Mustaʾmīn or Musta'man () is a historical

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

ic term for a non-Muslim foreigner temporarily residing in Muslim lands with ''aman'', or guarantee of short-term safe-conduct ('' aman mu'aqqat''), affording the protected status of

dhimmi ' ( ', , collectively ''/'' "the people of the covenant") or () is a historical term for non-Muslims living in an Islamic state with legal protection. The word literally means "protected person", referring to the state's obligation under ''s ...

(non-Muslim subjects permanently living in a Muslim-ruled land) without the payment of

jizya Jizya (), or jizyah, is a type of taxation levied on non-Muslim subjects of a state governed by Sharia, Islamic law. The Quran and hadiths mention jizya without specifying its rate or amount,Sabet, Amr (2006), ''The American Journal of Islamic Soc ...

.Khadduri p. 163 Merchants, messengers, students and other groups could be given an ''aman'', while foreign envoys and emissaries were automatically protected.

Types of safe-conducts

The short-term safe-conduct can be personal or general: * Personal ''aman'' (''khass'') can be granted by any sane and mature Muslim to one or a group of non-Muslim foreigners (''harbis'').Yakoob, Mir p. 109 * General ''aman'' (amm'') can be granted only by the

caliph A caliphate ( ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with Khalifa, the title of caliph (; , ), a person considered a political–religious successor to the Islamic prophet Muhammad and a leader of ...

or his deputy to an unspecified number of ''harbis''. The term is valid up to one year for the ''musta'min'', along with his minor children and all the women related to him. Many Hanbalite jurists allowed the period of ''aman'' to one lunar year. Others argued for an indefinite ''aman''.

Legal rights

Once given aman, the musta'mins are free to engage in trade and travel. They are allowed to bring their family and children. They have permission to visit any

city A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

in Muslim territory except the holy cities of

Mecca Mecca, officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, is the capital of Mecca Province in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia; it is the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow valley above ...

and

Medina Medina, officially al-Madinah al-Munawwarah (, ), also known as Taybah () and known in pre-Islamic times as Yathrib (), is the capital of Medina Province (Saudi Arabia), Medina Province in the Hejaz region of western Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, ...

. A musta'min man is allowed to marry a dhimmi woman and take her back to his homeland; however, musta'min women do not have the same right.Yakoob, Mir p. 166 The musta'min are subject to civil and criminal law in the territory and may not do or say anything that could be construed as harming the interests of Islam.Khadduri p. 168 If caught doing so, the musta'min could be expelled or executed and the aman grantor could also be penalized.

References

Sources

* * {{cite book , last= Yakoob , first= Nadia , author2=Aimen Mir , editor= Yvonne Yazbeck Haddad, Barbara Freyer Stowasser , title= Islamic Law and the Challenges of Modernity , year= 2004 , publisher= AltaMira Press , location= Walnut Creek, CA , isbn= 0-7591-0671-1 , chapter= A Contextual Approach to Improving Asylum Law and Practices in the Middle East , quote= Islamic terminology Islam and other religions Medieval international relations Law of war

Types of safe-conducts

Legal rights

See also

References

Sources