Question
Dear brother,
Thank you for your reply. Can you please provide examples from any of the ḥadīth that could justify the living of atheists under Islamic State?
My other question is that is it true that Jews and Christians living under Islamic State as minorities can have their own judiciary system managed by their own priests or rabbis?
I hope my questions are clear.
Regards,
Answer
We do not need to find a ḥadīth to prove that something is allowed. Logically we always need an evidence to prove the existence of something. In the context of the subject under discussion, we always need an evidence to prove something is not allowed in Islam. As when such an evidence is provided and approved, the issue under discussion remains in the category of allowable.
Accordingly if you know of any scholars who has the opinion that atheists are not allowed to live under an Islamic state then please do let me know what the evidences that they put forward are. Such an opinion is not inline with what we learn from the Qur’ān:
According to the Qur’ān (2:256), we cannot force people to accept God. This means we should accept the fact that there will be people who do not believe in God.
On the other hand we do not have any directives in the Qur’ān indicating as a general rule (that is applicable at all times) that Muslims should force non-Muslims to leave their lands.
A simple conclusion from the above two points is that it is well possible to have non-Muslims (including atheists) in a Muslim land and there is nothing wrong with this according to Islam.
All the reports that indicate any enforcement aiming to avoid having atheists in a Muslim land belong to the time of the Messenger of God (sws) and his companions who had the status of shahada alā al-nas (22:78). Accordingly they were carrying out punishment of the Almighty for those who knowingly and intentionally rejected the truth (9:14).
Yes it is correct that Jews and Christians can have their own judiciary system. This was how they were carrying out their affairs at the time of the Prophet (sws) in Madina, of course before some of them putting themselves in trouble by breaking the agreement they had with Muslims.
I should also say that in many parts, the judiciary law of Islam is not that different from the judiciary law of Bani Israel.
Answered by: Farhad Shafti
Date: 2015-04-02
