The Rights of Non-Muslims in Islam (part 4 of 13): Right to Preservation of Dignity as Human Beings II

Rating:
Font size:
A- A A+

Description: The right of non-Muslims to preservation of their human dignity with discussion of historical precedents and textual evidence.

  • By Imam Mufti (Originally by Dr. Saleh al-Aayed)
  • Published on 10 Jul 2006
  • Last modified on 24 Jun 2019
  • Printed: 1,857
  • Viewed: 229,297 (daily average: 34)
  • Rating: 2.5 out of 5
  • Rated by: 83
  • Emailed: 3
  • Commented on: 0
Poor Best

Another example of how Islam gives regard to human dignity in the following example.  A famous story illustrates the degree to which the caliphs of early Islam protected the dignity of non-Muslims.  Amr ibn al-As was the governor of Egypt.  One of his sons beat up a Coptic Christian with a whip, saying, ‘I am the son of a nobleman!"  The Copt went to Umar ibn al-Khattab, the Muslim caliph who resided in the city of Medina, and lodged a complaint.  These are the details as related by Anas ibn Malik, the personal servant of the Prophet in his lifetime:

"We were sitting with Umar ibn al-Khattab when an Egyptian came in and said, ‘Commander of the Faithful, I come to you as a refugee.’  So, Umar asked him about his problem and he answered, Amr had a custom of letting his horses run free in Egypt.  One day, I came by riding my mare.  When I passed by a group of people, they looked at me.  Muhammad, the son of Amr got up and came to me, saying, ‘I swear by the Lord of the Kaaba, this is my mare!’  I responded, ‘I swear by the Lord of the Kaaba, the mare is mine!’  He came up to me and began beating me with a whip, saying, ‘You may take her, because I am the son of a nobleman (meaning I am more generous than you).’  The incident got to Amr, who feared that I might come to you, so he put me in jail.  I escaped, and here I am before you."

Anas continued:

"I swear by God, the only response Umar made was to tell the Egyptian to take a seat.  Then, Umar wrote a letter to Amr, saying, ‘When this letter reaches you, come and bring me your son, Muhammad.’  Then he told the Egyptian to stay in Medina until he was told Amr has arrived.  When Amr received the note, he called his son and asked him, ‘Did you commit a crime?’  His son stated he has not.  Amr asked, ‘Then why is Umar writing about you?’  They both went to Umar."

Anas narrates the incident further:

"I swear by God, we were sitting with Umar, and Amr arrived wearing the clothes of common people.  Umar looked around for the son, and saw him standing behind his father (to appear less conspicuous).  Umar asked, ‘Where is the Egyptian?’  and he responded, ‘Here I am!’  Umar told him, ‘Here is the whip.  Take it and beat the son of the nobleman.’  So he took it and beat him vigorously, while Umar said over and over, ‘Beat the son of the nobleman.’  We did not let him stop until we were satisfied he had beaten him enough.  Then, Umar said, ‘Now you must take it and hit me on my bald head.  This all happened to you because of my power over you.’  The Egyptian responded, ‘I am satisfied and my anger has cooled.’  Umar told him, ‘If you had beaten me, I would not have stopped you until you had wished to.  And you, Amr, since when have you made the people your slaves?  They were born free.’  Amr began to apologize, telling him, ‘I did not know that this is what happened.’  So, Umar said turned back to the Egyptian, telling him, ‘You may go, and be guided.  If anything untoward happens to you, write to me.’"[1]

Such was Umar who said when first chosen as Caliph, ‘The weak will be made strong, because I take for them what is their right.  And the strong will be made weak because I will take from them what is not rightfully theirs.’  History has recorded him as a just ruler because of his equity towards the oppressed, regardless of their social status, and because of his firmness against the oppressor, regardless of their rank.

‘The value of this story is that it records how people had a sense of their humanity and dignity under the rule of Islam.  Even an unjust blow was disapproved and despised.  Many incidents of injustice similar to this story occurred at the time of the Byzantine Empire, but nobody moved to rectify them.  However, under the protection of the Islamic state, we see an example of an oppressed person having the conviction of his dignity and access to his rights so strong that he was willing to undertake the hardship and privation of a trip from Egypt to Medina, because of his trust that he would find someone to listen to his compliant.’[2]



Footnotes:

[1] Tantawi, Ali, ‘The History Of Umar,’ p. 155-156

[2] Qaradawi, Yusuf, ‘Ghayr al-Muslimeen fil-Mujtama’ al-Islami’ p. 30-31

Poor Best

Parts of This Article

View all parts together

Add a comment

  • (Not shown to the public)

  • Your comment will be reviewed and should be published within 24 hours.

    Fields marked with an asterisk (*) are required.

Other Articles in the Same Category

Most Viewed

Daily
(Read more...)
(Read more...)
(Read more...)
(Read more...)
(Read more...)
(Read more...)
(Read more...)
Total
(Read more...)
(Read more...)
(Read more...)
(Read more...)
(Read more...)
(Read more...)
(Read more...)

Editor’s Pick

(Read more...)
(Read more...)
(Read more...)

List Contents

Since your last visit
This list is currently empty.
All by date
(Read more...)
(Read more...)

Most Popular

Highest rated
(Read more...)
(Read more...)
(Read more...)
(Read more...)
(Read more...)
Most emailed
(Read more...)
(Read more...)
(Read more...)
(Read more...)
(Read more...)
Most printed
(Read more...)
(Read more...)
(Read more...)
(Read more...)
(Read more...)
Most commented on
(Read more...)
(Read more...)
(Read more...)
(Read more...)
(Read more...)

Your Favorites

Your favorites list is empty. You may add articles to this list using the article tools.

Your History

Your history list is empty.

Minimize chat