Dhimmi - ذمي

[جوري]

ورجل ذِمِّيٌّ: معناه رجل له عهد.
والذِّمَّةُ: العهد منسوب إِلى الذِّمَّةِ: قال الجوهري: الذِّمَّةُ أَهل العقد. قال: وقال أَبو عبيدة الذِّمّةُ الأَمان في قوله، عليه السلام: ويسعمى بذِمَّتِهِمْ أَدناهم.
وقوم ذِمَّةٌ: مُعاهدون أَي ذوو ذِمَّةٍ، وهو الذِّمُّ؛ قال أُسامة الهذليّ: يُغَرِّدُ بالأَسْحار في كلِّ سُدْفَةٍ، تَغَرُّدَ مَيَّاحِ النَّدَى المُتَطَرِّب (* هكذا ورد هذا البيت في الأصل، وليس فيه أيّ شاهد على شيء مما تقدم من الكلام).
وأَذَمَّ له عليه: أَخَذَ له الذِّمَّة

Do you know the etymology of the word? I posted it in Arabic, just want to know if you actually understand the meaning since I notice the very negative connotation per Non-Muslims to the term..

:w:

[Hulk]

Oh man.. Ive heard it before in one of Sh Hamza Yusuf's lecture(i'm sure many know he's really into etymology) but I can't remember which lecture and neither do I remember what he said! I believe it was an audio lecture but man.. bad memory.. Please share what you have learnt ukhti..

[جوري]

=) will wait for a few more replies.. besides the answer is right there in Arabic you can always use google translate *wink*

[Insaanah]

:sl:

Google translate can be pretty awful. This awful, in fact:

And edematous man: meaning man of his era.
And disclosure: Testament attributed to disclosure: The essential: Dhimmah people contract. He said: Abu Ubaida safety disclosure in saying, peace be upon him: and Asamy Bzmthm أدناهم.
And folk edema: Maahdon any people with edema, a slander; said Osama Hudhali: singing before dawn in each shell, chirps Mayah dew Almttrb (* Thus stated this house originally, and not any witness to anything that is offered to speak).
And Ozm him it: taking his disclosure

I was actually going to answer from an Urdu point of view. The word ذِّمَّةٌ in Urdu means, responsibility, trust, charge, obligation, duty, to be surety for, to take care of.

In those terms, I'd view a ذِمِّيٌّ dhimmi as somebody the state feels they have a responsibility and obligation and duty, to take care of and protect.

But that could be wrong as I'm answering from the Urdu viewpoint.

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[Amat Allah]

I was actually going to answer from an Urdu point of view. The word ذِّمَّةٌ in Urdu means, responsibility, trust, charge, obligation, duty, to be surety for, to take care of.
In those terms, I'd view a ذِمِّيٌّ dhimmi as somebody the state feels they have a responsibility and obligation and duty, to take care of and protect.
But that could be wrong as I'm answering from the Urdu viewpoint.

Wa Alikum Assalaam Wa rahmatullahi Wa Barakaatuh

the meanings in urdu are the same as the Arabic ones....

الذِّمِي: is the non-muslim person who lives in a Muslim country; paying Al Jizz'yah and living under the rule and the protection of the Muslim country or state.

[جوري]

You're both correct ma shaa Allah.. Someone you're responsible for and have extended a 'covenant' of peace & protection to. Isn't it amazing that the most beautiful things can be turned into the kaffir mind into vile things.. sob7an Allah..

[Insaanah]

:sl:

^JazaakiAllah khayr sister.

just want to know if you actually understand the meaning since I notice the very negative connotation per Non-Muslims to the term..

Someone you're responsible for and have extended a 'covenant' of peace & protection to. Isn't it amazing that the most beautiful things can be turned into the kaffir mind into vile things.. sob7an Allah..

What a coincidence that I was just reading this today:

Some people in the West quote, as an example of Muslim intolerance,the fact that in the past they called Jews and Christians dhimmis (ignoring the real sense of this term which means ‘those who enjoy protection’) and the fact that Muslims collected jizya tribute from them. The jizya was one dinar a year for every able-bodied male who could fight in the army –monks were exempted. As non-Muslims they were not obliged to fight for the Muslim armies. This is a liberal attitude, which recognised that it would be unfair to enlist people who do not believe in Islam to fight for the Muslim state, something which their own religion and conscience might not allow them to do. The jizya was their contribution to the defence of the Islamic state they lived in. Muslims, on the other hand, were obliged to serve in the army, and all Muslims had to pay the much higher zakat tax, part of which is spent on defence. When non-Muslims chose to serve in the Muslim army they were exempted from the jizya, and when the Muslim state could not defend certain subjects from whom they had collected jizya, it returned the jizya tax to them, giving this as a reason. In return for the jizya non-Muslims also enjoyed state social security.

The Muslims charged Christians one dinar a year and allowed them to live in Muslim society and practise their religion freely; the Christians, in Jerusalem, Spain and other places, did not charge Muslims one dinar a year – instead they wiped them out.

It is a fact that there have always been Christians and Jews living among the Muslims, some even serving as members of the government at the height of the Islamic state; but no Muslims were left, for example, in Spain, Sicily, and other places from which Christians expelled them, and genocide was still practised in Europe in the twentieth century.

Source: Understanding the Qur'an; Themes and Style, by M Abdel Haleem.

[جوري]

to add respected sis (and by the way on a tangent I love your siggy) when Muslims weren't able to defend the dhimmis they returned their jizya to them which happened once or twice I am sure you recall the incidents. You know I'd love for my and my family's tax money which exorbitant to be returned to us instead of going on drones to kill our afghani sisters as happened today and then they wonder why folks join those bad ole evil talibs.

[Ramadan90]

Sister, doesnt "al-muahid" mean the same thing as dhimmi?

[Amat Allah]

Sister, doesnt "al-muahid" mean the same thing as dhimmi?

The Non- Muslims whom are protected inside of the Muslim state or country according the Shari'aa are three:

* Ath'thimmi: is the non-muslim person who lives in a Muslim country; paying Al Jizz'yah and living under the rule and the protection of the Muslim country or state just like any of its citizens.

* Al Mu’aahad: is the non-muslim person who lives in a Muslim country; and there is a peace treaty between his country or people and the Muslim state or country; like ambassadors and messengers .

* Al Mus'ta’aman: is the non-muslim person who comes to the Muslim country or state for some time to do business, visit his family, ...etc. Al Mus'ta'aman enters the Muslim country or state guaranteed safety from the Muslim state itself or from some of the Muslim state's people even if a woman .

and Allah knows the best.

[Perseveranze]

Asalaamu Alaikum,

"The ruler of the Muslim community is bound to protect the non-Muslims and to save them from aggression. Should they fall into captivity, the Imam must martial all the resources to secure their release and punish the transgressors against their lives and properties even if they were the sole non-Muslims living in a remote village." (Ibn Al Najaar Al Hanbali, Matalib Ula An-Nuha, Volume 2, p. 602-603)

"A contract whose fulfillment endangers the lives and property of Muslims who are protecting the subjects (non-Muslims) from harm is indeed a great one." (Al-Malaki, Imam Al-Qarafi, Al-Furuq, Volume 3, p. 15, Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Matalib Ula An-Nuha, Volume 2, p. 602-603)

I also remember reading the case of Ibn Taymiyyah(rh) who went to the tartars and told them he wouldn't leave till they free'd both the Muslim AND Non-Muslim (Dhimmi) prisoners.