A.H. 15
arms—"those wearing a beard." The richer proprietors paid four dīnārs or forty dirhems per annum; those in comfortable circumstances half that amount; and all others a quarter (one dīnār or ten dirhems). In addition each one had to pay per month a certain quantity of wheat, oil, vinegar, honey, and dripping, for the maintenance of the Muslims, to whom one was also obliged to accord hospitality for three days for soldiers on the march—stabling (without barley) for the horses, and food (which did not necessitate the slaughtering of a sheep or even of a fowl) for the men. The expense of this entertainment was repaid once a year. The jizya varied with the cultivable value of the country. That of Syria was higher than that of the Yemen.
Protected peoples.Upon these clients or "people of protection" (ahl adh-dhimma) twelve conditions were imposed, six necessary and six desirable. The former were that they should not revile the Korʾān, nor Moḥammad, nor Islām; that they should not marry a Muslim woman; that they should not attempt to convert a Muslim or injure him in life or goods; and that they should not assist the enemy nor harbour spies. From the client committing any of these offences the protection of the Muslims was withdrawn; that is, he becomes an outlaw and his life forfeited. The six "desirable" conditions are—that they should wear distinctive clothing, the ghiyār, a yellow patch on their dress, and the girdle (zannār); that they should not build houses higher than those of the Muslims; nor ring their wooden bells (nāḳūs), nor read their scriptures in a loud voice; nor drink wine in public, nor let their crosses or swine be seen; that their dead should be wept and buried in silence; and that they should not mount a horse, only mules and asses. The breach of these regulations was visited with penalties.[1]
Such in substance was the Contract of ʿOmar which regulated the civil and ecclesiastical position of the conquered people. It permitted the free exercise of worship within churches and houses, forbidding, however, the erection of new buildings. The civil prescriptions on the contrary were odious and degrading. Jews and Samaritans shared the lot of the Christians, but, until the accession of the second Umeiyad Caliph (60–64 A.H.), the latter were exempt from
- ↑ Cf. Hamaker, Incerti auctoris liber, etc., p. 165 f.
