People of the Book

This article is about the theological concept in Islam. For the novel by Geraldine Brooks see People of the Book (novel).
This article is part of the series:
Allah-eser-green.png
Islam
Beliefs
Allah · Oneness of God
Prophets · Revealed books
Angels
Practices
Profession of faith · Prayer
Fasting · Charity · Pilgrimage
Texts and laws
Qur'an · Sunnah · Hadith
Fiqh · Sharia · Kalam · Sufism
History and leadership
Timeline · Spread of Islam
Ahl al-Bayt · Sahaba
Sunni · Shi'a  · Others
Rashidun · Caliphate
Imamate
Culture and society
Academics · Animals · Art
Calendar · Children
Demographics · Festivals
Mosques · Philosophy
Science · Women
Politics · Dawah
Islam and other
religions
Christianity · Judaism
Hinduism · Sikhism · Jainism · Mormonism
See also
Criticism
Glossary of Islamic terms
Islam portal

People of the Book (Arabic: أهل الكتاب‎ ′Ahl al-Kitāb) is a term used to designate non-Muslim adherents to faiths which have a book of prayer.[1] The three faiths that are mentioned in the Qur'an as people of the book are Judaism, Sabians and Christianity. However, many Muslim rulers and scholars have included other religions such as Zoroastrianism[2][3] and Hinduism as well.[4]

In Islam, the Muslim scripture, the Qur'an, is taken to represent the completion of these scriptures, and to synthesize them as God's true, final, and eternal message to humanity. Because the People of the Book recognize the God of Abraham as the one and only god, as do Muslims, and they practice revealed faiths based on divine ordinances, tolerance and autonomy is accorded to them in societies governed by sharia (Islamic divine law).

In Judaism the term "People of the Book" (Hebrew: עם הספר, Am HaSefer) subsequently became self-applied to refer specifically to the Jewish people and the Torah; also the Jewish people and the wider canon of written Jewish law (including the Mishnah and the Talmud). In the Jewish tradition's use of the term there is generally no connotation as to the nature of Judaism's relationship with other faiths.[5]

The Catholic Church specifically rejects the similar expression "religion of the book" as a description of the Christian faith.[6]

Contents

Definition

The term "People of the Book" in the Qur'an refers to followers of monotheistic Abrahamic religions that are older than Islam. This includes all Christians, all Jews (including Karaites and Samaritans), and Sabians.[7]

Many early Islamic scholars, such as Malik ibn Anas, agreed that Zoroastrians should also be included. Zoroastrianism is believed by scholars and historians to have been founded between 1000 BCE and 600 BCE, making it older than Christianity and Islam. It shares similar eschatological views with Christianity and Islam, and recognizes life after death, Satan (as Angra Mainyu), Heaven, and Hell.

This definition is limited to those books that predate the Quran; they are seen as divine guidance from God to man that has been corrupted. This definition is not extended to followers of similar texts claiming divine guidance after the revelation of the Quran, as the Quran is seen as the final revelation and therefore any following are necessarily false.

Scholars have different opinions as to whether or not Hinduism constitutes as a religion of The People of the Book.[8] The Islamic conquest of India necessitated that this definition be revised, due to the majority of the inhabitants of India were followers of the Indian religions. Many of the Muslim clergy of India considered Hindus as people of the book,[8] and from Muhhammad-bin-Kasim to Aurangzib, Muslim rulers were willing to consider Hindus as people of the book.[7] Many Muslims did not treat Hindus as pagans or idol-worshippers.[8] However the concept of Adam, Eve and the various prophets of abrahamic religions does not exist in Hinduism.

Buddhism does not explicitly recognize a God, or the concept of prophethood. Muslims however had at one point accorded them the status of "people of the Book" as well and Al-Biruni wrote of Buddha as the prophet "burxan".[9] However, there is no official Buddhist view of God, and Buddhism does not specifically oppose monotheism. Brahman is recognised as the supreme Deva. However, it is explicitly stated in sutra that deva, including supreme Brahman is insufficient (or irrelevant or inferior) to attainment of enlightenment, as they are still trapped in cycle of rebirth. Moreover, Buddhism does not recognize God in the sense of Creator. Similar to hinduism, the concept of Adam, Eve and the various prophets of Abrahamic religions does not exist in the religion of Buddhism.

In the Qur'an

There are many statements in the Qur'an that promote tolerance towards People of The Book. For example:

There are also many statements that promote an adversarial relationship. For example:

In other places the Qur'an says:

Throughout Islamic history, Muslims have used these ayah (verses) to justify a variety of positions towards non-Muslims. In some places and times, Muslims showed a great deal of tolerance towards non-Muslims; in other places and times non-Muslims were treated as enemies and persecuted. Islamic law demands that Muslims treat Jews and Christians as dhimmis, a legal status inferior to that of a Muslim but superior to that of other non-Muslims.

One ayah in the Qur'an can even be interpreted to encourage a neutral position toward non-Muslims. This ayah says, "Those who follow the Jewish and the Sabi'een, Christians, Magians and Polytheists — Allah will judge them On the Day of Judgement:" (22:17). The acceptance of Zoroastrians as dhimmis is partly because of this ayah, as the Magians were Zurvanist Zoroastrians, and this verse, specifically mentions them alongside other People of the Book, and lists them ahead of polytheists.

Dhimmi

Main article: Dhimmi

Historically, a dhimmi was a person who is protected under Islamic law by a pact contracted between non-Muslims and authorities from their Muslim government: this status was originally only made available to non-Muslims who were People of the Book (i.e. Jews and Christians), but was later extended to include Sikhs, Zoroastrians, Mandeans, Hindus[10] and Buddhists.[11][12] People of the Book living in non-Islamic nations were not considered dhimmis.

Non-Muslim People of the Book living in an Islamic nation under Sharia law were given a number of rights, such as the right to freely practice their faith in private and to receive state protection. They also had various legal impairments and responsibilities, such as the payment of a special tax called jizyah ("tribute") (although they were exempted from the Muslims' obligation to pay the Zakat charity). The social structure of the Ottoman Empire would serve as an example of how non-Muslims were treated.

Because of the Hindu traditions of Vedanta and Upanishads, and the prominent Hindu theological perspective that there is a single Reality (Brahman) from which the world arises, Hindus eventually have been included as dhimmis.[13]

The Yazidi, Druze and Azali faiths are small post-Islamic monotheistic faiths whose adherents mainly reside in Muslim-majority countries. Because they number very few and have seldom disturbed, countered or threatened Muslim authority, they are usually regarded as dhimmis.

The definition of "dhimmi" always excludes followers of the Bahá'í Faith. This is because the Bahá'í Faith, which grew out of Shi'a Islam, is a post-Islamic religion which does not accept the finality of Muhammad's revelation. Instead, Bahá'ís believe in the concept of progressive revelation, which states that God's will is progressively revealed through different teachers at different times, and that there will never be a final revelation.

The Ahmadis (usually referred to by Muslims as Qadianis) of Pakistan are also not regarded as dhimmis by the vast majority of Muslims. This is largely due to the fact that their prophet, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, came over 1,300 years after Muhammad, who is viewed as the "last of the prophets" by Sunni, Shia, and Ibadi variants of Islam. They differ from other post-Islamic faiths in Muslim lands because Ahmadis first began as an Islamic reform movement, threatening the established orthodoxy present in South Asian Islam, and further was embraced by highly socially upward mobile westernizing Muslim intellectuals of the day. These factors, compounded with the presence of the colonial British authorities in India who had overthrown the Muslim Mughal Empire, led Muslims to view the presence of Ahmadis as a fifth column serving the British colonizers, and as a threat to "true" Islam. Pakistan to this day requires its citizens to swear an oath of allegiance to Islam, and declare Mirza Gulam Ahmad to be an apostate, should they elect to register as a Muslim for governmental services.

See also

References

  1. ↑ For a scholarly guide to the literature available on this topic, see the entry "People of the Book" in Oxford Bibliographies Online: Islamic Studes
  2. ↑ Clark 1998, p. 89.
  3. ↑ Garthwaite 2005, p. 120.
  4. ↑ "Glossary of Islam" (in English). ReligionFacts. ReligionFacts. http://www.religionfacts.com/islam/glossary.htm. Retrieved 26 November 2009. 
  5. ↑ Hence for example such books as People of the Book: Thirty Scholars Reflect on Their Jewish Identity (Johns Hopkins University Press, 1997) and People of the Book: Canon, Meaning, and Authority (Harvard University Press, 1997).
  6. ↑ Catechism of the Catholic Church (1997), n. 108.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Desika Char, S. V. (1997). Hinduism and Islam in India: Caste, Religion, and Society from Antiquity to Early Modern Times. Markus Wiener Publishers. ISBN 1558761519. 
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Nasr, Seyyed Hossein (1973). Sufi Essays. State University of New York Press. ISBN 0873952332. 
  9. ↑ www.berzinarchives.com/...books/.../history_cultures_18.html
  10. ↑ Bat Ye'or (1985), p. 45
  11. ↑ The Chach Nama English translation by Mirza Kalichbeg Fredunbeg. Delhi Reprint, 1979.
  12. ↑ Annemarie Schimmel (2004), p.107, "The conqueror Muhammad Ibn Al Qasem gave both Hindus and Buddhists the same status as the Christians, Jews and Sabaeans in the Middle east". They were all "dhimmi" ('protected people')"
  13. ↑ Thapar, R. 1993. Interpreting Early India. Delhi: Oxford University Press. p. 77

Books

Further reading

External links