| 520 |
|
|
|b This paper discusses the rights of non-Mus- lims living in Muslim countries in the Islamic Sharee’ah. These are the people of dhimmah. They are the sane, free, male non-Muslims who can fight and who accepted to live in the land of Islam and whose lives and property are protected by Muslims and whose religious rites are re¬spected for a sum of money called jizyah. \ -\ The dhimmah contract is legitimate under the Holy Qur’an, the Prophet’s Sunnah and the consensus of Muslim scholars. \ -\ The dhimmah contract aims at freeing peo¬ple from the worship of creatures and binding them to worship Allah. \ -\ The obligations of the dhimmah contract in¬clude 1. Payment of the jizyah, 2. contribution and loyalty to the building of the Islamic state, \ 3.\ compliance with the provisions of Islam in financial transactions and 4. The parties to the contract with the Islamic state should be the fol¬lowers of a real divine religion like Christians and Jews. \ -\ The dhimmah contract terminates by the oc¬currence of one of the following four things: 1. The dhimmi converting to Islam, 2. The dhimmi joining the land of the enemy, 3. the dhimmis control an area of the Muslim land and they are fought against and 4. refusal to comply with the terms of the contract. \ -\ The persons given the pledge of security are those who enter Muslim lands without staying for a long time. The pledge of security is per¬missible to give for all those who ask for it what¬ever their religion is and whatever his country of origin is and for all those who enter Muslim countries for a legitimate purpose. \ -\ The pledge of security is legimate according to the Holy Qur’an and the Prophet’s Sunnah. \ -\ The obligations of secured persons include the following: \ 1.\ Persons given the pledge of security should comply with the rules of Islam in their commer¬cial and financial transactions. \ 2.\ They should avoid any acts that degrade the status of Muslims or their religion. \ 3.\ They should not do any prohibited acts in public. \ 4.\ They should not harm Muslims and Dhimmis in their lives, honour or properties. \ 5.\ Abide by the terms and conditions of con¬tracts concluded with them with regard to finan¬cial duties and period of stay. \ -\ The pledge of security contract terminates by the occurrence of one of the following: \ 1.\ Lapse of the period of stay, \ 2.\ The person given the pledge of security con¬verts to Islam, \ 3.\ The person given the pledge of security is given the capacity of a dhimmi, \ 4.\ The person given the pledge of security breaches the contract or any of its conditions, or \ 5.\ the person given the pledge of security com¬mits the crime of rebellion against the state au¬thorities, fighting against Muslims or joining the lands of the enemy. \ -\ General Rights of Non-Muslims: \ 1.\ Their human dignity should be respected by the following: \ a.\ Their feelings should be respected and they should be treated nicely, \ b.\ Their beliefs should not degraded, \ c.\ Their funerals should be respected. \ 2.\ Freedom of belief \ 3.\ Justice and equality \ 4.\ The right of protection against aggression \ 5.\ Good treatment \ 6.\ Education, meeting and giving one’s opinion \ 7.\ Social solidarity \ 8.\ Protection of lives, property and honour \ 9.\ The right of work, earning one’s living and ownership \ 10.\ Travel within the lands of Islam except Hijaaz (makkah and Madeenah) \ 11.\ The right of the poor to be supported \ - Special Rights of Non-Muslims \ 1.\ Their right to marriage according to their religions \ 2.\ the implications of marriages being estab¬lished and respected \ 3.\ their contracts and transactions are to be considered sound \ 4.\ Their right to comply with their religions in marriage, divorce, inheritance and the like. \ 5.\ They should not be punished for things they consider permissible in their religions if they do them in private like drinking wine and eating swine meat. \
|
