People who live under the protection of an Islamic government enjoy special privileges. They are referred to as “the Protested People” (ahl al-dhimmah or dhimmis), meaning that Allah, His Messenger (pbuh), and the community of Muslims have made a covenant with them that they may live in safety and security under the Islamic government.
In modern terminology, dhimmis are “citizens” of the Islamic state. From the earliest period of Islam to the present day, Muslims are in unanimous agreement that they enjoy the same rights and carry the same responsibilities as Muslims themselves, while being free to practise their own faiths.
The Prophet (pbuh) emphasised the duties of Muslims towards dhimmis, threatening anyone who violates them with the wrath and punishment of Allah. He said:
He who hurts a dhimmi hurts me, and he who hurts me annoys Allah.
Whoever hurts a dhimmi, I am his adversary, and I shall be an adversary to him on the Day of Resurrection.
On the Day of Resurrection I shall dispute with anyone who oppresses a person from among the People of the Covenant, or infringes on his right, or puts a responsibility on him which is beyond his strength, or takes something from him against his will.
The successors of the Prophet, the caliphs, safeguarded these rights and sanctities of non-Muslim citizens, and the jurists of Islam, in spite of the variation of their opinions regarding many other matters, are unanimous in emphasising these rights and sanctities.
Says the Maliki jurist, Shihab al-Din al-Qarrafi:
The covenant of protection imposes upon us certain obligations towards the ahl al-dhimmah. They are our neighbours, under our shelter and protection upon the guarantee of Allah, His Messenger (pbuh), and the religion of Islam. Whoever violates these obligations against any one of them by so much as an abusive word, by slandering his reputation, or by doing him some injury or assisting in it, has breached the guarantee of Allah, His Messenger (pbuh), and the religion of Islam.
And the Zahiri jurist, Ibn Hazm, says:
If one is a dhimmi, and the enemy comes with his forces to take him, it is our obligation to fight the enemy with soldiers and weapons and to give our lives for him, thus honouring the guarantee of Allah and His Messenger. To hand him over to the enemy would mean to dishonour this guarantee.
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Excerpt from The Lawful and the Prohibited in Islam page 312-314.
Dr Yusuf Al-Qaradawi has published more than 120 books, including The Lawful and the Prohibited in Islam and Islam: The Future Civilization. He has also received eight international prizes for his contributions to Islamic scholarship, and is considered one of the most influential Muslim scholars living today.
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