FROM THE LIFE OF THE PROPHET

place. It was made incumbent on every Muslim to participate in war but non-Muslims were exempted from this duty for the simple reason that they could not be compelled to help the cause of Muslims. Muslims defended the frontiers of the state and laid down their lives for it, but non-Muslim citizens of the state enjoyed the fruits of peace, safety and security. They only paid a small price for this enviable privilege, by way of a tax called jizyah. This was not an innovation of Islam. Islam inherited this institution from Iran, where those who did not discharge military duty had to pay this tax. The tax on non-Muslim citizens was very light. It was equivalent to ten days’ food in a year—a small price to pay for being guaranteed full protection as a citizen and an exemption from military duties. No discrimination was exercised against non-Muslims on the basis of religion. In AD 624, after the Muslim victory at the Battle of Badr, Makkans sent yet another delegation to the Negus (King of Abyssinia) with a view to seek the repatriation of Muslims from Abyssinia so that they could be persecuted at home. To counter the move, the Prophet sent a non-Muslim, Amr ibn Umayyah al-Qumri, as his ambassador to the court of the Negus. The attitude of the Prophet towards his Jewish neighbours was kind and cordial. He always visited their homes to enquire after the health of their sick children. There was a Jewish tribe by the name of Banu Arid in Madinah. The Prophet had been pleased with them for some reason and had fixed an annual stipend for them. When the funeral procession of a Jew passed by in the street, the Prophet always stood up as a mark of deference. The attitude of the Muslims towards their non-Muslim compatriots was one of kindness, consideration and extreme tolerance. This generous treatment was reciprocated by their trust and loyalty. A civil war started in the Muslim state during the Caliphate of Uthman and continued down the ages, but never once did non-Muslim subjects raise the standard of revolt. They sided neither with one nor the other party. They always remained neutral and never took advantage of the situation. The ruler of Byzantium strongly urged the Christian citizens of Islamic empire to rise in revolt while a civil war was raging between Ali and Mu’awiyah. He promised to liberate them by attacking the Muslims, but he did not succeed in inciting a rebellion. Such efforts continued down the ages until the time of the Crusades, but the Christians responded by saying that they preferred the Muslim rulers to their co-religionists.