jihad and the islamic law of war - The Royal Islamic Strategic ...

question 12
substantial amount of autonomy as regards religious and
cultural matters, often with the power to adjudicate certain
disputes in their own separate system of courts.This was an
extremely common arrangement, which began from the
time of the Prophet and the first caliphs and continued
until the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire in the 20th
century. The protected people were not required to contribute
to the military protection of Dar al-Islam, but they
were subject to a poll-tax specific to them, most commonly
known as the jizyah but which had other names as well.
In the second case, there exists an arrangement with the
Islamic state that the dhimmi state will exist in peace with
the Islamic state and will not help or support any enemy of
Islam. Examples of this include the Prophet’s arrangement
with the people of Bahrain, who were Zoroastrians, and
with the Christians of Najran. Under such an arrangement,
the people remain completely autonomous and run their
own affairs. They remain under the protection of the
Islamic state, with no responsibility to provide active protection
in return. The Islamic state no right to any of their
wealth or property except for the jizyah. The following is
the text of the agreement between the Christians of Najran
and the Prophet:
Najran and their followers are entitled to the protection
of God and to the security of Muhammad the
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