‘Umar b. al-Khaṭṭāb’s Treaties with the People of the Book
Shifting Legal Boundaries in Muslim-Christian Relations
Abstract
Muslim and non-Muslim historical sources provide us with contradictory stipulations in the treaties attributed to the second Caliph of Islam ‘Umar b. al-Khaṭṭāb. This article argues that the initial treaties were non-intrusive, with few, if any restrictions on the non-Muslim populations. Notwithstanding that, some security concerns may have been implemented by ‘Umar’s generals during the early conquests on a temporary basis. When the major urban centres came to be classified as amṣār al-Muslimīn, the restrictions that had been imposed in the garrison towns of Kūfah, Baṣrah, and Fusṭāṭ were now transferred to cities like Damascus, Jerusalem, and Ṣan‘ā’. The article concludes that over time, more and more restrictions were placed on the local non-Muslim populations, beginning with the decrees of the Umayyad Caliph ‘Umar b. ‘Abd al-Azīz and culminating with the edicts of the Abbasid Caliph al-Mutawakkil, after which the Pact of ‘Umar took its final form.
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