Page:An Analysis of Prophet Muhammad’s Covenants with Christians.pdf/15

 principles (, p. 560). Nevertheless, it is important to discuss another characteristic of civic nations, that is cultural preservation and access to political power among minority communities. As Kymlicka argues, the idea that the government of a civic nation could be neutral with respect to ethnic and nationals groups is patently false. He claims that the government of a civic nation “cannot avoid deciding which societal cultures will be supported” (, p. 110). However, Kymlicka may be overly hasty in arguing that a civic nation acts unfairly towards minorities. While Prophet Muhammad did use the Qur’an as the basis for his political philosophy, he did not “take sides” in terms of offering citizenship in a diverse and pluralistic society like Arabia in the 7th century.

Stilz offers several views on this issue of neutrality in a civic nation. One, “neutrality of impact”, sees neutrality as “a thesis about the consequences of government action. It holds that the state should pursue no policies that have the end result that one way of life is advantaged, favored, or assisted in ways others are not” (, p. 265). The other, “neutrality of justification”, sees neutrality as “a thesis about the kind of reasons for which governments should act”. In terms of neutrality of justification, specific laws are not created to impinge upon the beliefs or practices of minorities. One potential way to argue against the validity of “neutrality” in Prophet Muhammad’s ummah is by turning to the “dhimmi rules”, as discussed in the previous section. While dhimmi literally means “protected person”, dhimmis in Muhammad’s ummah were asked to pay the jizya and faced certain political restrictions. However, as Glenn points out, dhimmis were treated equally in practically the whole of the law of property and of contracts and obligations (, p. 219). Throughout Islamic history, there are plenty of instances where “Muslim nations” treated Christians equally in the court of law. For example, in the early Caliphate, Al-Andalus, Indian subcontinent, and the Ottoman Millet system, qadis (Islamic judges) typically did not interfere in the legislative or legal matters of Christians. Christians living in these “Muslim nations” were granted the right to create and maintain their own laws independent of sharia. Moreover, throughout history, Christians and Jews living as dhimmis were allowed to engage in practices such as the consumption of alcohol and pork, both of which are forbidden under sharia. While an argument can be made that Christians were excluded from specifically Muslim privileges, one can also make the argument that they were excluded from specifically Muslim duties like serving as soldiers during times of war (, p. 219). The Muslim nation as designed by Prophet Muhammad can be regarded as anti-hierarchical and non-centralist in terms of governance; it was meant to be a confederation of religious groupings rather than a space for Muslims alone. Citizenship in Muhammad’s nation did not derive from the solidarity of people who feel responsible for—and committed to—members of a single racial or ethnic community, but rested on the ability of citizens to get a “fair hearing” for their views and “fair protection of their interests” (, p. 2). The Prophet’s nation entailed no need for religious unity or conversion to Islam.

Perhaps the most obvious of the civic rights that Muhammad gave to Christians was freedom of conscience. As the ruler of the first Islamic state, he did not require Christians to adopt the religion or culture of the majority nation, hence why he told the Christians of Persia: “No Christian shall be brought by force to confess Islam, and no disputes except over the better things shall be envisaged in with them” (, p. 20). This type of governance follows the concept of civic nation because a civic nation takes account of their fellow citizens’ interests; citizens are also not forced to adopt the cultural practices of the majority within (, p. 278). In the Covenants, Prophet Muhammad established civic national principles by creating a fair set of rules within which Christians had equal opportunity to make free choices (perhaps based on their cultural preference). If Muhammad had favored an “ethnic” framework for his nation, he would have tried to forcibly incorporate and assimilate Christian minorities into the dominant “Muslim culture”.

Although modern conceptions of “citizenship” are largely considered products of the Enlightenment, the Covenants demonstrate that “Islamic civilization” conceived of citizenship rights long before the aforementioned period in history. To reiterate, Prophet Muhammad defended the rights of Christians in an Islamic state by offering them security and protection in moments of danger or strife. He elaborates in the Covenant with the Christians of the World: