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There is a great history of tolerance within Islam, which states that Jewish citizens of a Muslim state are a
protected minority. This article demonstrates this decree of protection by naming five Muslim rulers that saved
their Jewish subjects from certain death.
The Jews chose to leave and Saudi soldiers escorted them to the Yemeni border. They settled in the cities of
Saada and Aden. The Saudi King Abdulaziz demanded their return, but Yemen’s Shia Muslim King, Ahmad bin
Yahya, refused his demand as he considered them to be Yemeni and not Saudi refugees.
It is impossible to say what the fate of this Jewish tribe would have been, but it is likely to have ended tragically
as Judaism is forbidden within the borders of Saudi Arabia. Today the remnants of Banu Harith live in Yemen and
Israel.
While these actions were truly commendable, there are questions as to the general treatment of Jews under
Adhmad bin Yahya’s rule. While stories of persecution do exist, he was also one of the few Muslim leaders that
permitted his Jewish subjects to leave for Israel – which prompted nearly 50,000 Yemenite Jews to flee to the
fledgling state.
Shocked at these laws the King of Morocco, Mohammed V, told Jewish leaders that in his opinion Vichy laws
singling out the Jews were inconsistent with Moroccan law. He believed that Jews should be treated equally with
Muslims. He emphasized that the property and lives of the Moroccan Jews remained under his protection. “There
are no Jews in Morocco. There are only subjects,” the King was reported to have said. In a blatant show of
defiance the King insisted on inviting all the rabbis of Morocco to the 1941 throne celebrations. Due to his strong
stance, Vichy administrators were unable to implement their discriminatory laws and the Jewish community was
saved.
But the story did not end there, in response to anti-Jewish rhetoric in the wake of the creation of the State of
Israel the King warned Muslims not to hurt Moroccan Jews, reminding them that Jews had always been protected
in Morocco.
The Sultan then sent out proclamations throughout the empire stating that the Jewish refugees were to be
welcomed, granting them permission to settle anywhere in the Empire as full and equal citizens. He ridiculed the
conduct of Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile, who had expelled the Jews by saying “You venture to
call Ferdinand a wise ruler, he who has impoverished his own country and enriched mine!” – in recognition of the
incredible contributions the Jews would make to his empire.
Bayezid then sent a decree to all the governors of his European provinces, ordering them not only to refrain from
repelling the Spanish refugees, but to give them a friendly and welcome reception, threatening those who treated
the Jews harshly with death.
Rather than simply offering the Jews protection for their act of bravery, Tariq elevated the Jews to protectors of
the empire and positioned Jewish garrisons to watch over the cities of Toledo, Granada and Seville. Possibly the
first instance in history where a Jewish army protected their Muslim cousins.
However, this was a battle that involved betrayal and treachery. To understand the Prophet’s (( ))ﷺview of the
Jews we must look at the relationship in its entirety.
Muhammad (( ))ﷺwas married to Safiyya – a Jewish lady. On one occasion she came to Muhammad ( )ﷺin tears
after being taunted for being Jewish by Arab women. After consoling her he said, “If they discriminate you again,
tell them that your husband is Muhammad, your father was the prophet Aaron and your uncle was prophet Musa.
So what is there in that to be scornful towards you”.
It is well documented that Muhammad (( ))ﷺhad Jewish wives, friends and many subjects. And it is the treatment
of these Jewish subjects in lands under his control that laid the blueprint of tolerance and protection that Muslim
rulers have shown Jews throughout the centuries.
In one of history’s major examples of state endorsed religious tolerance, Muhammad (?) drafted the Constitution of
Medina declaring Jews a protected minority, free to practise their religion. It is this Constitution that offered
protection of Banu Harith, the Yemeni tribe in our first story. And it is this constitution that inspired every Muslim
ruler we have mentioned to protect their Jewish citizens.
(16) To the Jew who follows us belong help and equality. He shall not be wronged nor shall his enemies be aided.
(24) The Jews shall contribute to the cost of war so long as they are fighting alongside the believers.
(25) The Jews of the B. ‘Auf are one community with the believers (the Jews have their religion and the Muslims
have theirs), their freedmen and their persons except those who behave unjustly and sinfully, for they hurt but
themselves and their families.
(26-35) The same applies to the Jews of the B. al-Najjar, B. al-Harith, B. Sai ida, B. Jusham, B. al-Aus, B.
Tha’laba, and the Jafna, a clan of the Tha‘laba and the B. al-Shutayba. Loyalty is a protection against treachery.
The freedmen of Tha ‘laba are as themselves. The close friends of the Jews are as themselves.
(37) The Jews must bear their expenses and the Muslims their expenses. Each must help the other against anyone
who attacks the people of this document. They must seek mutual advice and consultation, and loyalty is a
protection against treachery. A man is not liable for his ally’s misdeeds. The wronged must be helped.
(38) The Jews must pay with the believers so long as war lasts.
(46) The Jews of al-Aus, their freedmen and themselves have the same standing with the people of this document
in purely loyalty from the people of this document. Loyalty is a protection against treachery. He who acquires
ought acquires it for himself. God approves of this document. Visit here: http://www.newageislam.com