Zonnar

Zonnar (also spelt "zunar" or "zonar"; Arabic: زنار / ALA-LC: zunār) was a belt or girdle, part of the clothing that dhimmis — Christians and Jews — in the Muslim world were required to wear as part of Islamic law in order to differentiate them from Muslims.^[1]

The requirement to wear the zonnar was one of the provisions of the "Pact of Umar", the peace accord offered by the seventh century Rashidun Caliph `Umar ibn al-Khattāb to the Christians of Jerusalem ^[2].

Modern usage

• A 2006 clothing law under discussion in the Iranian Majlis (Parliament) was characterized by Canadian newspaper the National Post as requiring Jews to wear yellow, Christians red, and Zoroastrians blue ribbons, but the story turned out to be untrue.^[3] and that the law only encouraged the promotion of Iranian and Islamic fashion for Muslims.^[4]

• In the early 2000s, the Taliban in Afghanistan required Afghan Hindus to wear yellow badges.^[5][6][7]

References