‘MINORITIES’ IN ISLAMIC HISTORY: An Analytical Study of Four Documents (original) (raw)

The idea of religious minority faces difficulties operating in the framework of a nation and nation-state. The religious minority groups do not necessarily share a compact territorial space, same language or ethnicity. Consequently it is hard for them to function as even a ‘sub-nation’. These problems are perhaps created by the fact that the concepts of ‘nation’ and ‘nation-state’ have not properly defined the role and status of non-majority groups. The problem of religious minority is more complex, due to its probable origins in the medieval political thought in which the legitimacy of the political power was derived from religion. The political order in this period was not necessarily based on the principle of the majority rule. The medieval kings often treated even the majority religious groups of their subjects as minorities if they differed with them in religion or in religious denomination within one religion. They did not enjoy the same status as that of the ruling class. People of different religious persuasion were entitled to “protection” within the confines of a religious community, represented by institutionalized religious leadership. This legal framework is hard to operate in a modern state, particularly in a democratic setting. In order to understand the complexity of the problem, we must study the various historical contexts in which the idea grew. It is also necessary to make us aware of the need to distinguish between different historical contexts so as not to use one context as a criterion to judge another. Plainly speaking, we should not judge the past by present standards, nor should we expect the past measures to work effectively in the present context.