Non-Muslims in the Early Islamic Empire: From Surrender to Coexistence

The Muslim conquest of the East in the seventh century entailed the subjugation of Christians, Jews, Zoroastrians, and others. Although much has been written about the status of non-Muslims in the Islamic empire, no previous works have examined how the rules applying to minorities were formulated. Milka Levy-Rubin's remarkable book traces the emergence of these regulations from the first surrender agreements in the immediate aftermath of conquest to the formation of the canonic document called the Pact of 'Umar, which was formalized under the early 'Abbasids, in the first half of the ninth century. What the study reveals is that the conquered peoples themselves played a major role in the creation of these policies, and that these were based on long-standing traditions, customs, and institutions from earlier pre-Islamic cultures that originated in the worlds of both the conquerors and the conquered. In its connections to Roman, Byzantine, and Sasanian traditions, the book will appeal to historians of Europe as well as Arabia and Persia.

Author: Milka Levy-Rubin
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 03/01/2018
Pages: 285
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.85lbs
Size: 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.60d
ISBN: 9781108449618

About the Author
Levy-Rubin, Milka: - Milka Levy-Rubin is a Lecturer in History and Middle Eastern Studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. She is the author of The Continuatio of the Samaritan Chronicle of Abu L'Fath Al Samiri Al Danafi (2002).