Document 8.2: The Pact of Umar

Important Events

Treaties such as the one excerpted here regulated the relations between Muslims and other monotheists in the regions conquered by the Muslims. The Muslims wished both to safeguard those who practiced other “religions of the book [the Bible]” and at the same time protect themselves and their religion from contamination by non-Muslims. The treaties also imposed a tax on non-Muslims. Historians used to think that this tax was simply a token, but recent studies argue that it was a considerable burden on many. The treaty given here is specifically for Christians, but those for Jews were similar. The numbering of the provisions here differs from the original.

  1. If any of you [Christians] says of Muhammad or God’s book or His religion something which is inappropriate for him to say, the protection of God, the commander of the faithful and all Muslims is removed from him; the conditions under which security was given will be annulled and the commander of the faithful will put that person’s property and life outside the protection of the law, like the property and lives of enemies.
  2. If one of you commits adultery with or marries a Muslim woman, or robs a Muslim on the highway, or turns a Muslim away from his religion . . . he has broken this agreement, and his life and property are outside the protection of the law. . . . We shall examine your every dealing between yourself and Muslims, and if you have had a part in anything that is unlawful for a Muslim, we shall undo it and punish you for it. . . . You will not give a Muslim any forbidden thing to eat or drink, and you will not allow him to marry in the presence of your witnesses, nor to partake in a marriage we consider illegal. [On the other hand] we shall not scrutinize nor inquire into a contract between you and any other unbeliever. . . .
  3. You shall not display the cross nor parade your idolatry in any Muslim town, nor shall you build a church or place of assembly for your prayers, nor sound your bells. You will not use your idolatrous language about Jesus, son of Mary, or anyone else to any Muslim. . . .
  4. For every free adult male of sound mind, there will be on his head a poll-tax of one dinar of full weight, payable at new year. He will not leave his land until he has paid the tax. . . .
  5. These terms are binding on you and those who accept them; we have no treaty with those who reject them. We will protect you and your property which we deem lawful against anyone, Muslim or not, who tries to wrong you, just as we protect ourselves and our own property.

Source: “ ’Umar II and the ‘protected people’ ” in Classical Islam: A Sourcebook of Religious Literature, ed. and trans. Norman Calder, Jawid Mojaddedi, and Andrew Rippin (London: Routledge, 2003), 90–92.

Question to Consider

In what ways does this pact protect Christians, and in what ways does it coerce them?