( ar, امان, , safety, protection,

safe conduct Safe conduct, safe passage, or letters of transit, is the situation in time of international conflict or war where one state, a party to such conflict, issues to a person (usually an enemy state's subject) a pass or document to allow the enemy ...

) is the

Islamic law Sharia (; ar, شريعة, sharīʿa ) is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition. It is derived from the religious precepts of Islam and is based on the sacred scriptures of Islam, particularly the Quran and the ...

concept of guaranteeing the security of a person (who is then called ) or a group of people for a limited time. It can represent the assurance of security or clemency granted to enemies who seek protection, and can take the form of a document of

safe-conduct Safe conduct, safe passage, or letters of transit, is the situation in time of international conflict or war where one state, a party to such conflict, issues to a person (usually an enemy state's subject) a pass or document to allow the enemy ...

for a non-Muslim or (

enemy alien In customary international law, an enemy alien is any native, citizen, denizen or subject of any foreign nation or government with which a domestic nation or government is in conflict and who is liable to be apprehended, restrained, secured and ...

). (Re. an ''aman'' taking the shape of a written document.)

Evolution

The concept has pre-Islamic origins, being traced to the practice of among the

Arab tribes The Tribes of Arabia () or Arab tribes () are the ethnic Arab tribes and clans that originated in the Arabian Peninsula. The tribes of Arabia descend from either one of the two Arab ancestors, Adnan or Qahtan. Arab tribes have historically inhabit ...

, which extended a tribe's protection over an—often outlawed—member of a different tribe.

Muhammad Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the monot ...

extended tribal solidarity and protection to cover the entirety of the Muslim community, so the promise of safety could be extended by Muslims to non-Muslims, and formed the basis of the covenants of security () issued to cities or peoples who submitted to the nascent Muslim

caliphate A caliphate or khilāfah ( ar, خِلَافَة, ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with the title of caliph (; ar, خَلِيفَة , ), a person considered a political-religious successor to th ...

, and which rendered these groups protected () under Islamic law. In later times, the became specifically restricted to the concept of safe-passage for a limited time (up to one

lunar year A lunar calendar is a calendar based on the monthly cycles of the Moon's phases (synodic months, lunations), in contrast to solar calendars, whose annual cycles are based only directly on the solar year. The most commonly used calendar, the Gr ...

) issued to enemies during their stay in Islamic territory, and had the right, within that period of time, to depart, unmolested by the Muslims, to a 'place of safety'. In the eyes of Islamic civil law, a passing was considered the same as the s living under Islamic rule for the duration of his presence in Islamic lands, but differing traditions exist on whether this applied to criminal law as well. Foreign envoys enjoyed automatic status, but not merchants or shipwrecked people. As a result, the issuance of was a fundamental means of facilitating trade and diplomacy between Muslim and non-Muslim states during the early Middle Ages. From the late 12th century on, bilateral treaties between Muslim and Christian states that stipulated the rights and obligations of merchants and pilgrims began to replace the .

offered to Muslims

could also be issued to Muslims, such as defeated rebels. This was a widespread practice during the early Islamic period even though, as

Joseph Schacht Joseph Franz Schacht (, 15 March 1902 – 1 August 1969) was a British-German professor of Arabic and Islam at Columbia University in New York. He was the leading Western scholar on Islamic law, whose ''Origins of Muhammadan Jurisprudence'' (195 ...

observes, "they are, strictly speaking, superfluous or even incompatible with religious law".

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Aman Islamic jurisprudence Legal immunity Law of war Arabic words and phrases in Sharia Islam and other religions Islamic terminology

Evolution

offered to Muslims

See also

References

Sources