Date of Graduation

5-2020

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts

Degree Level

Undergraduate

Department

History

Advisor/Mentor

Antov, Nikolay

Committee Member/Reader

Hare, Laurence Jr.

Committee Member/Second Reader

Vennarucci, Rhodora

Committee Member/Third Reader

Mixdorf, Cory

Abstract

In this honors thesis, I discuss the role of surrender agreements in the early Islamic caliphate and their evolution through the ninth century. Seen as a window into the developing relations between Muslims and non-Muslims, surrender agreements shed considerable light on the evolving conceptualization of non-Muslims’ place in dar al-Islam from the point of view of Islamic legal tradition and political theory. By defining the relationship between Muslims and non-Muslims in a framework that was agreed on by all parties and one that preserved the basic rights of non-Muslims, these agreements were remarkably effective in facilitating the incorporation of non-Muslims into early Islamic society. Using a historical background, I demonstrate that the original, early surrender agreements, concluded upon the Muslim conquests, contributed to non-Muslims’ integration into the early Islamic caliphate by defining non-Muslims’ social, political, and legal status in relation to Muslims in dar al-Islam. Typically separated into two phases, both the early, original surrender and the later version of surrender agreements that claimed to be “authentic”, formed the basis of the legal, juristic articulation of the evolving status of dhimmis in the Abode of Islam as a part of the development of Islamic international law (siyar).

Keywords

Islamic empire; surrender agreement; Middle East; dhimmi; integration

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