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The Samaritans

السامرة

The Samaritans — in al-Baladhuri 'Jews, of two sects: one called the Dustan and one called the Kushan'; Abu Ubayda compounded with them in the Jordan and Filastin districts to serve as scouts and guides for the Muslims, against head-jizya with their land exempted; Yazid ibn Mu'awiya later laid kharaj on their lands at five dinars a head; their lands entered the crown estates after al-Rashid's sweeping plague, and a portion of their kharaj was remitted in year 246.

Depth

At a glance

Era
The Rashidun Caliphate
Review
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Overview

According to al-Baladhuri, the Samaritans are Jews, and they are of two kinds: the Dustan and the Kushan. 1

Peace and tribute

Abu Ubayda made peace with them in Jordan and Palestine, on condition that they be spies and guides for the Muslims, in return for a poll tax on their heads and feeding of their land. See the treaty with the Samaritans. 1

Al-Baladhuri says that Yazid ibn Mu'awiya set the land tax on their lands and placed five dinars on each head. Their land later entered the estates of the caliphate after the great plague of al-Rashid, and some of the land tax was lifted from them in the year 246 AH. 1

Connections

Explore the connections

Participated in
The Treaty with the Samaritans

People and things also explored

Dhimma (the covenant of protection)· Jizya (capitation on treaty peoples)· Abu Ubayda ibn al-Jarrah· The Treaty with the Samaritans

Sources

  1. Futuh al-Buldan — al-Baladhuri (Mu'assasat al-Ma'arif edition) , p.215-216
Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “The Samaritans”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/group/samaritans/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-16.

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Related

Dhimma (the covenant of protection)

Dhimma in al-Baladhuri is the written covenant of security granted to treaty peoples of the Book: its formula in the Prophet's letter to Najran runs 'they have God's protection and the protection of His messenger over their persons, religion, lands, wealth, absent and present', and its stipulated terms in the Najran peace include that they not be seduced from their religion or its ranks, nor levied nor tithed, and in the letter's text that no bishop be removed from his bishopric, no monk from his monasticism, no right of theirs or their images — crucifixes and icons — be altered, and no army tread their land, while whoever of them took usury the Prophet's protection was quit of him; the letter of the people of Maqna grants 'God's protection and His messenger's' with security and pardon for every blood; and the dhimma was renewed under the caliphs — Abu Bakr wrote to the people of Najran on the model of the Prophet's letter, and Uthman called them 'a people who have a dhimma' when he remitted two hundred of their hullas.