and wife of the Holy Prophet sa , retained her relationships and contacts with her Jew relatives even after becoming a Muslim and marrying the Holy Prophet sa. Even during the days of the Holy Prophet sa her non- Muslim relatives were received as honoured visitors in the house of the Holy Prophet sa. Actually she left one third of her legacy to her nephew under her will. The nephew was a Jew. 64 Some critics point out that doubtlessly the Muslims did have treaties with the conquered non- Muslims which were liberal and gave the Dhimm i s an equal status with the Muslims, but they did not honour