What is meant by his saying (peace be upon him): “Two religions do not coexist in the Arabian Peninsula”?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner: In my question, if you permit, Professor.
The Shaykh: Yes.
The questioner: We once asked in the home of our brother Abu Zayd about the topic:Muwatta Malik 45:18 So we need— if you permit— the meaning of this hadith from you again, because there has been disagreement about whether you said this or not, so we have now forgotten the details. We want the correct thing, which is to hear your opinion anew on the meaning of the hadith, and whether the intended meaning of the Arabian Peninsula is our geographical concept, the Arabian Peninsula including the Emirates, the Gulf, Yemen, and all of it, or is the intended meaning the Hijaz, for example? And is the intended meaning— also— that two religions means two great masses, two states, or does it also include an individual?
The Shaykh: Since you say that I researched the topic.
The questioner: We forgot.
The Shaykh : But your opinions differed; in what did they differ?
The questioner: I mean, is the intended meaning— we have now forgotten what you said— is the intended meaning that a strong group of the People of the Book, for example, profess a religion other than Islam, or if it is one individual? It has become clear to us from the Sunnah that the Prophet (peace be upon him), as we know, died (peace be upon him) and his armor was pledged with a Jew, so this indicates that the individual is not included in this hadith.
The Shaykh: Yes.
The questioner: I mean, this was objected to us when we said this, they said no, the issue is if it is an individual, it is fine.
The Shaykh: If what?
The questioner: If it is an individual person, meaning one or two or three, meaning a small group that has no effect on the Muslims, that does not pose a danger to the Muslims, they are not included in the negation in the hadith.Another questioner: If he says to you: the la, the prohibitive la, that is it.
The Shaykh: We do not say an individual or individuals.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh: We say: two religions that rule, this is what is negated in the Arabian Peninsula, with the scholars differing in its interpretation. But we said, either in that session or in another, that Mecca, Medina, Jeddah, and Yemen are among these lands where two religions do not coexist, and where the Messenger (peace be upon him) ordered the expulsion of the polytheists and the expulsion of the Jews and Christians from the Arabian Peninsula. But the issue of an individual or individuals has no relation to the topic. It is possible that there is a numerous and abundant people in this peninsula whom the Messenger (peace be upon him) ordered to be expelled from the Arabian Peninsula if they live under the rule of Islam, meaning as dhimmis. Then they are allowed to live in the Arabian Peninsula in the general sense, but it is not permissible for them to live in the Arabian Peninsula in the specific sense, meaning: in certain defined lands, so they are expelled.
The questioner: Or rule?
The Shaykh: No, it is not a matter of rule now, we have left that aside. They are expelled and they live in lands other than the specific lands of the Arabian Peninsula. They live under the system of dhimmah, that they are given the jizyah from the hand while they are humbled. As for the other lands from which they were ordered to be expelled, they are allowed to visit them for trade or something similar, but not to settle there. And these are like the Muslims with regard to the lands of shirk. That is, just as it is not permissible for a Muslim to live in the lands of disbelief and to settle in the lands of disbelief, but it is permissible for him to go for trade on the condition that he returns to his Muslim land, and conversely, one who is not Muslim is not allowed to settle in the lands that the Messenger (peace be upon him) excluded from the Arabian Peninsula and forbade the polytheists from living in, or in the most correct meaning, ordered the Muslim rulers to expel them from. So for these people to visit these lands to return to their own lands or to other Islamic lands where they live under the banner of Islam and the system of Islam, this only is what is permissible for them.
The Shaykh: Yes.
The questioner: We once asked in the home of our brother Abu Zayd about the topic:
Two deens shall not co-exist in the Arabian Peninsula
لا يجتمع دينان في جزيرة العربThe Shaykh: Since you say that I researched the topic.
The questioner: We forgot.
The Shaykh : But your opinions differed; in what did they differ?
The questioner: I mean, is the intended meaning— we have now forgotten what you said— is the intended meaning that a strong group of the People of the Book, for example, profess a religion other than Islam, or if it is one individual? It has become clear to us from the Sunnah that the Prophet (peace be upon him), as we know, died (peace be upon him) and his armor was pledged with a Jew, so this indicates that the individual is not included in this hadith.
The Shaykh: Yes.
The questioner: I mean, this was objected to us when we said this, they said no, the issue is if it is an individual, it is fine.
The Shaykh: If what?
The questioner: If it is an individual person, meaning one or two or three, meaning a small group that has no effect on the Muslims, that does not pose a danger to the Muslims, they are not included in the negation in the hadith.Another questioner: If he says to you: the la, the prohibitive la, that is it.
The Shaykh: We do not say an individual or individuals.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh: We say: two religions that rule, this is what is negated in the Arabian Peninsula, with the scholars differing in its interpretation. But we said, either in that session or in another, that Mecca, Medina, Jeddah, and Yemen are among these lands where two religions do not coexist, and where the Messenger (peace be upon him) ordered the expulsion of the polytheists and the expulsion of the Jews and Christians from the Arabian Peninsula. But the issue of an individual or individuals has no relation to the topic. It is possible that there is a numerous and abundant people in this peninsula whom the Messenger (peace be upon him) ordered to be expelled from the Arabian Peninsula if they live under the rule of Islam, meaning as dhimmis. Then they are allowed to live in the Arabian Peninsula in the general sense, but it is not permissible for them to live in the Arabian Peninsula in the specific sense, meaning: in certain defined lands, so they are expelled.
The questioner: Or rule?
The Shaykh: No, it is not a matter of rule now, we have left that aside. They are expelled and they live in lands other than the specific lands of the Arabian Peninsula. They live under the system of dhimmah, that they are given the jizyah from the hand while they are humbled. As for the other lands from which they were ordered to be expelled, they are allowed to visit them for trade or something similar, but not to settle there. And these are like the Muslims with regard to the lands of shirk. That is, just as it is not permissible for a Muslim to live in the lands of disbelief and to settle in the lands of disbelief, but it is permissible for him to go for trade on the condition that he returns to his Muslim land, and conversely, one who is not Muslim is not allowed to settle in the lands that the Messenger (peace be upon him) excluded from the Arabian Peninsula and forbade the polytheists from living in, or in the most correct meaning, ordered the Muslim rulers to expel them from. So for these people to visit these lands to return to their own lands or to other Islamic lands where they live under the banner of Islam and the system of Islam, this only is what is permissible for them.
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.