KMA07 wrote:
Salaam
Does any1 know proper sites that tell accurate history of Muslims. I've read quite a lot of sites about Muslims History & lot of them say that non-muslims were 2nd Class Citizens & had 2 move out of the way 2 let Muslims walk past which happened at the begining of Islam. Im not 2 sure if that is true coz thats When Islam was in its Best & Truest form (Golden Age), although I can understand if some bad things happened 1200AD & onwards coz nothing is perfect & Muslims Iman have been generally declining ever since.
Jazakallah
was-salaamu 'alaykum wa rahmatullaahi wa baraakaatuh,
Ma shaa` Allaah it is indeed beneficial to study Islaamic history. However, if you want to study Islaamic history I would suggest you study the books of Islaamic Historians such as Ibn Katheer's al Bidaayah wa Nihaayah and others such as Ibn Sa'd, Ibn Ishaaq, Waqidee etc.
The books are in Arabic and as far as I know most of them have not been translated. You can doownload the books from this site: http://www.almeshkat.net/books/list.php?cat=.
If you don't know Arabic then my sincere advice would be to start learning Arabic before you dive into other fields.wAllaahu a3lam
Back to your question, inshaa`Allaah I hope the shuyookh will answer in more detail, however, no the non-Muslims were not treated like second class citizens. Obviously there was a difference, as they had to pay jizyah and so forth, but they have always been treated in Muslim countries with respect and courtesy, and in terms of rights, they had full rights. For example in terms of murder, there is a hadeeth that Prophet Muhammad ordered the execution of a Muslim because he killed a dhimmi, as narrated in `Abdul Razzaaq and Al Baihaqee. This hadeeth's authenticity is disputed. Moreover, `Alee almost ordered the execution in a similar case had it not been for the dhimmi victim's brother asking for the Muslim not to be executed. Ali said : "Those who have our dhimma have their blood equal to ours ... [they paid the jizyah so that their life and our lives are equal]". Moreover, `Omar Ibn `Abdul Azeez ordered his regional governors to execute those who kill any dhimmis (non Muslims living in Muslim countries).
This view is adopted by the Maaliki and Hanafee schools, as well as many other jurists, such as Al Laith Ibn Sa`ad, Al Sha`bi, Ibn Abee Lailah, and Al Nakha`ee.
A few sites that may help you:
http://www.islamicity.com/mosque/ihame/Sec10.htm
http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/history/chronology/
http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~rs143/map.html
http://www.ummah.net/directory/menu/history.html
http://www.islamfortoday.com/history.htm
*standard disclaimers apply*
If you have any other questions, feel free to ask.
I think it would be good if you read up on the Cruasaders and the manner in which they treated the Jews, which is no doubt appalling.
BaarakAllaahu feek, May Allaah `azza wa jal give you a clear understanding of the deen. Aameen
was-salaamu 'alaykum wa rahmatullaahi wa barakaatuh