Chapter 32 : The Constitution of Madinah Flashcards
Regarding The Charter of Madinah / The Constitution of Madinah
- Ibn Hisham and others have reported that The Prophet created the following social contracts as a first step towards quelling :-
1) The New Tensions between The Muhajireen [ Emigrants ] and The Ansar [ Local Inhabitants of Madinah ]
2) The Old Tensions between The Ansar and The Jews
3) The Old Tensions between The Ansar themselves [ Banu Aws and Banu Khazraj ]
- Since this social contract is relatively lengthy and written in archaic fashion, we will simplify the discussions by examining some of the main sections of it :-
1) Provisions That Addresses The Muslims
2) Provisions That Addresses The Jewish Tribes [ Directed towards The Arab’s that have converted to Jews who are not part of The 3 Main Jewish Tribes ]
3) Provisions That Addresses The Polytheists [ Directed towards The Mushrikeen ( Idol Worshippers who are residing in Madinah ]
4) General Provisions
The Opening Statement of The Charter of Madinah
- The opening statement is as follows :-
” This is a charter between The Prophet Muhammad and The Believers and Muslims from The Muhajireen [ Emigrants from Makkah ] and The Ansar [ Local’s of Yathrib ] and anyone else who has joined the ranks of either and fought side by side with them. “
Provisions That Addresses The Muslims
” That they [ Any Muslims whether they are from The Muhajireen or The Ansar or any other Future Converts ] are one nation to the exclusion of the rest of the people [ This means that your primary allegiance is with Your Muslim Brethren / Your Ummah / Your Community ] [ No More Brother in Tribes but Brothers in Faith ]. “
” The Muhajireen from The Quraysh keep to their Tribal Organization and Leadership, Cooperating with each other regarding Blood Money and related matters and ransoming their captives according to what is customary and equitable among the believers. “
- Here, the document reaffirms The Tribal Organization but in a modified manner
- In contrast to The First 2 Clauses that are connected with Faith, this one addresses what we may label political and administrative grouping
- All The Emigrants together formed one such group thus operating as a Single Clan even though they had originally come from various Clans of The Quraysh and Non Quraysh in Makkah including even some Non Arabs
- Thus, although the membership of this new clan was defined by faith, it’s structure was Preislamic for Islamic Laws concerning Blood Relations, Marriage Inheritance and Filial Ties are yet to be revealed
- Obligations and expectations of aiding in debt, ransom and other financial obligations that would previously fall to the Clan are extended to all believers here thus moving the young community towards a conception of solidarity beyond The Tribe in which The Ummah becomes A Supertribe [ Temporary Arrangement ]
- As the size of the community swelled beyond a face to face community, these obligations took the form of The Islamic Laws that we are familiar with and more :-
1) Familial Obligations
2) Free and Fair Commercial Exchange
3) Prohibition of Usury
4) Obligation of Zakat
5) Encouragement of Charity and Debt Forgiveness
” The God Fearing Believers are against whosoever of them acts wrongfully or seeks an act of injustice or promotes sin, transgression [ Offence ] or evil among the believers. They shall all unite against him even if he is the son of one of them. “
” The protection [ Dhimmah ] of God is one, the least of them [ The Believers who are from the lowest clan or ex slaves, etc ] is entitled to grant protection [ Yujir ] that is binding for all of them [ This basically means that any Muslim in Madinah has the authority to grant A Visitor Visa to anyone and no Muslims is allowed to harm that visitor ]. The believers are each other’s allies [ Mawali ] to the exclusion of other people. “
Provisions That Addresses The Jewish Tribes
” The Jews [ Arab Jews who converted to Judaism ] who join us will receive aid and parity [ Favour ]. They will not be wronged nor will their enemies be aided against them. “
- The Prophet also said that they [ The Jews ] shall take care of their own Disputes, Affairs, Blood Money, Internal Crimes, etc [ They are in charge of their own community ] unless :-
1) They are to come to The Muslims for help
2) It involves an event between Both The Jews and The Muslims
- Thus, The Affairs of The Jews are The Business of The Jews unless it is between both parties
” The Jews bear expenses along with The Believers so long as they continue at war [ If The Jews want to join The Muslims on the battlefield then they are welcome to do so and if they don’t they have to bear the expenses of war ]. “
- At A later stage in Madinan Life, The Non Muslims will be incorporated into A centralized Political Entity through A Treaty of Peace and Protection [ Dhimmah ( Protected Person ) and Jizyah ( Tax Paid By A Non Muslim To A Muslim Ruler For Security And Protection ) ]
- One built on The Believer’s role as The Providers of Security and hence their Military Domination
” The Jews of Banu Awf are A community alongside The Believers. The Jews have their religion [ Deen ] and The Muslims have theirs. This applies to their clients [ Mawalihim ] and themselves. But whoever does wrong or commits treachery brings evil only on himself and his household. “
” None of them [ The Jews ] may leave without Muhammad’s Consent. “
- Leaving means renouncing one’s citizenship and was considered an act of open hostility
- Another clause is that if any Jew wishes to convert to Islam, he shall be helped and protected and no injustice shall be done to him [ Nobody can harm him ]
” Whenever there is A Murder [ Or Major Dispute ] between The People of this document from which evil is feared, the matter is to be referred to Allah and Muhammad The Messenger of God. God demands the most pious and righteous fulfillment of this document. “
” No protection will be granted to The Quraysh nor to whoever supports them. They [ The Parties to this Treaty ] undertake to aid each other against whosoever attacks Yathrib. “
- The Prohibition of any deal with The Quraysh highlights an important feature of this document
- The Jews or Polytheists who sought to make A deal with The Makkans instead of The Prophet could not do so
- In other words, their freedom as limited as they were barred from making A deal with their own coreligionist or the religion of their choice
” If they [ The Believers ] ask The Jews to make peace with any ally of theirs, they shall make peace with him and if they [ The Jews ] ask us for a similar thing, the same shall be incumbent [ Obligatory ] upon The Believers except if someone makes war on account of Religion. “
- Thus, The Jews could not aid The Makkans against The Believers nor could The Believers aid anyone seeking to wage war against The Jews
- This principle becomes enshrined in Islamic Laws in The Form of The Dhimmah [ Protected Person ] Contract later
Provisions That Addresses The Polytheists
- The fact that there were clauses for The Polytheists shows that there were still Polytheists in Madinah
” No Polytheist shall offer protection to The Quraysh even if it is in return for life or money nor shall he in any way come between The Quraysh and The Believers [ You can live in Madinah provide that you remain Neutral ]. “
General Provisions
” And Yathrib is a Sacred Land [ Haram ] for the signatories of this document. “
- ” Haram “ means :-
1) No weapons that are unsheathed
2) No plucking leaves or trees
3) No hunting
4) No fighting / killing, etc
” Whatever disagreement occurs between The People of this document which leads to internal arguments shall be decided by God and His Messenger [ Any Disagreements between The Muslims and The Jews, The Jews and The Polytheists, The Muslims and The Polytheists, etc ]. “
” No protection may be granted without the permission of the parties to this document [ No one is allowed to make Peace Treaties on behalf of Madinah without first consulting The Parties of This Document ]. “
” Whoever leaves Madinah shall be safe, Whoever stays in Madinah shall be safe except for anyone who does an injustice or sin. And God will protect those who are pious and righteous. “
Full Charter of Madinah PDF
https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5097fe39e4b0c49016e4c58b/t/5c8153eeec212d7117477f8f/1551979503244/Constitution-Medina.pdf
Practical Lessons learned in this chapter
1) The importance of writing contracts. This was an unprecedented move by The Prophet considering that Preislamic Arabia was primarily an Oral Culture
2) The great respect Islam has for Monotheistic Traditions. The Prophet granted The Jews a great deal of Autonomy and Independence provided that they did not betray The Muslims
3) All people were accountable before the law. If your Muslim or Non Muslim, if you commit A crime then you will be dealt with. The document says ‘ All of The Muslims will be united against them. ‘ Simply being A Muslim does not let you off the hook. If someone commits A crime, everyone has to unite against him regardless of The Religion
4) The Prophet accepted The Legal Norms and Customs [ Urf ] of every Tribe as long as they did not conflict with The Laws of Shariah. Sometimes when people become religious, they think that all The Cultural Norms and Practices are rubbish. Islam does not have A problem with Cultural Norms and Practices as long as they do not go against Shariah Law
