Non-Muslims in the Early Islamic Empire
From Surrender to Coexistence

This book shows how regulations that applied to minorities in early Islamic societies were based on traditions originating from the conquerors and the conquered.

Milka Levy-Rubin (Author)

9781107004337, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 30 September 2011

286 pages, 3 b/w illus. 1 map
23.1 x 15 x 2.3 cm, 0.54 kg

'… a very well researched and written book …' The Muslim World Book Review

The Muslim conquest of the East in the seventh century entailed the subjugation of Christians, Jews, Zoroastrians and others. Although much has been written about the status of non-Muslims in the Islamic empire, no previous works have examined how the rules applying to minorities were formulated. Milka Levy-Rubin's remarkable book traces the emergence of these regulations from the first surrender agreements in the immediate aftermath of conquest to the formation of the canonic document called the Pact of 'Umar, which was formalized under the early 'Abbasids, in the first half of the ninth century. The study reveals that the conquered peoples themselves played a major role in the creation of these policies and that they were based on long-standing traditions, customs and institutions from earlier pre-Islamic cultures that originated in the worlds of both the conquerors and the conquered. In its connections to Roman, Byzantine and Sasanian traditions, the book will appeal to historians of Europe as well as Arabia and Persia.

Introduction
1. The roots and authenticity of the surrender agreements in the seventh century
2. Shurut 'Umar and its alternatives: the legal debate over the status of dhimmis
3. The date and the ideology of the Ghiyar code
4. The enforcement of Shurut 'Umar
5. The provenance of the modes of subordination of non-Muslims
Conclusion.

Subject Areas: Islam [HRH], Middle Eastern history [HBJF1]