The following verse from the 9th Sura (chapter) is a reminder to the faithful that non-believers, even if they are people of the book (Jews and Christians), are the enemy and must be fought until they convert to Islam or they accept dhimmi class as limited citizens, and “feel themselves subdued.”Fight those who believe not in Allah or the Last Day.
[9:29] قَاتِلُوا الَّذِيْنَ لَا يُؤْمِنُوْنَ بِاللّٰهِ وَلَا بِالْيَوْمِ الْاٰخِرِ وَلَا يُحَرِّمُوْنَ مَا حَرَّمَ اللّٰهُ وَ رَسُوْلُهٗ وَلَا يَدِيْنُوْنَ دِيْنَ الْحَـقِّ مِنَ الَّذِيْنَ اُوْتُوا الْـكِتٰبَ حَتّٰى يُعْطُوْا الْجِزْيَةَ عَنْ يَّدٍ وَّهُمْ صَاغِرُوْنَ
Fight those who believe not in Allah nor the Last Day, nor hold that forbidden which hath been forbidden by Allah and His Messenger, nor acknowledge the religion of Truth, (even if they are) of the People of the Book, until they pay the Jizya with willing submission, and feel themselves subdued.
Mawdudi
“In order to enable the Muslims to extend the influence of[From the Introduction to Sura 9, Noble Qur’an online]
Islam outside Arabia, they were enjoined to crush with sword the non- Muslim powers and to force them to accept the sovereignty of the Islamic State. As the great Roman and Iranian Empires were the biggest hindrances in the way, a conflict with them was inevitable. The object of Jihad was not to coerce them to accept Islam they were free to accept or not to accept it-but to prevent them
from thrusting forcibly their deviations upon others and the coming generations. The Muslims were enjoined to tolerate their misguidance only to the extent that
they might have the freedom to remain misguided, if they chose to be so, provided that they paid Jizyah (v. 29) as a sign of their subjugation to the Islamic State.”
Original Text: Translated by Muhammad Asad
“O YOU who have attained to faith! Those who ascribe divinity to aught beside God are nothing but impure[1]: and so they shall not approach the Inviolable House of Worship from this year onwards.[2] And should you fear poverty, then [know that] in time God will enrich you out of His bounty, if He so wills[3]: for verily, God is all-knowing, wise. {28}
[And] fight against those who—despite having been vouchsafed revelation [aforetime]—do not truly believe either in God or the Last Day, and do not consider forbidden that which God and His Apostle have forbidden, and do not follow the religion of truth [which God has enjoined upon them], till they [agree to] pay the exemption tax with a willing hand, after having been humbled [in war]. {29}
Analysis
The text today is very simple and straight forward. The believers are told that Islam is now expanding to other nations, taking by jihad all other nations for God. It may not be convenient or cost-effective to kill every non-believer, so the believers must understand that in some places, non-believers who have chosen neither to convert nor to die by the sword, might be living among them; therefore, it is essential that the believers understand the situation.
The following essay is an abbreviated explanation of dhimmi status. It is important that Americans know about this status. National leaderships who refuse to recognize the dangers of those enemies arrayed against them and remain in denial despite clear warnings, make their people vulnerable to these dangers.
Islam /Dhimmi Arabic: dhimmi Muslim juridical term for Christians and Jews, sometimes Zoroastrians, Mandeans or even Hindus, living in a society governed by Muslims rulers and law.
Dhimmis have limited autonomy, but full rights to practice their religion and are assured full protection by the rulers. Earlier there was a specific tax, jizya, that Dhimmis had to pay to receive these benefits. Dhimmis who did not pay this tax, either had to convert to Islam or face the death penalty. This tax, higher than the tax Muslims had to pay, was on several occasions one of the most important sources of income for the rulers, and, therefore, they were often little inclined to encourage conversion to Islam, as this would represent a decrease in their income.It was an early endeavour of the Sharia to add details to the regulations of the jizya. These involved that the Christians could keep all of their churches and convents, but were neither allowed to erect new structures nor restore ruined buildings. The Dhimmis had to give lodging to Muslims for up to 3 days and they had to show Muslims their respect. They could not perform religious rituals in public and no crosses could be used in Muslim quarters. They could not ride on horseback with saddles, nor could they carry weapons or sell alcoholic beverages to Muslims.
Non-Muslims were not allowed to build houses taller than their neighbours' houses. In public they had to carry
visible tokens of the religion to which they belonged. If there was a case at the court, Muslim statements were considered of more value than the ones from non-Muslims. But there were no limitations to the professions in which
non-Muslims could engage.
Later there were more regulations imposed, as in 853, when Caliph al-Mutawakkil forbade Dhimmis to ride on horses; they had to limit themselves to donkeys and mules. In 14th century Egypt, Jews had to wear a a yellow turban, Christians a blue one.But in practice, there were fewer distinctions between the people of the different religions: people lived side by side. Non-Muslims could hold the highest positions in society and this during times when Jews in Europe had few or no social rights.Another word for Dhimmis, is ahl al-kitab, "people of the book", but this is more a theological term, than a juridical one.
© Copyright 1996-2009 LookLex Ltd. All rights reserved http://lexicorient.com/e.o/dhimmi.htmBy: Tore Kjeilen
[1] The term najas (impure) occurs in the Qur’an only in this one instance, and carries an exclusively spiritual meaning. To this day , the Bedouin of Central and Eastern Arabia—who, contrary to the modern town-dwellers, have preserved the purity of the Arabic idiom to a high degree—describe a person who is immoral, faithless, or wicked as najas. ‘The Inviolable House of Worship’ (al-masjid al-haram) is, of course, the Ka’bah and, by implication, the whole of the territory of Mecca: which explains the next sentence.
[1] The term najas (impure) occurs in the Qur’an only in this one instance, and carries an exclusively spiritual meaning. To this day , the Bedouin of Central and Eastern Arabia—who, contrary to the modern town-dwellers, have preserved the purity of the Arabic idiom to a high degree—describe a person who is immoral, faithless, or wicked as najas. ‘The Inviolable House of Worship’ (al-masjid al-haram) is, of course, the Ka’bah and, by implication, the whole of the territory of Mecca: which explains the next sentence.
[2] Lit., “after this their year”—i.e., after the year 9 H., (the 9th year of the Hijira) in which this sura was revealed.
[3] This is an allusion to the apprehension on the part of some Muslims (and not only at the time of the revelation of this verse) that an exclusion of unbelievers from living in or visiting Mecca might lead to a loss of its position as a center of trade and commerce, and thus an impoverishment of its inhabitants.
Note: The above notes are all that of Muhammad Asad. There are four addition notes following the third note; however, I have chosen not to include them due to their length and technical subject matter. These notes can be reviewed in The Message of the Qur’an, Muhammad Asad, pages 294, 295.
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