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Infographic – Religious Minorities under Muslim Rule

Did you ever fell for the orientalist propaganda about minority persecution in the muslim world?


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https://yaqeeninstitute.org/en/tesneem-alkiek/infographic-religious-minorities-under-muslim-rule/

Religious minorities are often depicted as oppressed and vulnerable victims of their Muslim rulers. This portrayal, however, is far from accurate. This brief paper seeks to reorient our understanding of the rights and responsibilities that religious minorities possessed under Muslim rule.

Read the full article here.

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Legal autonomy also meant that minorities had their own "sub-governing body" such as their own judges and their own laws.
 
Any modern State that taxes its citizens based on their personal religious beliefs, or similar grounds, cannot be regarded as treating them equally. That is the basic problem which is being ignored with the infographic.
 
Any modern State that taxes its citizens based on their personal religious beliefs, or similar grounds, cannot be regarded as treating them equally. That is the basic problem which is being ignored with the infographic.
Why does it have to be equally?

In some countries richer people are taxed more than poorer people, is that equal?
 
The Prophet
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and all Caliphs ordered Muslims to treat Ahlu ath-Thimmah kindly and keep their properties safe.

The Prophet
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said: “Whoever harms a Thimmi, I shall be his opponent on the day of Judgment, and I always defeat the one whom I oppose.” [As-Suyooti in his book al-Jam'i as-Sugheer with a good chain of narrators]

http://www.islamweb.net/emainpage/index.php?page=showfatwa&Option=FatwaId&Id=84263

The Prophet
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said, “Beware, if anyone wrongs a Mu'aahad (a person who is granted the pledge of protection by the Muslims), diminishes his right, burdens him beyond his capacity, or takes from him anything without his consent, I shall plead for him (the Mu'aahad) on the Day of Judgment.” [Abu Daawood]

Allah says (what means): {Allah does not forbid you from those who do not fight you because of religion and do not expel you from your homes - from being righteous toward them and acting justly toward them. Indeed, Allah loves those who act justly.} [Quran 60:8]

http://www.islamweb.net/emainpage/index.php?page=showfatwa&Option=FatwaId&Id=341263

Any modern State that taxes its citizens based on their personal religious beliefs, or similar grounds, cannot be regarded as treating them equally. That is the basic problem which is being ignored with the infographic.

SO you can tax people based on income, profession, business type BUT not religion? LOL. why? Who decided this criteria and who judged that this criteria is morally right and everything other criteria is wrong?

The very notion of equal treatment is flawed and oppressive. People do not need to be treated equally for justice to prevail but what is required is due rights granted to people based on their requirements. One law for all is tyrannical tool designed in the liberal secular west that Islam fundamentally disagrees with.

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December 4, 1829.
2009;

https://www.google.com.pk/amp/s/www.rt.com/news/india-ritual-suicide-sati/amp/

Any modern State that taxes its citizens based on their personal religious beliefs, or similar grounds, cannot be regarded as treating them equally. That is the basic problem which is being ignored with the infographic.
A)No Modern Muslim State levies such a tax anymore on non muslims.. however zakat,usher etc for muslims is still levied.

B)Religious tax on minorities was nothing compared to taxes like Zakat,Kharj,Usher etc levied on Muslims..

The dhimmi tax also exempted non muslims from above taxes aswell as any military service.

when did you stop widow burning?


City of “cursed” widows... left to die;
 
Every citizen has the right to equal protection and treatment under the law, which must be the same for all, if a civilized society is to be created and maintained. Justifying or codifying discrimination, specially on religious grounds, is a recipe for social disaster.
 
Every citizen has the right to equal protection and treatment under the law, which must be the same for all, if a civilized society is to be created and maintained. Justifying or codifying discrimination, specially on religious grounds, is a recipe for social disaster.
But everyone is not the same. Is a Sikh the same as a Muslim. Is a Christian the same as follower of Vedic Dharm?
Is a Chief of Arm Staff the same as a sepoy? If a COAS commits treason and a simple sepoy the same, should the be meted out the same?? If a doctor murders a patient should he be the same as non doctor who does the same...?

Nay, by forcing something that is un-natural, will cause greater social disaster...
 
‘Imposing’ Sharia Law
‘Imposing Sharia Law’

https://abdullahalandalusi.com/2013/12/07/imposing-sharia-law/

What do many media outlets, Western government reports, politicians speeches, ‘Muslim’ modernist rhetoric and Islamophobe propaganda all have in common? They all agree on one thing – to characterise the desire of ‘Islamists’, and Islamic ‘extremists’ as seeking to “impose” Sharia on the world.

The reason they use this line of rhetoric is simple, it makes non-Muslims and Muslims ignorant about Islamic revival, to think that the work to re-establish an Islamic state involves going against people’s conscience, and forcing people to live under a law system against their will.

The truth is actually ironic.

Firstly, ‘Sharia law’ is a tautology, since the word Sharia means ‘Law’ and thus the sentence literally translates as ‘Law law’. The reason the word ‘sharia’ is used, is because it sounds foreign and maximises fear to the ears of non-Muslims.

Secondly, the phrase ‘Imposing Sharia law’ is idiotic, since what law isn’t imposed? Are there voluntary laws? The reason law is called law, and not ‘guidelines’, is because law is obligatory, whereas guidelines aren’t. By definition, en-forcing the law is an imposition on those who break it!

Thirdly, is there any citizen of the U.S., France, UK or other Western nation that can opt-out of the laws they live under without having to leave the country? No. What if a citizen in these countries doesn’t believe in the law, must they be under it? Yes – there is no options given to its citizens to be an exception to the laws.

In fact, many Christians and Muslims have been sent to jail, or are forced to cease following their religious conscience because the law imposed upon them a set of rules they didn’t believe in.


In Western Secular countries, we find Women banned from wearing hijab in schools and Niqab bans across europe. Muslims are forbidden to pray in public in France. Catholic adoption agencies (despite being privately funded) are forced to close for not adopting children to same-gender couples. Christians and Muslims arrested by police for preaching same-gender sexual intercourse is sinful. Christian hoteliers prosecuted for not allowing a same-gender couple to use a room in their hotel. Christian counsellors lose their jobs for refusing to counsel a same-gender couple. Muslims are prosecuted for criticising Western foreign policy. Two non-violent Muslim political parties are banned (which was upheld by European Court of Human Rights) for espousing ideas against Secularism and Liberal Democracy etc etc the list goes on.


Was not the Secular Liberal law imposed upon these tax-paying citizens? Did they have a choice in the matter? No. So Secular Liberal Democracy (Liberalism) doesn’t care whether you agree with it or not, it forces all submit to it, whether you consent or not. As Secularists say ‘One Law for All’… their law.

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Islamic law actually doesn’t impose itself on people without their consent. Every time a Caliph comes to power, the Muslim community must consent through Bayah (pledging allegiance after a decision/election process) to the new Caliph. This then forms a consensual contract with the leader which establishes his authority to rule with Islamic law upon the Muslims. In fact, the Muslims establish a Caliph precisely to rule with Islamic law – and thus discharge their collective obligation to God.

When the Islamic state is created, it will start off with consent of the Muslims, and continue getting its consent with every new Caliph – the same can’t be said for the Western system.

In the West, whether you vote or not, all must obey the imposed government. The so-called ‘democratic’ elections do not give people a choice to affirm a national law or ideology (like whether they want Communism, Liberalism or Islam), but only to select the leader to rule over them according to a pre-arranged system. The people are not requested to consent to their government in the modern democratic system, only to consent to its rulers…and even then, not exactly, since Western rulers tend to generally be elected on a fraction of the actual population. In fact, one could say that the people who voted against the successful candidate will have him/her imposed upon them.

Just ask yourself, while deposed Egyptian president, Mohammed el Morsi, the so-called ‘Islamist’ was obtaining a referendum to get national consent on a new constitution – how many Western countries historically have conducted referendums on their constitutions? Did the so-called ‘free’ country of USA ask its citizens to consent to their famous constitution? No.

Remember when Western politicians were decrying Morsi for not involving more Christian input in the constitution’s drafting? It was said that since Christians are 10% of the Egypt, the constitution should represent them, however, I somehow don’t see France caring if its anti-hijab and anti-Niqab laws represents the 10% Muslim population there (which as you know France can ignore because Democracy tilts towards the majority, and doesn’t care about minorities…unless they happen to a non-Muslim minority in a foreign Muslim country).

It seems the West wants Muslims to be more Democratic than even Western Democracies are!

Lastly, under Islamic law, non-Muslims are not to be subject to laws they don’t believe in. Non-Muslims get to live under their own law systems, under their own regional government in autonomous areas – which historically are either regions like Millets, or city Quarters. Jews lived under Jewish law, Christians lived under Christian law, Zoroastrians lived under their own law, no matter how strange or horrific Muslims found it, like ‘self-marriage’ which was legalised incest. The famous Islamic scholar Ibn Qayyum al Jawziya discussed this specific case and re-iterated the standard Islamic response of non-interference in the practices of Zoroastrians, in his treatise ‘Akham Ahl ul Dhimma‘ (the rulings on non-Muslim contract-citizens [of the Islamic state]).

History and Islamic teaching demonstrates that Islamic law is the only law system that actually didn’t impose itself. The same can’t be said for the totalitarian system of Secular Liberal Democracy, which spreads only its own definition of ‘human rights’ and enforces only its vision on the world’s populations whether or not they have their own differing conceptions of human rights.

Secularism…one law to rule them all…and in the darkness bind them…
 
Let us first define what is meant by the minority? People of the same religion & nationality may also feel disenfranchised in their country of residence because of ‘Xenophobia’. For example, Biharis living in Bangla Desh, Kurds in Turkey & Iraq, Blacks in the US and non-Baluchis in Baluchistan of today. This discussion would be limited to treatment or religious minorities with emphasis on Pakistan.

The point under discussion is not how Muslims are supposed to treat the minorities or treated them in the past; what is important is how minorities in the Islamic countries are actually being treated now.

We find guidance to the relations between Muslims & non-Muslims in the holy Quran. However, interpretation of the Quranic texts regarding the treatment of the minorities /dhimmis has seldom been uniformly applied and the ground reality has often been far removed from the theory.

According to the Holy Quran, the believers should treat the unbelievers decently and equitably as long as the latter does not act aggressively towards them. For example verses of Surah AL-Mumtahannah (60:8-9) translates as:

"Allah does not forbid you from those who do not fight you because of religion and do not expel you from your homes - from being righteous toward them and acting justly toward them. Indeed Allah loves those who act justly."

Allah only forbids you from those who fight you because of religion and expel you from your homes and aid in your expulsion - [forbids] that you make allies of them. And whoever makes allies of them, and then it is those who are the wrongdoers.”

Additionally, Surah Al Baqarah (2; 256) categorically declares:

“There shall be no compulsion in [acceptance of] the religion. The right course has become clear from the wrong. So whoever disbelieves in Taghut (Satan) and believes in Allah has grasped the most trustworthy handhold with no break in it. And Allah is Hearing and Knowing”

The protection granted to non- believers as above was against the exaction of tribute and taxes of various kinds. The most common being the poll tax (jizyah) levied on all able-bodied free adult Dhimmi males of sufficient means.

It is pointless to give the example of the “Rashideen” because the Caliphate changed into hereditary kingship soon after. How the minorities were treated depended largely upon the generosity & will of the rulers. In fact, the actual situation of the dhimmis was more closely related to the economic and political circumstances prevailing within various Islamic countries and by their relations with the major non-Muslim powers of the time.

Umayyad Spain and Fatimid Egypt are widely seen as the golden age of harmonious coexistence among Muslims, Christians, and Jews, whose cultures and heritage was mutually enriched. IMO this was because the Rulers did not coerce their non-Muslim subjects for the fear that these would convert to Islam reducing the poll tax revenue.

These regimes also benefited from the complementary economic roles and functions that were performed with great efficiency by the Jewish & Christian communities. Whereas some of which were regarded as undesirable or unclean by Muslims.

However, it must be pointed out that non-Muslims were incorporated into Muslim society not as individuals, but as members of their religious communities. Among all the Muslim empire builders, Ottoman Turks were probably the shrewdest in harnessing all the resources; under their control including manpower. Under the Ottoman Millet system, legally recognized religious communities such as the Greek Orthodox, Armenian Christians as well as the Jews were headed by their clergy with legal autonomy within their community; while permitted to live securely & peacefully, they had no political rights and did not enjoy equal status with the Muslim citizens.

These days constitutions of the majority of Muslim states, despite declaring Islam to be the state religion, confirm the principle of equality of all citizens irrespective of religion, sex, and race.

We had the similar situation in Pakistan until 1976 when ZA Bhutto succumbing to the pressures from the religious lobby changed all that. Except for the anti-Qadiani riots of 1954, there had been no incidents of widespread persecution of religious minorities. State-sponsored oppression of the minorities was unheard of until the era of the bigot Zia.

Urgent need for a large number of Jihadists to fight Soviets in Afghanistan, resulted in the rapid rise of the Deobandis and the Wahhabi brand of Islam, since then non-Muslims have come under suspicion not only in Pakistan but all over the Muslim world.

(Needless to remind that initial targets of the movement started by Abdul Wahaab in Najd (d 1792) were not the non-Muslims but the Muslim Ottoman Turks whom the Wahhabis considered heretics, thus nearly as bad as kafirs.)

General Law & order situation was largely under control during the iron hand of Zia, but Benazir's misrule after his death opened the Pandora box. Since then militant Islamic groups have been openly hostile toward non-Muslims.

These extremist groups along with their right-wing supporters consider violence against the minorities such as Christians as fair game, thus even totally illiterate members of the Christian community are being accused of Blasphemy, sometimes based upon total lies. Some others vent their anger at the US and the West by bombing Christian places of worship in Pakistan.

The persecution does not stop at the officially declared non-Muslims; some of these militant groups would also like to dis-enfranchise Shias by having them declared kafirs. Maulana Sami ul Haq, the darling of Imran Khan and receiving a grant from the KPK gov’t; issued a Fatwa to this effect in 1986 which even banned burial of Shias in the Sunni graveyards. Additionally, following the edicts of Ibne Taymīyah (d. 1328) against Ibne Arabi; these hardliners consider the followers of Sufi Islam heretics and have indulged in bombing Sufi Shrines across Pakistan.

Therefore, one can justifiably say that spread of Wahhabi Islam in Pakistan in the post-Zia has resulted in everyone except the Deobandis getting a raw deal with the Christians & Shias specifically targeted.

Muslims now constitute about 20 percent of the world population with some 350-million living in non-Muslim countries as minority communities. India alone has about 150-million which now has the largest Muslim minority community in the world. Muslim communities living in the West are rightfully demanding to be treated at par with rest of the population but have no reply when faced with the question as to why the non-Muslim population of the Muslims countries is denied the same privilege. I am deeply interested in this topic because Muslims living outside have to face the consequences of what happens to non-Muslims in Islamic countries and living in the UK, this directly affects me and my children.

The direct result of the globalization is that news about the mistreatment of non-Muslims & the minorities go viral and the rest of the world is no longer content with the claims of tolerance by the Muslim scholars. What we felt about the treatment of Muslims in Bosnia and now of the Rohingyas in Burma is probably felt by rest of the world about the treatment of non-Muslim minorities in the Muslim countries. The absence of persecution is not enough, these days the world expects full social, political, and legal equality of Muslims and non-Muslims in all the UN member countries.

Each time there is news of persecution of non–Muslims in Islamic countries like cutting throats of the Yazidis by the ISIS or terrorists acts perpetrated by in the name of Islam like the Charlie Ebdo incident; Muslims residing where Islam is not the dominant religion or culture such as India, France, Germany, UK or the USA feel threatened by the backlash of extremists Christian or Hindu groups. Such situation, sometimes mild, sometimes aggravated, has to be faced by one out of every five Muslims in the world.

Instead of the insistence on the imposition of the “Shariah”, which basically means the imposition of the laws according to the Wahhabi/ Salafi interpretation, the Muslim majority countries should adopt a policy of sharing the attributes of sovereignty with their non-Muslim compatriots and at par with the Muslim majority community.

Some Muslim intellectuals have been actively trying to find ways to legitimize full legal and political equality of Muslims and non-Muslims in Islamic terms. Though small in number, these groups would like to see the introduction of “Ijitihad” that in the interest of national unity and to end the Fitna (disorder) of sectarian violence; takes into account the spirit of the Quranic edicts with the greater public good (al-maslahah al-ʿāmmah) in mind, rather than the literal interpretation of the Fighah especially of Ibne Tamiyah.

The main dilemma here is how to ensure legal equality, while simultaneously preserving superiority of the Muslims over non-Muslims. To do this one needs to fix the boundary of the religious distinction between Muslims & non-Muslims so that non-Muslims can hold high public office in an Islamic state and participate in the decision making at the highest level despite having a separate identity. In my humble opinion, a modified version of the Tanzimat reforms could be the solution.

During the middle 19th Century a series of reforms termed “The Tanzimat-I Hayriya) were introduced by Sultans Abdulmecit II & Abdul Aziz with the aim to rationalize Ottoman rule and capture more tax revenue.

Tanzimat granted legal equality between Muslims and non-Muslims and replaced the ‘jizyah’ with general conscription or with the payment of an exemption tax (bedel-e asker). Under the 1869 Regulation of Public Instruction, the State established empire-wide secular school system to produce bureaucrats and military officers with the skills necessary to implement State policy. However religious & personal law for the different communities was retained as before

Simultaneously Muslim minorities living abroad need to adopt a social and political identity that is distinct from the Muslim majority communities while keeping their cultural & religious values intact.

In my view, this is the only way whereby minority non-believers in Muslim countries and the Muslim minorities elsewhere can achieve a life of security, equality, and dignity in their places of residence.

Admittedly these are the views of a dedicated liberal which I expect would not be acceptable to many of my Muslim brethren.
 
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The main dilemma here is how to ensure legal equality, while simultaneously preserving superiority of the Muslims over non-Muslims.

Any approach that claims equality while trying to preserve one group's superiority is self-contradictory by definition.
 

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