How were the Jews and Christians treated in the Muslim society?

Answer 1

Jews and Christians (and, in earlier times, some others) are regarded as "People of the Book" (Bible), and were not forced to convert to Islam.

In early times, People of the Book were required to pay a poll-tax that did not apply to Muslims, but were otherwise free to practise their religions. Christians were not allowed to convert Muslims. Many rulers made the annual payment of the poll-tax as humiliating or degrading as possible. And there were, of course, episodes of real persecution by individual rulers in some areas, but this was not the norm.

By the twentieth century, the poll-tax had been abandoned and Jews and Christians were largely well-treated. There have been instances of Jews and Christians becoming Ministers in the governments of secular Muslim states.

Answer 2

Muslims treat Christians and Jews and all non Muslims kindly and with tolerance so far they don't attack Muslims, they don't expel them from their lands and homes, and/or they don't fight them. Quran; Muslims holy book, and prophet Muhammad (PBUH) call for kind treatment and with tolerance with all non-Muslims.

Islam religion is a religion of peace. Quran; Muslims holy book that they follow its instructions and teachings and rules; say (meaning English translation):

"Allah (or God and same God worshiped in Christianity and Judaism) does not forbid you from those who do not fight you because of religion and do not expel you from your homes - from being righteous toward them and acting justly toward them. Indeed, Allah loves those who act justly.Allah only forbids you from those who fight you because of religion and expel you from your homes and aid in your expulsion - [forbids] that you make allies of them. And whoever makes allies of them, then it is those who are the wrongdoers." (60:8-9)

and says:

"And if they incline to peace, then incline to it [also] and rely upon Allah. Indeed, it is He who is the Hearing, the Knowing." (8:61)

It is important to emphasize that Muslims believe in Moses and Jesus and they believe in their holy books (The Torah and the Bible) as God revelations. That is why they call Christians and Jews in the Muslims Holy Book the Quran as "the people of the book". Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) married a Jewish woman and married a Christian woman. Quran includes a fill chapter titled (Mary). The virgin Mary is the only woman mentioned explicitly in many locations in Quran and the only woman with her name is the title of full chapter in Quran.

Refer to question below for more information.

Answer 3

They were labeled as dhimmi. Judaism and Christianity had to be kept low-profile, and (for example) church bells, or blowing the shofar-horn, were forbidden.

They also had to pay a special tax (Jizya); and any dhimmi avoiding this payment would have his safety forfeited.

Answer 4

In the Middle Ages, Muslims treated non-Muslims in a way that was superior to contemporaneous civilizations and introduced the concept of religious tolerance (as opposed to Europe which was practicing the exact opposite at the time). However, it is nothing close to equality or Rights. An important thing to note is that the concept of Rights comes out the Enlightenment. Prior to this point, there was a system of privilege wherein the Ruler would provide privileges (out of the kindness of his heart) to a certain group of people to do acts. A person did not have the "right" to anything and this was the mentality worldwide.

The Pact of Omar was a document of submission signed by the Caliph Omar and defeated Christians and Jews during one of Omar's Wars. While the factual accuracy of that story may be doubted, there is no doubt that the Pact of Omar formed the basis for the treatment of non-Muslims in the conquered territories and clarified the ambit of Qur'anic verse 9:29, which argues that Jews and Christians should have an inferior legal status to Muslims. The Pact of Omar set out a number of regulations that will be described in this answer.

The Dhimmi, or non-Muslim under Muslim occupation was required by the Pact of Omar to pay a number of taxes that were connected with his Dhimmi status. The most famous was the jizya, which was a tax that Dhimmi had to pay for Muslims for the right to not be killed where they stood for not acknowledging Mohammed's Prophecy; it was a form of humiliation. Additional taxes included the kharaj, which was a tax on non-Muslim* land-holdings in the Muslim World. The kharaj was so untenable that most Dhimmi were forced to live in the cities where the tax would not be applicable. There was also inequality concerning the justice system. On paper, a Christian or Jew could testify against a Muslim, but in reality, such testimony was not acceptable and the attempt to defame a Muslim would receive retribution. Christians and Jews were not allowed to build new houses of worship, restore old houses of worship, proselytize in any way (this included religious debate or dialogue), or allow wine or pigs to be shown in public.

This system of inequality between Muslims and non-Muslims persisted up to the colonial period, when it reversed. As a result of colonization, the segregated Dhimmi System gave way to a new, modern bureaucratic system where Europeans were the dominant class and natives, regardless of their religion were second-class, unless they became part of the bureaucracy. To do this, a person would require an education in order to become literate and be able to successfully perform functions in the Arab World. As Jews and Christians sought education, they were able to ascend the hierarchy and become relatively powerful compared to the Muslim majority. When the Islamic World became independent, only the Lebanese Christians were able to maintain this dominant position (and only until the Lebanese Civil War of 1975-1991). In other countries, the end of colonization saw a brief rise in Anti-Semitism followed by a mass exodus of Jews from majority-Muslim countries for Israel, UK, France, the United States and Canada. Those Jews and Christians who remained garnered a more equal status than anything that they had previously had under Muslim leadership, but still are unequal in terms of their inability to proselytize, the unofficial "requirement" to avoid offending Islam in public, and the need to seek the authority of high government officials to build new houses of worship or to repair existing ones.

*Although Muslims also had to pay the kharaj in theory, in practice the tax rate for kharaj on Muslims was slight compared to the amount required by the Dhimmi peoples.

Answer 5

The expectations of conquered people at that period of time are that they will be tortured and repressed. As a result, the Jews and Christians, after falling to the Muslims had this general expectation. Non-Orthodox Christians and Jews were generally of the opinion that life could not get worse under the Muslims than what they were already suffering from the Byzantine Orthodox leadership, so they had hopes of a "less virulent repression" and, by and large, they got this.

Muslims treated non-Muslims in a way that was superior to contemporaneous civilizations and introduced the concept of religious tolerance (as opposed to Europe which was practicing the exact opposite at the time). However, it is nothing close to equality or Rights. An important thing to note is that the concept of Rights comes out the Enlightenment. Prior to this point, there was a system of privilege wherein the Ruler would provide privileges (out of the kindness of his heart) to a certain group of people to do acts. A person did not have the "right" to anything and this was the mentality worldwide.

Answer 6

At best, the Christians and Jews were second-class citizens under Muslim rule. They were required to pay swingeing taxes that did not apply to Muslims and in some cases were at risk of having children being taken away to be brought up as Muslims. Having said that, the Muslim conquerors were far more tolerant of the other faiths than were Christian conquerors in the same circumstances.

Answer 7

They were given safety and the right to practice their religion.

Answer 8

Rotten. They were third-class citizens and had to pay a special tax, the Jizyeh

Answer 9

C. Allowed to practice their own faiths, but forced to pay additional taxes. FOR APEX

Answer 10

Quite often fatally.