In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful. This is given by Khalid bin Al
Waleed to the people of Damascus. When the Muslims enter, they (the people) shall
have safety for themselves, their property, their temples and the walls of their city,
of which nothing shall be destroyed. They have this guarantee on behalf of Allah, the
Messenger of Allah, on whom be the blessings of Allah and peace, the Caliph and the
Faithful, from whom they shall receive nothing but good so long as they pay the
Jizya.
We find the commander of the believers Abu Obaydah when he was unable to fulfill
his promise to protect the people of the book from the Roman onslaught, he gave
them every thing they had given him, he justified this by saying I took this in
exchange for protecting you but now that I am unable and don’t have sufficient
numbers I have returned you money.
History testifies to the fact that many of the Christians used to prefer to live under
the leadership of the Muslims than the repressive Romans.
Likewise Jews have also historically flocked to Muslim areas as happened with
Islamic Spain.
So this proves the just nature of Islam that laid down the poll-tax payment on non-
believers like the Muslims pay the Alms tax.
Likewise this is reiterated when one see’s that Islam then went on to excuse anyone
who was unable to fulfill this payment because of weakness and poverty.
All praises for Allah the Lord of the worlds.
They also ask attackingly:
Why does Islam kill the apostate having outwardly accepted Islam?
Firstly: one needs to clarify that Islam doesn’t punish the apostate who apostates
from Ignorance of a misconception or doubt that are frequently proposed by the dis-
believers.
It is also very difficult to conceive that a person who’s farther and forefathers were
Muslim and who has a sound mind and decent intellect, except that he is completely
immersed in his own word off illicitness, or someone who has thrown himself into
the waiting arms of western culture and thought, a culture built around atheism and
the belief that there is no accounting. Perhaps it is someone who lent his ear to
someone who filled his head full of misconceptions and false arguments. Naturally
this dubious one would then give birth to the like of his uncertainties, as a result the
structure of the family and wider society is heavily undermined.
Secondly:
This is one of Islam’s protective mechanisms as there is a possibility that some of
the hypocrites may infiltrate the ranks of the Muslims.