One God, Three Faiths: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam

e. Hajj. Once in a lifetime pilgrimage to

Mecca. This ritual is performed at a

specific time, at specific places in the

vicinity of Mecca.

C. The Role of Women in Islam relating to

the pillars of faith.

1. Women are bound by the same obliga-
   tions as men, but they must observe
   modesty. Hence women can make the
   pilgrimage but must do so in the compa-
   ny of men.


2. Women are not to circulate freely. In
   mosques: they must not pray next to men,
   only with women, children or in private.


3. Women are exempt from certain other
   obligations since they are responsible for
   the home and raising the children until
   ages 6 or 7 when the father takes over
   the raising of the male children. Tithing is
   part of the male tradition.


4. Women’s obligations are limited, as they
   are in Judaism, by ritual impurity.
   D. Separation of Church and State


5. Though the notion of separation of
   church and state is a modern one,
   Jesus did not involve himself in poli-
   tics, while Muhammad freely mixed
   religion and politics.


6. The use of force for religious ends is
   commonplace in the monotheistic tradi-
   tion, at least until the separation of
   church and state. Its sanction by
   Muhammad persists in Islam to this day.

THEPACTOFUMAR

AND DHIMMA

In 628, Muhammad and his

supporters led a raid on

Khaybar, an oasis with a Jewish

population. When the Jews sur-

rendered, Muhammad offered

them a treaty (dhimma). It was a

contract of sorts that offered the

Jews freedom to live as Jews if

they adhered to a few of his

demands including 1/2 their an-

nual harvest as a tax.

The Khaybar arrangement

became institutionalized as the

Dhimma, sometimes called “the

Pact of Umar” after the second

Caliph of Islam.

Dhimma is a contract between

conqueror and conquered. It

stipulates that the Christians

and Jews, the “People of the

Book,” will be allowed to live a

peaceful existence under the

Umma’s protection providing

they also adhere to strict guide-

lines. It maintains that no

Christian or Jew would build a

new church or synagogue; they

would not make public display

of their religion or proselytize

among Muslims; they would

dress dissimilarly to Muslims;

they would shave the front of

their heads and that they would

never strike a Muslim.

Since it is divine law, the con-

cept of Dhimma still remains in

force today.

LECTURE SEVEN