Non-Muslims in the early Islamic Empire
Subtitle: from surrender to coexistence
By: Milka Levy-Rubin
Series: Cambridge studies in Islamic civilization
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 2011
Place of publication: Cambridge; New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 267
ISBN-13: 9781107004337
Subjects: Politics and government; HISTORY / Middle East / General; Islam and politics; Dhimmis; Ethnic relations; Minorities (Islamic law); Religious tolerance; Religious minorities; Islam and state; Legal status, laws; History
Description: "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 Ụmar, which was formalized under the early Ạbbasids, in the first half of the ninth century. What the study reveals is that the conquered peoples themselves played a major role in the creation of these policies, and that these 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"--
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.