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Historically among the non-Muslims there were Jews and Christians who benefited from a privileged situation. If they submitted without resistance to the Arab armies, they were given protection by the Islamic ruler, but this was protection from the laws of jihad, not protection because they were loved. Protection from the laws of jihad protected the non-Muslim's life, property, and family. But non-Muslims were not allowed genuinely to practice their religion. In general, they could not repair their synagogues or churches, which then fell into ruins, nor were they permitted to build new synagogues or churches; they could not observe their religion in public.
So it all had to be private?
Under Islamic law there are several rules, which I describe in my book at length, that limit non-Muslims' exercise of their religion, but allow them to enjoy a measure of security and self-administration according to their own religious rules. Such tolerance was extended to the Christian majorities in the early centuries of Muslim conquest when, in many regions, Muslims were a ruling minority, a minority army of conquest.
What happened when Jews or Christians made public appeals to their religious faith?
It was considered a breach of the contract, which had several penalties. As long as they would pay the avanias, which was a ransom money or tax, their life was safe. But if they refused to pay that, then they would give back to the Muslim communities the rights of jihad: they could be killed, forced to convert to Islam, or put into slavery. Also, when non-Muslims were out in public they had to wear special clothing so that they would not be confused with Muslims.
Their own religious clothing?
No, there were Muslim rules obliging Jews and Christians to wear special clothing with enormous collars that made them objects of ridicule.
And if they refused?
If they refused, for instance, to wear those enormous collars, the Jewish or Christian religious leaders would be called upon by the Muslim rulers and would be forced to impose upon their own religious brethren very severe sanctions.
So, while Jews and Christians enjoyed a form of religious liberty, it was very constricting.
The demands for ransom money were particularly harsh. And because they could not pay, the Jewish and Christian peasantry often simply abandoned their villages. In order not to be converted to Islam or to be reduced to slavery, they fled to the mountains or to the cities, where they wouldn't be found among the crowds. In fact, the economic persecution led to the disappearance of the Jewish and Christian peasantry from the lands in which they had their roots, including the abandonment of the synagogues and churches.
How active is that today? Is that still taking place?
Those rules were integrated into shari'a, the Islamic sacred law. They were justified by a certain interpretation of Qur'anic verses. I must say that the jihad ideology and the dhimmi rules are not in the Qur'an. These were devised by Muslim theologians after the death of Muhammad. They were the result of the interpretation of some verses in the Qur'an and some of the hadith. The hadith are the deeds and words attributed to the prophet Muhammad after his death. They form a companion to the Qur'an and are considered normative because the prophet is regarded as expressing the will of God in his actions. Those hadith were composed during the period of the Islamic conquest in the eighth or ninth century, at a time of strong military confrontation between Christianity and Islam, giving them a militant orientation. On the basis of this interpretation of the Qur'an and those hadith, the laws pertaining to Jews and Christians were established and integrated into shari'a.
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