Mustaʾmīn or Musta'man ( ar, مستأمن) is a historical

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...

ic term for a non-Muslim foreigner temporarily residing in Muslim lands with and ''aman'' or guarantee of short-term

safe-conduct Safe conduct, safe passage, or letters of transit, is the situation in time of international conflict or war where one state, a party to such conflict, issues to a person (usually an enemy state's subject) a pass or document to allow the enemy ...

('' aman mu'aqqat'') affording the protected status of

dhimmis ' ( ar, ذمي ', , 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 obligatio ...

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

jizya Jizya ( ar, جِزْيَة / ) is a per capita yearly taxation historically levied in the form of financial charge on dhimmis, that is, permanent Kafir, non-Muslim subjects of a state governed by Sharia, Islamic law. The jizya tax has been unde ...

.Khadduri p. 163

Merchants A merchant is a person who trades in commodities produced by other people, especially one who trades with foreign countries. Historically, a merchant is anyone who is involved in business or trade. Merchants have operated for as long as industry ...

, messengers,

students A student is a person enrolled in a school or other educational institution. In the United Kingdom and most commonwealth countries, a "student" attends a secondary school or higher (e.g., college or university); those in primary or elementary ...

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 or khilāfah ( ar, خِلَافَة, ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with the title of caliph (; ar, خَلِيفَة , ), a person considered a political-religious successor to th ...

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 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 A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

in Muslim territory except the holy cities of

Mecca Mecca (; officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, commonly shortened to Makkah ()) is a city and administrative center of the Mecca Province of Saudi Arabia, and the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red ...

and

Medina Medina,, ', "the radiant city"; or , ', (), "the city" officially Al Madinah Al Munawwarah (, , Turkish: Medine-i Münevvere) and also commonly simplified as Madīnah or Madinah (, ), is the Holiest sites in Islam, second-holiest city in Islam, ...

. 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 amaan 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