The Princeton Encyclopedia of Islamic Political Thought

Treaty of ‘Umar

The Treaty of ‘Umar is the title given to the canonical document that sets forth the rules and restrictions pertaining to non-Muslims living under Muslim rule. Various other documents were intended to serve the same purpose but have not been accorded the same authority. Although it was not always systematically or strictly enforced between the 9th and the 11th centuries, the Treaty of ‘Umar seems progressively to have become the accepted norm in later centuries.

A treaty allegedly signed between the Muslim conquerors and the Christians of one city following the Islamic conquest, the document lists a series of obligations made by the conquered in return for the assurance of protection (amān) given to them by the Muslims. It includes clauses regarding the obligation to host the Muslims and to be loyal to them; a prohibition on building new prayer houses; a list of restrictive measures regarding religious customs such as refraining from beating a clapper (nāqūs) loudly as a call to prayer, praying loudly, forming processions on holidays and for funerals, displaying crosses and lights on the roads, and selling pigs and wine; clauses regarding behavior in the presence of Muslims, such as the obligation to respect the Muslims and to give them priority on the road as well as in seating and the prohibition of burial next to them, peeking into their houses, and the possession of Muslim slaves; and a series of clauses requiring the adoption of differentiating signs (ghiyār), including an obligation to wear the girdle (zunnār) and distinct clothing and the prohibitions of resembling Muslims in appearance, using saddles, adopting seals in the Arabic language, bearing arms, and teaching Christian children Arabic.

Traditionally attributed to ‘Umar b. al-Khattab (r. 634–44), the document in its final form is a later product portraying a state of established coexistence between Muslims and non-Muslims and was formed, according to most scholars, sometime around the end of the eighth or beginning of the ninth century. Opinions are divided over the process of its formation. While Arthur Stanley Tritton and Antoine Fattal regard the document as a product of jurists of the ninth century, other scholars such as Salo Baron, Norman Stillman, and Habib Zayyat claim that the ‘Umar referred to is the Umayyad caliph ‘Umar b. ‘Abd al-‘Aziz (r. 717–20), in whose days the initial document was forged. Bernard Lewis, Albrecht Noth, and Mark Cohen believe that many of the clauses in the document reflect the conditions of the immediate postconquest period, although all agree that it underwent a process of elaboration and editing at the hands of later jurists.

Noth, who proposed an early date for the Treaty of ‘Umar, suggested that it initially aimed at protecting the Muslim minority from the non-Muslim majority. However, in its final form the treaty reflects the transformation undergone by Muslim society, from insecure and at times rejected conquerors to secure and confident lords and masters. Thus while the initial conquest agreements represented a tolerant, minimally invasive approach, demanding in general only the payment of the jizya (poll tax) in return for amān and the inhabitants’ right to observe their ancient customs, the Treaty of ‘Umar replaced these with an intolerant and restrictive approach. The document reflected the new social order, according to which the Muslims were the superior, ruling class, while the non-Muslims were the inferior and humiliated class. This new order was entrenched in the ethos of class-stratified Sasanian society, which was now turned to the advantage of the Muslim rulers. Like Sasanian society, Muslim society distinguished between the ruling class and the subject class through distinguishing marks such as clothes and paraphernalia, riding habits, and privileges in the public sphere.