Bouwen in Jeruzalem

Toen de moslimcommandant Ubaydallah B. Tahir in 827 naar Jeruzalem kwam, kreeg hij klachten dat de christenen de koepel van een van hun religieuze gebouwen hadden uitgebreid. Volgens regels gebaseerd op het pact van Umar was dit niet toegestaan. Ubaydallah stelde een onderzoek in en dreigde de christelijke patriarch (leider) te geselen als de beschuldigingen waar bleken te zijn. Op dat moment kwam een moslimman naar de patriarch en bood aan te getuigen dat de koepel niet nieuw of groter was, maar dat deze was gerepareerd volgens de oorspronkelijke afmetingen. In ruil daarvoor vroeg de man een grote som geld van de christenen. De patriarch ging akkoord en de commandant geloofde de getuigenis van de moslim en de nieuwe koepel werd aanvaard.

The Pact or Covenant of Umar determined the rules under which non-Muslims such as Jews and Christians could live in Muslim lands. The followers of Muhammed had conquered large parts of Arabia and the Middle East in the seventh century, lands that were inhabited by many different religions. Of these religions the Jews and Christians enjoyed a special status, as they were considered ‘people of the book’, similar to the Muslims. All three religions based themselves on a holy text revealed by a Prophet or Messiah. Although nobody knows for sure, the rules for non-Muslims were probably set by Caliph Umar I, who ruled from 634 to 644. One of the most important laws was that Christians and Jews needed to pay a special tax, called Jizya, to the Muslim government. In return for this, they received the status of Dhimmi, which means ‘people of protection’. In the following centuries, many Muslim rulers and lawyers debated about the exact meaning of the Pact of Umar and about the exact rules that applied to the Dhimmi in their lands. Interestingly, many of the sources we have attest that the Christians and the Jews imposed these rules on themselves. For example, letters to Umar and to one of his commanders state that they sought the Caliph’s protection: ‘When you [Umar] came to us [the Christians], we asked of you safety for our lives, our families and our property, and the people of our religion on these conditions.’ Those conditions mainly involved respect from the Christians towards the Muslims and the Islamic Faith, as well as a promise not to obstruct followers of Islam. In recent years, political groups have also debated the status of the Dhimmi. Some see them as oppressed people, while others see their status as a key example of religious tolerance on the part of the Muslims.

9de eeuw

Europa, Frankrijk

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Organisaties en initiatieven

Moshe Gil, ‘Dhimmi donations and foundations for Jerusalem (638-1099)’, Journal for the Economic and Social History of the Orient, 27.1 (1984), 156-174.

Yes

Bram De Ridder