Musta'min

Mustaʾmīn or Musta'man (Arabic: مستأمن) is a historical Islamic classification for a non-Muslim foreigner, a harbi (from Dar al-Harb, the House of War, i.e. non-Muslim governed territories) who only temporarily resides in Muslim lands (Dar al-Islam) via a short-term safe-conduct (aman mu'aqqat) which affords the musta'min the protected status of dhimmis (non-Muslim subjects permanently living in a Muslim-ruled land) without having to pay the jizya.[1] This would include merchants, messengers, and students and other groups that could be given an aman, or pledge of security.[1] Foreign envoys and emissaries are automatically protected by aman. The imam is permitted to grant an aman to any number, including entire populations.[2] Any private Muslim individual has the juridical competence to grant an aman to as many as ten who are otherwise denizens of the Dar al-Harb.[2]

Types of safe-conducts

The short-term safe-conduct can be personal or general:[3]

  • Personal aman (khass) can be granted by any sane and mature Muslim to one or a group of non-Muslim foreigners (harbis).[4]
  • General aman ('amm) can be granted only by the caliph 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.[3] Many Hanbalite jurists allowed the period of aman to one lunar year. Others argued for an indefinite aman.[2]

Once given amaan, 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 in Muslim territory except the holy cities of Mecca and Medina. 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.[5] The musta'min are subject to civil and criminal law in the territory[4] and may not do or say anything that could be construed as harming the interests of Islam.[6] If caught doing so, the musta'min could be expelled or executed and the amaan grantor could also be penalized.[6]

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See also

References
  1. Khadduri p. 163
  2. Wael, B. Hallaq (2009). Sharī'a: Theory, Practice and Transformations. Cambridge University Press. p. 333. ISBN 978-0-521-86147-2.
  3. Parolin, Gianluca P. (2009). Citizenship in the Arab world : kin, religion and nation-state. [Amsterdam]: Amsterdam University Press. p. 60. ISBN 9089640452.
  4. Yakoob, Mir p. 109
  5. Yakoob, Mir p. 166
  6. Khadduri p. 168

Sources
  • Khadduri, Majid (1955). "Foreigners in Muslim Territory: Ḥarbīs and Mustaʼmīns". War and Peace in the Law of Islam. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press. ISBN 1-58477-695-1.
  • Yakoob, Nadia; Aimen Mir (2004). "A Contextual Approach to Improving Asylum Law and Practices in the Middle East". In Yvonne Yazbeck Haddad, Barbara Freyer Stowasser (ed.). Islamic Law and the Challenges of Modernity. Walnut Creek, CA: AltaMira Press. ISBN 0-7591-0671-1.


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