أهل الذمة

أهل الذمة

Ahl al-dhimma are non-Muslim subjects who remain in the land of Islam in their unbelief under a covenant with the imam, granting them safety for life and property in return for the poll tax and their submission to the rules of Islam. ¹² The dhimma is acquired by contract, by circumstance, by following a parent, by being found as a foundling, or by conquest. ²³⁴⁵⁶ The jurists agree that a covenant may be made with the People of the Book and the Magians; the Hanafis and Malikis allow it for all unbelievers except idolaters, while the Shafi'is and Hanbalis in the sounder view do not. ³⁷ The covenant is perpetual, the protected person accepts the rules of Islam in dealings, and the men pay the poll tax. ⁷ The general rule is that they have what we have and owe what we owe, though it is not applied without exception. ⁶⁸ They have the protection of the state and safe residence, but may not settle permanently in Mecca and Medina. ⁸ They may choose their work and deal in property, with exceptions such as wine and pork, and a Muslim may not hire himself out for personal service; their testimony is not accepted against Muslims. ⁹¹⁰¹¹ They owe the poll tax, the land tax and the tithe on trade, and may not show in Muslim cities what Islam forbids; they are distinguished in dress. ¹²¹³ The covenant is broken by joining the land of war and by refusing the poll tax in the view of the majority, and by other acts in the views of the schools. ¹⁴¹⁵