PROTECTION EDICT ISSUED BY MOHAMED

From a book review of Yusef Tobi's "The Jews of Yemen: Studies in their History and Culture." Études sur le Judaïsme Médiéval, 21. Brill: Leiden, 1999, x, 302 pp. ISBN 90 04 11254 0.

 

The pact made between this Muslim leader and the Jews of Najran (see excerpt) is provided in English translation. Tobi (26-27) shows that al-Hâdî, far from being antagonistic to Jews in Yemen, carried on the honorable tradition of Muhammad and the early caliphs, no doubt due to the economic position of the Jewish community and his own weak state. Tobi (p. 26) argues: "His (al-Hâdî) example was the early Arab-Islamic model in the age of Muhammad -- protection in return for payment of a tax and nothing more. The roots of this model were entrenched in the pre-Islamic custom of Arabian protection -- the protection by the strong of the weak, the protection that put to the test the good name and integrity of him who extended it." Discriminatory laws by Zaydis against Jews only appeared later, starting in the fifteenth century Kitâb al-Azhâr of al-Murtadâ. In this regard Tobi refutes the assertion by Hayyim Hibshûsh of early Zaydi antagonism toward Yemeni Jews.

 

So when did things turn bad for Yemeni Jews? The Ayyubids issued a decree in 1199 that all the Jews of Yemen should convert to Islam, but this was short-lived when the Ayyubid ruler in Yemeni died some six months later. Tobi argues that there is no major persecution of Jews in Yemen until 1454 when the Bani Tâhir dynasty rose to power. Jews were uprooted and punished apparently in retalation for a messianic movement that had attracted some Muslims. The Ottomans, arriving in 1536, afforded some protection, but when the Zaydis drove them out in 1635 conditions were often dismal. This culminated in 1667 with the banishment of the Sanaa Jewish community to Mawza' on the Red Sea coast, not unlike the "Trail of Tears" for the American Cherokee. Persecution was continual in the 19th century due in large part, Tobi states, to the general breakdown in order rather than an exclusive anti-Jewish sentiment. When the Ottomans returned in 1872, a little protection was again provided. For example, the Ottomans had abolished the poll-tax (jizya) as early as 1855 in their reforms. As he was driving out the Turks prior to World War I, Imam Yahya imposed harsh discriminatory laws on Jews. After Yahya's death in 1948, the new Imam Ahmad allowed a large number of Jews to leave for Israel.

The following are excerpts from Joan Peters book From Time Immemorial--The Origins Of The Arab-Jewish Conflict Over Palestine (New York: Harper & Row, 1984.)

"Omar, the caliph who succeeded Muhammad, delineated in his Charter Of Omar the twelve laws under which a dhimmi, or non-Muslim, was allowed to exist as a "non-believer" among "believers."  The Charter codified the conditions of life for Jews under Islam--a life which was forfeited if the dhimmi broke this law.  Among the restrictions of the Charter:  Jews were forbidden to touch the Koran; forced to wear a distinctive garment (sometimes dark blue or black) habit with sash; compelled to wear a yellow piece of cloth as a badge (blue for Christians); not allowed to perform religious practices in public; not allowed to own a horse, because horses were deemed noble; not permitted to drink wine in public; and required to bury their dead without letting their grief be heard by the Muslims.(7) [p. 34]

As a grateful payment for being allowed so to live and be "protected," a dhimmi paid a special head tax and a special property tax, the edict for which came directly from the Koran: "Fight against those (Jews and Christians) who believe not in Allah...until they pay the tribute readily, being brought so low." (8) [p. 34]

In the late 1800's the Jews continued to suffer the same discriminatory practices as other non-Muslim "infidels" (58)  which "in many places throughout Syria and Palestine" meant "oppression, extortion, and violence by both the local authorities and the Muslim population." (59) [p. 180]

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