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_-_The_Right_to_Follow_Their_Religious_Laws_001.jpg) Islam does not compel non-Muslims citizens living in
Muslim lands to be ruled by Islamic Laws. They are exempt from paying the
zakah.
Under Islamic Law, a Muslim who does not pay the zakah and refuses its
obligation becomes an unbeliever. Also, Islamic Law requires military duty
from able Muslims, but non-Muslims are exempt from it, even though it is of
benefit to Muslims and non-Muslims alike. In return for these two exemptions,
non-Muslim citizens pay a nominal tax known as jizya. Sir Thomas Arnold wrote,
‘The jizya was so light that it did not constitute a burden on them, especially
when we observe that it exempted them from compulsory military service that was
an obligation for their fellow citizens, the Muslims.’
Islam also permitted non-Muslims to observe their civil
law in matters such as marriage and divorce. Regarding criminal justice,
Muslim jurists would pass sentences on non-Muslims in issues considered sinful
in their religion such as theft, but exempted them from issues they held to be
permissible such as drinking wine and eating pork.
This is based clearly of the practice of the Prophet himself when he first
came to Medina and established a ‘constitution’. He allowed for individual
tribes who were not Muslims to refer to their own religious scriptures and
their learned men in regards to their own personal affairs. They could though,
if they opted, ask the Prophet to judge between them in their matters. God
says in the Quran:
“…If they do come to you, either judge between them or decline
to interfere…” (Quran 5:42)
Here we see that Prophet allowed each religion to judge
in their own matters according to their own scriptures, as long as it did not
stand in opposition to articles of the constitution, a pact which took into
account the greater benefit of the peaceful co-existence of the society.
Umar ibn Abdulaziz, a Muslim ruler, found it hard to
accept how non-Muslims continued to follow their social regulations that went
against the Islamic injunctions. He wrote a letter to Hasan al-Basri
seeking his legal advice, saying, ‘How is it that the Rightly-Guided Caliphs
before us left the People of the Covenant as they did, marrying close relatives,
and keeping pigs and wine?’ Hasan’s responded, ‘They paid the jizya so that
they could be left to practice what they believed, and you may only follow the Islamic
Law, not invent something new.’
The People of the Covenant had their own courts to
settle their disputes, but if they wished, they could resort to Islamic courts.
God commanded His Prophet:
“So if they come to you, (O Muhammad), judge between them or
turn away from them. And if you turn away from them never will they harm you
at all. And if you judge, judge between them with justice. Indeed, God loves
those who act justly.” (Quran 5:42)
Adam Metz, a Western historian, writes in the Islamic
Civilization in the Fourth Century of the Hegira:
“Since
the Islamic Law was specifically for Muslims, the Islamic state allowed the
people of other religious affiliations to their own courts. What we know about
these courts is that they were church courts and prominent spiritual leaders
were the chief justices. They wrote a great number of books on canon law, and their
rulings were not confined to matters of personal status. They included such
problems as inheritance and much of the litigations between Christians that did
not involve the state.”
Therefore, it can be seen that Islam did not punish
non-Muslims for doing what they viewed as permissible according to their
religious law, such as consuming alcohol or eating pork, even though they are
forbidden in Islam. The tolerance extended by Islam towards non-Muslims is
unmatched by any other religious law, secular government, or political system
in existence even today. Gustav LeBon writes:
“The
Arabs could have easily been blinded by their first conquests, and committed
the injustices that are usually committed by conquerors. They could have
mistreated their defeated opponents or forced them to embrace their religion,
which they wished to spread all over the world. But the Arabs avoided that. The
early caliphs, who had a political genius that was rare in proponents of new
religion, realized that religions and systems are not imposed by force. So
they treated the people of Syria, Egypt, Spain, and every country they took
over with great kindness, as we have seen. They left their laws, regulations,
and beliefs intact and only imposed on them the jizya, which was paltry when
compared to what they had been paying in taxes previously, in exchange for
maintaining their security. The truth is that nations had never known
conquerors more tolerant than the Muslims, or a religion more tolerant than Islam.”
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