750-969

Abbasid Revolution: Political parties emerged in the Umayyad state, such as the Zubayrids, the Kharijites, and the Shiites, which weakened and weakened the Umayyads. Their opponents became greedy and began to plot. Many peoples submitted to the Umayyads, but the Umayyads did not practice good politics, so they imposed heavy taxes and tributes, took prisoners, enslaved, and humiliated others. These peoples did not tolerate injustice. The Umayyads turned to entertainment, alcohol, and debauchery, and their workers became negligent and careless, so their only concern was extorting and collecting money. It was said to one of the Umayyads, “What was the reason for the fall of your kingdom?” He said, “Disagreement among us and the gathering of those who disagreed against us!”

The Shiites had met the abdication of Al-Hassan from the caliphate with indignation. They pledged allegiance to Al-Hussein, and on the day of Karbala, they were horrified by the killing of the son of their Prophet’s daughter, and their enthusiasm and fanaticism increased. Then they were divided into groups. Some of them supported Muhammad ibn Al-Hanafiyyah, and Abdullah Abu Hashim after him, then Muhammad ibn Abbas. Abbas was the uncle of Muhammad, and the Abbasids trace their lineage to him. Others, and they were many, supported Abdullah ibn Hussein ibn Al-Hassan ibn Ali. The Abbasids feared him, so they held a Hashemite conference that included the Alawites and the Abbasids in Mecca. The Alawites held fast, and the Abbasids went along with them until the circumstances were ready, and agreed with them to pledge allegiance to “Al-Nafs Al-Zakiyyah.”

Around the year 718, Muhammad ibn Abbas formed secret groups and sent most of them to Khorasan because in his view it was more suitable than others for spreading the call, as its Persians were Shiites and hated the Arabs and the Umayyads and did not covet the caliphate. Muhammad ibn Abbas died and his son Ibrahim al-Imam took over the leadership of the Abbasid movement. In the year 746, he sent Abu Muslim al-Khorasani to Khorasan. He stayed in Marv and began calling people to pledge allegiance to the family of Muhammad without specifying. Many people followed him. His power grew so much that the governor of Khorasan fled, so Caliph Marwan arrested Imam Ibrahim in his headquarters in Humaymah in eastern Jordan. He recommended the caliphate to his brother Ibn Abbas al-Saffah. Imam Ibrahim died, so Abu Muslim called on the people of Khorasan to pledge allegiance to al-Saffah. There was a revolution and a decisive battle at the Upper Zab on the twenty-eighth of November in the year 749. Al-Saffah pursued Marwan, caught up with him in Egypt and cut off his head. The Umayyad state collapsed and the Abbasids established control over the entire East.

Abbasid policy: The Abbasids in their early era were people of strength, determination and planning. However, they did not refrain from killing anyone whose evil was feared. The reason for this is that they were keen on the kingdom and would do anything to support it. You might find them the most just and tolerant of God’s creation, or you might find them severe and harsh. Freedom was guaranteed to them as long as it was far from party politics. Tolerance was permissible as long as it did not affect the kingdom.

The Abbasids and Christians: Thus we see the Persian clients who organized the Abbasid government and arranged its offices, bringing the People of the Covenant closer to them in Iraq and Syria, giving them salaries and rewards and honoring them. The Abbasid scholars - (Jahbadh: plural: jahābiḍah. “A great scholar of the great scholars”: the knowledgeable, the well-versed in knowledge, the expert critic “Mu’jam al-Ghani”) - most of them were Jews and the writers were Christians. They also took over the army office and the great statesmen from among the Muslims themselves competed to kiss their hands. Among those who held this office was King Ibn al-Walid, who was appointed by al-Mu'tadid Billah (892-902). "Al-Mu'tadid was a generous, wise, and virtuous man who was harsh with the corrupt." Al-Muttaqi Billah (940-944) appointed Abu al-Ala Sa'id ibn Thabit as vizier, and he was a Christian. The Abbasids employed doctors from among the People of the Covenant, the wise, the translators, and the writers, and they honored them, took care of them, and gave them precedence. Ibn Abi Usaibia preserved for us in his book, Tabaqat al-Atibba, many of these virtues. Perhaps the best thing that is quoted from him is his words about the scholar of the Caliph al-Mansur, Jurjis ibn Bukhtishu', who was at that time the chief physician at the hospital of Jundishapur. When al-Mansur lost his appetite due to the illness that had afflicted him in his stomach, he summoned Jurjis, who studied his condition and prescribed the medicine. The Caliph recovered and was at peace, and he prevented Jurjis from returning to his country. Al-Mansur had learned that George had left his wife behind in Jundishapur, so he sent him three Roman slave girls and three thousand dinars. George accepted the dinars and returned the slave girls. When Al-Mansur rebuked him, he replied: “We Christians only marry one woman, and as long as she is alive, we will not take anyone else.” Al-Ma’mun and others made every effort to translate books from Greek and Syriac into Arabic, spending generously. The Syrian Christians were their strongest support, including people from Homs, Baalbek, Damascus, Hira, and Harran.

Some of the caliphs honored the bishops and sat with them. Al-Hadi used to summon Bishop Timothy to him most days and discuss religion with him, discuss and debate with him, and raise many issues with him. He had long discussions with him, which he included in a book written by the aforementioned bishop on this subject. Harun al-Rashid also did the same. Some caliphs ignored the humiliation of some Christians, facilitated their mixing, and showed respect for their religion to the point that these Christians would present the caliphs with icons of saints, who would accept them from them. The bishops often asked the caliphs to confirm them in their positions, to take pride in that over their opponents or disputers.

But some of these just and tolerant caliphs and ministers were, under certain circumstances, the most obstinate. Al-Mahdi (775-785) “destroyed the churches built by the Christians during the Arab era and destroyed the Chalcedonian (Byzantine) church in Aleppo” and ordered that Christians not acquire slaves. In the year 779, Al-Mahdi approached Aleppo and the Tanukhids came out to meet him riding on well-dressed horses. He was told that they were Christians, “so Al-Mahdi became furious and forced them to convert to Islam. About five thousand men converted to Islam. The women did not convert to Islam. A prominent man named Layth was martyred among them.”

In the year 797, Harun al-Rashid passed by and the Muslims confronted him and complained about the Christians, claiming that the Roman king secretly visited them every year and prayed in their churches. “The Caliph investigated and discovered their secrets, so he beat them severely. At that time, there was a Quraysh man named Ruwayh. His house was next to the church. He would harass the priest, disturbing him during prayer and throwing clay balls at him from the window. One day, while he was staring at him during the Mass, he saw a slaughtered lamb on the plate on the Table of Life. He went down to the church and saw broken bread before the priest. He returned to the window and stared again and saw the lamb. He immediately declared his Christianity, left his house, went to a monastery and was baptized. When Harun al-Rashid heard about him, he summoned him and tried to persuade him to return to Islam, but he refused. So he tied him up and threw him in prison, where he remained steadfast in his faith for two whole years.” In the year 807, Al-Rashid ordered the demolition of churches on the borders, and the dhimmis were ordered to differ from the Muslims in their dress and riding.

In the year 812, during the reign of Al-Amin (809-813), the Kharijites Nasir and Umar agreed and crossed the peninsula, and made their Kharijite companions kill without mercy, and take captives, and raid, and commit obscenities. While they were besieging Harran, the people of Raha wrote to them saying: If you send someone to destroy the Christian church, they will sacrifice all their wealth for the sake of it. The people of Raha were terrified and recommended fasting and secluded themselves in vigil and prayer. Then the Lord heard their requests and inspired an Arab sheikh called Yahya ibn Saeed, who went out intending to confront Nasir and Umar and the Kharijites, and he advised them to change their intention. They accepted the sheikh’s advice and the people of Raha paid them five hundred thousand dirhams.

During the reign of Al-Ma'mun (813-834), the Dome of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem collapsed, so Bakam Al-Masry sent a large sum of money to Thomas, the Patriarch of Jerusalem, to help him repair the dome. The Patriarch repaired it.

Christians are jealous of each other: If we examine the harm that was inflicted on the Christians, we will see that it was sometimes caused by some of them slandering one another. When Isa ibn Shahla took over as a physician in the Caliphate, he seized the opportunity and extended his hand to the metropolitans and bishops, taking their money for himself. He once wrote to the Metropolitan of Nisibis requesting large amounts of church utensils. He threatened, saying: Do you not know that the king’s affairs are in my hands? If I wish, I will make him sick, and if I wish, I will make him well? The Metropolitan sent the letter to the Caliph, who took revenge on him.

Bukhtishu Ibn Jibra'il envied the physician Hunayn Ibn Ishaq (Hunayn with a damma on the ha), the famous translator, when he saw his status with al-Mutawakkil, so he plotted against him through religion. He made an icon of the Virgin Mary with the Lord Savior in her lap. He instructed some of his confidants to carry it as a gift to the Caliph. He was the one who received the icon from the hand of its bearer. al-Mutawakkil liked it and Bukhtishu began to kiss it. The Caliph al-Mutawakkil asked him, "Why do you kiss it?" He replied, "My master, if I do not kiss the image of the Lady of the Workers, whom shall I kiss?" al-Mutawakkil replied, "And all the Christians do that." He replied, "Yes, O Commander of the Faithful, and better than me. But I know a man in your service who takes it lightly and spits on it. He is an atheist heretic who does not believe in monotheism and does not know the afterlife. He hides behind Christianity and is a denier who disbelieves in the messengers." al-Mutawakkil asked, "Who is this man with such characteristics?" He replied, "Hunayn the translator." al-Mutawakkil ordered Hunayn to be brought to him, but Bukhtishu asked him to wait an hour. Then he went out to Hunayn and said to him: An icon was presented to the Caliph and he liked it. If we left it with him and praised it before him, he would despise us and say to us, “This is your Lord and his mother, made images.” He asked me for my opinion of it and I said something like it should be found in baths and churches. Then he asked me to spit on it and I spat. So if he calls for you, do so. Hunayn believed him and when the Caliph called him, he did as Bukhtishu had told him. As soon as he spat on the icon, the Caliph ordered him to be imprisoned. He sent for Theodosius the Catholicos and brought him. When he saw the icon, he fell on it and kissed it. He continued to kiss it and wept for a long time. Then he took it in his hand and stood up and prayed for the Commander of the Faithful and prayed profusely. He invited him to sit down. Then he asked him what the one who spit on it deserved. He said: “If he is a knowledgeable Christian, then I will forbid him from entering the church and from receiving the Eucharist, and I will prevent Christians from touching him or speaking to him and I will make things difficult for him.” The Caliph gave the icon to the Catholicos with a reward and ordered Hunayn to be flogged with whips and ropes, and ordered his houses to be demolished and imprisoned. He did not escape from this until Al-Mutawakkil became ill and needed his advice, so he released him.

Sharia and Christians: The Abbasids showed in their call that they wanted to revive the Sunnah and correct the crooked paths of religion during the Umayyad era. When they established their authority, they brought the jurists, scholars and ascetics close and honored them. When they met a jurist or ascetic, they would ask him to preach to them, and when he preached, they would cry. The most famous of those who took heed were Al-Mansur, Al-Rashid, Al-Mu'tasim and Al-Wathiq. It is no wonder that the Muslims submitted to their jurists, so the caliphs sought their help to subdue the common people and win their hearts. The jurists gained wealth and prestige through their closeness, so their respect was entrenched in the hearts of the common people, who held on to them and glorified them in the name of religion.

It is evident from what remains of the literature of the Abbasid era that the jurists and scholars made the “Covenant of Omar” the basis for their interpretation in dealing with the People of the Covenant. We have previously stated that the text of this “Covenant of Omar” reached the jurists through the chain of transmission to Abd al-Rahman ibn Ghanem al-Ash’ari, the ancient narrator who died in the year 78 AH. We add here that most of the materials of this covenant are found in books of jurisprudence and administration in the Abbasid era, and there is hardly a book that does not contain some of it or some of it.

The imams differed on the value of the life of a dhimmi. According to Abu Hanifa (696-767) and Ibn Hanbal (780-855), it was equivalent to the life of a Muslim and the blood money of a Muslim. According to Malik (715-795), the blood money of a Jew or Christian was half the blood money of a Muslim. According to al-Shafi’i (767-820), it was a third of it. As for the Zoroastrian, (1) His blood money is one-fifteenth of the blood money of a Muslim. According to these people, anyone who says to a Muslim, “You are a Jew” or “You are a Christian” deserves to be disciplined. Some of the jurists of this era said that the testimony of a dhimmi against his own religion is not accepted. This deeply grieved the Christians. Some others held a different opinion. Christian judges were required to accept the testimony of a Muslim against a Christian, and this position increased their hatred and resentment.

In this era, the jurists made great efforts to address the issue of the dominance of the People of the Covenant over the Muslims. In the year 849 AH, al-Mutawakkil ordered that the People of the Covenant should not be assisted in the offices and the affairs of the Sultan in which their rulings were applied to the Muslims. However, ten years later, he built his Ja'fari palace and brought a river to it and made the expenses of it go to Dalil ibn Ya'qub al-Nasrani. In the year 909 AH, the Christians became more powerful and they overcame the scribes, so al-Muqtadir ordered what al-Mutawakkil had ordered and added that no Jews or Christians should be employed except in medicine and as experts. However, these orders were of weak effect, as his minister, Abu al-Hasan Ali ibn al-Furat, would invite four Christians to his meals every day. They were among the nine scribes he was assigned. When al-Muqtadir wanted to appoint al-Husayn ibn al-Qasim as a minister in the year 931 AH, he advised him to strive to reform his enemies. He began with the Banu Ra'iq, and he would go to their Christian scribe and guarantee them guarantees. Then he did that to Bastafn Ibn Yaqub, the captain of Mu’nis, and said to him: “If you assume the ministry, then you have appointed me as such.” This Hussein used to get close to the Christian scribes by saying to them: “My family is from you and my ancestors are from your elders. A cross fell from the hand of Ubayd Allah Ibn Sulayman, my grandfather, and when the people saw it, he said: This is something that our old women seek blessings from and put in our clothes without us knowing.” There are many examples of this, so refer to it in its place (Islamic Civilization by Dr. Adam Metz, Vol. 1, pp. 68-70). The jurists dealt with this issue and differed, and some of them issued a fatwa that it is permissible for the Minister of Execution, not the Minister of Delegation, to be from the People of the Covenant. The Minister of Execution does not exercise power, appoint workers, or manage the army. As for the Minister of Delegation, he is the one to whom the Sultan delegates the management of the state according to his opinion.

The jurists in the Abbasid era forbade changing religion unless it was converting to Islam. The sects separated from each other. The apostasy from Islam was punished by death. Intermarriage between Muslims and non-Muslims decreased. As for the marriage of a Christian to a Muslim woman, it was impossible. The jurists also forbade the People of the Covenant from building their houses higher than those of Muslims. If they owned tall houses, they were allowed to stay there and were forbidden from overlooking Muslims from them.

The jurists did not close any door of livelihood to the People of the Covenant. They were farmers, merchants, craftsmen, money changers, and doctors. Most of the money changers and scholars were Jews, and most of the doctors and scribes were Christians. The head of the Christians in Baghdad was the Caliph’s physician.

Judiciary among Christians: Islam did not separate the judicial and executive powers, as their prophet was the head of the Islamic state and its judge at the same time. He was also “a transmitter of its law.” So were his successors after him. Muhammad used to entrust the judiciary to some governors as part of their duties in the state, so his successors followed his example and adopted the same plan, so their governors judged between the people on their behalf. Then the work increased, so the governors were forced to appoint judges. The governor did not specify the jurisdiction of the judge, so he kept for himself what “the judge was unable to do.” Then the judge left the authority of the governor and was directly subject to the caliph. Abu Jaafar al-Mansur was the first caliph to appoint judges of the provinces on his behalf.

This judge was the judge of the Muslims (Muslims attended his council, not the People of the Covenant). This is not surprising, as the “conquering” Muslims had allowed the people to remain as they were before, and did not interfere with them in any of their dealings or rulings. Hence the interest of the Christians, after their entry into the House of Islam, in Byzantine laws and their translation into Syriac and Arabic. Among these is the Book of Guidance, which was previously referred to. Some jurists permitted the appointment of a dhimmi to judge between people of his religion, and they considered this appointment to be an appointment of leadership and presidency, not of rule and judgment. However, they saw that if the People of the Covenant refused to arbitrate before their judges, they were not forced to do so. If they returned to the Islamic judge, he would judge between them according to the Islamic law “because it would be more effective for them and more binding for them.”

What we know about these Christian courts is that they were ecclesiastical courts in which the spiritual leaders acted as senior judges. The rulings in them were not limited to marriage matters, but also included inheritance matters and most of the disputes that arose between Christians alone. The leaders did not look favorably on Christians who resorted to Islamic courts. Therefore, in the year 800, the Nestorian Gregorian Timothy wrote a book on Christian judicial rulings “in order to eliminate any excuse used by Christians who resorted to non-Christian courts on the grounds of the deficiency of Christian laws.” Bar Hebraeus summarized ecclesiastical and civil laws in his book Al-Hidayat and was creative in the chapters of civil law. The fathers judges made religious punishments, including reprimand and reprimand, amputation and remorse, and donation and fines.

1. Islam considers Zoroastrianism a “heavenly” religion and their prophet “Zoroaster” a messenger from God… Scholars have proven this by saying that the Prophet of Islam “Muhammad” and the Rightly-Guided Caliphs after him took the jizya from them. The jizya is imposed only on the People of the Book (i.e. those to whom God sent a prophet and messenger and revealed a book to them) and is not taken from others. Here are some sources:

1. Treasure of the Workers in the Sunnah of Sayings and Actions - The Letter Hamza (4702)
2. (Al-Shafi’i, Al-Adani, and Ibn Zanjawayh in Al-Amwal, p. 188) (Narrated by Al-Bayhaqi in Al-Sunan Al-Kubra, Book of Jizya, Chapter on the Magians, People of the Book (9/188), p. 188)
3. Fath Al-Bari, Explanation of Sahih Al-Bukhari, Book of Jizya *3* Chapter on Jizya and Truce with the People of War
4.  Chapter on sects and religions, Chapter on sects and religions, Mention of the ugliness of the Khawarij
5. Musnad Ahmad... Volume One... Musnad of the Ten Promised Paradise... Hadith of Abd al-Rahman ibn Awf al-Zuhri, may God be pleased with him
6. Fath Al-Bari, Explanation of Sahih Al-Bukhari, Book of Divorce *3* Chapter on the words of God Almighty: “And do not marry polytheistic women until they believe. And a believing slave woman is better than a polytheist, even though she might please you.”

And many more... (Network)