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The Social Inferiority of Religious Minorities: and Mudejars

John Tolan, Gilles Veinstein, and Henry Laurens

in Europe and the Islamic World: A History

This chapter examines the fate of the minority Christians in the Muslim countries of Europe and of minority Muslims in Christian countries in the aftermath of conquest. It shows that, once the ... More

This chapter examines the fate of the minority Christians in the Muslim countries of Europe and of minority Muslims in Christian countries in the aftermath of conquest. It shows that, once the conquest was achieved, the new subjects had to be integrated into the political and social order. These religious “minorities,” who in actuality were often in the numerical majority immediately after the conquest, were usually granted a protected but subordinate place in society. Theologians and jurists justified their subordination, defining their role with reference to the founding texts (Qur'an, Hadith, Bible, or Roman law). These minorities were sometimes the victims of persecutions, acts of violence, and expulsions, but in general they enjoyed a status where their theoretical inferiority (religious and legal) did not prevent some of them from achieving clear economic and social success.Less

Introduction

Anver M. Emon

in Religious Pluralism and Islamic Law: Dhimmis and Others in the Empire of Law

This chapter introduces the thesis in terms of the major themes addressed throughout the book.

Pluralism, Dhimmī Rules, and the Regulation of Difference

Anver M. Emon

in Religious Pluralism and Islamic Law: Dhimmis and Others in the Empire of Law

This chapter analyzes juristic debate on a range of issues related to the regulation of dhimmīs in the Muslim empire. The chapter starts with an analysis of the jizya or poll tax that non-Muslims ... More

This chapter analyzes juristic debate on a range of issues related to the regulation of dhimmīs in the Muslim empire. The chapter starts with an analysis of the jizya or poll tax that non-Muslims would pay, and then addresses issues of property and liability for theft, the protection of chattel property, charitable endowments, the development of churches and synagogues, home construction regulations, attire and transport, and the capacity of dhimmīs to be witnesses in court.Less

Yemen: Muslim and Jewish Interactions in the Tribal Sphere

Bat-Zion Eraqi Klorman

in The Divergence of Judaism and Islam: Interdependence, Modernity, and Political Turmoil

Except for Aden, Yemen was an independent entity beginning in 1918 under the Imamate. This chapter analyzes the striking resemblance of tribal dissension in Yemen to Arab–Berber unrest in southern ... More

Except for Aden, Yemen was an independent entity beginning in 1918 under the Imamate. This chapter analyzes the striking resemblance of tribal dissension in Yemen to Arab–Berber unrest in southern Morocco, where local chieftains were resentful of the Sharifian Sultanate and central authorities. In both Yemen and Morocco there existed a sizable Jewish minority that benefited from Muslim protection yet maintained a precarious existence. The partial exposure of Yemen to Europe in the twentieth century—similar to the Moroccan situation—helped connect the population to the world economy but weakened the economic foundation of the tribes, Jews included. The chapter elaborates on the dhimmi status of the Jews, their response to tribal customary law, and the Muslims' attitude toward Jewish religion and custom.Less

In Search of Jewish Farmers: Jews, Agriculture, and the Land in Rural Morocco

Daniel J. Schroeter

in The Divergence of Judaism and Islam: Interdependence, Modernity, and Political Turmoil

This chapter connects with the preceding chapter on Jewish-Muslim life in rural Yemen. Although both studies describe tribally situated Jewish societies destined for dissolution through immigration, ... More

This chapter connects with the preceding chapter on Jewish-Muslim life in rural Yemen. Although both studies describe tribally situated Jewish societies destined for dissolution through immigration, this “Moroccan chapter” centers on a country that was dominated by a French colonial administration. For many decades it was reported by different people—Israeli immigration emissaries of the Jewish Agency, foreign travelers, and officials of the colonial administration—that major pockets of Jewish farmers existed throughout rural Morocco. This social-historical study challenges what may now be regarded as no more than a myth. Certainly, small groups of agricultural Jews could be found in the central High Atlas Mountains and elsewhere in the country, but no more than that. In fact, the majority of Morocco's Jews were petty merchants and artisans, a fact that Jews regarded as a mark of distinction from, if not superiority over, the vast majority of Moroccan Muslims, for whom agriculture was the principal livelihood. Many years after the resettlement of most Moroccan Jewry in Israel, older Muslims remembered this distinction.Less

Jewish-Muslim Relations in Libya

Rachel Simon

in The Divergence of Judaism and Islam: Interdependence, Modernity, and Political Turmoil

The tumultuous atmosphere clouding Muslim–Jewish coexistence in Libya was especially pronounced during Italian colonization (1911–43), during the British Military Administration (1943–52), and in ... More

The tumultuous atmosphere clouding Muslim–Jewish coexistence in Libya was especially pronounced during Italian colonization (1911–43), during the British Military Administration (1943–52), and in independent Libya. Under Italy, Jews benefited from modernization; the more successful ones slowly adapted to Italian language and culture. Nonetheless, as Italy promoted fascist ideologies, the Jews, more than the Muslims, became vulnerable to sanctions that in 1938 included anti-Semitic racial legislation. Temporary Italian-German control of Libya from 1940 to 1943 exposed Jews there to dangers almost as severe as those facing European Jewry at the time. While the British Military Administration eliminated these dangers, the tenuous circumstances of the Jews were revived in November 1945 and June 1948. On both occasions—driven by economic, nationalist, and religious factors, as well as the intensification of the Arab–Israeli conflict—Muslim-inspired anti-Jewish violence erupted into pogroms, and by 1952, most Jews had left Libya. Though unharmed, those who remained there between 1952 and the beginning of the June 1967 War were marginalized and denied Libyan citizenship. The 1967 War revived anti-Jewish violence that led to the departure of most of the remaining Jews to Italy and Israel.Less

Religious Minorities and Islamic Law: Accommodation and the Limits of Tolerance

Anver M Emon

in Islamic Law and International Human Rights Law

At the discursive intersection of Islamic law and the rights of minorities lies a difficult, and often politicized, inquiry into the Islamic legal treatment of religious minorities — in particular ... More

At the discursive intersection of Islamic law and the rights of minorities lies a difficult, and often politicized, inquiry into the Islamic legal treatment of religious minorities — in particular non-Muslim minorities who permanently reside in the Islamic polity, known as the dhimmis. Legally, the dhimmi pays a poll tax (jizya) to enter into a contract of protection under which he is permitted to reside peacefully within Muslim lands and preserve his faith commitments. The contract of protection, or the 'aqd al-dhimma, is a politico-legal device that embraces the content of the dhimmi rules, outlining the terms under which the dhimmi lives in the Islamic polity and the degree to which his difference will be accommodated or not. The dhimmi rules often lie at the centre of debates about whether the Islamic faith is tolerant or intolerant of non-Muslims. This chapter argues that using ‘tolerance’ to frame the debate on minorities misses the larger socio-political conditions that make debates about tolerance intelligible, meaningful, and relevant in a given historical moment. To use ‘tolerance’ to frame the analysis of the treatment of minorities is to look past how the meaningfulness of being a minority is dependent upon the extent to which majoritarian values animate the governing enterprise that rules in a context of diversity. This political reality is not unique to the Islamic legal tradition; it is a shared feature of legal systems across both space and time. The chapter qualifies the use of ‘tolerance’ as a meaningful term of art, and instead recognizes that the dhimmi rules are symptomatic of the more general (and shared) challenge of governing pluralistically.Less

Islam vs the Shari‘a: Minority Protection within Islamic and International Legal Traditions

Javaid Rehman

in Islamic Law and International Human Rights Law

This chapter comments on the discussions in Chapters 18 and 19. Chapter 18 provides a particularly useful articulation of the differing perceptions by which premodern treatment of dhimmis is assessed ... More

This chapter comments on the discussions in Chapters 18 and 19. Chapter 18 provides a particularly useful articulation of the differing perceptions by which premodern treatment of dhimmis is assessed in modern legal literature. The discussion, on the whole, accurately reflects the state of affairs as established by ‘the two predominant myths hovering over the dhimmi rules...those of harmony and persecution’. Chapter 19 advances a pragmatic view of human rights and minority rights based on human dignity. By articulating a jurisprudential analysis of international law, it raises the question of the efficacy and potency of the latter, particularly as far as its implementation at the domestic level is concerned.Less

Between Enemies and Friends

Janina M. Safran

in Defining Boundaries in al-Andalus: Muslims, Christians, and Jews in Islamic Iberia

This chapter analyzes how jurists handled close personal relationships between Muslims and dhimmis while simultaneously maintaining boundaries between communities. This discourse offers insight into ... More

This chapter analyzes how jurists handled close personal relationships between Muslims and dhimmis while simultaneously maintaining boundaries between communities. This discourse offers insight into how jurists contributed to and conveyed the development of a Muslim habitus—a way of being Muslim—that is culturally understandable. The chapter reviews examples of legal problems addressing close contact between Muslims and Christians or Muslims and Jews, in various roles to indicate how the refinement of boundaries accommodate close interpersonal relationships. In the period of social transformation, legal-religious scholars recognize graduated positions for the dhimmi between enemy and friend, and accommodate, often through exception making, intimacy between Muslims and Christians and Jews.Less

Borders and Boundaries

Janina M. Safran

in Defining Boundaries in al-Andalus: Muslims, Christians, and Jews in Islamic Iberia

This chapter turns to the subject of boundary making and political authority in the context of jihad and the borderlands. Combining political and legal history, it explores how the presence of a ... More

This chapter turns to the subject of boundary making and political authority in the context of jihad and the borderlands. Combining political and legal history, it explores how the presence of a jurisdictional border between the Domain of Islam and the Domain of War informed the jurists' evaluation of the social contract between Muslims and dhimmis. The chapter adds another aspect to the relationship between social change and the development of law by discussing how the vagueness of “the border,” the instability of life in the borderlands, and the changeability of identity created complicated legal questions. The notions of the ahd al-dhimma as a social contract and as a legal category were integral to jurists' understanding of the political order, Islam, and the rights and obligations of Muslims.Less

Conclusion

Janina M. Safran

in Defining Boundaries in al-Andalus: Muslims, Christians, and Jews in Islamic Iberia

This concluding chapter considers the question of the legal status of dhimmis. Evidence presented in the previous chapters, as well as the analysis of boundary making, allow for a better ... More

This concluding chapter considers the question of the legal status of dhimmis. Evidence presented in the previous chapters, as well as the analysis of boundary making, allow for a better understanding of the legal status of Christians and Jews in al-Andalus from the perspective of ninth-and tenth-century Maliki fuqaha'. The chapter points to how the book discusses two political crises that provoked attention to the constitutional ahd al-dhimma: the Christian martyrdoms that took place in Cordoba in the 850s, and the “crossing over” of dhimmis from Granada, Cordoba, and Seville to support Alfonso I in his campaigns against the Muslims in 1125. Ultimately, political order, a stable justice system, and the development of law in al-Andalus were all achieved by rulers and jurists addressing Muslim-dhimmi relations and legal boundaries between Muslims and dhimmis.Less

Shiʿi Legal Attitudes Toward the Jews

in Between Foreigners and Shiʿis: Nineteenth-Century Iran and its Jewish Minority

The Quran treats Jews and other non-Muslims as ahl al-kitab (“people of the Book”) together with Christians, as banu-israil (the children of Israel), or as yahud (Jews). Aside from the Quran and the ... More

The Quran treats Jews and other non-Muslims as ahl al-kitab (“people of the Book”) together with Christians, as banu-israil (the children of Israel), or as yahud (Jews). Aside from the Quran and the Sunni hadith literature, the Sunni treatment of the people of the Book is based on the so-called Pact of 'Umar. During the reign of the second Caliph, 'Umar b. al-Khattab (d. 644), the people of the Book was granted protection (dhimmah) under the shelter of Islam in exchange for their submission to Muslim rule, their recognition of Islam's superiority, and their dishonor. The dhimmis (people of the Book who live under Muslim rule) would lose this protection and receive punishment if they violated the clauses of the dhimmah Pact, perceived as a contract with Muslims. This chapter, which examines the Imami Shi'is' legal attitudes toward the Jews in nineteenth-century Iran, outlines the general structure and meaning of Sunni dhimmah regulations and views concerning the Jews. It also looks at some of the Shi'i laws regarding the Jews and other people of the Book.Less

Conclusions

in Between Foreigners and Shiʿis: Nineteenth-Century Iran and its Jewish Minority

The general spirit of the dhimmah concept became fully ingrained in many parts of Muslim society in Iran during the nineteenth century. The Jews and other dhimmis were considered secondary to Muslims ... More

The general spirit of the dhimmah concept became fully ingrained in many parts of Muslim society in Iran during the nineteenth century. The Jews and other dhimmis were considered secondary to Muslims and had to endure discrimination, persecution, humiliation, and other forms of abuse during the early Qajar period (1786–1848). Some Jews were forced to convert to Islam as a result of these ordeals. Although pressure from other countries and Western Jewry led to some changes in the Jews' political status and their daily experience during the reign of Nasir al-Din Shah, there was little cause for optimism. Fearing social resentment and riots, the government did not fully implement the Shah's policies to improve the plight of the Jews. In other words, the Jews' social and religious status essentially remained the same.Less

The Sultan’s Jews

Jessica M. Marglin

in Across Legal Lines: Jews and Muslims in Modern Morocco

This chapter draws on the records of the Ministry of Complaints and other government correspondence to argue that Jews were tied to the state in part through their ability to demand redress from the ... More

This chapter draws on the records of the Ministry of Complaints and other government correspondence to argue that Jews were tied to the state in part through their ability to demand redress from the Makhzan. This bond became particularly crucial for the sultan to reinforce as foreigners questioned the Makhzan's ability to properly protect its Jewish subjects and used the alleged abuses of Jews as an excuse to meddle in Morocco's internal affairs. Jews regularly petitioned the government when they felt they had been denied their rights; doing so forged a practical bond that reaffirmed their link to the sultan as protector of dhimmīs.Less

The Rule of the Infidel

Peter Jackson

in The Mongols and the Islamic World: From Conquest to Conversion

This chapter examines the experience of Muslims of all social ranks under infidel Mongol rule, focusing in particularly on the contexts of taxation, law and religious freedom. It also considers the ... More

This chapter examines the experience of Muslims of all social ranks under infidel Mongol rule, focusing in particularly on the contexts of taxation, law and religious freedom. It also considers the repressive measures enacted by the Mongols, notably those enshrined in Mongol law and custom, and what Muslims viewed as a starkly unwelcome departure from the practice of their pre-Mongol rulers: the establishment of parity between themselves and other confessional groups. Finally, it discusses the clash between Islamic norms and steppe customary law during the advent of infidel rule, the competition for office and influence among Sunnī Muslims, Shīʻīs and dhimmis; and the importation of unfamiliar religious traditions that Muslims perceived as a threat to Islam under the new dispensation.Less

Remapping a Messianic Movement in the Early Modern World

Cengiz Sisman

in The Burden of Silence: Sabbatai Sevi and the Evolution of the Ottoman-Turkish Donmes

This chapter deals with the life of Sabbatai Sevi (1626–1676) up to the emergence of the messianic movement during the reign of Mehmet IV in 1665. It argues that the Ottoman political, social, ... More

This chapter deals with the life of Sabbatai Sevi (1626–1676) up to the emergence of the messianic movement during the reign of Mehmet IV in 1665. It argues that the Ottoman political, social, economic, and religious context was one of the most important factors in shaping the reception, dissemination, and trajectory of the movement. Throughout the seventeenth century, the Ottoman Empire witnessed a series of crises and changes on economic, political, military, and religio-spiritual levels. The resulting wars, the Kadizadeli challenge, violent outbreaks, and their cruel suppressions caused the century to be seen by many historians as, alternately, an “age of decline,” or “age of crisis and change.” The Ottoman Jewry and dhimmis were heavily influenced by these crisis and changes in the century. The Sabbatean movement flourished against the backdrop of the disruptions of this century.Less